Gonna need to make some changes

Good evening peeps!

There are several things to go through here, so let's get to it, shall we?

Changes from Patreons side

Some of you will already know this from posts from other patreon creators you're following, but yes, apple being difficult, so new recommended settings from Patreon is to change how billing works, this causes some changes here. Creators can choose to not change to this quite now, instead postponing it till way later, but I've decided to accept the changes as of Nov 1st.

So, what are these changes?

For those currently subscribed as of Sept 1st, nothing really. Things will keep going as is, and you won't feel too much of anything.

For new users though, there are some things to take into account:

1. As of Nov 1st, Patreon needs to comply with Apples demands to get their hefty chunk of change from iOS apps. As such, the cost of entry will go up FOR NEW signups through the iOS app. According to patreon, this should not affect those that are already signed up. I highly recommend signing up from outside the iOS app if you want to avoid also being a patreon of good ol apple while you're at it, and thus save a few bucks.
2. Billing should no longer take place on the first of every month. So, if you join the patreon on Nov 12th, the billing cycle should renew the following month at the same date, so Dec 12th etc.

Here's patreons info if you want to read further into it: https://news.patreon.com/articles/understanding-apple-requirements-for-patreon

This makes it slightly harder for me to plan around things, but no big deal, at least it stops the confusion for users that sign up towards the end of the month.

Changes from my side

Now then, a good while ago, I were talking about the financial pressures after covid up and left the main point of focus for all of the worlds governments, and at this point, I find myself needing to act on it, to some extent. At this point I am paying between $200 and $1000 a month to keep things running here out of pocket, which is fine for a while, as I view this as a hobby, and hobbies cost money, and not really viewing this as a earning potential project, but even with that taken into account... I need to eat something, so I cannot be using my whole dayjob paycheck on this hobby, no matter how passionate I am... So, here's the plan:

As of Nov 1st, the $10 tier will be locked, meaning that all current subscribers gets to keep their subscription (Grandfathered) with the same perks going forward, but new signups will not be possible. At the same time a $15 tier will be introduced, and I'm looking into if I can do something for the $25 tier, though that is for the future, and hope to not restrict anything from the lower tiers to value add that, though I have no idea how to do so at time of writing.

I do not view price adjustments lightly, so have been avoiding it as best I can, but reality is knocking on the door, so need to answer it.

That should be that for that particular topic, and hopefully that does not need any further adjustment for a good ol while now.

On a whoooooole other topic, there has been some... behind the scenes mess, see my discord for details, which may adjust a bit how I'm going about posting, and some organization, so there will be a minor adjustment announced related to that, which causes no real difference to users, just in the backend making life a bit harder for someone /evil laugh

This has taken up most of my time over the past 3 weeks or so, but has been of a existential nature, so kinda not had much of a choice in the matter, but I have 3 packs queued up for testing, so hopefully I can rapidly get back on track once that is sorted.