Questions for Patrons

Frankly, we're patrons, and patrons give money to artists unconditionally. We aren't commissioning you, here. That said, with all this talk of spending distribution, there is a bit of an understanding that our money should be used to purchase assets and assistance that otherwise simply could not be produced. It's not really meant to be a salary--in practice, I understand your reasoning, but your time "should" be seen as an investment in a marketable product that you alone will be able to monetize upon completion. We are paying because we want to make Yandere Simulator better, not investing in your time in order to reap a cut of the sales. For these reasons, I pretty firmly believe the "salary" cap shouldn't be raised, but as I recently decreased my patronage by a sizable fraction, my thoughts aren't worth all that much. As for work hours, don't kill yourself. Patrons are reasonable people. Forty hours a week is plenty.

Chris Lankford

First and foremost, when you say salary it makes me look at a typical 9-5 job. When you receive a raise there, you don't necessarily work more hours. You may accomplish more things and possibly work more to accomplish it but there is no expected "You must now work X+ hours when given a raise of Y+ dollars". In this case, it's a bit different. We're not your employers and you're not our employee. We are in essence donating money toward your overall project. As for myself, I don't really expect you to start clocking in more hours with the more money you're given. I think it needs to be set with a cohesive timeline and projected deadline of sorts (I.E.: Osana will be implemented by such and such date) and then giving us a progress report prior to that date to see if it is still feasible or if a new date needs to be drawn up. You've been doing that thus far in all honesty and keeping us up to date on what is happening so I really don't think you should kill yourself more in a manner where it begins to affect your health. When I pledged it was because I enjoyed the game and it was my way of saying "I support this project and would like to see it through". I'm not expecting you to kill yourself but progress updates are good and let us know you are actively communicating with us. In short, I personally don't feel as if I wasted my money.

Dena

kekekkekke we just dumped the decision back to you as always

We'll I hope I will be.😁

Osana_najjimi

I mean aw

Osana_najjimi

As.. because I told my mom and she said I can't download it because it's to scar... but it's really awesome nd I don't really care about any murder games because i live in a very bloody place there are always murderers.lol

Osana_najjimi

Might be impossible. A game like this simply isn't made for tablets.

YandereDev

When you finish the game will this be on a tablet or kindle?

Osana_najjimi

I would rather you take your time and make something really good. Most of the time I don't even think of yandere simulator but when I do I always see progress from the last time and I'm satisfied that it'll eventually come out. If I don't see progress I think "Maybe I check too often" and I wait a few weeks.

Just stay motivated and make this a fun creative experience for yourself and I'll feel content. (*˘︶˘*)

Jack Ripper

You don't have to set such a tight update schedule to stress yourself out, I believe most of us are willing to wait for a longer time for you to stay healthy and producing quality work.

Emerald Rosa

Everyone else summed it up. Can't work on it if your dead, ill, etc. Maybe do 8 hours a day 5 days a week if you feel bad? Tha'ts more normal hours and shouldn't leave you dead lol. Also sure a large number of people would agree, would rather wait a bit longer for the game then risk you as person. That and if you're not burned out working on it, think the quality of the game itself would be higher. And no, not a Patron but looking forward to it being finished (With you in good heath mind you).

Wolf

take an example from the game developers at squad (they made kerbal space program) never post an update before it's ready and in reality to take the stress off your schedule there really shouldn't be an update schedule at all just a daily or weekly progress report to get us an idea of how much closer you are to an update

torin sockey

Before we begin, no, I'm not a Patron. However, I'm a big fan of Yandere Simulator. Once I get money, then I'll become a Patron. But the reason why so many people are giving so much is NOT because we want the game to be rushed. The game won't be how you wanted it to be due to pressure and you won't be in a good state; physically or mentally. You're earning this money because we want to see Yandere Simulator as best as it can be, and we believe in you to do that. No, I'm not saying that everything has to be perfect, I'm saying that we're excited for it. Good luck YandereDev, and we hope to see you in good shape!

Personally I'd rather live a while without a new update than have you dead.

Started now to be a patron. You should take your free time, thats good for creativity and health(!) and you don't risk a „burn out“.

