DuckDairyDip

Well-Known Member
Feb 21, 2018
1,050
1,468
I'll give a snippet. At the end of every month (pay day) 20-30% Patrons leave and then may rejoin to get the new release. I suspect this group is the most susceptible to pirated alternatives. Three months ago, the game leaked after three hours- in the first week only 4% joined/rejoined. By the end of the month it was 10%. Two months ago, the game didn't leak for 12 days. In those 12 days 17% had joined/rejoined. By the end of the month it was 33%. Last month the game leaked immediately- 2% joined/rejoined in the first two weeks. Looks like a correlation to me.
On top of that is the month on month growth- if the number of Patrons should be going up anyway due to new joiners, then the number of Patrons not rejoining (potentially because of the leak) is even worse.

Did you really think piracy doesn' t affect takeup?
Saying piracy doesn't affect it at all would be a foolish take. Piracy in itself isn't a 1:1 ratio of loss sales because some people will pirate regardless. Quick leaks like what happaned with v18.0 today I am sure do affect it due to ease of access to people who might have been willing to pay, granted I am sure some will still pay regardless. My focus is on the 17% and 25% figures mentioned plus actual proof to back it up to give solid evidence. I was hoping to get more in-depth info or graphs and such and it is hard to actually determine correlation from just a handful of events, but I will take your word at least that there is a good chunk of people who may not rejoin or join. Also, I do agree with others about changing it to not be public until 7-10 days instead of several weeks. Most other games I see people don't bother leaking since the sentiment is, "The game is coming in just a few days anyway." Nearly a whole month afterwards makes people impatient for better or worse. And I even see more vitriol towards people who do leak when the public release is only like a week after the early release.
 

slowburngames

Member
Game Developer
Oct 3, 2021
160
1,582
Have you tried changing your business model up a bit? Maybe try something like the following and post it both here and on patron.
Just an example, but set release dates and see if it helps:

High tier June 3rd
Mid tier June 5th
Low tier June 7th
Free release June 10

If you are having issues, it wouldn't hurt to at least try it and see if it helps. I am just using phony dates, but this might be encourage patrons not to leak, plus freeloaders to wait a little less. Hoping no one leaks for 3 or 4 weeks is probably optimal for you, but not realistic during hard times for all.
I am willing to cooperate to solve the issue. But until the offenders (the leakers) comment then it's academic.
 

Turret

Forum Fanatic
Jun 23, 2017
4,193
7,171
Do you think that would make a difference?
If I changed my release model so that it became public after a week, would people on this site stop leaking it?
Well, ViperGTts151 ?
While there is never a 100% surety, I can speak about what I see in various F95 threads. If your game is well-received there will always be some leaks, but the dynamic changes much if a public release comes after a month or a week.
Most times the people and fans will not bother to leak since the free release is just about a week away. Even if it is leaked, a majority will download it not quickly, but over the coming days as they have time and often keep a self-imposed shut out time. If the public release is a month away, you can be rest assured many will be tempted by a leaked release.
And there some other things playing a role. In the case of well-liked or (as in your case) needing the money dearly developers releasing the public about a week after patreon release, leakers are often treated with disdain and vitriol for not honouring the unwritten rules. (Exceptions proofing the norm)

I am the writer of the Misfits loyal Clara walkthrough, so it is quite obvious that I am interested in your game. I boycott Patreon, who I loath with a passion, so I cannot support you currently. I am a hobby writer myself and I cannot abide how Patreon treats and nudges the people bringing in the money for them
 

Oh my

Member
Dec 25, 2019
382
452
Do you think that would make a difference?
If I changed my release model so that it became public after a week, would people on this site stop leaking it?
Well, ViperGTts151 ?
Primarily, Patreon is for donations or rewards.
It's a numbers game (you will not catch all the fish in the sea: only some).
This is the place that has the numbers.
That's the core model.

Extra benefits are nice, but some are unreliable while others are more reliable.
Some benefits can be leaked.
Some benefits can not be leaked.
I'm pretty sure most Patrons understand this.
They can't blame you for other people leaking it.
It doesn't hurt for leakable benefits to still be there: after all it is still intended for them; and it is ultimately the most reliable access to content: devoid of codependance.

