That's the irony of it. You need money to do regular updates but you only get lots of money if you do regular updates.
There's some people I back on Patreon who actually seem to be doing very well for themselves but they also have inhuman update cycles (Grimdark Studios/Masters of Raana comes to mind who honestly makes updates faster than I can play them, but everyone with a weekly / biweekly *at least* monthly update schedule comes to mind)
It's just a hard reality that if you are any slower than 1 major update per month there is very little incentive for people to sub, rather than pay and unsub every 6months or so to get the latest build.
Not trying to be mean here - i'll probably chip in now that I know that there's actually a bottleneck and it's not throwing away money just to maaaybe see an update in a year (lots of us are burned from this, cuz lots of devs are like that) but if there's any way to cut back on coding perfection to speed up content delivery (and better yet, you start building a reputation for it), I reckon it'd go a long way for your bottom line.
Similar sentiment to where I am with the game. No one wants another Summertime situation. I understand it's a long shot but with these bottlenecks I hope the team in future could communicate as to which part of the process they're stuck at. I know it's always art, but knowing which one would also be helpful. My main point in mentioning this is that from our end it can be confusing where the hiccup is. To kind of provide a clearer explanation of this:
- The previously released roadmap shows locations, kissing, cuddling, headpat, group etc as whats upcoming before new characters are introduced
- We've seen previews of all the previously mentioned, with some being in what many would assume are final state based on their quality
- We receive the art for the new characters for chapter 2, cool
- We receive sex scene previews for the chapter 2 characters, ok.... where's the other stuff for 0.9 and 1.0? Guess it must be a coding thing or something else that's caused a hiccup.
- When people ask where the update is we're told it's an art issue. Now this is confusing, because did we not already have some of this content come out in previews in a nearly if not finished state? So why are chapter 2 characters also out already?
I don't mean to lay blame here, I'm just trying to explain why it's really confusing on our end what's going on. We've gotten art mentioned for 0.9, 1.0, and 1.1 releases, many of which seem finished. However, we're being told art is still the main hold up. I would believe several of us assumed these updates are long because of a - *shiver* tech overhaul - as new systems where previously mentioned as part of the reason for 1.0 delays and can explain the development time . But if art is the main holdup, then it begs the question:
1. Why is content for later updates being drawn if other art is needed for earlier planned releases?
2. If art is the hold up, what's going on on the technical side for new systems?
3. Lastly, what are the dev teams plans going forward? Are they sticking to the original plan or are plans changing.
Again, I don't mean to lay blame on anyone here, but to kind of highlight why people may also be hesitant on putting money into the patreon (if they're financially able to). Every patron is an investor. They're supporting the project because they want it to succeed, but also to have some sort of product released on a somewhat consistent basis. With the current way things are being communicated and handled, potential red flags as a patron I would see based on the last few months of development are:
1. No clear timeline (though understandable if not for 2)
2. Lack of communication on the specifics of the issues the dev team is facing. Saying Art is the holdup is confusing when previews are being released for content even further down the line, which leads to
3. Potential evidence of mismanagement of resources. Why is work being done for previously unmentioned content and later releases when the art of the next mentioned release is not done as per 2.
4. If 3 is not true, then 2 is still valid, what's going on?
I understand the dev teams situation, but the harsh truth is that if you want to increase the budget you have to factor in how potential patrons view your development cycle. People have already been burnt by a lot of other projects so they really need team to demonstrate that they can commit to the timelines they've set, don't get distracted with content creep (which I believe your team has also stated is why you've limited it to 3 heroines per chapter), and can make the decision to adjust the development cycle as necessary so that, while it may not be the most efficient, development still progresses and content is released to keep interest in the project.
TLDR: Hope there's clearer communication on what's going on, and if necessary a discussion on the current method of development as there are several potential red flags popping up from a potential patrons perspective
