Page 1 of 2

Donation pages?

PostPosted: Mon, 16Mar14 20:07
by Arden
Until recently I was supporting 8 people on a website that apparently has its name blocked here. All of them $10 a month just added one last month. Then started looking and alot of them had not produced games in 5 months. So guess my question is this how long would you give them money w/o anything new?

Re: Donation pages?

PostPosted: Mon, 16Mar14 20:22
by Skelaturi
That's a personal thing if you want to donate something or not. My opinion if i had the money, there are only a few i would support. And for a monthly thing on that site, no. I rather go with pay per update. Which is supported there, but none of the developers do it. And why would they.

Re: Donation pages?

PostPosted: Mon, 16Mar14 20:35
by Arden
Skelaturi wrote:That's a personal thing if you want to donate something or not. My opinion if i had the money, there are only a few i would support. And for a monthly thing on that site, no. I rather go with pay per update. Which is supported there, but none of the developers do it. And why would they.

To get money would be my guess, everytime it comes to collect alot of them have cancels. If they did a pay by update and make it a min amount to do so I think would bring in money with less head ache

Re: Donation pages?

PostPosted: Tue, 16Mar15 00:58
by Greyelf
Arden wrote:
Skelaturi wrote:That's a personal thing if you want to donate something or not. My opinion if i had the money, there are only a few i would support. And for a monthly thing on that site, no. I rather go with pay per update. Which is supported there, but none of the developers do it. And why would they.

To get money would be my guess, everytime it comes to collect alot of them have cancels. If they did a pay by update and make it a min amount to do so I think would bring in money with less head ache

It is the old "Regular Income vs Lump-sum Payments" problem, and is one reason why some on-line companies like to charge a regular fee to use their software/service instead of you paying a single lump sum to buy the next release. They get paid as they build the new release instead of having to wait until after they have finished building it.

Re: Donation pages?

PostPosted: Tue, 16Mar15 01:05
by Depeche
Well, in my opinion, supporting game creators is a VERY good thing, but monthly supports seems to increase the delay of releases.

I dunnot know if it's intendly for some (or many) of them, or if the games are much heavier, complex and need more work when done by this way.

Just a fact or at least a strong feeling.

Re: Donation pages?

PostPosted: Tue, 16Mar15 01:18
by Arden
Agree happy to support them but I guess what i am saying is would hate to support someone for say 6 months and then them just say hey I am quitting lol thanks for the 60 bucks bud

Re: Donation pages?

PostPosted: Tue, 16Mar15 01:56
by kexter
I don't know if there are any penalties for cancelling your patronage. If there isn't any then you could withhold the money and contribute it after each new update. So instead of $10 per month, you'd contribute $60 after six months. That would require some additional bookkeeping on your part, a bit of self-control to not spend the money, and determination to actually give them the money after a new release. So technically you'd do a manual "pay per update". Obviously that's not optimal from the creators' point of view but if they don't show any visible progress for months then I think one has the right to be cautious.

Re: Donation pages?

PostPosted: Tue, 16Mar15 04:03
by Skelaturi
kexter wrote:I don't know if there are any penalties for cancelling your patronage. If there isn't any then you could withhold the money and contribute it after each new update. So instead of $10 per month, you'd contribute $60 after six months. That would require some additional bookkeeping on your part, a bit of self-control to not spend the money, and determination to actually give them the money after a new release. So technically you'd do a manual "pay per update". Obviously that's not optimal from the creators' point of view but if they don't show any visible progress for months then I think one has the right to be cautious.


Perks, on most you get early access to newer versions etc. But only after the pledge comes through. So when you start to donate after a update you're usually to late. At least that's to my understanding.

Re: Donation pages?

PostPosted: Tue, 16Mar15 21:23
by Rexxx
Pledging 60$ after 6 months is only theorically the same, it's difficult to put money away so you could spend 10$ each months, but not wanting to do 60$ after six months, and the author cannot know who will pay at the end, but he have to work the same.
In many case one donate to an author because he produces something he likes but not find easily, for example with theme how domination, incest, girls with gigantic boobs ...
If I would like very much a adult game with mythological theme could decide to pledge much and wait even if the creation is slow, because I haven't alternative.
This and a bit of inertia cold explain, because not necessarily the best games or the authors that work more are necessarily those that have more donations.

