VN Ren'Py Where the Heart Is [S1 v2024-09-06 BETA] [CheekyGimp]

[Skylaroo]

chance of success from 100% down to 80%

I'm going to call it now. There's 0% chance it's a success.

I think even without the incentive this request should be accepted,

It "should" be accepted, but unfortunately, it's not going to happen.

The problem is that adhering to request/rule is against the basic concept of piracy itself. There are 557 patrons at the moment, if the leaker is actually someone who regularly leaks, then they'd leak it because it's what they do. It has nothing to do with agreeing or disagreeing with the actual request.

Note: I'm not the one leaking WTHI, so I have no active role in this.

 

[Floga]

There are 557 patrons at the moment, if the leaker is actually someone who regularly leaks, then they'd leak it because it's what they do.

The leaker probably leaks because of all the appreciation and the 'hero-calling' he/she gets. But this time, if they do so they'll likely be hated upon and called a villain because of the perks offered by Cheeky. If the intention of the person is just to spite Cheeky, then they might do it nonetheless. But, if it is to feel good and be called a hero, they might not do it this time because they'll be the centre of all the hate.

 

[Skylaroo]

The leaker probably leaks because of all the appreciation and the 'hero-calling' he/she gets.

I personally doubt this as they stay anonymous only known by the mods.

But to be clear, I'd be more than happy to be wrong on my prediction.

 

[DrFog]

I personally doubt this as they stay anonymous only known by the mods.

But to be clear, I'd be more than happy to be wrong on my prediction.

Only when they do it properly by reporting the OP. A lot of people just drop a link and a changelog/Patreon post in the thread.

 

[Floga]

You must be registered to see the links

episode 8

I personally doubt this as they stay anonymous only known by the mods.

I don't know about the previous one's but I was online when the last episode was leaked and it wasn't anonymous as you can see.

 

[CheekyGimp]

Just pointing out that the leak starts with a patron of yours. Wouldn't it be better to discuss this with the Patrons and offer a reward?
It feels like we get the shaft for a decision made by your patron. And not all the links we get are leaked here. Sometimes they are found at other sites.

I'm offering you some insight here. Appeal to your patrons because that is where the leak starts.

Nobody's getting "shafted" with this proposal. This is a reward scheme. I think if someone gets a "free" pirated version as soon as it comes out and then they happen to miss out on some extra "free" content from me, it's not really something I'd consider getting shafted!
And I obviously send a message to my patrons with every release appealing for them not to re-distibrute!

 

[Bonhomie]

Being an old age pensioner with limited tech savvy, let me see if I understand this correctly.
The developer sends or lets his patrons download the next episode, and one or more of them then 'passes' it on to sites like this one for free?
From the sound of it, that person/patron can upload to here with some degree of anonymity.

Leaving aside the motives behind that, does the upload immediately become available to all, or do the staff/mods here have to vet/clear/allow it through?

I have seen the updated Windows page of new releases and the 'Latest Updates' tab here. The former seems to be a more official announcing, which I guess has gone through some form of staff doctoring?

Can the staff here not block the upload for 4/5 days or does that go against the ethos or principles of the site?

 

[Skylaroo]

Can the staff here not block the upload for 4/5 days or does that go against the ethos or principles of the site?

As far as I remember from what happened with chapter 8, the answer is that it goes against the principles of the site.

 

[Floga]

Can the staff here not block the upload for 4/5 days or does that go against the ethos or principles of the site?

They don't do that. As soon as someone posts a link or sends it to one of the mods to stay anonymous, the mods update it.
But if you ask me, I'd love for them to implement a rule that allows them to adhere to the devs requests as long as they are reasonable. I mean, no one is losing out on anything by doing this are they?
Sure this stands against everything the site is, that is piracy. But it could be more is what I'm saying.

 

[IndigoHawk]

Let's say f95 says "You are offering a reward, so we'll hold your game for a week before releasing it to encourage people to sign up." The problem is another site that doesn't give a crap will leak immediately, and people will migrate away from f95 because some content is better than none.