You could hire some part-timer to help you with this. :)

RavenWolf

As long as there is progress being made, some form of communication, as minor as it might be, taking your time is better. If its like that, money isn't really being wasted, or thats at least my opinion

It's great to know that you are dedicated to this project, but please don't work yourself to the ground! I would have thought that around 40 hours a week was doing good, 12 hours a day 7 days a week is insane! Personally, all I want to see is steady progress, even if all you do is iron out a few bugs. If you keep up the updates like you do, then my money hasn't been wasted.

HurricaneEris

Hello Yandere Dev! I just wanted to say that you are a really talented artist and I am wishing you all the best on your precious game. You did a wonderful job and I'm sure you will bring your game to its full potential. You can do it. Take great care of yourself and if you ever need some relaxation or motivation, I will be right here to support you! Have a wonderful day and thank you for your work.

Hermetic Kitten

A million other people have already said most of what I have to say, but I'm going to add that you have to consider your body as well as your mind. Coming from someone with wrist problems, if you work 84 hours a week, hurting yourself is not a matter of if, but when. And once you get to that point, healing is really hard.

Everyone's pointing out the nice and altruistic point of view, which I wholeheartedly agree with, but there's also a selfish aspect to it: if you're overworked, the quality of the work we're funding will suffer. So I SELFISHLY DEMAND you take an easier pace!

1. Whenever progress on the game is delayed, do you feel like your money is going to waste? Short answer, no; long answer, hell no. I support you YandereDev in the hopes that you will one day have a fully functional and polished game. The only time I would feel like I was throwing money away is if you decided to completely stop working on the game. 2. When you pledge to my Patreon, what do you want in return? For me to work harder and faster? Or something else? Patreon was created to enable fans to support and engage with the artists they love. I want to support you in making Yandere Simulator; that is all I want. Helping you do the things you love is enough. 3. My worst fear is for people to feel that the money they are pledging to me has been "squandered" or "wasted". What would make you feel this way? Nothing, absolutely nothing could make me feel that way. You care too much of what other people will think of you. Stop that. Creativity comes from positive emotions. Fear and anxiety will only weigh you down.

Q. "I don't know how else to give back to the Patrons." A. Stream? We'd love to hang out. Even a low quality 50 kbps video. No pressure to perform chill environment. You can talk over a webcam microphone from the 80s and read chat whenever. It can be a zero expectation private stream for patrons. Content doesn't matter. You can literally title a stream "watching anime" and just have an anime girl gif with the anime audio and you laughing. <3 Regardless, work game have fun moar.

Tisnman

As patron, I simply give you the money with the understanding you will produce something of quality. How long that takes, I leave entirely in your hands, since I lack complete understanding of what making a game like this entails. Isn't that how patronage traditionally worked?

Ai Muhao

Don't feel guilty because you're taking some free time. Don't push yourself too hard. You're not a lazy man when you're watching an anime, or playing a video game, you're just some one who's taking a break from work. You're working 12h a day, it's enought, don't spend more time. Now go wtach an anime or playing a video game, you earned it.

Luca Ferri

Trust me, as a fellow dev? Relaxation is *part* of the creative process. Don't burn yourself out, don't block all your time for your project. If you feel like you need to justify the money you are getting, then focus on putting it into improved tools, not extra hours.

Ariamaki

1) Hell no I don't feel like my money's wasted when progress is delayed. I feel like it's being put to the same cause, but for an even greater good the longer you spend ensuring that your project doesn't hit any unforeseen snags due to "time constraints". 2) What I like to see in return for my pledges is just video content whenever you feel like something is worth pointing out. Text is also acceptable for sure, but a video really helps me keep up to date with my busy schedule as well. Whether it's a new feature, improvement of an existing feature or element such as animation or interactivity, or just you chiming in with some updates on what the next step is, I feel like I get my money's worth out of every video (especially considering my low contribution amount! WHAT A STEAL!). 3) I would feel ripped off if you didn't post an update by either text or video for two months. That's it; that's all I ask. If I get a single email that you posted on your Patreon about something as simple as "I've been working on a new title screen, thanks for your patience", then I'd tell you "Please accept more money from me." And wow I would really cap your hours at between 40 and 52 a week at most if you ask me, I have a hard enough time working 42.5 a week and I just work some lazy idiot job.