Re: Donation pages?

PostPosted: Wed, 16Mar16 04:00
by tlaero
I guess it depends on the size of the games you're talking about. Redemption for Jessika took 6 months to create, including me working almost full time in the month of December when I was on vacation. These things take time. If you're thinking of it as "I'm paying for games," you should stop. Much better to go buy games that are available than to pay now for something that may not be out for longer than you want to wait.

The point of that site isn't to pay for games. It's to encourage people to keep making them. It's to help the authors pay for the costs of producing their games (and those costs are real) while they're paying them, rather than after the fact. It's to have them say, "You know, we've got some money coming in, let's buy some new models and make the game we're working on better."

The point of the site is to become a patron of the arts, and that's a tradition steeped in history. Without patrons, many of the famous artists of the past (Da Vinci, etc.) would be unknown to us. Patrons gave artists a place to stay and food to eat while they created their masterpieces. This is different than the people who bought their artwork afterward (though patrons did that too). That's not to say that you need to be a patron of the arts. That decision is between you and your bank account. But that's the point of the site.

I don't feel that the perks that anyone gives are "worth" the money. Compare 6 months of $10 perks to a AAA Xbox title like Destiny or The Division. The only reason to support artists there is to support them. You're doing it selflessly to encourage them to continue selflessly produce their games. The perks are icing. Helping make sure the games get created is the cake.

Tlaero

Re: Donation pages?

PostPosted: Wed, 16Mar16 09:55
by shark
I totaly agree tlaero, but It's beginning to bother me when people register here and post a game they created if it seems the sole reason is to earn money through “p a t r e o n . c o m” or similar websites.
So, I decided, with the team, to define rules for authors seeking financial support.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3730

Re: Donation pages?

PostPosted: Wed, 16Mar16 14:51
by Skelaturi
shark wrote:I totaly agree tlaero, but It's beginning to bother me when people register here and post a game they created if it seems the sole reason is to earn money through “p a t r e o n . c o m” or similar websites.
So, I decided, with the team, to define rules for authors seeking financial support.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3730


Agreeing with the rule, just hoping Luke, LRM and yourself don't get burdened to much with the moderator's work. Specially considering you are working on a new game yourself.

Re: Donation pages?

PostPosted: Wed, 16Mar16 17:42
by Morgwen
Skelaturi wrote:I rather go with pay per update. Which is supported there, but none of the developers do it. And why would they.


Wolfschadowe is asking money per episode not per month....

Re: Donation pages?

PostPosted: Wed, 16Mar16 18:33
by Skelaturi
Morgwen wrote:
Skelaturi wrote:I rather go with pay per update. Which is supported there, but none of the developers do it. And why would they.


Wolfschadowe is asking money per episode not per month....


Okay, i correct myself then. On occasion someone does it like that. But most are asking a pledge on monthly basis.

Re: Donation pages?

PostPosted: Wed, 16Mar16 21:59
by Rexxx
Tlaero wrote with a style and romanticism that I can't duplicate.
It's true that what you said is P a t r e o n at his best and for some is so, but there are even people that have done fake pledge to you.
I think that it's very good you and Mortze will permit to new patrons to have even in future old perks, some donate only for the extra, but other will try to support you in their capacity and when they can and it's beautiful you will try to not penalize them.
If one will donate only once or 2 in 1 year I don't think it will do only to take the spoils (those people cannot wait, they do fake pledge for playing a free game only a couple of week before all the others), but it's because it's how much they can do, in some case there are too much authors that deserve (and in your case how can one decides between Tora and Mortze ^_^).
I think that also that those who chose a donation every month, if honest, do this how a sure income for deciding how much time he can use, maybe instead of other working, not all the game can be released in episodic ways (like Mortze's games and I'm sure that he works every months very much for creating something always better).