January 2024 Newsletter: More Weekly Content On the Way! (Patreon)

Hey Gang!

We hope you enjoyed the holidays. Our team worked diligently through this busy season with the aim of making what might have been a gloomy year for many a little brighter.

Our Patreon team is taking a BRIEF VACATION this week so there won't be any other posts. However, we'll be back next week (the second of January) ready to share some big happenings with the community.

The new menu (release schedule) will be posted. Additionally, there will be a format change for Patreon in 2024 where the focus will be more on new content and less on remasters.

NEWS ABOUT REMASTERS IN 2024

Most of our comics have already been remastered and posted here or at Ranmabooks.com. Those that remain have deeper problems to address- such as the original working scale being so small that there is not enough line clarity in the masters when presented in UHD (4K). It's why things look blurry when zoomed-in on the oldest art pages AND why many pinups were remastered and presented in lower resolutions than UHD. The originals simply could not hold up to that viewing scrutiny.

For those impacted projects, we have new tools we'll be using to get our beloved classic catalog (think the Palcomix era comics) in a state fit for modern UHD tablet and computer browsing. AI will be used to help upscale the old isolated backgrounds while our artists will manually restore drawn characters so that they hold up at the new viewing size. Rest assured, these won't be AI remakes. These are true remasters that will meet the quality standards our patrons expect of our modern works.

The end result is that there will be less remastered posts. Our artists need the time to properly restore the art and present it in UHD. Yet the tradeoff is that the quality will be higher than ever before when we do post this content.

Does this mean that we might revisit remasters already posted at the Patreon and further upgrade using the new process? Perhaps, but our goal in 2024 is tackling yet to be remastered art that needs the most love.

NEWS ABOUT NEW RANMABOOKS.COM CONTENT IN 2024

The next bit of news is something that has been requested by members of the community who have had problems with Ranmabooks.com's current billing processor, CCBill. There are those among us who must pledge support on Patreon because they cannot signup for Ranmabooks.com access in the traditional way.

As many patrons are aware, any active RHB Master is granted access to Ranmabooks.com upon request. Yet this process is manual and slow since it requires a bit of message tagging where the patron is inconvenienced for up to a day before being granted their Ranmabooks.com access. We want to eliminate this delay for those who can't use CCBill to support us.

The most elegant solution we have to this problem is to begin posting new Ranmabooks.com updates at our Patreon. RHB Masters (patrons of the $20 USD tier) will now have access to NEW Ranmabooks.com art posted in 2024 on this Patreon. Additionally, any RHB Master can still get Ramabooks.com gallery access upon request as is the current standing policy.

This change is meant to give patrons immediate access to the new art they want to see without any processing delays.

The current cheapest monthly access plan (Squire) on Ranmabooks is $24.95 USD. Processing fees are higher with CCBill than with Patreon. So we're passing that value discount directly to our patrons. And for those who worry about value for Ranmabooks.com members who use CCBill, remember they still get access to all the galleries and can even make Fan Requests for the higher tiers. There are still good reasons to signup directly at Ranmabooks.com, yet for those who can't now we have another option here at the Patreon that lets them support the creation of Ranma content.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR PATREON EXCLUSIVES?

Never fear, the one guaranteed new art update will continue to be available here for all patrons of the Discipline tier or higher ($5 USD). Patrons may have noticed that more and more we're seeing 2 exclusives at the Patreon each month. That could become a regular, permanent thing. We're very close at this current level of support. And even expanding that is not out of question if we continue to grow here on this platform.

IS THIS A DOUBLE DIP SITUATION?

So what about a double dip where folks feel pressured to pledge Patreon and sign up at Ranmabooks.com in order to see all our content? Truthfully, we're not trying to force that in any way. Some incredibly kind folks do support us here and at the main website. Many cannot afford that, especially with inflation rampant. We do not expect anyone to support both websites unless they can afford it and simply want to help the project even more because they can and are awesome.

Our most loyal supporters at Ranmabooks.com sometimes message us and ask to see the Patreon Exclusive. We allow that. The same way we allow RHB Masters here at the Patreon to have access to the Ranmabooks.com galleries upon request. We're not trying to squeeze out more money, but rather give our community options to support us and doing the best we can to balance two platforms (Patreon here and aMember with CCBill payment processing at Ranmabooks.com) which are not and cannot be integrated. If we could, we'd give every Ranmabooks.com member free Patreon access as we give free access to Ranmabooks.com to our most generous patrons. We have no way to do that, nor would that be fair to Patreon who provides the platform, but rest assured: whenever folks who can only support us at one place want content for the other, we help them out.

WHAT IS THE BEST VALUE?

With RHB Patreon Masters having access to everything at our Patreon and Ranmabooks.com, we can safely say this is the BEST VALUE for anyone supporting our project. It's a great choice for anyone who wants to see all the new art we drop each week and doesn't mind a brief processing delay on their Ranmabooks.com access.

For those who seek more than to consume content and would like to contribute their own ideas that we can turn into a sexy reality, then becoming a Paladin or Champion remains their best option. Details for membership can be found at Ranmabooks.com/tour/ on the main website.

Yet for those who can't afford a pricey monthly contribution at either place, here or Ranmabooks.com, we sympathize. It's why we offer content for our most humble tier at this Patreon ($2 USD) and will continue to do so in 2024 and beyond. Heck, we'd make it free, but Patreon won't allow us to post adult content publicly. We've always been grateful for whatever our patrons pledge to support the project. Even if it's only a couple bucks, it does add up when enough chip in.

LOOKING BACK AND AHEAD

Ranmabooks (formerly the Ranma Hentai Gallery project) is now entering its 19th year as an artist circle. We're still here because you are here. Ranma is something special, something unique that we continue to revisit and cherish when most fandoms have long since fizzled out. It's our honor to serve this community and whether you pledge support at our Patreon or Ranmabooks.com, know that you matter and we are here for you. It's with your help that we'll continue to create this content for many years to come.

Any questions or issues, please comment here or send us a direct message. And to all patrons, expect new content next week and much more beyond.

A Happy Belated New Year to all!

-Deep Star & the Ranmabooks team