I don't think they are even close to being considered as a rival.
There are games you can count on them like Anna EA and AWAM
But still in terms of storytelling Lily of the Valley is better. Because Anna EA got predictable and AWAM still has lots to show since we haven't seen much yet.
P and P are really good at storytelling and I think that's why their game is so popular.
The only thing that maybe is a problem for people, is that they don't release updates sooner. Which again I can put some empathy in it because you can't rush things too.
But still I believe if they hire someone else they can release more update and even make more money ( which again I think they deserve it)
I agree with everything you are saying.
However, PandP (and lots of creators of their size) is in a "chicken and egg" or "Catch 22" situation if you like:
1 They have a great thing going
2 What's holding their Patron revenue back is that it takes too long time between each release.
3 But in order to move faster they need to hire devs/artists etc
4 But in order to be able pay those new devs/artists (to move faster), they need more revenue
repeat from step 2
And this is the dilemma for a creators on Patreon.
Patreon is using a sort of crowd funded start up model, where you need enough crazy "investors" who are willing to take a looong leap of faith. The key is to find enough Patrons (e.g. crazy investors) willing to pay enough for a long enough time to fund the machine until the dev machine is fully revd up and is cranking out release fast enough
After that other patrons will come and then things works by them self...
Lots of creators have this dilemma.
A few have broken out though of this loop though.
NLT is probably one of the best examples: they were clocking $3K/month about a year ago (august 2018) and today they were clocking $26K/month end of August. Yeah that's right $26K! (they finally stopped disclosing the $ amount a few days ago - I think they got scared to show how much they are actually making lol).
Now $26k is serious business!
So what is similar/same P&P vs NLT? Well:
- NLT are doing RPG games in the same style as PandP LotV so the game style work! PROVEN that is is NOT a renpy vs. RPG thing
- NLT are great story tellers same as P and P (I may even give an edge to P and P - deeper story)
- NLT's 3D models look great! I would even say P and P looks better!
- NLT's animations are good. I would say P and P's animations are clearly much better!
- NLT's games are also well scripted - but P and P are more complex and even better scripted.
What are the differences?:
- NLT has been releasing 2 updates per month now for more than a year i think! That's right 2 updates per month!
- each update is less ambitions than P and P's, but they provide enough game play for someone who has full time day job and is playing a bit on the week ends between their family and friends commitments - AND they have MONEY to spare
That's the difference - 2 releases/month in smaller playable 20-30 min chunks
How did they do it?
NLT got enough funding (somehow from somewhere) to fund devs/artists to do 2 release / month for a year! It paid off in a big way!
