Novus
patreon
Poll: Patreon Feedback
🕑 Added 2020-05-27 11:34:26 +0000 UTCAlright, this is actually a first for me, I think. That being that this poll isn't actually about any of my games or other rewards and such, but about how I manage the Patreon itself. Specifically, I would like some feedback on what happens when delays...happen.
Backing up a bit for some exposition, I'm sure you've all noticed by now that I HATE delaying rewards. I'll pretty much burn myself out, skip sleep, and generally do nothing but crunch on a game or story if that reward/release is in any way going to be late. The reason for this is that I, frankly, actually have an extremely unkind-to-myself sense of ethics. I don't want a single person that's supported me to be short-changed on their rewards if something happens and they are forced to discontinue support for me between one month and another. Shit happens, life often sucks, and the single most common exit survey I get is that someone's 'financial situation changed.' I loathe the idea that they will then walk away without the monthly reward they should have gotten, because something caused a delay.
Unfortunately, the simple reality is that I can't always control delays. I do my dead level best to schedule everything as perfectly as I can, to produce the best mix of content-heavy releases and on-time delivery. But, in pure spite of the fact that I actually build in a little bit for 'unanticipated problems,' BIG issues, like the one that cost me 3+ days of progress this month... Well, planning for those would impact overall build size to a degree I consider unacceptable.
Ultimately, the question has always come down to this: Is it better to delay by a day or two and put out a build I'm happy with or, on the other hand, is it more important to stick to the deadlines I give religiously, even if that ends up causing the build to be smaller or sloppier than it should be (and for me to burn myself out trying to change that). Now, I've always made the assumption, based on my personal aggravation with developers who dither and fail at delivery dates (often by weeks or months instead of the 1-3 days that are the worst that happens with me), that it was better to hit the deadlines. To cut a build short, even, if I have to, in order to make sure that it's out precisely within the time window (or as close to that as possible in the case of the occasional early A.M. release).
As I'm stuck in crunch mode yet again, exhausted and counting and recounting the time I have left and the things I need to do, I'm realizing that...it's always just been an assumption, based on my personal view of things. And so, while I'm waiting for a video clip to render, I figured I'd actually ASK you guys.
Put Simply:
When delays happen, would you prefer that a build be slightly smaller but out on time.
or
When delays happen would you prefer that I take an extra couple of days to produce the full build as originally planned? Even if this means it releases in a new month or may cause a cascade delay to the other game. (I.E. If I delayed Haven's Port 2-3 days, it might result in Chastity Quest also being a day or two late).
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P.S. Realized after I posted this that it might make people think things aren't going well with the build :-p. I should be finished with the initial ponygirl content, which turned out to be 6 scenes instead of 4-5, by tomorrow. Which means I'm confident in the build releasing with at least 15 scenes. The only question will be if I can also squeeze in the second mage guild quest scenes. There's only 2 for that, but they are somewhat involved, and I need to have a day or two for testing and grammar check. Since this is a 31 day month, I might get it all in. If I don't...there will still be a decently big build worth of content, even without those two additional scenes.