Cory

First, you've been foolish indeed. Thanks for noticing. Second, we already told you: DON'T OVERWORK YOURSELF! Third, online polls can be spread around by anyone, making it "developer only" a moot point. Fourth, SurveyMonkey allows for more involved surveys. Strawpolls are too simple. Fifth, we already told you en masse that we don't care if there are monthly releases instead of fortnightly. No need to ask again. Now, what I'll tell you is: If you keep on spending so many days focused on emails, whatever the reason is, you'll lose support. At least my meager support. PS: Fucking watch anime without feeling guilty! You deserve your free time, and anime is awesome and deserved being watched without you guilttripping yourself! PPS: Well, at least choosing ot not reply to non-productive emails might allow you to progress in the game at a pace you feel it's enough.

Sergio "Puntosmx" Montserrat

You read the pep talks I've sent you. That's more than enough for me. As for working the more you get paid, your life is at risk if you work too hard. Eat healthy, go outside once in a while, and be sure to get sleep. Also, is it weird that the second time I read your response to my pep talk that I imagined it in your voice? *nods* yes...yes it is.

Italian-Love-Cake

1. No, I don't think I'm wasting my money. 2. I just want to support you to help you to finish this game and your dream. 3. I will continue to support you at long you're trying to continue to release update or at least trying (I know it's difficult because you receive a lot of email.) Sorry if my english is bad :3.

Zirk

I'll keep it simple and say that nah dude, you do NOT need to work that hard. Free up your weekends, take time to yourself so you don't burn out. The reason I personally donate is so that I know you have the money to live comfortably WHILE you work on Yandere Sim. Just work however much you feel comfortable. While I feel like I'm not contributing that much, I am perfectly happy in feeling that I'm not wasting a cent =) Also, taking time off to enjoy anime and video games again might help keep up to date with what your fanbase is into, thus making the easter eggs you add more relateable. Really, you just need the time to yourself. Seriously.

CalmWeaver27

It's okay to go at your own pace. Excuse me, since I can't say this for everyone, but I think that the majority of your fanbase, the people supporting you on this patreon, isn't some hungry beast in need of this game right at this moment. We're all just anime otakus and weeaboos who want to shank someone for looking at our senpai, and we want to show our support so that you can actually bring this game to fruition. For me, this is a dream I can't accomplish. But since you can, I'll show my support, for as long as I can. My money isn't wasted, because it's fueling the process. I'm not paying for the game itself. I'm donating for you, for your ideas, and for your creativity. Also, I like to hear your voice.

Sen Nemesis

There has to some middle ground between Yandere-dev pace and George RR Martin crawl. I'm not pledging for a lot, but what I want to see is this game completed. In a year or two, maybe. If you burnout before that, it will never be completed. Don't work more than 60 hours a week. Take at least one day off, completely. Even God only worked 6 days and rested on the seventh!

1. I never feel like my money is wasted, because you already work so hard on this game, so even if you do not have an update every 2 weeks, it's fine because I know you have been working on it in some way. 2. I donate money to you, not because I want you to work faster or harder or something like that. I just want to help in the best possible way, and since I'm not able to help with the game development in form of 3d models or animation etc., I am willing to give money instead. 3. The only way I would feel that my money was getting wasted would be if you cancelled the project. I would be disappointed that the game wouldn't come out and that my money went to something that wasn't going to be made anyway... I feel like you should take a break and then work less pr. day after that. 12 hours a day, every day, that's madness. And in weekends, even? Jesus Christ, Yanderedev... Don't burn yourself out so early in development. You've said it yourself several times: the game is only about 5-7% done. You need to chill.

1. Whenever progress on the game is delayed, do you feel like your money is going to waste? Absolutely not. You are going out of your way to keep the supporters informed on the progress of the game. 2. When you pledge to my Patreon, what do you want in return? For me to work harder and faster? Or something else? I want you to take your time creating the game you want not compromising due to time constrains. You already work more then enough, 8 hour work days are there for a reason. Pushing yourself even further is not a good idea. Learned that from personal experience. By pledging on Patreon I wanted to give you the money you need to support yourself while making this amazing game and the money you might need for development. 3. My worst fear is for people to feel that the money they are pledging to me has been "squandered" or "wasted". What would make you feel this way? If you give up halfway through.

Comissar Manul

- Life happens man, my granny got a little bit of cancer today, I don't expect everything to go crazily awesome for you. - I want quality, ideally I don't want to wait 5 years, but I want a game that wasn't made by ubisoft and embodies our hearts and souls through manly combining and fun near-bug-free gameplay (I don't expect perfection, I expect you're heart and hard work). - If you launched another side project (Tsun sim) I feel like that would be fishy, finish one thing before you start another, beside that I trust you a lot for some reason, it's an odd bond we don't even know we share or why, it's probably the Yandere love in us all. Please work regular hours, it only makes sense.

