Starting anew

So, I'm back! Well... Sort of. As many things have changed during the last year with the most significant factor being my health.

There are still few days to go to the end of the month, so if anyone of my patrons who kept their pledge up last year changed their minds and want to avoid getting billed, there is still chance to cancel the dormant pledge, reconsider, whether I'm still worthy of your support and re-new your pledge if you come to a conclusion, that the answer to that question is yes.

I also made changes to the pledges as well.

Right now, there aren't any real rewards being offered.

One of the other reasons I closed my creators account here last year was the method I was using to distribute the rewards in past (the DropBox links - which was apparently in violation of Patreon rules). The only reason I used this method was, that there was a number of patrons abusing the pledge system and getting the content I was posting here for my paying fans without paying their pledge.

At that time, my account was not eligible for activation of the "up front" charging method and I simply didn't see any other way how to keep things fair towards my loyal and paying fans.

When I checked now, after the year of absence, the option to activate up front payment is now available to me and I'm strongly thinking about switching it on (although it is one of the "you do that and  you won't be able to take that back, EVER!" things).

The pledges as I have set them up at the moment are in 4 tiers and they range from being as low as $1 to the sky-rocketing $20. All are set for per month, so the lowest $1 tier should, hopefully, not ruin anyone as it is $12 per year. And if there is someone who still thinks that a $1 per month pledge is too much for them to afford. Well... Then I think, that they may have much more serious and pressing issues to deal with than looking at some NSFW images of questionable quality and theme that are made by me.

All the higher tiers are there to simply give you a variety to pick from if you think, that I'm worthy of that much of your support.

Also, and if I'm not being mistaken, if you pledge to someone here on Patreon, there is an option to pick your own pledge, so that is another option for anyone who would not find the tiers that I have setup convenient for them.

So, how exactly will this new Patreon account of mine work then?

Now, that is actually a good question!

At the moment, I'm thinking of it as kind of a tip-jar that can be used to anyone who is following me for all those long years that I have been creating my works and sharing them with the community (for more than 20 years already!) and who think that I deserve some reward as the type of works I create for the past several years (3D) does not come cheap to make and there are rather steep expenses tied to that.

If you are following me on dA, you are aware that there is also a chance (somehow rather high at the moment), that next week I will stop making any new 3D images as I will lose access to a set of tools that I need for my workflow (my Adobe CC annual subscription is expiring).

So, yeah. It may happen. I'm using tools like the Adobe suite, that leech you annually so you can keep using them and the prices aren't really that low.

Now, to be honest, I think the prices aren't that high actually - as long as you use those tools to make works that generate income/profit. Then the 700-800 EUR per year for Adobe CC, and now also some $800 per year for Octane Render (which I'm using exclusively to render my images in), as OTOY switched to subscription based licensing for Octane as well.

The Octane is not that pressing at the moment though. The previous licenses I have are buy-to-own, so I will be able to use them even without the subscription. However, I will be stuck with the version I have now and it won't be supported, maintained and no new features, or support for new hardware, will be added to it.

So, after a while, even Octane may become an issue.

I also have an account on Ko-Fi with a goal set for the Adobe CC renewal running for several months now and several people from the community have already used it to add to reaching that goal, yet it is still not there.

That is another reason for re-opening my Patreon, as I have been contacted by a few fans, who complained that they would like to support me, but they are not comfortable wit the Ko-fi way (which acts as a PayPal proxy and all the payments you receive through it are direct payments between yourself and the person supporting you, which enables you to see their personal details as part of the transaction).

Patreon on the other hand, enables to anonymize your payments to the creators you support as a recurring payment to Patreon on your side and a payout from Patreon on mine.

So, yeah! You asked for it, now you have it! So.. All you have to do now is to... Use it?! ;)

Another stage (so to speak) is tied with my ongoing process of leaving DeviantArt. There I was thinking about starting posting my new works here and hidden behind a paywall.

Though I'm aware that it isn't an ideal solution either, as Patreon is lacking any sort of gallery feature support.

Basically, to summarize the long wall of text above- right now, it is all about getting the funds required to renew the Adobe CC to even be able to continue making my works, and then we shall see.