Would you be willing to support a Dev who releases on a Tri-monthy/Bi-monthly schedule instead of Monthly?

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

Tbh, not really. I know its pretty much standard all around. But.. There is no way Im paying more than I do for AAA games, for a game that isnt done, and might never be. And the second you think youve paid enough, and stop payments, you loose out. Dont have a game, dont have access, dont get anything for having paid. Patreon is pretty much a hellpit for the customer. I understand how good it can be for a developer, but Im not one.

One time donation, sure.. I wouldnt mind. As long as it includes full access for the entirety of the development. Aka an actual game purchase.

Monthly.. forget it, not with what you get back. Monthly payments, im pretty much expecting excellent work, fully dedicated developer. Fantastic storyline, and good engine and grafics... I would expect WOW level of game (at its release) for monthly payments. That does include playtime/content and replayability.

The whole point of Patreon is not to buy a product; if you want that, go to Amazon or wherever and buy a different game.
Patreon is all about supporting a creator, think of it a bit like Kickstarter, you are helping someone achieve their dream of building something that otherwise would take years or never even happen.

 

[Belle]

I have to disagree with those of you saying that you can't do quality releases monthly without going fulltime. I do monthly releases for Long Live the Princess and have done so for nearly two full years now. I have a fulltime job, so I can only work on the game in my spare time. While the updates I release for LLtP aren't huge, they are still significant enough for monthly releases and maintain a high level of quality (just look at the patch notes to see how few hotfixes I've had to make over these two years).

While monthly releases are obviously not for everyone, it's not a good idea to start the whole process with the kind of defeatist attitude that it's impossible to do.

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

I have to disagree with those of you saying that you can't do quality releases monthly without going fulltime. I do monthly releases for Long Live the Princess and have done so for nearly two full years now. I have a fulltime job, so I can only work on the game in my spare time. While the updates I release for LLtP aren't huge, they are still significant enough for monthly releases and maintain a high level of quality (just look at the patch notes to see how few hotfixes I've had to make over these two years).

While monthly releases are obviously not for everyone, it's not a good idea to start the whole process with the kind of defeatist attitude that it's impossible to do.

It's different though for different types of games.
Openworld or sandbox games can have stuff added to them quite regularly and quite easily.
Episodic games take a lot more work and a lot more planning to achieve.
It's just not realistic to bunch them together in terms of release schedules.

 

[Nottravis]

I have to disagree with those of you saying that you can't do quality releases monthly without going fulltime. I do monthly releases for Long Live the Princess and have done so for nearly two full years now. I have a fulltime job, so I can only work on the game in my spare time. While the updates I release for LLtP aren't huge, they are still significant enough for monthly releases and maintain a high level of quality (just look at the patch notes to see how few hotfixes I've had to make over these two years).

While monthly releases are obviously not for everyone, it's not a good idea to start the whole process with the kind of defeatist attitude that it's impossible to do.

I dislike disagreeing with you Belle, as I think your work is superb (to the extent there is even a small hat-tip to you in one of my chapters), but as Thea says it's two different genres really. My last chapter was some 30,000 words of dialogue and 800 renders. A literal visual novel at that scale.

So I would concur with in respect of a sandbox game but not across the board.

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

I dislike disagreeing with you Belle, as I think your work is superb (to the extent there is even a small hat-tip to you in one of my chapters), but as Thea says it's two different genres really. My last chapter was some 30,000 words of dialogue and 800 renders. A literal visual novel at that scale.

So I would concur with in respect of a sandbox game but not across the board.

Spoiler

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

 

[baneini]

Devs forcing monthly updates often mean you have to skip months before it's worth it to revisit their game.
The standard is you're forced to redownload entire game rather than just the patch which incentives waiting.
If the game has many paths that are developed simultaneously that means that path you're most interested in might not even be updated that month so better wait.

For the monthly patreon pandering model to work you need guy working full time on a renpy game about premade daz models being posed in already finished rooms + empty dialogue, with very restricted paths or possibly a text only rpgm game. For anything else the optimal is 2-5 patches a year so each time you revisit a game it has meaningful amount of content.
Who wants to start up a game for 5 mins of content they dont necessarily like?

 

[Akamari]

If the game has many paths that are developed simultaneously that means that path you're most interested in might not even be updated that month so better wait.

This a good point. Games with branching paths in particular need more time between updates to make sure all the major paths can progress. If there are, say, 4 main paths (girls) an update should be released only when there is something for each of them.

Playable update should be for everyone and not just those who are lucky to favor the girl that gets the focus.

 

[PJWhoopie]

The whole point of Patreon is not to buy a product; if you want that, go to Amazon or wherever and buy a different game.
Patreon is all about supporting a creator, think if it a bit like Kickstarter, you are helping someone achieve their dream of building something that otherwise would take years or never even happen.