DestinyFucker

- Not really since you work amazing hard on it and if there were delays, then you'd have good reasons to do so, and yes, taking break is a good reason. - I just want to support you and your work, I don't care if it takes ages to get a product up, I know you'll do your best, for us and Yandere-chan! - The only reason i'd think you were wasting money, was if you did not enjoy what you're making. On another note that you brought up ,Whenever you sit down to watch anime or play a videogame, that's your inspiration for this project, if you start losing hold of that then you lose focus on what started you on this project in the first place. That's just my opinions though, take them as you will. Please know that I support you and what you are making, I hope you get as much out of making this game as we do playing it.

It's an interesting philosophical question. "Should a publicly-funded project be free to the public?" In some cases, I'd say yes. In other cases, I might have to say no. In the case of Yandere Sim, I think that the price of the final game should be very cheap, since I was already compensated for the time I spent making it. I also believe that Patrons who donated above a certain amount (total sum of all pledges reaching at least $20?) should get the final game for free.

YandereDev

I didn't give you money so that you'd work faster, I gave you money because yandere simulator is a labour of love that I loved too! Don't burn yourself out on it, dude. :P

Starayo

Don't work on it 12 hours a day 7 days a week. That's ridiculous. Limit yourself to a reasonable 40-60 hours per week. If you can't work enough to reasonably earn the money that you're receiving, you should put the extra money somehow toward the game still, though. Maybe this would have been better as a Kickstarter. Normally I think that Patreon is better, but you seem like someone who is level-headed and good at budgeting, so you should be able to figure out exactly how much you need to reach certain possible end results. With Patreon I guess you're receiving too much right now, but worried that you won't receive enough long-term? It's kind of strange that I'm donating for you to make a product that you'll sell for profit. It makes me a bit uncomfortable TBH. Really, initial startup capital should be from investors, but this is too weird of a thing for traditional big investors to deal in, and it's nigh-impossible to legally sell shares to non-qualified investors. But still, this game is something that I want to exist in the world, so I decided that I'm willing to give a small amount of monetary support to ensure that this happens. 75% of my interest is actually in watching let's plays of this game and other things produced *as a result of* the game. I'll buy the final product as well, but really I don't care when this'll be possible. I'd like it if you made the game extensible and continued adding new stuff to the game for a long time so people can keep doing interesting things with it for years to come.

Untroid

For the Strawpoll: Work at your own pace. -No, I don't think my money is going to waste. I have faith in you. -I only want to support the project, there's no need for silly rewards. -I would only feel like my money is wasted if you give up hope on the game. Don't quit!

Speed Weed

Before I answer your questions, I do have to say that you are thinking negatively about things. You need to relax and take your time. Pushing yourself just opens up spots for mistakes to happen. 1. Nope. Everything comes together in the end, so I hold onto faith for that. 2. Honestly, I want you to stop worrying about what we want and do what you want. The whole point of Patreon is for, well... patreons, to give monetary donations on a timely basis to a creator, so that particular creator can focus on his goals without worrying about money issues. To get patreons, you have to have a good reason for them to throw money your way. In your case, people have donated to your cause, to see a game start up from the bottom to the top (Off brand of Early Access). And that is, in a package, what people (or at least me) want, is to see Yandere Sim grow. 3. What makes me feel like that, is when I hear you have been putting in double overtime. Stop it, im serious. There is not a sane human being that feels creative when they've been pushing themselves to the limit. What happened to that vacation you said you were going to take? Now would be a good time to do that. I know my comment sounds a bit mean, but you did ask us similar questions about this topic before. You need to listen to your patreons, they believe in you, so you should do the same. Keep up the good work, but not as much at one time. :)

Ryan Rinn

Seeing fanart always improves my morale, so it's definitely worth it! You're welcome to do so! And thank you very much for your kind and encouraging words!

