Website Password for November + Some Tier change information (Pixiv Fanbox)

Heya

So I left the password updates 5 days later to just give a window before posting this.

Short of it is I am making a couple of small Tier changes. I will post the executive summary below, then a bit of detail about why. I think it is only fair that you guys have a decent idea of my thought process around changing a service you are paying for.

First things first - The new password is: ch-ch-ch-changes

As usual, it will be changed on or around the 5th of the next month

Tier Changes summary:

$2 - No changes

$5 - No direct changes (there is an indirect one)

$10 - Get videos 2 days before $5 people going forward, to lighten server loads on release date

$15 - A new tier that will be able to vote/suggest characters for short 1-2 minute things each month

Content Changes

I will be adding a 1-2 minute tier voted animation each month so that no matter what there is something each month without burning myself out. The characters/content will be voted by the new tier people.

More Detail:

There are pretty much 2 issues at the moment. The first is a simple technical one - the webserver I have gets overloaded on video releases. For those unaware, I no longer use file storage services, cause 90% of them have banned me (I have gone through all the normal ones). Instead, I bought a dedicated server to host my content in a location where that content is fine. The side effect is that I am bound somewhat by bandwidth limits, and do not have access to a huge distributed cloud system to provide my files, they all just go through the server, on a 1Gbps connect. 90% of the time it is fine, it is only one video release that tends to jam up. Upgrading the port speed is not hugely practical at the moment.

The server is already pretty expensive, and the next tier of bandwidth would more than double the cost, and while this only happens on releases, it is to me not really acceptable to tell people "just try again later tough luck". So to cover this I am going to split the $10 and $5 tiers by 2 days, which should half the load for each group on accessing files.

For everyone that is the only real practical change.

The other thing I am going to do is introduce 1-2 minute shorts voted/suggested by the new tier, I had raised this idea before, but I am returning to it because 4-6 minutes of animation a month in blender is just not possible. The last two months have been rough as I rush things out. This has meant I am not as happy with the end results, and nor is it giving time to do other things/experiments. For example, making the new Ellie, fixing/editing existing models, and such - as a solid example I have been working on another Sarah game and for 2 and a half months, there was just no time to work on it. The alternative is I go some months not putting something out, and I hate the idea of going a month with no content for people who are paying me.

The other issue I have, as those who have been around for a while, can attest, I am terrible at letting an idea sit and continuously add to it, resulting in much longer videos. The Sherry series was originally only meant to be 1-minute shorts for example, but I expanded the idea. My hope is that by doing characters\acts voted by the community I will be less likely to expand it out and keep them contained.

So why add a different tier? Well mostly because I want people at that point to actually have a reasonable voice. At the moment a vote in the current tiers means one voice in hundreds. I do not expect it to be a thing of interest to everyone, and that is fine, if no one is interested in it I will just pick characters at random, so no one should feel obligated.

As always if you have questions you can get hold of me in real-time on discord is the easiest,

KDE