No WIPs, No Tips - Or, how to stop getting ripped off by Patreon game developers

[ThatOneGuyDownHere]

Have you ever come across a game developer online that all but virtually paywalls even the most basic information and screenshots behind a $25 alpha testing tier that only gets sporadic updates once in a blue moon?

Time and time again, before and after I discovered this site, I have pledged money to creators I've liked online just so I can figure out what the heck this type of game they're developing and how good or bad it is. I'm blindly paying for what could either be a creative endeavor that holds a lot of promise and is regularly updated, or sCROWned projects that are put into development limbo and causes the page owner to block anybody asking them about it. No refunds.

And the funniest thing? There are people willing to enable this scummy practice by continuing to pledge to their Patrons.
Popular? Obscure? You'll make money anyway! Just slap Hot Furry Island Alpha 0.0.23 with the myopic "Join Now For $15" window and watch the suckers pour funding into your questionable project! Nobody would EVER call out such practices that would cause the gaming community to EXPLODE if a AAA or an indie company did the same thing with paywalling pre-release screenshots and trailers and gameplay videos, right?

See even ONE bit of a work in progress update behind a paywall?
Cancel your pledge, write "No WIPs, no tips" as the reason, and leave. Completely avoid projects you haven't pledged to that pull the same bullshit.
No matter if the said WIPs are targeted towards a specific tier, No honest Patreon game developer would do this.

We don't care if it's a $1 or $100 paywall, we are paying for your project and we deserve to make an informed choice on whether to pledge to you or not.

 

[turkler]

>I'm blindly paying for what could either be a creative endeavor that holds a lot of promise and is regularly updated, or sCROWned projects that are put into development limbo and causes the page owner to block anybody asking them about it. No refunds.

welcome to the Star Citizen model. you pay for a game every month, yes not a one time purchase like all normal singleplayer games but a subscription, you get what is an unfinished tech demo but with tits added on top.

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

Have you ever come across a game developer online that all but virtually paywalls even the most basic information and screenshots behind a $25 alpha testing tier that only gets sporadic updates once in a blue moon?

No, and I'd imagine such a dev wouldn't go far. Even good devs that communicate, update regularly and produce quality content can have trouble getting the financial support they need to go fulltime. But I'm a corruption fan of mostly 2D games, maybe it's different in the Daz incest harem scene. But you'd think that with such a glut of copy-paste assets, lazy tropes and recycled plots, devs would go above and beyond to stand out, including having good communication.

 

[Meaning Less]

Patronage is not a sale, you aren't buying anything, you are effectively donating away money to help the dev keep producing content.

If that is not the reason you are supporting someone you shouldn't be. On patreon you are not a client, you are a supporter.

Save your money and buy the game once it is completed instead if all you want is the finished product.

 

[Sphere42]

On patreon you are not a client, you are a supporter.

That might depend on local laws quite a bit. How many developed nations let you get away with not paying inheritance tax by transferring most of the wealth as a gift right before someone dies? Where can you get away with otherwise illegal prostitution by claiming it's a mutual exchange of gifts with no contractual obligations on either side? Why wouldn't any normal well-known shop abuse this loophole to shirk responsibilities or to avoid paying taxes? The instant someone paywalls anything on Patreon they're basically offering conventional purchases/subscriptions. Not that any major court would bother with such petty squabbles.

 

[sliveart777]

A patreon creator is actually not at all liable for producing a tangible product. If they sucker people in to support a scam, that's not anyone's fault but the person donating. Patreon is effectively a donation platform using a monthly subscription model.

But I think only a very small number of devs are actively trying to scam. The real problem is milkers. Creators who have enough funding to hire multiple people who continue to hoard money and trudge along at a snail's pace or even secretly abandoned the project already. Or there's the developer who has no ideas left so they're just feature creeping their only game into oblivion.

Take summertime saga for example. That game has been in development for what? Six years?There is no way it should take that long to make a simple VN. Its milking at its finest. The Legend of Queen Opala: Origins, Bones Tales: The Manor, there are quite a few examples of this.

But people continue to pay, whether it's out of gullibility or just a forgotten recurring payment, it's really the Patrons who are enabling this kind of dev.

 

[anne O'nymous]

That might depend on local laws quite a bit.

Not really.

How many developed nations let you get away with not paying inheritance tax by transferring most of the wealth as a gift right before someone dies?

It depend of the said wealth. In France by example, you can donate a part of your wealth to a member of your family without having to pay taxes. I don't remember the exact amount, but it should be something around 100,000€ every 10 years. For an average person it mean transferring most of your wealth.
I'm sure that the kind of law exist in most European countries, as well as in Canada and even more in the USA.

Where can you get away with otherwise illegal prostitution by claiming it's a mutual exchange of gifts with no contractual obligations on either side?

