VN Ren'Py Radiant [v0.6.3] [RK Studios]

[wookie ookie]

Those who can make a change are the patrons. The system is simple, if after 6 months (an absurd amount of time) with no significative update/work. The developer lost a sizable amount of his supporters then he would regularly update his game. This isn't the case. He doesn't update his game, yet his revenue stays the same. So, why would he work?

Those people don't help anyone, they destroy projects. They abuse the Patreon system. We go from AVNs to render/report company and the pigeons are happy about it otherwise they would simply unsubscribe with one click.

They are not the victims, far from it. They are the ones responsible for the situation. Not the Patreon system or developers, but the ones who approve of this endeavor via their wallet.

As long as there are pigeons wasting money each month for the strict minimum with some render/report then the developers will keep producing the strict minimum.

Very very well Said now if the pigeons would hear that and drop support by 50-75% next month the massage would be sent

 

[virtuvoid]

Those who can make a change are the patrons. The system is simple, if after 6 months (an absurd amount of time) with no significative update/work. The developer lost a sizable amount of his supporters then he would regularly update his game. This isn't the case. He doesn't update his game, yet his revenue stays the same. So, why would he work?

Those people don't help anyone, they destroy projects. They abuse the Patreon system. We go from AVNs to render/report company and the pigeons are happy about it otherwise they would simply unsubscribe with one click.

They are not the victims, far from it. They are the ones responsible for the situation. Not the Patreon system or developers, but the ones who approve of this endeavor via their wallet.

As long as there are pigeons wasting money each month for the strict minimum with some render/report then the developers will keep producing the strict minimum.

This is fantasy.
Patreon, and other payment processors, make profit. Devs make more profit than otherwise by often doing less work for equal pay (we can agree on that). But long-term supporters are the ones "abusing the system". Hilarious! Fools certainly, but scammed fools. Victims.

Only a deep-seated animosity towards these supporters can explain why otherwise logical-seeming people would actually believe such nonsense.
If only all supporters could join together and make demands with one voice--a Union--could the present non-viable situation change for the better. Sure it would, but don't hold your breath.

At best, if all players would adhere to enlightened, short-term self interest, what would be the outcome? Everyone would be a pirate!

No more indie AVNs would result.

 

[☆ ～ ♡ ٠ Ichika ٠ ♡ ～☆]

In this situation, the platform should create a simple regulatory tool. For game developers, if there are no updates for 2 months, then the paid subscribers are automatically reset.

 

[virtuvoid]

In this situation, the platform should create a simple regulatory tool. For game developers, if there are no updates for 2 months, then the paid subscribers are automatically reset.

Good idea in theory. But not remotely practical.
In the Patreon system, there are NO subscribers. Just patrons. As such, all the non-canon stuff (wallpapers, Discord) counts as content equal to a game update. That way, patrons can't say they received nothing for months on end. A scam rebranded.
Many Devs have further abused things. SirD is set to join the Hall of Shame abusers' club.

 

[elver galarge]

I really need an "abandoned Tag"

 

[virtuvoid]

I really need an "abandoned Tag"

Very likely it will be coming to a time-zone near you very soon.

 

[RNasc4444]

Many Devs have further abused things. SirD is set to join the Hall of Shame abusers' club.

What bothers me is Alorth getting hit with the stink of that ill reputation when, as far as I know, he keeps working on several projects without missing deadlines or some such. On the other hand, I have no sympathy left for SirD.

 

[Man_0f_Culture]

Again, it ain't mainly the Devs. They have been handed an enormous "sweet spot" by Patreon and other recurring payment rentiers. This system was devised by the middle-men payment processors, not the Devs.

I really can't see a practical alternative. If all players were to go the tip-jar route--as I do--revenue would be way down. Piracy is already a huge problem and would just rise. Far fewer AVNs would be that future.
I don't know the ins and outs of how a Dev-team shares revenue. But if there exists mainly a gig economy, most contribtors (others than main Devs) would actually have to do work for pay. The main Devs would then have to spend a lot of time just assembling a newish set of gig-workers for each game update. Huge and potentially project ending problems.
So, the only viable solution I can see is to go a mini and monthly update route. Something similar already occurs with many other types of Patreon content-creators. If players are "lucky", ~6 mini-updates would equate to a full update. The other major plus would be Dev-teams would actually have to put in more continuous work.
For those of us who contribute little, as I do, or nothing to criticize the long-term paying supporters is nuts.
Call them simps, call them naifs. So, even if I agree logically, so fucking what? But only a system that produces profit for the House (Patreon et al.) will be viable. Without this very small (most players are pirates after all) high-paying group, there would be no AVNs.
The present arrangement is a sweet spot for pirates, too. But all non-pirates would like that changed.

The alternative would be a sort of escrow system where the dev only actually get the money in exchange for the actual update. You would need to have a clear set of guidelines on what is to be expected, people put money into the pot and it's based on a per update thing. Where some objective 3rd party or democratic system is used to determine whether or not the requirements for the money have been met.