Your Patrons mostly enjoy knowing that they're supporting someone they think deserves it.
 

Alter541

Newbie
Nov 15, 2022
64
127
Do you think that would make a difference?
If I changed my release model so that it became public after a week, would people on this site stop leaking it?
Well, ViperGTts151 ?
Piracy is something that all game makers have to deal with it. I'd advise you to consult other developers about what strategies worked for them. I'm not a dev but one strategy that may work would be increasing the price for first day release. My assumption is that people who pay more to access it on Patreon are less likely to leak it early. You can also delay releases if a game gets leaked early and also state that that's the reason the next release is being delayed. These are just my suggestions. Do understand that they may backfire. I wish you good luck dev.
 

T-N

Member
Aug 22, 2018
457
285
anybody got a mega for 2? 1 and 3, but not 2. things that make ya go, "huh"
 

SonsOfLiberty

Post Pro
Compressor
Sep 3, 2022
23,141
193,211
Misfits [Part 3 v18.0] [Slow Burn Games]

COMPRESSED:

Win/Linux:


- - -

Mac:

- - -
 

Oh my

Member
Dec 25, 2019
382
452
So I'm probably halfway through part 2 and don't understand what the Incest is in this game.

All it is, is Eric all over MC's Mom: no Options.
 
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Pedro69

Newbie
Jun 26, 2018
46
219
Saying piracy doesn't affect it at all would be a foolish take. Piracy in itself isn't a 1:1 ratio of loss sales because some people will pirate regardless. Quick leaks like what happaned with v18.0 today I am sure do affect it due to ease of access to people who might have been willing to pay, granted I am sure some will still pay regardless. My focus is on the 17% and 25% figures mentioned plus actual proof to back it up to give solid evidence. I was hoping to get more in-depth info or graphs and such and it is hard to actually determine correlation from just a handful of events, but I will take your word at least that there is a good chunk of people who may not rejoin or join. Also, I do agree with others about changing it to not be public until 7-10 days instead of several weeks. Most other games I see people don't bother leaking since the sentiment is, "The game is coming in just a few days anyway." Nearly a whole month afterwards makes people impatient for better or worse. And I even see more vitriol towards people who do leak when the public release is only like a week after the early release.
Lol so you were hoping for slowburn to give you a random person questioning that their business is hurting due to an early leak exact numbers of people and take the time to make graphs and stuff just to prove to you that they have a reason to be upset... priceless.
 
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Oh my

Member
Dec 25, 2019
382
452
Alright, well, that was not for me.
It was effectively a waste of time and data for me.
Piracy is justifiable with media (especially here) because you don't know what you're getting.
Also most content is incomplete as well as saleable upon completion.
 

DuckDairyDip

Well-Known Member
Feb 21, 2018
1,050
1,468
Lol so you were hoping for slowburn to give you a random person questioning that their business is hurting due to an early leak exact numbers of people and take the time to make graphs and stuff just to prove to you that they have a reason to be upset... priceless.
I wasn't expecting Slow Burn to release literally all the background info and stuff or have to create anything. Just figured Patreon gave some sort of metric to view these numbers on a month to month basis considering their monetization systems and to at least have some correlation between number of Patrons and money earned per month to back up his statements is all. Plus I figure Slow Burn or any dev would have some of their own documentation since this is their business whether they are full-time or not. When it comes to this subject, Slow Burn has nothing to prove to me or anyone else here because this is their business. Of course most devs would be upset their game release leaked, Slow Burn or any dev is justified in being upset regardless. I was just curious about the actual data since as I stated, statistically, you can't really make a correlation based on just a few events, you need a wider range and to account for different variables. So I was curious how an average developer's pay was affected by early leaks depending on when it leaked.
 

Wilwock

Member
Sep 26, 2021
296
745
I feel like the author has forgotten that one of the paths is meant to be Clara becoming corrupt without you enjoying it.

EDIT: He's actually sort of contradicting himself. Some thoughts he doesn't like Clara being molested, and in others he's implying he does.
 
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