Globally speaking, everywhere. It's why escorts exist. Sex isn't part of the contract, you only pay for the company.
There's also the porn movie loophole. If it's legal to film porn movies in your country, a girl can perfectly put a camera in her room, ask for money for her to feature in this movie (having sex with you), then give you the movie. It's not prostitution, it's helping someone to make a homemade porn movie.

Why wouldn't any normal well-known shop abuse this loophole to shirk responsibilities or to avoid paying taxes?

What this have to do with the, "on patreon you are not a client, you are a supporter", that you quoted ?
Authors pay taxes over the pledges they receive, parts of Patreon service is even directly related to this. But this change absolutely nothing to what Meaning Less said, pledging on Patreon do not make you a client. You're a patron, and if there's a exploitable loophole here, it's not on the author's side.
I mean, most developed countries have patronage laws, and those permit you to reduce your taxes. Would it works or not, I don't know ; for that matter it's effectively a question of law, and I lack of knowledge on this particular point. But technically speaking, what you're doing when you pledge on Patreon is patronage so, well, it can possibly works. But it's obviously better to confirm this with a specialist before trying to deduce your pledges when you fill your taxes form.

The instant someone paywalls anything on Patreon they're basically offering conventional purchases/subscriptions.

No, they are basically following Patreon's rules, that require for any adult content to be behind paywall.

 

[Rafster]

Ok, I read on the title: "NO WHIPS, NO TIPS" and I thought that would be me

 

[GreenGobbo]

I donate irregularly and only to devs that don't have many supporters yet.
Thay said... if everything on their patreon is blocked off then yeah, not giving them a cent.
But again, don't do it often, and only will if I've already played a version of the game I found here and enjoyed it.
Shitty devs milking is just a thing that happens. Not much you can about it with the current system, and I'm willing to bet a lot of the folks getting milked probably don't even realize it. Like they signed up once ____ months/years back and kinda just forgot about it.

 

[darkduck09]

Of all the scummy practices to complain about that we see daily here on F95, this is the one you want to talk about?

 

[morphnet]

Have you ever come across a game developer online that all but virtually paywalls even the most basic information and screenshots behind a $25 alpha testing tier that only gets sporadic updates once in a blue moon?

No, most have a $1 -$5 entry level to unlock past and present posts.

Time and time again, before and after I discovered this site, I have pledged money to creators I've liked online just so I can figure out what the heck this type of game they're developing and how good or bad it is. I'm blindly paying for what could either be a creative endeavor that holds a lot of promise and is regularly updated, or sCROWned projects that are put into development limbo and causes the page owner to block anybody asking them about it. No refunds.

This is your own fault though, it doesn't matter if it's star citizen as someone else mentioned or being a dik, you can just google the name and read up on them. You also mention that it's "to creators I've liked online", creators don't usually change themes drastically often.

If you liked what they have done in the past then chances are good they are doing something similar and you should have an idea of "the heck this type of game they're developing" is, as for "how good or bad it is" only time will tell, some games start out good and go down hill and other have a rough start and end up great.

And the funniest thing? There are people willing to enable this scummy practice by continuing to pledge to their Patrons.
Popular? Obscure? You'll make money anyway! Just slap Hot Furry Island Alpha 0.0.23 with the myopic "Join Now For $15" window and watch the suckers pour funding into your questionable project! Nobody would EVER call out such practices that would cause the gaming community to EXPLODE if a AAA or an indie company did the same thing with paywalling pre-release screenshots and trailers and gameplay videos, right?

You keep exaggerating with $25 and $15 entry levels., I don't know what games you are looking at but most I've seen have $1 -$5 entry levels.
"AAA or an indie company did the same thing" you are being unrealistic here, those groups makes "socially acceptable" games, no one would complain seeing a EA racing or fps game advertised in a tv ad.... trying putting up WVM or wife at all costs on a tv ad and see where that gets you

See even ONE bit of a work in progress update behind a paywall?
Cancel your pledge, write "No WIPs, no tips" as the reason, and leave. Completely avoid projects you haven't pledged to that pull the same bullshit.
No matter if the said WIPs are targeted towards a specific tier, No honest Patreon game developer would do this.

Maybe if you read up abit and educated yourself, you might understand it's not up to the creators.....

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"As mentioned above, you can post nude creations on Patreon of both real and fictional subjects. Just be sure to mark posts with mature themes as “Patron Only” and ensure your page is flagged as 18+ if your content will feature such themes."

At the end of the day, you are not donating for a screenshot on the patreon page, you are donating for each update to the game and hopefully to support a dev working hard to make a game.

You want opinions, reviews, screenshots? = try f95 or google, YT, xvideo etc the games name
You want to support a dev = subscribe to the patreon / substar etc