Changes in May

Someone has been uploading my Patreon content to a scraper website. I am annoyed. The scraper website encourages multiple cryptocurrencies, which makes me even more annoyed because cryptocurrency is bad for the environment.

The scraper website doesn't seem to have anything that would prevent people below 18 to view 18+ content, so I am not mentioning the scraper website domain on Patreon. This is simply another bad thing about the scraper website.

Anyways, I am assuming whoever uploaded my content to that scraper website is a $1 patron because that scraper website does not include my monthly WIPs and it doesn't include info on my open polls. My latest Patreon post that was put on that website is from March 2021. I would love to assume that whoever uploaded my content onto that website is no longer a patron of mine and that all my future content is safe from being uploaded to that scraper website. I had two $1 patron sign up to my Patreon in March and then cancel their membership before April, so maybe one of those people is the scraper. I don't know if my content has been scraped multiple times or if it was a one time incident. If it has been getting scraped multiple months in a row, then obviously it wasn't one of those two patrons that only signed up for March 2021 and then left before April 2021. It is possible that the $1 patron scraper is still a patron and simply hasn't scraped yet for the month of April. If my content for April gets scraped, then I will look into my patron list, do a bunch of cross-referencing, and possibly ban the person who seems most likely to have done it if the evidence points to one specific patron. I would rather not spend my time doing that, so if you were the scraper, then I suggest not scraping ever again. There are only 30 patrons currently in the $1 tier that didn't sign up before April 2021, so there isn't a lot of room for a scraper to hide, and I'm changing things up in May so there will be even less room to hide if the scraper tries to scrape again. To all my non-scraping patrons: don't worry about this, I will not ban you. 

The scraper website doesn't have a place for me to report abuse (flagging a post on the scraper website is to ask for a reimport of the material... wtf) and I'm not the first creator to experience a problem with the scraper website, so I had to go one step above the scraper website. I have already sent out an email regarding an abuse complaint against the scraper website to the scraper website's web hosting company for piracy and DMCA violation. I will probably have to spend more time sending out emails and possibly contacting other places if I'm not originally successful. This takes time away from me writing games, so this isn't fun. I should have an update of Love Arrows done later this week.

Anyways, because of the scraper stuff, I am changing things up in May! Starting in May, strategy guides will only be available for $2 & up tiers (that's every tier but the $1 Kobold tier). If you're already in a $2 or up tier, then nothing changes for you. If you are currently in the $1 Kobold tier, then you can change your tier in May or stay in the same $1 tier. I have two different $2 tiers: Kobold★ and Fresh. Signing up as Kobold★ will give you monthly WIPs. Signing up as Fresh will give you the ability to vote in all the open polls. So switching tiers in May from a $1 to a $2 isn't simply switching and having the same content, you will be switching to maintain the ability to have strategy guides AND you will be gaining monthly WIPs or polls. The $1 Kobold tier will still be available to patrons who do not want to switch. The $1 Kobold will lose its ability to have strategy guides but will keep its ability to have early game content before I release the games publicly on other websites and you'll still have all access to older games.

Because of the changes in May, if there is another scraper incident then I will be able to narrow down the patrons that could be the scraper. If there is a scraping in May and it includes open polls, then the scraper is in the Fresh tier. If there is a scraping in May and it includes monthly WIPs, then the scraper is in the Kobold★ tier. If there is a scraping in May and it doesn't include monthly WIPs and doesn't include open polls and doesn't include new strategy guides, then the scraper is still in the $1 Kobold tier. If there is a scraping in May and it includes monthly WIPs and open polls, then the scraper is in an even higher tier or scraped twice by somehow doing two tier switches between the $2 tiers.

Sorry for the inconvenience and for getting rid of strategy guide for the $1 tier in May. Blame the scraper. 

TL;DR: 

$1 Kobold tier will lose the ability to access strategy guides on my Patreon starting in May. All $2 & up tiers will still have strategy guides. If a $1 Kobold patron wants strategy guides in May, then change your tier in May (There are two $2 tiers: $2 Kobold★ tier will give you monthly WIPs; $2 Fresh tier will give you access to vote in open polls.). Everything else about the $1 Kobold tier will stay the same (access to all finished games and completed game updates before they are posted publicly on other sites).

A patron scraped my Patreon in March 2021 and posted multiple materials on a scraper website. If the patron continues to scrape, then the patron will be banned once I figure out their identity. Based off the knowledge I have, the patron was in the $1 tier in March 2021 and I am making changes to the tier in order to figure out the scraper's identity if the scraper continues to scrape and is still a patron.