News! And Upcoming Changes to this Patreon!

Howdy guys! How are you doing? I hope you're doing great! Have you been enjoying SGDQ as much as I have?

This post ended up being HUGE so I'm trying to put in a lot of TL;DRs for each section so you can skim.

Health Update

Before I get to the bulk of this post, lemme give you a health update!

The break is going to be lasting longer than I expected because turns out burnout wasn't my only problem. My hands and wrists have been really going nuts as well, so I wound up having to Do Nothing for longer than I expected. I want to make sure I have time to buffer up, so my return will be delayed probably another 2 weeks or so. 

The good news is all this rest has been REALLY good. My hands and wrists are already feeling better, though I've had to take this post slowly since even typing has been painful. Super dumb. But I guess I did push myself a bit too hard the last few months. Lessons learned. 

Burnout has also started to ease up, as well. I'm starting to want to draw again, and that's nice! I missed wanting to draw.

Anyway!! That's how things are going in Casa de Caytlin. I am so profoundly grateful that you all are so enthusiastic about me resting. Love you guys to pieces. <3

TL;DR: The break is gonna go an extra 2 weeks. But the rest is doing me LOTS of good.

This Post, in Summary

This is going to be a hefty post, so here's the big summary:

• Our webcomic collective Dreamy Star Comics is rebranding under Foxglove Comics. This comes with a more robust Discord community and more community events!
  
• This Patreon is undergoing some changes and streamlining. Some tiers have gone away, lots of rewards have moved around, some rewards have vanished. A limited all-new tier is being added.
  
• Sketch commissions are being added back into the rewards.
  
• Due to the limited tier, if you're interested in claiming a slot, vote on the poll in this post to determine when it will go live.
  
• Sneak peek at the upcoming bonus guest comic for a Special Offer!

Rebranding: Foxglove Comics!

Before I get into the nitty gritty of the changes to this Patreon, I want to introduce the newly rebranded Foxglove Comics!

Dreamy Star Comics was an entity created more-or-less on a whim by a group of friends who wanted to put their work together and pool their resources. Many of those friends have since evolved into their own career directions, and we decided that it was time to put DSC to bed and start fresh with some new, exciting energy -- and a bit more forethought!

So for the last few months, we've been weaving together a new vision. Foxglove Comics is a collective of webcomic creators who have banded together to foster not only each other, but a shared community of like-minded readers! We aim to help burgeoning creators and provide a place for comic fans to flourish with the mutual goal of hosting an uplifting environment full of friendly support and creative passion.

This is, in large part, done through our Discord server which is going to be opening to the public. Like the current setup, each comic will have its own Patreon-only area! Tamberlane will have more channels that are going to connect with tier rewards here.

However!! There's more than just the Discord in the works. We plan on running community events, crossovers, and lots of other fun things between our comics and communities! Basically, we've got some very active talented folks with community experience who will be helping out and making this an awesome place to be!

The new Foxglove Comics consists of:

• Gunny Waffle: Community Manager and Moderator
• Michael "Neon Noble" Nicolosi: Tales of Kalzeria
• Metajoker & IzzySqueakzy: Mothorial
• and me! Tamberlane!

The new Foxglove Comics Discord will launch soonish. We're very close to being ready to make the transition but there are still a few pieces to put together before we pull the lever. I would expect it Soon, though!

Excited!!! I hope you are too!

TL;DR: 

Dreamy Star Comics is rebranding and getting active and awesome and full of COOL PLANS!!! Plans that will be carried out by other people and therefore don't rely on my health!!! NEW DISCORD SETUP! VERY COOL! 

Changes to this Patreon

Okay I'm gonna try not to type so goddamn much this time around, which will be kinda hard given the sheer scope of changes. But! Let's see how I do.

Last month, y'all filled out that survey for me, and that helped me figure out where I should put most of my energy. Turns out, most of you care more about supporting the comic and participating in its creation than physical rewards. And, well, physical rewards are also a lot more difficult to fulflil on the backend, and a far pricier proposition (especially with shipping prices rising) than I expected. So that made things easy!

