Continuation of Mind drop #13 (Addressing concerns) (Patreon)

Thank you guys a ton for all of the feedback on my last post. 😊
So I've slept on it and I've taken all of the comments and feedback into consideration and after seeing some of the major concerns I think it'd be a good idea to talk about them and talk about how I'd try to plan against them. As well as some other things.

The main concern that was brought up is a lack of productivity that can come with the new schedule:

As a few mentioned I'm not the first to go this sort of route where you only update when it's ready and without deadlines. Not all but a lot of devs that decide to go this route seem to slow down some.
And it isn't anything to do with effort, it can just be the nature of a looser schedule. You'd want to tweak things and be a perfectionist and it's easier to do and fall into that trap without a rigid schedule.

This is a very valid concern and one that I've already put a ton of thought into.
I would never try to claim I'm immune to this because I've already been there. That exact scenario is where I found myself with Day 7 final.
It's not the perfect comparison because on top of everything I was only a half functioning person at that point in time but still. I completely understand why some of you would be worried about this.

I'd like to think I've learned the signs of falling into that and I'd know how to avoid it. I also would like to think I learned how to get out of it. But in all honesty that's not a safe enough bet.
So let's talk a little about how I'd try to keep myself in line.

- Continuing the weekly mind drops and being completely honest about how an update is going with full weekly reports on it

- Render count in weekly mind drops
I'll post the amount of renders I made in that week so you guys can sort of check on how I'm handling things.
(Render counts don't tell the whole story. Some of my most productive weeks have been on weeks where I didn't render much. But they are a good gauge of overall work over a period of time. And of course I'll go into detail about where my time was spent. I have no issues doing that.)

- I'll plan out specific events better so I can give a realistic roadmap for each update.
As I work now I plan out all the scenes and everything that will happen in those scenes but I don't plan out the specific renders. Which is why it can sometimes be difficult to gauge how much time I need for something. But I'll work on fixing that. And luckily it's not a difficult fix.

- I'll set private timelines for things

On top of all that I'd be the first to tell you guys if I felt I wasn't living up to my own expectations of myself. And if this change happens and it doesn't work out then we could always try something else. There's no reason this has to be permanent.

Another big concern is amount of time needed for a full update to be made:

It's no secret Day 7 and Day 8-9 are both very large updates that both took / are taking a lot of time to make.

As the update schedule moves towards weeks instead of days I understand why you could assume the amount of time needed to make an update would continue to expand but it'll actually shrink.
As the story calms back down and some of the plot lines are completed / past the point they need to be for now the pacing will change.

Most full updates will be between 800-1200 renders. Which will usually include a few big events and a basketball game. (Sometimes the games will be 300-400 renders long and sometimes they'll only be 50.)
So given my expectations for myself and the private timelines I'd give myself you can expect 2-3 months per update.
(Also some updates would be shorter so potentially only 1 month for some)

The next full update after day 9 will be days 10-14. Then after that will be week 3.

And in the event that an update exceeds that timeframe I'd likely release it in 2 parts.
I wouldn't go more than 3 months without a release. Potentially less.

Betas:

- A few people brought up the idea of doing beta builds for higher tiers when I think a good chunk of content is complete. I like this idea but I wouldn't want to put any sort of timeframe on them. They would be more of a "when it works" kind of thing.

Why not hire help?

- WVM is my baby and I'm not good at managing others. I really don't want to give any creative roles to others that directly influence the game but there are some things I could use help with.
I've mentioned them before but I should hire a programmer and an artist. (In the works)
A programmer to help with some cool features like the calendar and interactive character sheets. And an artist for different team's logos and some clothing.

Losing the render buffer could be an issue right?

- I mean, yeah. Any time lost would have an immediate impact instead of a future one. But with a "when it's ready" update schedule it's not as crucial to have a plan for the immediate impact. I think I have to weigh the pros and cons and realize I as an individual work better without the buffer.

How would pledging work? When would you pause?

- My previous promise was "if I get the things I promise out, I won't pause." But now that there won't be many promises it's not the best thing to go by.
So I suppose I'm not sure yet. I'd likely just go off of if I think I did the work that you guys expect from me in that month. And pause if I don't feel that way or if things are taking longer than they should.

I won't be super duper hard on myself. Not everyday has to be a perfect day but I won't relax on myself either. I have enough experience to know what I can do and I'll just be honest with myself about it.

Why not just do monthlies?

- I mentioned in the last post that I think this route would have the same problems as the bi-weekly just over a longer period of time.
It does fix a lot of the issues for the most part but only sometimes. And in all reality this is a plan that would probably work, honestly I could make the bi-weekly plan work if I had to.
But I thinking moving to full updates are what would make me the happiest and would give me the best chance to consistently put out updates that I'm proud of. And in turn that gives me the best chance to deliver quality content which is at the end of the day the most important thing.

Regarding the polls I mentioned as potential tier rewards:

Just a quick note that all game altering polls would be held for all patrons, such as the client polls.
The tier specific polls are only for the tier specific content like monthly render sets and pinup sets that have no affect on the game. (Though some may be featured at some point in game)


Okay, that's all. Just wanted to clarify a few things. 😊
Thank you all for the feedback. I was a bit worried that things would go south after the post yesterday but everyone has been really respectful in giving valid support / addressing concerns. You guys are amazing.

Sorry for the books these last two posts! I'll probably be quiet for a few days but you'll see me again soon. Once again thank you all.
Love you guys <3