People want content quickly and will go where they can get it. Maybe f95 could hold it for a day, two at most, but even that will test patience and loyalty while hurting f95's reputation.

Also, how much of a problem are the leaks? The game is still growing, a clear indication that the updates have been good and people like it enough to support it. Yeah, it would be nice if more people signed up, but personally I feel like the organic growth for this game is actually pretty decent compared to some of its peers.

If people start yelling at each other or resenting the dev for missing out on bonuses, the negativity and controversy could overshadow what's going on in the actual game. This game has (I think) a reasonable amount of goodwill, and it doesn't seem worth burning it to fight the internet.

But I understanding feeling annoyed and disrespected by having the game immediately pirated, so good luck. At least this idea has a carrot.

 

[Lucifer_Morningstar]

Hey folks,

Just a quick update to say that Episode 9 is still on track for a 10th January update.
It will be released for $10 patrons first, then 1 week later for $5 patrons and then another week later for everyone else (public release).
I am fully expecting it to be pirated and available on this site much sooner than the "official" public release date.

I will not make an appeal for people to not pirate this release, because it's basically what F95 is all about. However, I am going to ask that out of a bit respect / support for myself and @Aeilion(and to show some appreciation for the game and the level of time/effort that we put into it), that you do not upload immediately.

So if possible, what I would ask is that you hold off pirating/uploading for 4-5 days after the initial release. It still means that the uploader will get the accolades from the F95 community as it will still be 9-10 days earlier than they would normally get it! (and my patrons get to see some reward for their money)
It would be much appreciated.

And as an added incentive (or bribe/threat depending on how you view it ), once WTHI is complete, I am going to create a "bonus" episode (or 2 episodes depending on size). This episode(s) will have some extra scenes (current goal is 9 or 10) that will not need to adhere to Patreon guidelines (as it will be released here and not on Patreon). There will obviously be lots of fun scenarios that can play out in these scenes that wouldn't make it through Patreon's safety net.
I'll even take requests (based on F95 polls) for some of these scenarios.

However for every future Episode of WTHI that gets released here before my 4-5 day wait request.... I'll cut one of these special scenes and they'll never be seen/experienced.

I'm hoping this will appeal to some people (waiting an extra few days for your pirated copy but with the incentive of extra/bonus/uncensored material after the game). I'll let you decide what's of more value.
I'm hoping this mutual incentive works out for us all, but if not, then at least I have two less (free) episodes that I need to worry about creating!

Thanks for reading,

CG

@CheekyGimp What will the bonus episodes be like? Some totally new different parallel earth scenario or few months into the future after WTHI finishes? I hope its the latter. Anyway, I have to hand it to you, brilliant move, I am looking at this move by you, not at all as a threat, but as a BRIBE. I mean, come on obviously you can't threaten pirates, they live their life the way they want. So the best you can do is to bribe them. I am not asking you to be a man/woman of your word, but are you really gonna deliver on your bribe with that Bonus episode? I am conflicted. But my friend, brilliant use of psychology, bribe them if you can't beat them. I guess only time shall reveal what kinds of elements you are made of. Out of all the love I have for Monica and WTHI, because of it being such a great game, Number 1 on my list alongside DOD, I hereby promise to not download the game after its initial release, even if its leaked here. For fuck sake, lets say, I am gonna wait till atleast 16th. Doing this, just because I know that you deliver, when its about updates. Take Care.

 

[TheorPhys]

Well, i can understand why dev wants to hold game's leak. But this desicion...i don't know. Okay, pirates will suffer if additional content will not be present. But also actual patrons too! Just imagine, what if u are good patron, who just play the game, when it releases, and doesn't upload it on piracy sites. It affects them too. Collateral damage? I'm sure i become angry of this.
Bad truth is that you can not stop the piracy. But you can be a good dev who respects his patreon community and doesn't care about pirates.

