Downloads, and how to access them now.

As I mentioned in the latest release I have gone back to serving Patreon exclusive downloads from my own website, in the area called The Patron Zone.

You need to authenticate via Patreon (click orange button and follow instructions). I don't get any access to your Patreon account, only what level of patron you are, and your email (which I already have via Patreon), so there's no privacy concerns or other hanky panky stuff.

Some of you early patrons remember the Patron Zone existing before, and might wonder why I went back to it after having switched to Dropbox. There's a few reasons explained below, and if you have any thoughts around this, suggestions, or even bug reports, please leave a comment below 🙃

Refunds

Once in a while I get someone who wants a refund for some reason. They might have joined the wrong Patreon (as strange as it sounds, it happens), or some other explanation. Previously I couldn't know if this person just joined to grab all the models, and then asked for their money back, or if they genuinely just changed their mind or made a bad financial decision at the spur of the moment.

Now I can see what every patron has downloaded (yes, big brother is watching, sorry about that...) and when. This way it is easier to be able to make the decision of whether or not to issue a refund, and be fair about it, instead of having a zero refund policy. Especially when I get a request like, "can I have my money back, I swear I didn't download any of the models!" this will be super helpful.

Easier for new patrons (and existing)

It's just easier this way to get a good overview of what sculpts have been released so far, and where to get it, when all I have to do is give one single URL. Every download has a thumbnail so you can easily, and quickly, find what you are looking for even if you aren't 100% certain about the name.

Security

This is at the bottom, because frankly it's the smallest benefit. If someone wants to share my Patreon exclusive models, even though they aren't supposed to, they will just re-post them elsewhere anyway, but I didn't like the way Dropbox was lacking any overview or logs.

So let me know your thoughts below, if you have any. I know you have thoughts in general, but maybe something specific to this topic 😁