Dripping
Well-Known Member
- Feb 16, 2019
- 1,354
- 3,352
So true! It's one of the biggest regrets of one of the other developers I follow, that she didn't manage to work some 2 or even 3 releases ahead of her next planned release. She wanted to, but didn't manage.
What she did right, was that she planned her entire storyline ahead, there's no Patreon interaction there, Patreons get *no* say in content to be added whatsoever. They do get to vote for bonus content, but that bonus content exists outside the storyline. In its core essence, it's a gallery you can unlock within the game, nothing more. She also can't write herself into a corner, because she already finished the storyline.
It's just that not working several releases ahead of her Patreons, means that even the smallest problem causes delays in her release schedule: there is no buffer, which results in two MAJOR detriments to even proceed with development. And make no mistake, it's very hard for any developer to get past these.
1. Dealing with the problem itself. Mistakes in renders, costly hardware failures, even spelling mistakes, can be very frustrating. A developer wants to move forward, not repeat the same thing because there was one little mistake, or because a hard disk crashed and ate the last 500 renders. It's very tempting for a developer to throw the gauntlet and say "Fuck it" when mistakes and disasters start to stack up.
2. Dealing with the players. Release even a day later than planned, and you'll see people complain that you're a scam. And that's on top of the stress about the problems already at hand. At this point, the developer already considered "Fuck it". These kind of players will only add "Fuck them" to the list of considerations about whether to proceed or quit.
Add enough demands and complaints, a lack of actual Patrons, sprinkle some more problems on top, and you'll find a good reason why several developers quit.
Yes, there are definitely scams and idiots in this market. But there are also several well meaning, good developers burning out from a simple lack of support.