(I already spent over a thousand bucks on just getting some lifetime reward merchandise made, and I don't think many people even care that much about the items themselves! A silly business decision, in hindsight!)

Anyway, all of that is to say that getting rid of physical rewards lets me bring back the most requested reward: sketches!

I took all of your excellent feedback into consideration while I was doing this. Thank you SO MUCH for those of you who took the survey. It REALLY helped.

TL;DR: A quick rundown of everything that changed about the Patreon itself:

• Removed all physical rewards except postcards/welcome cards
• Merged the $1 and $3 into one $2 tier
• Moved rewards around the tiers
• Added a $15 tier
• Added a new tier at $250 with limited 4 slots
• Revamped Lifetime Rewards and Treehollow Society
• Added back sketch rewards from the $50 tier onwards

And other things alongside it:

• You can now OPT OUT of recognition in websites and books through the JOTFORM! This is available now! 
• You can request a BAN from the Discord server so you don't get added every month automatically! This also is available now -- just message me with your Discord name (including the #0123 numbers after your name). You can always request to have the ban dropped at any point, if you'd like to return!
• WELCOME MESSAGES will have all the resources you need for your rewards! This should make it easier to find your rewards from the Tamberlane Patreon page.

$1

Going away entirely. Due to the nature of Patreon's fees (which include a 30 cent flat fee), I only receive ⅔ of a $1 pledge. It is generally recommended to start at $2, so that's what I'm doing!

You can still add a new pledge at $1, but you won't get any rewards. 

Folks already pledging at $1 will be grandfathered in, so you don't have to boost up to $2 if you don't want to. You'll receive all the perks of a $2 pledge!

$2

The $1 and $3 tiers were smashed together into a $2 tier instead! $3 folks, feel free to drop down. I'll understand! 

Rewards:

• All previous rewards, and...
• Shout out on Twitter when joining!
• See pages 1 week early!
• Patreon role on Discord/Forum!
• Access to ALL comic PDFs available of Tamberlane!

Removed:

• Preview thumbnails and pencils for comic pages
  • This was a pain to do, and there wasn't a lot of interest!

$5

This tier is mostly the same as it was before! Just kind of juiced it up a little bit.

Rewards:

• All previous rewards, and...
• Ask the Cast (and Creator)!
• Your Name in Books as a Supporter!
• Suggest merch ideas and bonus comics!
• Frequent Patreon-only Streams

Removed:

• Share your review on the website
  • Making this public, rather than locked to patrons!

Changes:

• Cast Q&A will now be conducted mostly through Discord! Answers will mostly be given in character in text, but sometimes will become little comics which will be posted here, as energy allows. 
• Bonus comics will be slightly more frequent, since I'm going to be commissioning other artists to draw them instead of drawing them myself! 
• When I'm in working condition, I do a lot of streams (nearly every weekday!) through the Discord while I work! These will be locked to $5 and up.

$10

This is almost entirely the same.

Rewards:

• All previous rewards, and...
• See all pages as they're made
• Access WIP posts on Patreon
• Artist's commentary on pages
• Welcome postcard when you join

Removed:

• Free PDF of Sketchbook
  • Unless my metrics are wrong, no one has downloaded this! So I'll take some stuff off my plate to worry about. 

$15

This is a brand new tier! A few of you expressed desire for a tier somewhere between $10 and $25. Here you go!

Rewards:

• All previous rewards, and...
• Voting in polls of ideas gathered from $5+ folks
  • Like new merch!
  • or Bonus Comics!
  • Can also help choose guest artists!
• Name on website in the "sponsored by…" section

$25

This one has probably changed the most.

Rewards:

• All previous rewards, and...
• Monthly postcard with a personal update and a bad joke!
• Exclusive gift when you pledge to a Kickstarter!
• A 15% commission discount, when commissions are offered!

Removed:

• High-res art files
  • Huge pain to make, but only 1 person has downloaded
• .clip layered files
  • Another huge pain to distribute. Only 1 person has downloaded.
• Welcome merch package
  • Couldn't coordinate this on the backend
• Monthly coupon code
  • Few, if any people, used these and had little interest.

