Production Standstill (Patreon)

Hi everyone, I've returned from Japan on the 17 this month. Since then, it's been an incredibly frustrating time the past several days doing technical troubleshooting on my laptop.

Well, Have You Tried...?

Long story short, a recent Windows 10 Fall Creator Update has caused my Wacom to malfunction. It would either encounter intermittent lags in pen response, have lines unable to register curvature movements, or simply not work right. Now I know what you're thinking, "haven't you tried reinstalling the drivers, turning on the power, checking the cables, consult the celestial alignment of the stars..." And my answer is, "yes, I've done everything in my power to fix this so please just... don't."

A quick search on the internet forums have yielded posts from other users around the world who've encountered similar "lag" issues, particularly only after the most recent Windows 10 update. I have also done a reset of Windows 10, and the same specific issues have been persistent.

Normally what I'd do in this situation, is roll back to a restore point prior to the update itself. Incidentally, there was only ONE restore point, and it was created after the update, to which I pulled of a Jackie Chan meme.

Living Like Glass

I suppose this would otherwise have been a minor annoyance for some, however for me personally, it is a tedious and tiring affair. As a freelancer and self-employed person, I am vividly aware of my own vulnerabilities on a daily basis, and do everything in my powerful to ensure those scenarios don't put me out of action. As a content creator, all my income depends on the steady production and timely release of content to my audience and clients. Unlike having a regular 9-5 job, we can't afford the security of mind that at the start or end of the month, our payroll will come in for certain.

With the end of a year alone, my Patreon saw a flux of outbound patrons terminating their support. This is, of course, the intrinsic nature of subscription based business models, and naturally after a full year of financial support, folks are more likely to move on and try out newer creators. A lot of Patreon's sustainability hinges on your talent and content, and if you're not hitting those sweet spots, attrition kicks in mercilessly and swiftly. There are no safety nets, unless of course, you are able to juggle between your passion project with a day job.

The Next Step

Even with the assistance of my tech-savvy Horse, it has become clear (to me at least) that the issue is rooted with the fall WIndows update. Prior to my trip to Japan, everything had been working fine and I was still able to do inking work with the precision I would expect out of my tools.

I've spent the past few days uninstalling and reinstalling drivers, software and whatever standard solutions that can be done, and it has not been very constructive. With each day lost, my schedule snowballs and work gets backlogged. I am increasingly irritable and antsy over this complete production standstill, and it has not been particularly motivational either to see the amount of attrition while I was gone.

Tomorrow, I'll be bringing my laptop to the local manufacturer to see if there's anything they can do about the matter. Depending on the time it'll take to resolve the issues, my contingency would be to ask Horse to loan me the previous PC I'd given to him (which he'd spruced up with new hardware) and see if I can use that as a replacement workstation.

If I cannot resolve all this by the end of the month, I will be reaching out to my VIP supporters and informing them that the monthly sketch rewards will be terminated for the following month (so that I may clear the backlogged slate from January - before taking on more work.)

How I Am Feeling Now

I cannot begin to express my frustration, especially since this is such a fragile ecosystem I struggle to survive in. I am still striving to be positive in the matter, that I am slowly recovering from falling ill after the convention in Japan (con crud), and am still in relatively good health. I am still blessed and grateful to be operational, even when my laptop has thrown me off track. I am aware of how easily our lives may be taken at any moment, and am humbled by that realization. I am frustrated by this fragility, and I think it also lends some insight to some of the kinks I'm into, as off-topic as that may sound.

At this point, I'm feeling a tad bit worn out from my recent year battles - trying to find shelter, trying to find stability, trying to find a place of belonging. I may just need to do some meditation in the meanwhile, waiting for things to be resolved.

TLDR

Windows 10 Fall Creator Update has caused my Wacom and other software to experience unresponsive input, coupled by intermittent lag. Laptop will be sent back to factory to see if they can do a clean format and get things properly updated and running. No content updates expected for the month of January due to said reasons - will endeavor to find alternate solutions to bring production back on track.

Snares,
Jan 2018