I agree to a point. One person putting their heart and soul into a game trying to make it... yes! +++

But when you see those that have been at it a while, and a deriving $20,000-$60,000 PER MONTH...

I'd say we've helped them realize that dream... and well... if you can't put out SOMETHING monthly, get some help so that you can... seed back into other's dreams, so to speak.

No offense meant to anyone.

 

[Winterfire]

Tbh, not really. I know its pretty much standard all around. But.. There is no way Im paying more than I do for AAA games, for a game that isnt done, and might never be. And the second you think youve paid enough, and stop payments, you loose out. Dont have a game, dont have access, dont get anything for having paid. Patreon is pretty much a hellpit for the customer. I understand how good it can be for a developer, but Im not one.

One time donation, sure.. I wouldnt mind. As long as it includes full access for the entirety of the development. Aka an actual game purchase.

Monthly.. forget it, not with what you get back. Monthly payments, im pretty much expecting excellent work, fully dedicated developer. Fantastic storyline, and good engine and grafics... I would expect WOW level of game (at its release) for monthly payments. That does include playtime/content and replayability.

You got patreon wrong, it is not a shop, you are not paying for a product.

You are just gifting money to a developer to improve the game you like, a donation, basically.

Patreon allows you to give something back to the people who donate, be it an early release or a shirt or anything else but it is not a shop.

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

You got patreon wrong, it is not a shop, you are not paying for a product.

You are just gifting money to a developer to improve the game you like, a donation, basically.

Patreon allows you to give something back to the people who donate, be it an early release or a shirt or anything else but it is not a shop.

Think of it as a virtual tip jar, but with rewards (depending on the dev of course)

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

If the game has many paths that are developed simultaneously that means that path you're most interested in might not even be updated that month so better wait.

A perfect example of this kind of thing working well is Runey and Harem Hotel. Runey always makes sure that each main girl gets at least one event for each release of the game, some might get more, but this is usually tied in with multiple characters all interacting together for one big story.

 

[Turret]

I do/have give/n monetary support to Devs doing monthly updates and those with longer intervalls. Both types have their prs and cons. Longer intervals give more content, shorter updates keep the interest more alive and and and.
But that is not really the point, just personal preferences: what you need are honest developers. For instance, the Devs of "Star Traders: Frontiers" made a great mix of space rpg with 4Ex, with tons of free updates since alpha release. One of the best supports I did over time. Fun game, honest, dedicated devs, allaround winwin.

But then we have the dark side of the devs, guys like gumdrop of "Dual Family" infamy. A lazy, proven(!) liar of a dev, multiple delays with assinine excuses, last update 1.5 years ago. His fame/infamy lies in the fact that he somehow still has thousands of $ each month for nothing. The King of Milkers has annouced a new release date and the discussion is only about what stupid new excuse he will use when he delays anew.

 

[megaplayboy10k]

My preference would be: monthly for bug fixes and very minor adjustments, bimonthly for modest or minor content adds(one character path, e.g.), and every 3-4 months for major updates(advancing the plot across the board, or fully advancing the plot for a single major character, or a major gameplay revamp). I'd expect maybe a couple hundred renders for a minor update, and 600-1000+ for a major update or game expansion. 15-20 bucks is about what an "expansion pack" costs for some PC games.

 

[Sumodeine]

Like with everything in life, I think communication is key. As a developer, I pride myself on giving weekly updates to my patrons. Some weeks it's more than others, but I want to let them know what I'm working on, how the progress is going, and most importantly, let the people that are contributing know I'm still alive and working on the game. Knowing if/when to give spoilers (and how many) is something I try to balance when it comes to the development updates, but I generally think telling my patrons SOMETHING about what I've been doing is a good practice.

And last summer, when I knew I was not going to have any time to work on the game for a month, I paused my Patreon. It cost me a few hundred bucks at the time, but I wouldn't feel right about taking money for the development of something I'm not working o.. I was actually surprised I didn't lose a single patron when I returned. In the end, I think (hope) it ended up building trust between me and my Patrons because it let them know I'm only going to take money if I'm actively working on the game.

I would guess that nearly 100% of my patrons are okay with my release schedule, which is generally "when it's ready". I've had some end up being monthly, and this next one is going to be right around 3 months. Usually it's around 6-8 weeks. Ironically enough, the people that complain about the time between my updates are almost always the people that aren't paying anything for them.

As an aside, comparing most of us devs to real game studios is really comparing apples and oranges. I'm a one man show with a dream and a 7 year old PC with nearly 3 yr old GTX 1070 in it.

 

[takuya.aihara]

Frequency of updates will not sway me into supporting a developer. I'm more interested in meaningful and quality updates. If a team is releasing updates for the sake of keeping the cadence of 'one update per X weeks / months' I suspect things won't be good given the time pressures.

