Future Of The Patreon

Alright, so this is what I wanted to do back in May, before I got sick and everything derailed X3

I've been thinking about restructuring the patreon for a while and offering a couple' more perks to supporters. I asked around a bit (a long-ass time ago) for some ideas too, and I'll lay out what I think is sensible of the suggestions I got, and what changes I would be looking to implement.

The idea would be for the Tier's to remain roughly the same. All of them have been about as successful as I expected them to be for what they offer, so I think the tiering is fine, I just think I can offer more and I'm sure you guys wont complain about more stuff :b

I have more selfish reasons for the re-do aswell though. While I'm all about that high-grade finishing, I still consider myself primarily a storyteller, and I feel that's come a little short in my schedule as of late. So some of the restructuring will focus on opening up opportunities to free up more time for sequential art and other such things.

So without further ado, let's get into things ...

First, I want to cement monday as my main patreon day, working on materials specifically for patreon or content that is meant for it, as well as posting and other administrative things. I know that's really not something you need to care about, but I want to try and handle all things patreon on mondays to have a steady rhythm, both for you and for me. Obviously I'd be checking in on things on other days aswell for interaction and such, but content posting, announcements etc. should all come at the start of the week. Speaking of ...

One of the most common suggestions was a direct influence on content, voting polls, theme or character suggestions and the like. I'm not entirely sure on how suggestions would work, so I'd have to look into some other artists and how they handle such things. Polling will obviously be a part of them because I can't possibly gather up all ideas and cater to each one, so we'd have to agree on a consensus, but that's a bridge we'll cross when we get there.

Another direct way to influence my content would be towards the aforementioned storytelling and sequential art. This I definitely have surer footing with, so I can be a little clearer about what I had in mind. I have a big pool of one-of's and shorts that are either gathering dust as abandoned, or languishing in artistic development hell. The ones that are salvagable I would make a list of and offer them up for voting as to which one you'd like to see me work on. In theory this could be applied to more involved things aswell, like Resurgence.
The idea would be for there to be a monthly vote on which one of the projects I should put time into. I don't think I need to say this, but involved things like comics and such take time and wont be finished within a month, so I'd be posting WIPs of what I've accomplished once a week to show progress on whatever project was voted to be the chosen one~ and the monthly poll ensures that a potential shift in patron interests is reflected in a given month.

A discord server has been proposed by at least two people and I've considered the idea, however I'm also a little apprehensive about starting a community I would then have to administer, for lack of a better term. I suppose I have to admit here that I'm a huge coward when it comes to crowd responsibility, but I also know I'd have no shortage of volunteers for admin positions. Either way though, I want to offer the option and see whether people like the idea.

Streams were another suggestion favorite and I would definitely want to get back into that, but I'm not 100% on how to specifically implement it. Picarto streams have worked in the past, but just about every customer has opted for discord streaming in the last 4-ish years, and discord definitely works as a platform, so that might end up being the way to go, since it requires little to no setup to be able to stream in a channel - however, it also excludes everyone who doesn't happen to have a discord. If streams are a popular option, doing a stream on both platforms on separate days may be an option? Again, a bridge to cross later.

A suggestion that's been brought up by some are tier options to limit visibility to SFW art only / making separate tiers for N/SFW artwork to allow people to contribute towards what they're most interested in. I don't know many people who would necessarily want to turn their nose up at the adult stuff, but that doesn't mean they're not around and I can see this being something to cater towards, even if it might end up being a good deal more administrative work behind the scenes.

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These last two options I'm probably the most apprehensive about, and were suggested by a good friend of mine (and patron, though I wont disclose their identity obviously - you know who you are :b) ...

A "coffee card" deal. Basically the stamp collection at your local coffee shop or restaurant, where a set number of visits/purchases "buys" you a free drink or pizza or whatever. Relating to the patreon, this would obviously be months spent as a patron, getting you a doodle or something from me.
The original suggestion called for a pencil sketch, though I'm not entirely sure whether I was meant to assume the medium as part of the idea. Personally I would tend towards the idea of offering digital, personal, refined-sketch-level artwork for a set time of membership - maybe vary the required time depending on the membershp tier.

And lastly, a super-sponsor tier level that would include a piece of artwork from me every month. Obviously this would have to be limited in availability to avoid overflow, but I could imagine the reward being similar to whatever the "coffee card" deal is, just that you get it every month.

Both of these I would have to think very hard about where to set the financial limits, but I can see the appeal and I've seen the concept being popular and successful with other artists and patrons, so I don't see why I wouldn't at least offer the option to vote on :3

So that's the list of suggestions. Concerning influence on the art; polling may be split or limited to some tiers. I've seen some artists offering two or more votes to higher tiers, which all things considered isn't a bad idea to show appreciation, but the exact structure of these changes I will discuss and announce if and when they get implemented.

The poll will run until next monday, 18:00 CEST. It's multiple choice, so you can tick as many boxes as you want, or you hit the EVERYTHING or NOTHING boxes right at the top if you like 'em all or very much don't. Also feel free to voice any concerns, opinions or further suggestions in the comment section. For now, remember what P. Diddy said back in 2004 ...