YandereDev

- Of course I don't feel like it's being wasted. Shit happens, problems arise, especially in game development. I'd rather have the project pushed back a bit than get a broken product, or have you kill yourself from exhaustion or stress. - The only thing I want from giving you money from Patreon is for you to be able to keep making the game, no need to work harder or faster. Unless you use the money to hire help for it, or literally just throwing the money at the code makes it build faster, I don't expect more based on the amount you're getting. The most I'd expect for backing you is like, update videos and being able to give feedback. Or update streams if that's a possibility. - Only way I'd feel the money was wasted would be if you just stopped updating us on any progress or just disappeared with the money entirely. Or if you released the game and it was just a broken, buggy mess. Anyway man, take it easy. You don't have to work yourself to death just because people are giving you money, just work it like it was a full time job, that's all I ask.

Like most of the people here I don't think you're slacking or anything. I donate because I believe in the cause. As for feeling like you're lazy when you watch anime or play games, why not make that into a work task/patreon reward kinda like the Natsuiro High School video? Say you watch a few episodes of "Future Diary" instead of feeling guilty make a short video talking about how the Yuno is similar or different to your vision of Yandere-Chan (or whatever). It doesn't have to be anything special either, just you talking over a static image and completely off the cuff. That way you could get back to some of the hobbies you enjoy and not feel bad about it as you'd be doing something special for your supports. I know I'm not the only person who love to hear more of your general thoughts. Or don't, if you'd still feel guilty or it's too time consuming. In my head the game will be better the more immersed in otaku culture you are, so whatever you do to make that happen is alright with me.

Erik

1. Nah, so long as there's a posted acknowledgement that development's a little slow one week or something like that. We (or at least I) don't expect progress all the time so long as it doesn't get to The Stomping Land levels. 2. Something in return? I was supposed to expect something in return? Nah, I just wanted to support an indie developer with a crazy, insane, wonderful idea. If anything, I'd just expect that the more money you get the less time you need to dedicate to some other job, but since we're long past that, I'm not expecting anything else (well, MAYBE agreement for more features in the game, but that doesn't mean I want you to work to death for them, just that the game will take longer to make.) 3. Um.....No updates (either by game updates or posts on the board). So long as you make progress at a "reasonable" pace (reasonable being whatever you want it to mean) and keep in touch with us so we know you're alive and working, then it feels like money well spent. :)

Nobody

-I don't feel my money is going to waste, you put a lot of work and effort into this! Its not delayed without a good reason! -I just admire the concept of the game, I want to see the game completed and simply wanted to support you as much as I could. -Well, I don't know what you'd have to do to waste my money, though it would tick me off if you just decided to stop for a lame reason. I would definitely say slow down with the work myself, I understand you feel obligated, but don't be! Just do what you can, you need time off to relax and enjoy hobbies, so take that time off. Heck, think of it as part of the job! What you've made so far is brilliant and I love it, and I am happy to wait as long as it takes to play the full version/s! edit: communication is good, to reiterate what other's have said, just keep the blog going really, its very much appreciated! Knowing what's going on is satisfying.

1: I do not feel like my money is going to waste as you currently have built up a lot of trust with us that you are going to have content eventually AND that you feel terrible/are stressed out when you don't meet the schedule for yourself. 2: My pledge is because you are dedicated to this project and want to see it through. I want to see the project finished and that is why I am ensuring it does by making certain you don't starve for your dedication. 3: I would feel my money is being squandered if you lacked updates AND kept silent about your reasons. Even in your apology video you demonstrated that work was accomplished despite the lack of a build and the time to implement the work your volunteers have contributed. Another way I would feel the money is being squandered is if you didn't have the passion for this project that you clearly already show. You put together a roughly 20 minute video of just apologizing because you were swamped with emails after you called out for more help and got an overwhelming, and from what you've told us, mostly unhelpful response that took time to get through. You also took what appears to be the only time to yourself, the trip to AX, you've given yourself despite our protests that you are overworking yourself, which again is proof that you are dedicated to a fault. It is completely unhealthy to continue starving yourself from some relaxation with how stressed you get over releasing updates. This also has the side effect of limiting ideas you may get from other games such as in the case of the Natsuiro High School video. Don't work yourself to death. You are living off of and killing yourself over our dollar. We clearly care about your well being if we are dedicated enough to keep you going. Good luck, YandereDev.

