Actually, FUCK giving up, I want to make this Patreon work [IMPORTANT UPDATE] (Patreon)

I recommend reading through the ENTIRE UPDATE
[ Follow-up update to this post: patreon.com/posts/i-am-closing-my-54463875 ]


Hey everyone, hope you've all been well.
Lot of updates as of recent, huh This one's a positive one!

I think I want to get into the meat of this update before anything else. Pretty self explanatory, but:
I don't want to delete my patreon.
I LIKE having a place for my followers and commissioners to further support me, and I think lot of people here and on twitter have felt the same way.

Patreon sucks, don't get me wrong, but it's not the site itself that I hate; It's how I implemented the rewards.
My rewards are stressful to me! I think my previous update (linked above) did a good job explaining WHY, so I won't go into explaining it here.
So why do I think deleting my patreon is the solution?

In all honesty? I don't!
It was a quick and thoughtless decision I made at 6 am on a Tuesday, I had no sleep and, to be truthful, my depression made me feel like this patreon was a failure.
It's not, I see that now.
I was harsh to myself in that last update. The words I said have stayed with me all throughout this month, and not in a good way.
I feel a lot of the critique on how I run my patreon is fair and honest; I still believe my reward system sucks, I think it should change.

That update it littered with self degrading phrases like "my lack of ideas" and "my Patreon is an unfortunate failure" that I KNOW were fueled by my low self esteem and depression.
It's not healthy to view things in black and white, I'm no failure for running my Patreon poorly, I just need to change how things work.
But that's being human, mistakes happen like this!

I want to apologize for the people who I stressed out, who've continually supported me even with how my patreon is run currently.
But I don't want to give up because something is being stressful.

Below are a list of changes I will be making on Patreon at the start of next Month:
This list is subject to change by 09/01/21

Let's start with the biggest change I will be making

A Discord is in the works, and will be a reward for Tier 2-4 (hopefully)

Tier 4, Jockstrap Enthusiasts, will have a substantial changes regarding it's major reward, monthly sketches:
  - Tier 4 will now cost $45 instead of $25, and will have a limit of 3 Patrons.
  - I will be removing monthly sketches and replacing them with quick Icons, OR...
  - You will be able to build up 'Sketch Credit'*!

*What is 'Sketch Credit'?
They're actually really simple, let me explain them!:

'Commission Credit' is credit you receive each and every monthly if you PASS UP ON a monthly icon
Each month you receive $50 Sketch Credits, and if you save up 4 Months worth of Commission Credits, you can 'Cash in' your credits to receive a Sketch Reward.

At which point your Sketch Credits will reset, and you will have to wait another 4 months until you can receive another sketch.
If you decide you want a monthly icon at the start of the month, but you have credit from the previous month(s), you will receive an icon, however you will lose out on receiving credit for that month.

You can either receive a Monthly Icon OR Monthly Credit, you can't have both.


Now for the minor changes

Here is a list of minor changes I will be making for Tier 3:
- These Rewards for Tier 3, Himbo Lovers, will be removed:
  -Exclusive Merchandise (until merch is created)

Here is a list of minor changes in general for my Patreon:
  -Upload Schedule will now cover every weekday.
  -The main goal for this Patreon will be Donation-based, I will be advertising this site more! horray.

Tier 1-2 will remain unchanged. What I upload will remain unchanged.


I think that's everything!
I hope this is good news to everyone, sorry for the sudden flipflopping, but I think it's important you all know what my plans are for this patreon, whether I go through with them or not.

Thank you all so much for the continued support, and for your patience in my decision-making!
With love, Redd 🍑


p.s. I am ALL EARS to any OTHER ideas that may help in making this Patreon a better place for EVERYONE involved, so if you have anything to add / critiques on how I run Patreon currently (that I did not bring up in the previous update) my DM's are open.

Thank you to MadMonk / RestrainedFlame for the amazing idea that is the 'Sketch Credit', you're amazing ❤