I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and, instead of believing that you intentionally took me out of context, you were instead, unaware of the content in the other posts that preceded the one you commented on (those posts begin on page 2913).
Let me recap:
* A supporter who is currently paying the dev with $ - AKA an approved means of compensating a dev for their work - is, by definition,
Not a freeloader.
* Someone who has never supported the dev with $ or a service approved by the dev
is, by definition, a freeloader - AKA taking the work of that dev for free.
* Someone who used to be a supporter (paying the dev with $ and/or services approved by the dev) but is currently taking the work of the dev for free,
is a freeloader IMO.
I am in this category and that makes me a freeloader; I am currently taking the work of this dev for free.
IMO - this makes anyone else in this category a freeloader Just like me.
If you want to disagree with my opinion, that's fine.
As I said in my original post (first post, pg. 2913):
Are many people here taking WVM for free? - Yes
I currently fall into this category as well. If/when I feel DB is back on track, I'd be happy to start supporting him as a Patreon once again.
Until I start supporting the dev with either $ or approved services, I remain a freeloader, regardless of my future intent or the dev's future actions.
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Now - we have a difference of opinion about the benefit of using a support platform (Patreon/SS) versus F95 to communicate with a dev:
I believe that I have better and more honest communication with the dev's I support by using both the comment feature and DM feature on Patreon/SS to communicate with them versus attempting to communicate with the devs on F95.
I don't expect the devs I support to wade through a few pages to dozens of pages sorting the wheat from the chaff to find good/valid feedback, particularly the most important kind - the feedback from those who have actual skin in the game - supporters who pay the dev $ in support of their creative efforts.
I believe that your experience is very different than my experience:
You are approaching your experience from a dev perspective about your specific creation/creations
And you have chosen to be an active part of discussions on the thread(s) supporting what you create.
I don't know what your creation(s) are, and I have likely never seen the F95 threads for your specific creation/creations.
I am focused on All my interactions with all my supported devs, comparing 5+ years of interactions with all those devs on Patreon/SS with my ability to share effectively on all the F95 threads (which vary Quite a bit in terms of toxicity and simple number of pages a dev needs to read through if a dev is to be fully conversant with everything said on those F95 pages).
BTW - I also know some of my devs have left F95 due to the toxicity of their threads - they no longer participate or respond to Anyone on F95 and have told their supporters to use Patreon/SS since they will no longer be involved with the F95 thread for their creation.
If, after reading my description of why I believe my use of Patreon/SS is a better platform for discussion and providing feedback to a dev, you still disagree with me, then we must agree to disagree.
Regardless of our agreements/disagreements, thanks for taking the time to have a bit of a discussion here on this F95 thread.
Cheers!