Results of Survey and How I'm Reacting

Thanks for the feedback. You've definitely given me some things to think about. I do like the idea of hi-rez versus low-rez. I'll revisit these suggestions as we get closer to the cut over. Like I said, we're still about 3-5 months out from the change so I can wrap up this part of Skylords, so I definitely have time to craft up a good plan

Amocin

Thank you for your replies - I would have responded earlier, but busy time. I would argue that it's best to promote something around its release date. When things are new, people are curious, and it's easier to get their attention. Once they get used to something, it becomes much harder to do it. You wouldn't promote a film two months after its release date because most people would be interested in something completely different by that time - the hype can only last so much. It's all what-ifs at this point, but maybe Skylords would have gotten a warmer reception if there had been a public preview on Day 1 - like a short prologue or something on FA, to build that initial fanbase? I imagine this Patreon-only barrier turned off a few potential fans since you had to pay to see the comic without knowing if would enjoy its content, which wasn't the case for Druids. About MxM stuff - I believe releasing the past MxM pictures may actually help with getting that steady influx of new people. Also, I have been thinking about these 13 MxM pics for a bit, and perhaps a better option would have been to do an MxM short comic instead of standalone pictures. All in all, Shai was dominating the polls, and people here generally love adult comics. That format would give you more flexibility (working on a few pages at once rather than waiting for the voting results first) - still could make things a bit dull, though. It's probably way too late to consider it now, sadly. Finally, I see a possible risk associated with the proposed Patreon adjustments - you may start having a serious problem with acquiring new subscribers. Most people come here for the comics - they will be behind the $15 tier, though. It may be a dealbreaker for some. For new fans, that means a $15 fee to see if you enjoy the content (or more without the catch-up mechanism). I think it's best to have the core content available in the low-cost tiers to get as many people on board as possible and then charge for convenience in high ones. Maybe something like this could work better (just an idea)? $1 - inked version of monthly $2 - inked version of monthly + low rez comic pages $5 - monthly picture + low rez comic pages $10 - monthly picture + voting rights + high rez comic pages $15 - monthly picture + voting rights + PSD files of comic pages + WIP sneak peeks $25 - monthly picture + voting rights + PSD files of comic pages + WIP sneak peeks + occasional cameos for long-term supporters in that tier About where to advertise, I'd say FA. It's the platform for furry art, and you should aim to build a strong presence there.

maverick

Okay, I support your decision, then I can only become a supporter of 15 dollars, which is more expensive than the original

avidce

Thanks for the input, a few comments on all this: Skylords wasn't promoted because it's not really a "good idea" to promote something that's just starting out, plus the reduced frequency of releases made it a bit tough to gain traction. Originally I wanted to make it PG-13 to appeal to a larger audience (and to be able to advertise) but I've come to the conclusion that it's exceedingly hard to break through the clutter on "normal comics". Hence me moving my focus back to Adult Art. That being said, Skylords isn't done, we'll continue it, it'll just be organized differently. I do agree I need to be more active on FA and that's something I'm working on. I'm just not very good at self-promotion / social media / all that. I do get what you're saying about the MxM content. I didn't announce the poll on the MxM Patreon - and I agree it's something I should have done. But I announced it literally everywhere else (Discord, facebook, twitter). I did look over the MxM Patreon and compared it to the current Patreon and there are 32 supporters on the MxM that are not on the normal one. So that is definately my bad. So, there is no real rush on killing the MxM Patreon. You have some good points and I'll take those to heart. I do actually like the idea of releasing the past MxM pictures to the public to try to drum up some support. We'll chat about it here and what may end up happening is if I have some extra time in a month then I can work on a MxM picture. I do agree with you, I think the grid based voting is flawed, so if we do proceed with MxM art I'm going to junk that vote and likely go back to what we do with the MxF side of the fence. Seriously, thanks for the input. I am going to think on this one. And if you have any ideas on WHERE to advertise / promote my work, I'm all ears =)