1. I absolutely do not feel like my money is going to waste. See my answer to the next question. 2.Personally, I pledge money to your game development because I want you to be able to focus on your game more, rather than strain yourself working on it. There's a slight difference. Mainly, I want you to be able to relax with hobbies like watching anime or playing videogames as you feel is helpful to your mental health. Mostly I donate so you do not need to earn money doing other work. I do worry about your mental health, as I am sure you know the stress you have been put through is not healthy for anyone. 3.I would only feel like my money is wasted if something bad happens to you and the game is unable to be finished. Again, I really do not want this to happen which is why I am wanting you to work less. *bonus answer* I have been thinking about drawing fanart for you to remind you that I appreciate the work you have been doing on this game, and that the recent update was helpful to me. If you read this comment and think the good aspect of receiving fanart is worth the bad aspect of taking extra time in your emails, please let me know. Otherwise, I will just draw the fanart but not email it to you. Thank you, YandereDev.

Riley Seo

1. Whenever progress on the game is delayed, do you feel like your money is going to waste? Absolutely not. I do not pledge support to make you work faster. I pledge support to help offset the cost of development. A delay in progress is not a big deal. It is far better to have a delay in progress than to have the Developer lose the feeling of joy that he gets by having his dreams and Ideas come to fruition. 2. When you pledge to my Patreon, what do you want in return? For me to work harder and faster? Or something else? As stated above. What I want in return is for you to enjoy making your game. Whether or not it ends up taking longer. It will bother me if you end up burning out and get to the point where you are no longer working on the game for yourself. 3. My worst fear is for people to feel that the money they are pledging to me has been "squandered" or "wasted". What would make you feel this way? It would be a waste if you burned out working at the pace you are working. Please take weekends off. Have some personal time. And Watch Anime you want to watch, Especially since it probably helped to inspire you to start this project in the first place.

1. no, I understand things gets delayed for all sorts of reasons outside your control in software development. 2. The current rate of updates is great and I think 40 hours a week (well, honestly most software development jobs are a bit more than 40 hours a week, but rarely 50) is contributing enough. 3. Like other people mentioned, I'd consider it wasted if the project is abandoned. I'm pledging to fund you (and I'm planning to increase my pledge as my income allows) because I think you are delivering a niche that no one else is willing to risk. Low supply -> higher cost. And please don't increase your work load just because you are getting more funding, because that will only give me a reason to lower my pledge and contradict what I want. On another note, I consider watching anime and playing video games as part of the job (as long as development isn't brought to a halt). You have to be familiar with the materials to bring about a complete product ^.^

As long as Yandere Simulator is finished in the future and is kickass, I do not feel my money is being wasted. Dude no worries, you are super freaking awesome! <3

Before I get to the questions, I'd like to say that I do not expect you to work beyond the normal hours of a typical employee. If you fee you are making too much money from us that you can't provide for us, think about hiring more help. If you don't feel that is necessary then neither do we. If you cant sit down to play games or watch anime on a regular basis, how can we expect you to know what is going on in the two main industries this game is connected to? What if a new kind of senpai is created and you miss it?!? 1. NO. We are not your employers, so I expect less than a boss. You do not have a work schedule from us beyond the updates you feel are necessary to keep us backing you. Unless you are working to save the world from certain destruction you should not be expected to work seven day work weeks. Sorry, I guess you should continue at your current pace :) 2. I expect you to continue to work as before, taking the extra money into account as any resource. Use it as best helps you create the game you intended. Before you were full time, I hoped we could gather enough support to get you full time, but I do not expect you to be beyond full time. I am backing you to make a game I believe in and I do not want that game if it means destroying someone. I do not believe we can donate enough money to demand that you break yourself on our behalf. If we did, you should not want us as backers. Now that you are full time I expect (trust) you to manage it as wisely as you can to work on your project. If its hiring, outsourcing, buying new hardware or software licenses, or new pants for you to leave the house, that is perfectly fine as the money is now yours. 3. As I mentioned in 2, if i back you and you then break yourself to create it, I will feel responsible and will get less joy from the game knowing the demands you felt were placed upon you. I expect you to do as you state in your patreon. Devote a full working week to this game. I'm in America, so think a full 40 hours a week is to be expected, but with both sick and vacation time. I expect you to take times to eat, relax, and unwind so that you can work to your best ability. I would only feel this way if you were to shrug off the project and lie about efforts, ending up in a lack of results.

In order: 1. Whenever progress on the game is delayed, do you feel like your money is going to waste? - No, these are normal setbacks, and the Patreon funding helps you to overcome them without eating into a fixed budget. This is an insane advantage over raising fixed budgets. 2. When you pledge to my Patreon, what do you want in return? For me to work harder and faster? Or something else? - I'd like you to use the funds like a responsible business. Don't work more than 8 hours unless you're in a zone. Do take breaks and personal time. And as the funds allow, do add people to the project. You're putting a lot of pressure on yourself to do everything and it's leading to burnout. 3. My worst fear is for people to feel that the money they are pledging to me has been "squandered" or "wasted". What would make you feel this way? - Not taking advantage of the funds to hire more help as appropriate.