 

[Bonhomie]

You cannot blame the developer for trying to protect his work.
I do feel that guilting the leaking patron is the only way that this will work though - he is subscribing and therefore contributing to the productivity of CheekyGimp. So the leaker is undermining his investment as he will not see the extra scenes at the end of the story.
In fact if CG is talking about some 9 extra scenes, we have to consider how long the story has to run? If it gets monthly updates this year then which all get leaked, then there will be ZERO extra scenes for the leaker and all of his patrons.
Especially as I would guess, given the Christmas/December non-collection of payments, that these extras would be a quick freebie at the end, rather than a milking of extra monthly payments.

So it seems to me the dreaded Leaker will be a masochistic idiot if he doesn't wait the 4/5 days as requested.

 

[Akamari]

Looks like blackmail tag is becoming relevant.

Now, I personally don't care if the update is leaked tomorrow or in five days, but like others said I think this is a deal that should be offered to the patrons not here. I bet whoever leaks it will be oblivious (or ignorant) to this gentlemen's agreement and that person will then be subjected to hate where he would otherwise be venerated. IMO this is not a good way how to recruit patrons, I'd be concerned about it doing more harm than good. The "If all of you behave you'll get reward, if one of you fucks up, you'll all get punished" hardly ever works.

Let's go with a hypocritical scenario. What about some of your patrons who might not be members of this site? Won't they miss out? Will you encourage them to join a pirate site?

 

[Aeilion]

Looks like blackmail tag is becoming relevant.

Now, I personally don't care if the update is leaked tomorrow or in five days, but like others said I think this is a deal that should be offered to the patrons not here. I bet whoever leaks it will be oblivious (or ignorant) to this gentlemen's agreement and that person will then be subjected to hate where he would otherwise be venerated. IMO this is not a good way how to recruit patrons, I'd be concerned about it doing more harm than good. The "If all of you behave you'll get reward, if one of you fucks up, you'll all get punished" hardly ever works.

Let's go with a hypocritical scenario. What about some of your patrons who might not be members of this site? Won't they miss out? Will you encourage them to join a pirate site?

I will tend to see things like this:

"If all of you behave you'll get the reward you deserve (or almost...) and a bonus for all (and free), if one of you fucks up, I can unfortunately do nothing and it does not motivate me for the bonus offered free. But that does not change anything about what you have right now."

For your last sentence: Discord? There is even a website as a possibility and surely other possible solutions.

 

[Akamari]

I will tend to see things like this:

"If all of you behave you'll get the reward you deserve (or almost...) and a bonus for all (and free), if one of you fucks up, I can unfortunately do nothing and it does not motivate me for the bonus offered free. But that does not change anything about what you have right now."

For your last sentence: Discord? There is even a website as a possibility and surely other possible solutions.

You know how it is: if you offer a bonus, people will take for granted. If you retract the offer because someone fucks up, people who did nothing wrong will be upset. It does sound like sowing discord among your playerbase to me.

 

[Sion.Savior]

No Update since "Updated: 2018-11-07 ".. to bad...

 

[Daken9]

No Update since "Updated: 2018-11-07 ".. to bad...

Literally 2 pages ago there's only people talking about the update coming tomorrow (or the 15, if people play nice). And literally 2 posts up from yours they're talking about the update

Jesus H

 

[Bonhomie]

and with one post, someone shows why the discussion about 'good behaviour' is totally irrelevant ……………

 

[SecretSal]

Let's go with a hypocritical scenario. What about some of your patrons who might not be members of this site? Won't they miss out? Will you encourage them to join a pirate site?

So where's the hypocrisy?
But seriously, I don't see how anybody's encouraged to join pirate sites under this scheme. If the reward criteria isn't met, no one gets those scenes, whether patrons or pirates. And if they do get made, he's not exactly going to withhold the bonus scenes from his own Patreon crowd.

Considering the last few episodes have been leaked here almost immediately, and still the number of patrons keeps increasing, it would suggest that most of them value being part of the process and contributing to development, rather than just getting their hands on the goodies as fast as possible.

It's an interesting move. I'm not particularly hopeful, since I doubt the users posting the leaks have the patience to delay instant gratification for the promise of long-term rewards. But nice to see that Cheeky's thinking on his feet.