Release Security

I've mentioned this in other replies, but the goal of this change is to delay the piracy/sharing enough for the public release to gain traction. We've had issues with our content being released 1-2 days after patrons got it, before our public release was even available. We're not saying this solution will stop the piracy entirely, but it will make it much more difficult to what we currently have in place. The game will be sitelocked on our website, so you won't have access if you try to play it locally. It's still possible to recompile the build (like any other swf file), but this process is much harder to do than simply uploading a link for others to download. We'll be implementing an in-game authentication system for NotSoQuickie in the future that'll make the process much more simple. The current system is a quick change we (a team of two people) can do in the short amount of time we have that will hopefully make some sort of difference.

Oppai Games

If you're going to distribute the swf anyways, it will still more than likely get pirated regardless, just later. Hell, if someone was dedicated enough, I'm sure they could rip the flash file you're presumably going to be hosting on the website, unless you're using a separate HTML5 build (if that's a thing, I'm not familiar enough with HTML5 to know if it can completely replace flash like that). The only legitimate protection I could think of is having a downloader for the game that builds a unique key into each download and ties it to the person logged in that downloaded it. Though again, if someone was dedicated enough, I'm sure they could recompile the game and get rid of that key using some flash hacks or something (again, not familiar enough to say). All of this is to say, you're putting effort into a system that is nearly useless. Steam didn't 'beat' pirates by stopping them, but by being more convenient and useful than them. Spotify has probably been the biggest tool against piracy in the music world – a media that is probably the most pirated out of them all – by providing a better service than pirates. What I'm trying to say is; don't be Denuvo, be Spotify.

Thanks!

Oppai Games

Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately creating and managing over 1000 different unique download links (and possibly builds) is just too much work in comparison to the current solution. Most of the people who have shared builds in the past also didn't put much effort into hiding themselves (which has resulted in us finding and banning them, but there always seems to be at least one person willing to share the build regardless each month)

Oppai Games

I don’t know how hard it would be versus a login form, but perhaps you could have the patron’s ID displayed in the menu, and issue a unique download to each Patreon. It might deter the pirates somewhat if they know they’ll be identified, and if it doesn’t, you’ll know who to kick from your patreon account.

I like the idea, as artists and creators you have every right to protect your work as you see fit. Pirating might always be a problem, but at least you can make it harder for it to happen

Tony Silvey

As you've already mentioned, releasing the game for free a month later won't stop people from pirating/sharing the build earlier than the public release. We'll be releasing the downloadable swf to patrons late in the month to make it a bit more difficult for it to be shared early and still allow patrons to have their own copy.

Oppai Games

If the goal was to prevent people from sharing the build, wouldn't releasing it for free a month later be better (even then I think it will be pirated on the first few days). I would be one of the people who pledged since I liked I could keep the content (sounds weird I know). This has stopped me from supporting other creators

The experience won't change much in comparison to people who already play using a browser. Authentication is also quite easy and quick to do (should only take a few seconds). Like I've mentioned in Bryan's reply, Patrons will still get the standalone swf late in the month.

Oppai Games

This is a dumb idea. Content is always pirated and all you're doing is hurting your paying customers by making the experience more inconvenient for them.

Our solution won't entirely prevent our content from being stolen (it's almost impossible to do, especially with swf files), but it will at least make it much more difficult. Our goal is to prevent people from sharing the build as long as possible.

Oppai Games

An in-game authentication system is something we'll be doing for NotSoQuickie, but isn't possible for our swfs unfortunately. There's no nice way of adding this functionality in actionscript (at least not in the small timeframe we have until release). I have replied to Bryan's comment though (and updated the post) with a solution for Quickie: Halloween Special. As for the APK being released, it's actually very uncommon for our APK builds to be shared publicly. Most of these websites only share the swf and don't bother with the APK.

Oppai Games

Not having the option to keep the game is an issue we've considered, but weren't sure how many people this would affect. We feel the majority of people will download and play the game once or twice, then never touch it again, so we felt this wouldn't have been too big of an issue. However, as this is the last Quickie for awhile, we'll release the Premium swf to Patrons for download later in the month. That way, it'll be harder for the Premium build to be shared publicly before the public release gains traction (unfortunately the premium build for Quickie: Summer Special was released 1-2 days after the patron release) and patrons get to keep a copy of it if they decide to stop their patronage. Moving forward though, when authentication is added to NotSoQuickie, you'll need to be an active Patron to play the builds.

Oppai Games

There are games that are also posted on websites for paying customers, that doesn't stop those games from being pirated. If anything I feel like this is more annoying to people paying.

May I make a suggestion piggybacking off of Bryan Gillis? Perhaps still allow the downloads. But treat it like old school CD ROM computer games did. Each patreon member has to log into the downloaded game into their patreon account through your website. Basically institute your current plans for logging in, but attach them to a download build. That way it can still be downloaded but must be logged into using patreon account that was approved for it. Now if a supporter decided to stop pledging for a bit they don't loose access to the other games you've released. Besides, releasing a downloadable apk for phones still means it can be stolen and posted eslewhere. :/

The problem I see with this solution, is what if someone is the right tier when a game is released (or just afterward), but they later cancel/decrease their pledge. They'd lose access to the game after that point (and this knowledge might even discourage more people from pledging than you lose due to piracy). I realize piracy is a problem, but I hope it's possible to find a solution that doesn't hurt paying customers. At present, the best idea I can currently think of is to distribute through a platform like Steam (although unfortunately there's the deposit fee... maybe it'll be balanced out by a new avenue for revenue, but it is a drawback certainly) and send game keys to Patrons at the correct tier (or who later reach the correct tier). Maybe you can think of something better though.

Bryan Gillis

We're still on track for the 5th of November as announced in the last weekly update post: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/update-week-60-22388754">https://www.patreon.com/posts/update-week-60-22388754</a>

Oppai Games

How much later do you think itll be? Closer to next weekend or closer to middle of week?

TheAnimationMan