Possible Changes/Additions to Patreon (Patreon)

I hope everyone's been feeling satisfied with my Patreon! While everything I post will eventually make its way to my online store, that won't be at least until late January, so I've definitely been making due with the early advertisement! Currently I'm trying to build up content to have a posting schedule ready for the next couple of months and with several comic pages finished, I'll just about have most of December's posts ready by the end of the week! Still, while I don't post them as soon as they're done, I do stream just about everything I do on my Picarto channel, so if you'd like glimpses ahead of time, be sure to drop in sometime. Anyway, here's some things that have been on my mind lately concerning my Patreon.

Removal of Discount Rewards

After taking some time to think about it, there's a bit of fat trimming I need to do with my Patreon, namely the commission discounts. Besides the fact that not a lot of people make use of these discounts, commissions have quite frankly been the furthest thing from my mind as of late. So since it's up in the air if I'll ever do commissions anytime soon, I want to stop advertising it as a tier reward. Besides, if I'm honest, discounts for commissions have almost never worked out for me since I take too long to draw stuff. As for a replacement to the discount rewards, quite frankly the character suggestion and voting poll system already fill that roll. It's just a matter of people taking part in it. I do, however, have an idea to fill the void a bit, which I'll explain further down.

Adjustments to BEnchmark Rewards

As the name suggests, there are a couple of changes I need to make the the BEnchmark Rewards system. This has yet to be a problem, but I will say ahead of time that, in the event that I don't hold a voting poll at least once during the month, I'll carry over the names for the increased number of votes column (the first one). Aside from that, it really doesn't change much. You get one extra vote that month for voting polls. Plain and simple. The free copy column and special thanks column(fourth and fifth columns) also don't change. I've actually been considering bringing the "free copy" pledge reward down a tier and might actually go through with it for December. 

For the increased suggestions tier (second column) I think it'd be best to just keep adding names until people make a character suggest and that suggestion wins a voting poll. If you have questions on how suggestions works, just send me a message. The suggestions in the second column cannot stack simply by reaching another BEnchmark, but they can be stacked with the method I'll explain next.

To replace the third column, I was thinking of implementing something called a Stack column. This column is for adding to other columns whether you've reached a BEnchmark or haven't. For example, if you've reached a BEnchmark for one month and gain an extra vote, you can use a stack to gain another vote for that month (so basically two extra votes). Or if you haven't reached a BEnchmark for that month, you can use a stack to get an extra vote anyway. If you're name is already in the suggestion column, you can add a stack to add another suggestion to the pool. 

That's the gist of how the Stack column will work. And as the name suggest, you can stack the number of stacks you have in this column. So if you reach three BEnchmarks, you get three stacks. Also, the length a stack lasts is similar to a BEnchmark. So if you use a stack for an extra vote for one month, that'll last until the end of the month. On the other hand, if you use a stack for an extra suggestion, it'll remain there until the character suggested actually wins a voting poll. 

Furthermore, the number of stacks you can use in a BEnchmark column at once is dependent on your pledge tier. The maximum number that can be use per tier are:

• Big tier: up to 2 stacks
• Grand tier: up to 3 stack
• Huge tier: up to 4 stacks
• Giant tier: up to 5 stacks

To give an example, if you're a part of the Grand tier with 10 stacks and want to use them for extra votes, you can only use up to 4 stacks. What's more, patrons of the Huge tier will earn 2 stacks per BEnchmark while those of the Giant tier will earn 3 stacks. 

Background Character Suggestions

So, this is one of the ideas I've thought of to add to my Patreon without going out of my way to do it. Simply put, I was thinking of taking in suggestions of characters to use in the background of what I draw, be it comics or single illustrations. Believe it or not, I have a really hard time when it comes to adding extra in the background of a picture due to the fact that I have to make up what they look like on the spot, which for me is really annoying. So, aside from making a character template, it'd be simpler to just ask my patrons who I should put in the background. As for how I pick characters, it'll be a mix of using WheelDecide and process of elimination more or less. Patrons are free to suggest any character be it from existing series or OCs (along with references). Lastly, this will be a pledge tier reward for Huge and Giant, but will also be a new column for BEnchmark Rewards (and will also work in a similar manner as the second column). 

That's pretty much all I can think of in order to fill in the commission discount void. For those of you who joined for that perk, I apologize. I might make it a special event for whenever I do decide to open up commisions, but for now it's something I'm trying to move away from as a main source of income. Aside from that, I'll need to update my milestone goals (I finally figured out what to do with that) and my FAQ page so that everything makes more sense. Of course, you're still free to ask me any questions that you don't understand. 

To wrap things up, it'd kinda be nice if people could give me their opinions about my Patreon. Like other artists, I need to be told if what I'm doing is actually good or not every now and then. ^^;

That's all for now!