Hey there, Oxdarock here!
Been a while since I’ve posted any news here, so I thought I’d let people know what’s up. Most of it has to do with Patreon stuff. Before I get into any of that, I just wanted to announce that the release date for the next Snapzine issue will be this Saturday, April 13th. It will feature a 22 page comic and most of the illustrations I’ve done over the past several months on Patreon. Look forward to it!
Now for Patreon stuff. First, I want to announce that I’ll be removing the $1 tier at the beginning of June (I’ve actually unpublished it so that no new patrons can join that tier, but it’s still there). It’s pretty much a useless tier at this point. Every amount of the $1 tier can be achieved by manipulating the monthly pledge limit for higher tiers. And since I don’t discriminate based on who sets a pledge limit, those who do so for higher tiers end up with better rewards for the same amount. Not only that, but the $1 tier has the potential to do more harm than good as someone who pledges $1 a month gains all my exclusive content for a lot less than if they were to purchase it from my store.
Anyway, point is, after pledge rewards go out on June 6th, I’ll be removing the tier. Any patrons still part of the tier will be given a “No Benefit” status by Patreon. Those with the “No Benefit” status will not receive any rewards, nor will they be able to participate in voting polls. They will, however, still receive links to paid posts as Patreon will charge you regardless of the tier you’re on. I highly urge patrons still on the $1 tier to switch to a different tier and set their monthly pledge limit to under $5 if they’d like to continue pledging that amount. You can learn how to do so here.
The next big change I’ve done to my Patreon is the retirement of Stack Point system. It just wasn’t working out. Not only did few patrons use their points, the system as a whole had the potential to quickly overwhelm me with work. That said, I still needed something to fill the void, so I’ve opted to hold a monthly request voting poll. Simply put, every month I’ll call for patrons to send in a request idea, then hold a voting poll to see which gets chosen. At the moment, the requests will be in full color and can feature up to two characters. I’ll sticking with simple backgrounds rather than figuring out how to implement them into the Lusty Lamp (unless the requests specifically calls for it). And like all of my extra rewards, only patrons who have been charged at least once may participate.
Something else I’ve done recently is create monthly archives. Every month, I send out dropbox links containing all the illustrations and comic pages I post on patron over several months ($3 tier gets the former while $5 gets both). However, I periodically clear these archives out whenever I release a new item on my online store (which usually contains content from Patreon). I’ve also recently made a sketch archive featuring most of the works from my online store. This archive does not get clear out, is a $5 reward, and will be updated monthly. On a side note, since I don’t post anything anywhere else besides my Patreon, I’ve taken up posting commentary in the dropbox links for illustrations I send out. It’s a nice little extra for people curious on my thought process when drawing each picture.
Lastly, in order to reward patrons who have supported me a lot over the years, I’ve come up with extra rewards for those who pledge $100 over the course of their membership (i.e. their “lifetime” status). Essentially, these patrons will have access to all rewards regardless of the tier they’re on. What’s more, they’ll be able to request links to illustrations previously cleared from the monthly archive (which I intend to place in a separate archive in order to save all that juicy commentary). I’m also trying out keeping a request list for $100 patrons, from which I’ll choose one to draw every month. Requests are in full color and can feature up to three characters. Again, I intend to use simple backgrounds for these unless the request calls for a specific one. Depending on how this and the request voting polls turn out will decide whether I’ll add or remove options in the future.
And that’s it! Apologies for the long post. Be sure to check out my Patreon if you’re interested! If you have any questions, either check out my FAQ page or contact me via email at oxdaman@gmail.com.
That’s all for now!