 

[Synx]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents:

It highly depends on the updates. Personally i prefer monthly updates over bi- or tri-monthly ones as I feel the latter ones often make way to much unnecessary renders for the story its telling. I mean like 10 renders of the same (non-sex) pose, where they just tilt the head a bit/move the eyes around a bit. Yes it adds a bit to the immersion of the story, but considering how much time all those renders take, It just seems to me they are just making renders for the sake of reaching a certain amount of renders, then actually pushing forward the story. Most games with bi-tri monthly updates could cut out all those unnecessary renders, barely lose any immersion, and be able to have monthly releases.

If a game has bi-tri monthly updates I expect a certain progression of the story with each update. Most of them just don't reach this goal for the reason I mentioned above. They have barely any more story progression then monthly updates one. Yeah, its great that this update has 600 renders, but if 400 of them are barely distinguishable of the first render in a sequence, I would have prefered if they just skipped those (especially the non-sex scene ones), and pushed the story more forward in one update, or update more often.

 

[CarbonBlue]

It highly depends on the updates. Personally i prefer monthly updates over bi- or tri-monthly ones as I feel the latter ones often make way to much unnecessary renders for the story its telling. I mean like 10 renders of the same (non-sex) pose, where they just tilt the head a bit/move the eyes around a bit.

Thanks to other devs here I just recently learned about spot rendering, which allows us to make the renders you're talking about quickly. If you're only changing a character from frowning to smiling, for example, then instead of doing two full renders, you do one render and then spot render the expression and paste it over the old render in photo editing. The spot render takes minutes.

 

[Ataios]

Willing yes, able no, because don't have a credit card and I wont get one just for Patreon or similar platforms.
If I had one, though, I would care less, how often the release new content, but for the right fetishes first and quality second. Also frequent release are no guarantee for a lot of content, as a developer might release monthly updates with only minor changes, while he could also release major updates with a lot of new content every two or three months.

 

[RanliLabz]

It highly depends on the updates. Personally i prefer monthly updates over bi- or tri-monthly ones as I feel the latter ones often make way to much unnecessary renders for the story its telling. I mean like 10 renders of the same (non-sex) pose, where they just tilt the head a bit/move the eyes around a bit. Yes it adds a bit to the immersion of the story, but considering how much time all those renders take, It just seems to me they are just making renders for the sake of reaching a certain amount of renders, then actually pushing forward the story.

Thanks to other devs here I just recently learned about spot rendering, which allows us to make the renders you're talking about quickly. If you're only changing a character from frowning to smiling, for example, then instead of doing two full renders, you do one render and then spot render the expression and paste it over the old render in photo editing. The spot render takes minutes.

I totally agree with CarbonBlue here. Personally I find the small changes far more immersive... I actively don't like games with a static image that fail to respond to the dialogue (e.g. it's ridiculous when a character keeps on grinning while telling you off for being rude or glares at you with dead eyes while telling you she wants to suck your cock). For an hour's work and rendering you can add 6 alternate expressions or a few extra body positions to bring it all together. Plus, most devs work/study... even sleep! We can just leave a batch render chugging away while we're not working on the game - allowing for the extra camera-shots that add so much more depth to the piece.

I'll grant that this can go too far - when ICSTOR redid his (non-sexual) intro with about a million extra HD images from multi-angles it seemed crazy (not that it hurt his patreon!) But I think that the growth of this has massively raised the bar of the games on offer!

 

[JRD]

Before Patreon changed banking systems (thus blocking pre-paid cards from working for pledges - if anyone here is aware of this being changed back, please reply!) I had several games that I happily supported that didn't release content monthly.

1. I had 0 issue with supporting devs who were in constant communication with their patrons. So long as the communication is there, and most importantly that communication is a two-way street I had no problem waiting several months in between updates. If a dev posts that they're delayed, then refuses to answer any questions from people who support them (so long as the questions are rational) that's a red flag. I can't recall the name of the dev, but he was in Puerto Rico and was affected by a hurricane and lost power and internet for months - but he'd go wherever he could to post updates whenever possible and most of his patrons stuck with him during that time. Simply because he did his best to communicate his situation as often as possible.

2. Every dev I supported released what, in my opinion, was always quality work. If the quality of two updates in a row, both of which were released after months of waiting, were sub-par then I'd quietly end support.

3. It depends on the game. MSN is a great story, and even though it's on hold I'd resub right now if (as stated above) Patreon accepted pre-paid cc's again. Why? Because Pandelo was always open and communicative about the state of the game, why there were past delays, and why it's on hold now.

4. The final variable for me is this: is it a solo dev or a team? If there's a team working on a project then I'm less inclined to wait more than two months for a release unless the quality of renders and writing is extremely high. If it's clear it's a solo project being done all by one person then yeah, it's a lot to ask one person to consistently release huge updates monthly.

Just my opinion.