Important Changes Coming to my Patreon in March and April! (Patreon)

Hey guys! Here's an early notice that's very important in particular to holders of higher tiers.

In short, below will be information regarding changes to the $5 dollar tier, the $600 dollar milestone reward, and the big changes to the $10 and higher tiers. Please read this thoroughly if you are planning to occupy these tiers in the coming months.

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Firstly, this March, the 20% discount for commissions will be moved down from the $10 tier to the $5 tier. 

The reasoning behind this is that it's not particularly relevant to most since tiers above $5 are limited. So once I reopen commissions (very soon, I assure you! Keep your eyes on March), those on tiers $5 and higher will be able to receive this discount.

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Secondly, due to this new current voting and consolation system, which I rather enjoy, the 600 dollar milestone reward will not be applicable, and I will changing that to be compatible. 

I have yet to decide on anything concrete, but I am considering doing an additional Verzi's Choice fill, allowing another free-to-view consolation award from the pool of nominations. It will be something for all non-patrons, while simultaneously still rewarding current patrons since one of the voted for nominations will be filled (despite it being my choice).

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Now, the biggest change is that, after payments go through in early April, I will be increasing the prices of tiers $10 and higher, abolishing the three highest 3 figure slots, and opening up 5 more 2 figure slots. 

The new tier pricing and slot maximums will be as such:
-$15 for the 1 figure tier slots (max 10 patrons)
-$25 for the 2 figure tier slots (max 10 patrons)

My reasoning is as follows: These prices are better in line with changes I made with my new updated commission prices (those will be shown once I announce the reopening! Again, keep eyes peeled when March rolls around), and the decision is unfortunately one of urgency, both for current living costs and fiscal responsibilities, and to better respect the time and work spent on correspondence and working on them during streams.

And with removing the 3 figure slots and increasing the 2 figure slots, I will also be servicing a couple more patrons, going from 18 to 20 while keeping the total monthly figures I'm drawing roughly the same (going from 29 figures to 30). I did consider keeping the 3 figure slots, but i would have to up the tier to $35 dollars If I were to follow the price increases system used for the other tiers, and i don't want to offer a tier that expensive just yet.

In the grand scheme of things, they will still be cheaper than getting a normal commission, and you're still getting the monthly privileges and timely consistency that come with holding these slots, which the price change is also supposed to reflect in exchange for the quality drop and lack of input patreon requests have in comparison to aforementioned normal commissions.

When this happens, I will need to make whole new tiers because it is impossible to change tier prices while people are on those tiers. This will make each slot up for grabs. Like before, this is first come, first serve. 

There's nothing I can really do about this, unfortunately, due to how patreon handles its tiers. In addition, doing so would show favoritism towards patrons, which I try to avoid doing. 

Before April rolls around (but after March's deadline if you still want your request for that month), I heavily encourage those holding $10 and higher tiers to drop their pledges down to $5 or lower to avoid being charged for the month for benefits that will longer be applicable, then be ready to grab the slots for the new $15 and $25 dollar tiers that open up. This will prevent higher payments on the off chance you are unable to reclaim a slot.

The new tiers will be opened up around April 5th, which is when most Patreon charges will already have been processed, and there should (hopefully) not be a similar issue that i had back when i increased the slot numbers last time in mid 2017. (in short, despite a 5 patron limit, patreon ended up giving 7 people the $15 tier due to slow transaction times and i had to handle that situation on an individual basis.)

I will be posting another couple reminders in March linking to this post to make sure everyone is in the know.

Also! I will be attempting to be more strict with the deadline. Because of the price increase, i do not want people to be "forgetting" to get their requests in on a regular basis, because it is somewhat disrespectful to people who are trying to grab those tiers, inconsiderate to me because being on time is important for my monthly scheduling, and I also don't want people to just be handing me money under the agreement that they should be getting a request filled, then not sending in said request. My paypal and Ko-fi are always available for donations, and patreon allows for higher pledges without occupying tier slots, so if you truly wish to support me more but don't want or need a request, just utilize those options so that others can utilize the slots. 

I will be letting people who miss the deadline know they are at risk of losing their slot, and doing so again within a short amount of time, or just after so many total missed deadlines, may result in me politely asking them to relinquish it. Worst case scenario, i may have to block users, since that is the only way to remove pledges on the off chance they are unable to respond back to me or are not respecting the responsibilities of the slot.

With that said, i know that i'd still allow some leniency (cuz I'm me). As long as I don't get radio silence, i can work things out and give extra days and whatnot. The worst you can do is not say anything during the span of a month; I'd appreciate correspondence even after the deadline has passed, and doing so will affect my decision on whether or not i feel you should give up your slot.

Any feedback and questions are welcome, and I will answer them best i can!