MAR

Dude, are you trying to kill yourself??? You're working more than Steve Jobs did, assuming wha you said is true. Here's a tip. GET SOME REST ASAP! If you go down, nothing gets done. So there.

Raymond

If you keep dedicating hours based on the amount of money you get paid eventually your going to run out of hours in the day that you can work. Eventually setting up a damaging pace will effect the work your doing, and I as a Patreon would be extremely upset if this project dies or becomes awful because it's creator grew sick of it. If you fall out of love with this project it WILL effect the game. I don't want that. SO TAKE A GOD DAMN BREAK EVERY NOW AND THEN!! Serriously, how do we play this game if you kill yourself making it? 12/7 is not a good schedual for anyone. Your doing good work, but don't blow yourself out on it. To your additionals: When progress is delayed I understand it is a part of development. Almost no large creative project goes without a hitch. I'm not so much concerned on how fast this project is worked on as I am the condition of the game when it is complete. Quality over Quantity. When I pledge to your patreon I am making an investment in what I feel like will be a quality product. I know I'm at the low spectrum of the donation list, I hope to be able to give more in the future, but the most I want is for you to finish the game. anything else is icing on the cake. Update videos are good but if they take a long time to produce I wouldn't mind a more simplified version. My money will feel waisted if this game is never completed or if it's creator falls out of love with the project. The second is the worse of the two senarios, becaue if you loose intrest in this game and it somehow manages to finish. I will know that it will only be a shadow of what it could have been. -------------------------------- if you still feel like you need to put more effort in for the money you get I have a few ideas: * You say you can't really work with a team until debug is done. Fine, use some of the money your getting each month to set up a savings account to pay this team once they are needed. This will show your Patreons that the money they give now will return dividends in the future * Instead of using only volenteer work, you could commission work from other professional programers, musicians and cgi artists. Your patreons will see that the money they give is going into the game and it will incresse the production value of your game without breaking your back. * Use the extra money to help support public aperances at conventions or other such gatherings so that your followers can meet you in person and see first hand that their mony is well spent (And get you in the sun a little) But most importantly, pull back from the 12/7 man! Thats crazy! And it will have a negitive impact on your game! It's been good work so far and its been a pleasure to follow it :)

David Hopkins

1. Whenever progress on the game is delayed, do you feel like your money is going to waste? Not in the slightest. You ensure we are always up to date on what is happening, and why any delays occur when they do. If you need a break, or to work a few less hours, please feel free. We want this to be a labour of love for you... Not a chore. 2. When you pledge to my Patreon, what do you want in return? For me to work harder and faster? Or something else? You already release the latest build, blog posts, and videos on a regular basis. These are proof of your progress and are much appreciated. In the end, all I want is the game you are imagining. I want to see it come to life, and I believe you can do it~ 3. My worst fear is for people to feel that the money they are pledging to me has been "squandered" or "wasted". What would make you feel this way? If production ceased without any given reason. If development were to completely be put to a halt or if it was dropped entirely. You going on vacation for a week (though you have stated this is likely not possible given the number of emails etc to deal with) would /not/ feel wasted. You should do what you have to to always be at your 100%, and this includes morale. We're supporting you, please don't feel you literally have to slave away to appease us. Myself, anyway, I want you do be happy and productive. You don't need to work yourself into an early grave to be productive, work at a pace you feel is right for you. :)

To be frank I feel like continuing to push yourself too hard is the worst way you could make me feel like the money is going wasted. In my mind, the point of a pledge is to try to ease some of the stress of a big project by providing a financial cushion, not pushing for a quicker release.

I'm going to be a lot more laconic than the other, better posts: Calm your tits, dude. You're doing a good job. Just keep doing your best, and if people get grumpy that you're not overworking yourself to death, that's their problem. (And as a former writer, allow me to get you in on a trick of the creative trade: you're not "watching anime", you're doing research)

As long as you are fairly distributing the profits at the end of the day (it sounds like you will be) and are using the money wisely (keep it aside for future development of patches, add-ons etc.) then there should be no problem.