Amocin

Hmm, as a regular Patreon supporter till 2021 and an on-and-off now, I guess I could provide my feedback. First of all, I think doing the consolidation of the main comic and the side comic is a good choice. Ultimately, the latter was created because Druids became heavily story-focused, and people were looking for adult comics with a bit of story and porn - the thing Druids used to be at first. Second, I think Skylords was a very ambitious and interesting project with one great flaw - you didn't promote it enough. It was targeted towards a bit different fanbase than Druids (SFW, dragon-focused), and I think keeping it Patreon-exclusive for a long time hindered your fanbase development effort. I believe you should have started with posting the comic pages on FA / DeviantArt / Twitter (large platforms). I don't believe a lot of people outside your fanbase know Skylords exists, as nearly everything is Patreon / your website exclusive. Finally, I strongly believe that the total removal of the Male x Male Patreon is a mistake. If you feel burned out by this content - that's perfectly fair. However, it's a per-creation page - you could go on a hiatus there instead. I do think the Male x Male page could use heavy refurbishment, though. A few thoughts about your Male x Male page in general: 1. Yeah, there's plenty of MxM furry art out there, but I believe most people were interested in the MxM action featuring your OCs in particular. With Druid and Skylords, you created a likeable cast, and I think these characters are the main reason why many people stayed with you over the years. According to your poll, nearly 50% of your supporters enjoy gay content - it's a large chunk of the fanbase. If you discontinue your MxM Patreon page, you'll create a gap, as a point-based voting system eliminates all MxM ideas - it's the reason why you created a separate page in the first place, I believe. 2. I think this poll is a bit skewed. You haven't announced it on your MxM Patreon (and side comic one too). I switched to buying regular monthly pictures in bulk every few months, and I'm usually subscribed to the MxM page only these days. I found out you were holding this important voting by accident, as I was curious about the last month's poll results. You have 55 MxM subscribers - about 1/3 of your main Patreon page (173), so a lot of potentially omitted people who will be directly impacted by this change. 3. I think the main problem that lies behind repetitive and dull MxM content is the grid-based voting system. A big advantage of the prompt-based one (used by your main page) is the fact that the ideas rotate and are partially crowd-sourced. There are a lot of interesting concepts - feral forms, race swaps, rule 63 (male Amo, maybe?), that people have asked for but have never been featured in the MxM polls. They could bring more of that desired freshness. 4. I do believe your MxM content suffers from a similar problem that impacts the Skylords series as well - it should be advertised more. I feel you would have a lot more MxM subscribers if you did a delayed release on FA (like it is for the side comics). I don't think many people outside your fanbase know that you do MxM content these days. The only MxM thing you have posted publicly through all these years was that Shai/Drogan+Amo scene in Druids. Warcraft-centred MxM porn seems to be quite niche these days, so the room for growth is there.

maverick

Yeah, I get it. Plus, I'm going to keep the story going, but instead of having a long running web comic I'm going to reduce it to 'chapters' / 'issues'. I'm not done with Skylords permanently.

Amocin

I think simplifying down to just one Patreon and focusing on one comic at a time will work out great. I think Skylords would've scored a lot higher if we'd seen more of it, but since we're only ~30 pages in we haven't had time to get to know the characters or the world like we have the Druids cast.

ScruffyLioness

Yeah, not doing regular Male x Male art for a mostly straight crowd makes sense. I mean, I swing both ways, so I'm not too sad to see it go. That said, I'll look forward to the odd gay piece now and then. :P

Busterdrag

I actually have much the same sentiment here in the late aftermath of Druids, Skylords was/is a fresh curiosity. The new faces atm are one of the bigger pulls for me. :)

Taoryu

First of all, sorry for the deleted responses I made on this comment, this is the final one. The first one I uploaded on accident and wasn't finished and I couldn't fix it, and the second one I personally think I sounded like a spoiled brat in a way, this is the final and real one. I just to say off the back that I respect your choices and the direction you want to take your channel. For me personally, I would rather not see the M/M pics go away and keep seeing them, even if they aren't as frequent. The biggest reason I said that the price I am paying is fair is because of the variety of content you gave us, from the Skylords comic, to the side comics, to the M/M pics. However, I feel like by not doing the M/M pics, I feel like eventually it won't be worth the amount I am paying for. I totally get that people have their things their into and I totally know that. For example, while I'm into the M/M stuff, I am not into the stuff like Dragons and cat forms, that's just not things I am into honestly. But I know that many other do want that stuff, I totally get that. Sorry If I am coming of entitled, conceded, and rude, I'm truly not trying to. I really do enjoy the stuff you do, but I also don't want to see you alienate a certain part of your audience. Especially those who are apart of your M/M patreon who want to see that stuff. I recently came out as Bisexual and Druids was something that really helped me discover who I am. And I truly want you to be successful at this and grow an audience. Sorry if this is nonsensical and all, I'm not the best at words and stuff. I will still support you and hope you do well in the future. I just don't think you should give up on the M?M pics, but understand that the lack of variety in those has caused you to lose interest. I made a comment earlier saying what you could do to maybe get your interest back. Hopefully this made sense in some way and I hope you don't take it the wrong way. I do honestly care about your stuff and want you to love what you do. Thank you for reading this mess.