Right now it's basically just, "were just going to throw money at you in hopes you eventually get off your ass and do something". With a little parasocial relationship on the side to make you further empathize with the developer, a Discord thrown in so you have some sense of community, as well as a place for your most ardent simps supporters to congregate and circlejerk blindly praise provide feedback on your monthly wallapapers development progress.

The current system heavily, heavily, incentivizes devs to be as slow as they can possibly get away with while maintaining as many Patrons as possible. It's also milking a lot of people for a little money instead of a few for a lot of money. People are far more willing to ignore the $1-$5 a month in exchange for nothing. They might not even notice after a while. Although you could be damn sure if a single person was giving all the money they would be breathing down their necks. So not only does the system incentivise devs being as slow as possible it also distriubtes the cost in a way which means each patron has extremely little actual monetary investment and the cost to them of the devs extremely slow pace is almost nothing.

If you give somone $5 a month, a wallpaper doesn't seem so bad. If you give them $10,000 and get a wallpaper in return, things are going to get very unpleasant very quickly. It is a system which incentivises the worst behavior from devs and the least amount of accountability from those paying them. Which is why this same thing happens over, and over, and over, and over again. And there will always be those who scramble to justify and defend the behavior every time as though it's somehow any different. 99% of the time, the more money a dev makes on Patreon (despite whatever their supporter goals may claim), the slower the update cadence. Past a certain threshold it's almost a guarantee. This behavior has only gotten more common as others see this scenario happen and go "why aren't I doing this!". As long as this payment model is the primary way of financing development and paying devs, this will continue to happen.

But as you said, most of the people who are paying seem to have no problem with being milked to ridiculous degrees and the devs certainly have no problem with it. It's mostly us freeloaders who just want more content and less BS excuses who don't like it. If people didn't absuse the system it would work well for everyone but alas, greed exists and as they say "there is a sucker born every minute"

 

[yltohawk]

For all of you hoping for an abandoned tag here is a little insight. An abandoned tag is given after 18 mo. of not posting an update even though he is active with wallpapers and the like.

 

[Joshy92]

For all of you hoping for an abandoned tag here is a little insight. An abandoned tag is given after 18 mo. of not posting an update even though he is active with wallpapers and the like.

It's 18 months with no update or three months with no communication from the dev

Edit - Turns out he hasn't even had any new posts on patreon since August
Don't know about discord tho because I don't have that

 

[DarkSaitama]

It's 18 months with no update or three months with no communication from the dev

Edit - Turns out he hasn't even had any new posts on patreon since August
Don't know about discord tho because I don't have that

Why do people still support him on Patreon? If someone has discord link can share it.

 

[virtuvoid]

What bothers me is Alorth getting hit with the stink of that ill reputation when, as far as I know, he keeps working on several projects without missing deadlines or some such. On the other hand, I have no sympathy left for SirD.

Alorth made a post a few months ago whereby he nuked any suggestions that SirD might pause supporter payments. No good rep left after that.

 

[virtuvoid]

It's 18 months with no update or three months with no communication from the dev

Edit - Turns out he hasn't even had any new posts on patreon since August
Don't know about discord tho because I don't have that

Going radio-silent 3 consecutive months is the threshold.
Last communication August 11. This is what's got people stirred up.

 

[dolfe67]

It's not only communication on patreon, if a mod directly contacts dammed and he answers, then it won't have the abandoned tag. Only after 18 months of no update but he can just release a "beta" to reset the counter

 

[Joshy92]

I just hope the game continues
And starts getting updated regularly
I have become attached to this story, and I want to see how it ends

 

[virtuvoid]

It's not only communication on patreon, if a mod directly contacts dammed and he answers, then it won't have the abandoned tag. Only after 18 months of no update but he can just release a "beta" to reset the counter

It's fairly common that someone in the F95Zone Staff has inside information regarding any VN.
If an assurance has been given by a Dev that a news flash regarding a specific project is on-the-way, there could be a delay with the Abandoned tag. But only by a few days.

 

[Squark ⚧❤️]

Don't know about discord tho because I don't have that

They're barely active on Discord, as well. Mostly their channels are cat memes and ads for other people's games.

 

[wookie ookie]

They're barely active on Discord, as well. Mostly their channels are cat memes and ads for other people's games.

Nothing is going to change until supporters open eyes and stop support, would be nice to see 75% drop at least that would send message. Last Patreon & SS check no new wallpapers or anything Nov.11 should have been 3 months not sure about other channels

 

[Maviarab]

Just report the OP ---> Other---> As per site rules require abandoned tag.

 

[PervySageKem]

Can anyone explain what are the main differences between Pure, Lust and Dark playthroughs? Can you have different playthroughs for different characters, or are your stats affecting everyone?