Dean Herbert

1) You need to be working a lot less. Productivity declines sharply as the hours go past 40 hours a week. After two weeks, employees working 50 hour weeks are less productive than employees who worked 40 hours a week. You need to stop working so much. Also recreation is important for mental health and you need to keep yourself mentally well. 2) When I pledged, I just wanted to make sure you can make the game without having to worry about an actual job distracting you. I don't need you to work yourself (and the project) to death. I don't expect anything more than occasional updates on how the game development is going. 3) The only thing that'd make me think my money was wasted is if you burned out and stopped development. Working more will cause that to happen. Take it easy and cut your hours in half. The rate at which you're working is insane. I know those hours aren't uncommon in the gaming industry but the gaming industry isn't a good model for any type of production.

Taylor Crowe

1. Whenever progress on the game is delayed, do you feel like your money is going to waste? Definately not, we're not paying you as if you're our employee/slave. On Patreon, we're donating because we believe in your project, no matter what the pace, as long as you're motivated to show an end product sometime in following decade. Since we're donating, we're not waiting anything in return but to see your project flourish. 2. When you pledge to my Patreon, what do you want in return? For me to work harder and faster? Or something else? Personally, I like you as a person, and if you were to work harder AND faster, I'm 100% sure you'll get burned out, break down, and you'll be out of sight from the project. I don't want to see another dev, I want you and your soothing voice! On a more serious note, currently, you're working at almost a full organised team pace, as a single person (and your assets/volunteers). This is so inhuman. My answer, work as hard as you are currently, but not necessarily faster. Give yourself a one day break too, watch some anime so you can gather some cool ideas from new animes that recently came out. Working enough is much better than working too much, efficiency wise (for your brain). 3. My worst fear is for people to feel that the money they are pledging to me has been "squandered" or "wasted". What would make you feel this way? I doubt the big majority of people think you should work THAT hard and THAT fast. Obviously there will be a small minority that will think you're slacking, and that's fine, you can't avoid it. The best you can do against that is to communicate often with your patreons. I'll give you an idea of what I mean, I play league of legends a lot, and Riot employees used to communicate and give many small updates to their fans. Fans enjoyed that pace and the compagny grew exponentially. Now that they've become a much much much larger team, they've become more transparent, they started communicating less to the community since it's grown so much (and also cause it's been backfired a few times; mostly broken promises and unintended leaked content). The community ended up thinking they were slacking and making money castles even though they were working more efficiently. Sorry for the wall of text, I'll sum it up if you don't have time to read: 1) We're donating to a project we believe in. We're not paying an employee/slave, waiting for something in return. 2) I want you to work as hard as you currently are, but not necessarily faster. Give yourself a 1-2 days break per week to watch anime and rejuvenate your brain with cool ideas from anime/games. 3) Majority of community wouldn't feel that way. For the very small minority that does, all you can do is communicate a lot about updates, new ideas you got, basically "make it seem like you're involved in your project" even if you've given yourself some days of break.

Yoan Chang

I don't post much, but I want to make sure that you get some feedback from our patron supporters. So hopefully this gives you a bit of insight to your questions. 1. No, I do not feel like I am wasting my money. I like the project you (and others) are working on and am more than willing to continue funding it. I mean that is why I continue to fund the project. 2. I want to see this project flourish and regardless of delays, I would love to see what this game can become given the time and care needed to make it complete. 3. As long as updates keep coming out, I feel like I am contributing to Yandere Simulator. My worst fear would be the abandonment of this project. As long as progress is being made I am more than willing to continue to fund this amazing idea. And keep up the wonderful work on Yandere Simulator, just don't work yourself to the bone. =)

Laizon Ruine

Sir, you already work far more than enough. At 84 hours a week you should be looking at working less, not more. I believe the average is about 48 hours a week, no one can call you lazy for working an extra 36 hours on top of that! Obviously I don't speak for everyone here, but I'd say you really need to slow down a bit or you'll end up running out of steam. ^_^

Honestly, watching the videos I would feel my money wasted if you burn yourself out working at that frantic a pace. Please rethink your policy of working the weekends. Don't see the additional money as an increase in sallary requiring more work, but as a general investment, enabling you to commission work, buy licenses, fund a team etc

tobo

- I do not feel like money is going to waste - I pledged because I believe in your dream and want to help you accomplish it - If you were to give up without giving a good fight