$50

Slight changes here!

Rewards:

• All previous rewards, and...
• Non-speaking Cameo in the Comic
• Quarterly 1-character sketch commission
• First dibs on Commission Slots when they open

Removed:

• Trade your cameo for a one-time commission.
  • This was too confusing. This has been removed.
• Quarterly merch packages
  • Again, too hard to do on the backend. Plus I'm not making enough merch for this to be viable.

$100

Slight changes here!

Rewards:

• All previous rewards, and...
• Story-important cameo
• 25% discount on Commissions
• Can request color on a previous quarterly sketch
• Special thank you in books

Removed:

• Discount in Tamberlane Store
  • Again, rarely, if ever, used.

$250

A BRAND NEW tier!

Limited to 4 people.

Rewards:

• All previous rewards, and…
• Monthly colored sketch
• Can request 2 characters in your sketch
• Permanent role on Discord, even after you stop pledging at this tier
• Can "Taint" 2 other people on the Discord to receive access to all Tamberlane Patreon channels

Lifetime Rewards (Pledging for 1+ years)

I cut down all the physical rewards. I still want to send them to existing lifers who want them, but they will no longer be exclusive and I will put them on the shop. (They're keychains.) 

Private shop pending for current lifers to pick out the keychains that they want that are already produced.

Rewards:

• Name on Tamberlane front page
  • Automatically done by API (hallelujah)
  • Folks fill out a jotform to change their nicknames
  • Gonna allow folks to opt out
• Each year = +2 more pages on your cameo
  • Tracked on Trello
• After 1 year, incidental BG cameo -> story-important
  • Tracked on Trello

Existing Lifetime Rewards:

• 1 Year: Exclusive Tamberfam keychain

• 2 Year: Exclusive Belfry Dangling keychain

• 4 Year: Exclusive Critical Success/Failure Belfry Keychain

(Apparently my save file for this one got corrupted so here, have a product photo!)

If you don't count as a lifer yet (check the front page of Tamberlane to be sure: is your name on the list there somewhere?) but you want one of these keychains, don't worry! They'll be available on the shop, probably around GeekGirlCon Online.

Treehollow Society (Pledging $1000+ lifetime)

Got rid of almost all physical items for this tier. 

Rewards:

• Become a Beta Reader! Help me figure out serious plot problems, spot errors, etc! Request the Beta Bat role in the new Discord!
• 30% discount code for the Shop. (You've done enough <3)
• Colored name on Tamberlane's front page according to your level
• An emote of your character's face will be added to the Discord
  • You choose the expression! And get the full-res file!

I Still Don't Know Everything Yet

This revamp is coming up soon, but there are definitely some things I need to do first, like set up some forms or whatever. And I may not have the answers to all your questions, but please ask them so I can get all my ducks in a row!

In addition, it is entirely possible that this Patreon relaunch will happen a little bit before the Discord relaunch, so some of the Discord-related rewards may be in limbo for a few days. It shouldn't be too bad though, if I plan it right!

More information to hanging threads will be released on Relaunch Day, which will be voted on...below!

Special Offer Coming Soon!

As a celebration for this revamping, I am going to hold a special offer! 

If you are pledging at $5+ a month after the re-release, get access to a bonus comic done by Grey White and written by me.

Want to learn more about what the corgis were doing at the festival? How about Follybrook's place in Silver Sage? This little 5-page comic might help!

Get hype!

When to Release the Abroad Tier??

Since this is a limited tier and multiple people have expressed interest, I want to be sure this is opened up at a time when everyone interested has a shot at getting one of the coveted slots.

Please answer the poll below to help me choose a time, or express a different time that would work better!

PLEASE DO NOT ANSWER THE POLL UNLESS YOU INTEND TO PLEDGE TO THE $250 TIER!

Thank you UwU

This post wound up being really long so I won't make it TOO much longer, but hey, thank you guys for sticking with me. Thanks for pushing me to take care of myself. Thank you for being kind and patient and supportive, and for often giving me the boost I need! You are all AWESOME, and I love EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU.