Goals, plans and changes: 2022 (Patreon)

Hello! It's time for one of these big meta posts... been a while since I've made one of these. 

Anyways-- I'll try to keep it brief (Hah! Yeah right...).

Going Forward with Elements

At the end of December, I finally accomplished the years-long goal of releasing the new character style (at least released for patrons). So-- what's the next step?

Of course, the next immediate step will be to get that Time Elements Character Core Set ready for publishing and full release to the public. This will include some more pieces that I forgot for the original release, which I'll add over the next couple of weeks, based on ideas from patrons (like these helmets). While I'm makin those, I'm also going to be creating the pre-made characters that I'll package with the set, along with fixing other problems that need to be solved before the full release.

But... after that?

The Time Elements character set will certainly expand with more expansions, with more pieces, overlays, more pre-made characters, etc.

Here's what I have in mind... Now that Time Elements is in full swing, requests are open for new pieces that we can add to the series:

I like the idea of making one new piece each week based on requests-- so every week we'll have the traditional request (usually a character or tile add-on in the original TF style) and also a new piece for the elements character style. Then, once we've built up a collection of new elements pieces based on those requests, I can compile those into an expansion pack (maybe with some extra pieces of my own too).

If we go this route, Elements character expansions won't really be based on specific themes (so instead of "desert outfits expansion pack", it'd just be "expansion set #1" etc).

A little messy, but by basing them directly on the requests, I'll be able to accurately identify and fill areas to match user demand. That's the idea.

Of course, such a weekly structure wouldn't be super forced-- my regular releases each week are determined by random inspirations I have, by patron requests and suggestions, or by any backlog ideas that I might be sitting on... That's not gonna change (it's working well, to have room for flexibility and creativity); so I wouldn't guarantee a new elements piece every week; but I'd generally try to keep that basic flow where we're introducing new elements pieces alongside the classic request releases.

In practice, it wouldn't look any different than what we're used to for the normal releases-- except that I'm looking for requests and suggestions for more elements pieces, which we can then later on compile into expansion packs.

Let me know what you think of that idea.

The Time Elements World... (Tiles)

Alongside that, I'll be working on the next big pack to go alongside the Elements characters: the tiles.

I released this set of tiles early last year, as a prototype or proof-of-concept. The new tiles would be similar to those, but expanded into full sets. I'll paste this directly from that thread:

The majority of the tiles in this set are based on previously-released tiles They've been significantly updated and edited to serve as the basis for the new 'elements' style. My process for the early prototype stuff is to begin by creating a remastered Time Fantasy to build out the core of the tiles, and then further into development I will expand on them with more stuff that will be original to 'elements'.

In other words, the Elements tileset will be remasters and expansions that improve on the existing Time Fantasy tilesets. Colors will be updated and there will be lots of new textures, as well as more objects and new tiles and combinations on top of it.

(I know, part of me thinks that's cheating to use the existing stuff... but it works great as a foundation, just needs some heavy updating and a good remaster.)

Release date... no idea yet. I haven't touched them at all since that previous release, and I'm not going to dig in until after the Core Characters set is published. Plus, right now I have no idea how big the set is going to be.

I really like the idea of an absolutely massive "ultimate remaster" -- but that will probably take way too long, so we're most likely going to release the tiles as a series of themed expansions, like the original Fantasy sets (just better).

Either way, don't expect them soon. I'll post progress updates when we get there, but it'll still be a couple months away before I really get going.

As for pricing of these tilesets... I have no idea yet. Some sort of discount would probably be required for users who already bought Time Fantasy, since so many of the tiles will be re-used to provide a base. But patrons will get download access upon release anyway so... whatever-- we'll cross that bridge when we get there. 🤷

My Next Game (... Lo-Bit Asset Style?)

So last year I released Jubilee-- which means that I'll be starting on a new personal game project this year.

I know-- you're here for dem assets-- not my personal game projects. I wanted to mention this one because I'll almost certainly be sharing some assets along the way (just like I did with some stuff from Jubilee).

The next project is going to be a small lo-bit game (something with more RPG elements, that I can use to practice and level-up my programming). Here's an example of the style that I'm going to be working with (you've certainly seen these characters before (I included them in this year's new request thread banner)):

While these specific characters probably won't be released (because they're my hero party!) -- it's an example of the style that I want to explore.

I'll be happy to release assets from this side-project as I make them-- stuff like tilesets or NPCs-- if patrons are interested in this style. If there's a lot of interest in this lo-bit stuff, then I could put a little more time into it specifically to share it with patrons, although right now this is just going to be my personal "weekend side-project" as I develop my next game for fun.

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Okay, lastly... this is big:

Tiers and Pricing Update...

I've been looking at our pricing and tiers and the rewards. I've also taken some peeks at other pages on patreon... and damn... there's some comparisons to be made.

Seems like my page has a lot more patreon content, for lower prices, than the "market standard" (some pages don't even produce patreon content, just offering stuff like early access).

I treat patreon as my day job-- this page pays the bills. I've always said, from the beginning, that a subscription to my patreon page has value -- I'm not looking for "tips", but instead I want to provide you with quality assets that are worth the money you invest into this page.

I understand that not every page works the same way, so I'm not gonna change the content to be like other pages. My release output is not gonna change, don't worry -- I still want to be better than the standard! I'm very proud that we've been able to have 2+ releases every week for nearly 5 years now, and I want to keep that going.

I'm considering updating the price to better match the value of that content.

I wouldn't make any changes without asking patrons about it first though (so that's what I'm doing here!).

As always with this kind of stuff, I prioritize transparency. I'm also interested in your thoughts before I make any definitive changes.

So here's where my mind is on the subject:

1. I haven't changed this page's pricing structure since we first started. When I started this page, there wasn't really anybody else doing the same thing with assets, so I didn't have much to go on, and made up the prices based off nothing.

2. This page has a lot of content, more than I imagined when first starting. Every time I make a new post, that increases the archive. And now we have a big set of bonus download packs -- the amount of content keeps getting bigger. $1 is probably way too low for the available assets.

3. Inflation is a real thing. Sucks, but times change and we gotta keep up.

4. If I were to increase the base tier from $1 to $3, that wouldn't be a massive difference for most subscribers (and still seems more than fair for access the entire backlog of content)-- while tripling the income on my end for the lowest tier.

5. Of course, most subscribers are in the middle tier (giving access to the request threads in addition to the content). If we increase the base tier, the other tiers would need a bump to scale with it.

6. The highest tier doesn't provide much extra value: the occasional bonus release, and access to bigger releases just a couple times a year. The $10-tier is primarily used by people who want to give extra support, that judge the content is worth the higher cost. Their support also helps balance the people who aren't able to pay as much. 

Since the content isn't going to change-- I'm very hesitant to increase the price of this tier. It doesn't seem fair to ask for more from this tier without extra reward, from the generous people who are already contributing at this above-and-beyond level.

7. I don't want to make any changes that are too jarring or would alienate anybody. Also, existing patrons must have grandfather access. I'm not looking to squeeze or obligate patrons: The goal is only to update prices so that we're not devaluing the content.

So...

My initial idea was $3 to the bottom tier, and one extra dollar for the middle tier (changing to $3, $6, and $10). This was the original idea when I first started thinking about it.

Although-- I've been told that the middle tier could be doubled and would still be fair for the amount of content (doubling all the tiers: $3, $10, and $20). In comparing to other patron pages, this doesn't seem unreasonable and would be in line with the value of the content. This change would move the current high-tier patrons into the "normal" tier without asking for extra obligation.BUT I don't want to force too sharp an increase, AND if high-tier patrons simply keep their pledge the same but are moved to the normal-tier access; the current normal-tier patrons might simply pledge down... I could easily imagine this change losing money... 😖

I've more recently seen a suggestion to remove the 1$ tier entirely-- keep the current tiers as they are and eliminate the bottom access tier-- thus making $5 the minimum for access. This option would eliminate the "access to content but can't make requests" distinction. There is something very appealing and elegant to this idea, and right now I'm leaning towards this.

Whatever we do, it's important that current patrons will be grandfathered in to the new system. I think it works: you should continue to have the same access (Patreon defaults to a "no-tier" group, but the posts that are visible to 'all patrons' should still be accessible). So luckily that is not a technical problem.

Other ideas? Share your thoughts. It's not easy to make a big change-- a part of me thinks to just DO SOMETHING without all of this discussion first -- but I want to know what you think is fair.

Either way, no changes will be made without a proper announcement first.

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OKAY... this post took a heck of a lot more time to write than I'd planned (it always goes that way though...) Not gonna bother with an outro or conclusion... 😪

See you on Friday with something new. 

Thanks!