An update on that Patreon thing

Hi all -- as you may have seen by now, Patreon sent out an email announcing a change they're gonna make to fee collection.  And, as you may also have seen by now, a lot of artists and their supporters are very miffed at Patreon.

Here's the infographic Patreon sent out:

First off -- as someone who makes visualizations -- what the heck is going on in that chart?  The bottom chart mixes percentages with absolute values, also I think the bottom-right box is the wrong color and has a typo?  That's supposed to be "Patreon's", right?

Ryan North (the Dinosaur Comics guy) summed it up a heck of a lot better than I can: https://www.patreon.com/posts/15758286  Long story short, this new change is pretty crummy for fans who can only afford to pledge $1 or $2.  Which, by the way, is 725 of you.  Because that's a $0.35 fee per pledge -- that's 35% higher for fans who pledge $1 amounts!  And that's not even a real transaction fee, because Patreon charges your cards at the end of the month in one lump sum.

So, just wanted to say: if you have to cancel your pledge for now, I totally, completely understand.  This is literally not what you signed up for!  I'm still grateful for all the support you've given me thus far.  :)

Anyway, the good news is that this fee change has not taken effect yet -- hopefully, with all the backlash, coming from both artists and their fans, Patreon will reconsider before the end of the month.

Honestly, it's a pretty bone-headed decision on Patreon's part.  It's bad for the supporters, which means it's bad for the creators, which means it's even bad for Patreon itself.  (a lot of supporters have been quitting Patreon in droves for the last two days)

I'm gonna assume Hanlon's Razor for now: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”   I hope Patreon will learn from the feedback, and reconsider the change, or figure something else out.  If someone from Patreon is reading this: if you need to increase revenue to stay afloat, I understand, but please take the cut out of MY end, NOT my fans'.  (and I know you must already be considering this option, since the fee-change FAQ asks "Q: What if I want to take the hit for my patrons? Can I pay those fees?" and the answer is "A: no")    

Anyway, we'll see.  And, whether or not you have to cancel your pledge, I understand, and thank you so much for helping me this far anyway.  :)

edit:  Patreon posted an update explaining their reasoning a bit more.  Judge for yo'self: https://blog.patreon.com/updating-patreons-fee-structure/ 

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Oh, also, JOY.JS Version Zero will be out December 20th, Wednesday.

Here's a screenshot of one more example made with JoyJS: a generative music toy:

I'll send out the custom-drawn character reward surveys soon, for those of you who've picked that reward!

Also, thank you all for your concern & advice last time, after I talked about how I was burning out and needed to take a short two-week break.  My break totally failed, where I ended up both neither relaxing nor actually getting work accomplished, so, I'll try again over the holidays.  Either way, thanks for putting up with me, and I'm excited to share Joy.js Version Zero with you all soon!

<3,
~ Nicky Case