Doty

I knew some folks would be disappointed about the lack of MxM, and as I said, it's not gone forever, it'll just be a part of comics instead of a dedicated picture. I do appreciate your feedback and your continued support! Also thanks for giving this write up so much thought!!

Amocin

The first vote had the normal donation picture system, every other pic had been the character one. I think that is the biggest problem in why Amocin has lost interest in doing them. I think doing something else with the vote would make the pics more exciting. I'd rather see new characters in these pics than just the same three all the time.

Doty

There used to be a vote similar to the normal donation pics but at some point it was simplified to what it is today. There was a reason given, it escapes me.

Wow this is a surprise. A lot of changes coming and I’m glad you feel happy about the results ^^

pokediginut

Just a few points after reading the full post here: - I’m sorry to see that Skylords will be taking a back burner position after chapter 1. To be honest, I didn’t find Skylords as compelling as Druids (maybe that’s just my Druids nostalgia talking). However, I know that you were really excited to work on Skylords, and I always love seeing people work on their passion projects. At least it is not going away entirely. - I think that focusing on just one comic a month will be a great change. 4 pages a month for a comic is a good rate of release as well. Excited for that and for the variety that smaller, episodic comics will allow. - Monthly pictures were always neat, but they became especially important after Druids ended. It allowed us viewers to still get to see our favorite Druids characters on a regular basis without having to wait for a side comic. I’m glad to see this monthly picture tradition continue! - I really like the switch to one Patreon account. I understand why there were originally multiple accounts, but I have always looked forward to day where we have a one stop Amocin shop. - Now, the big one. I saved this for last because I did not want to come off as overly critical or whiny. Truth be told, I have been following you since the early days of Druids over 10 years ago (has it really been that long?). Even after Druids ended, I remained partially out of loyalty and partially because you kept great content coming. I have liked the constant addition of variety to the content pool. First with the monthly images, then with the side comics and MxM pics, then with entirely new stories. That’s why I’ll be sad to see the MxM pics go away. We will be losing some of that variety of content. That said, I know that you were never really super interested in drawing MxM, and (as much as I’ll miss it) I would not wish any artist to feel forced to draw something that they do not wish to draw. Also, I totally get it about the repetition. There are only so many male characters and positions after all. It is true that there already exists tons of MxM art out there, but it’s not with your characters and there’s only one Amocin. Regardless, it is ultimately your decision to make. Depending on how frequently MxM slips into the regularly scheduled content, this might be a non-issue. The MxM images already felt a little few and far between, so adding a bit more time between the occasional MxM content might go unnoticed. So, what does this all mean for me? Despite my comments about the discontinuation of dedicated MxM pictures, I will continue to support. Honestly, I don’t think I could stop supporting you. I’ve simply got too much nostalgia and loyalty built up from the Druids days. You’ve proven yourself to be a great artist and storyteller (and businessman who refers to himself as a different entity). Plus, combining everything into a single Patreon account is a huge reason to stay fully committed. I think that will be attractive to others as well. I wish you and your family all the best going forward!

DevDragon

I think the problem with the M/M pics are the fact that the same characters are chosen, I think what can help is have only maybe 5 characters to choose from, so that way its not Shai, Callow, and Serid all the time. Or do what you do with the normal donation pics, and have a scene with certain characters set up and let us vote. And also have us give suggestions like the normal vote. I know you are getting bored of them and I get it, but I along with many other enjoy your M/M stuff and want you to continue, but also enjoy what you are doing. Hopefully this helps.

Doty