TonkatsuCHAN
patreon
About the Tier IV: Image early access reward.
🕑 Added 2024-01-20 11:16:36 +0000 UTCHey folks.
So i've been thinking about this for a while now, and I think it's time I addressed it.
As you know, one of the many Tier IV rewards is getting early access to the regular images two or three weeks in advance (I make it available to them as soon as it's done and then to TIER III on the first of the following month).
I thought it was a nice reward at first, but there are things I failed to take into account when I made it.
Mainly the fact that eventually, someone will leak the content. Sometimes it's a month or two later, sometimes it's a few weeks. Sometimes it's just 3-4 days later. Sadly, there ain't much I can do about the leak of my content (I don't have an army of copyright lawyers and I can afford one) . Among the hundreds of my tier IV subs, one will eventually post the set somewhere, it is what it is.
It's part of being a NSFW artist, I ain't special in that regard. It happens to every other artist out there once their fanbase gets big enough. I've made my peace with it and I know my fans will keep supporting me as long as I keep working on the content they deserve.
Where this gets problematic for me personally is in regards to my Tier III subs. And this is where the Tier IV early access reward is an issue.
If the leak happens 3-4 weeks after it's available to Tier IV, that's not a problem. But as I said, it sometimes happens less than a week later. Meaning, before my Tier III fans get access to it.
To me, although it doesn't always happen, this just isn't fair to them, and I can't see myself continuing things as they are. The early access reward would have been cool on paper, but leakers spoil the value of said reward. I guess this is why we can't have nice things.
With that in mind, I don't plan on removing that tier reward outright, but I have decided to reduce the "early access" period. Two or three weeks is just too long. Instead, I'm planning on reducing it to 24 to 48 hours. This is to reduce the chances that the content will be leaked before it becomes available to tier III subs.
Other options if this doesn't work, are watermarking the early access version or removing the early access reward entirely (Which would be pain to do for me and that's just too much disc space to have the set in two different versions) . But we're not there yet, for now... I hope that reducing the early access period will be enough.
I've struggled with this for a few months now, trying to get the leaking under control by asking leakers to try to follow a "grace period" but that hasn't worked out. So I'm taking a decision which I hope will be fair for everyone. And I don't think making tier III subs wait 2-3 weeks to get a set that might get leaked is fair in these circumstances. So that is my decision. (All other rewards will remain unchanged as they were very nicely as intended. There is no issue with them. It's just this one reward that was problematic because of the potential leaking of my content)
Also, because I'm not going to release the tier III versions on the first of the month anymore, the "release schedule" posts don't really make sense anymore, so I'll sort off "combine" the info you had in them within the "Work schedule" at the beginning of each month, from now on.
Once again, thank you for your support. Always remember that you are the very reason I can make this content. Otherwise it wouldn't be possible.
Thanks for your understanding.
Comments
Stickfight
As a tier IV patron I've no issue with it being shortened a lot in fact that would lead to less confusion as often I will see a new content notification, get all excited about it then realise I've already seen it.
Tonkatsu-chan
Hey. Thanks for the suggestion. Removing that reward entirely is not out of the question. I'll try reducing the time frame for now, but if there is an aggressive reaction of leakers to just release it minutes earlier in response to this change, I'll just remove it entirely. I just don't like removing a reward (it really sucks having to take something away you know. I don't like it) , but in this case it might come to that because this reward removes value rather than adding it because of the leakers. I'll see how things with with a 24-48h period, but I see what you mean. If it doesn't work out, I might have to remove the reward entirely. We will see. At this point, the leaking doesn't bother me anymore, I've made my peace with the fact that with so many subs, it's bound to happen now. The problem is really the fact that the "early access" stuff can get leaked before tier III subs get it. As for the 100+ set reward. Not going happen. I simply can't manage to add such a massive amount of content. You're asking too much of me here. It's just not possible. Trust me, with the amount of content a produce right now, my schedule is already VERY full. I can't add more on top of it. Frankly, I think the current tier IV rewards are pretty good (even if you remove that early access reward). But I don't like having to remove something that was there before.
Seyras
I follow you since years now I think, and as you have noticed, leaks is the risk about being a NSFW artist... But I don't really understand the principle to just having an early release for tier 4 of just 48h... 48h or same realease date of tier 3 don't make a big difference I think... Maybe remove the tier 4 completly ? Or why not just dedicate special large sets only for tier 4 ? Sets with 100+ pictures for example... Leaks will always be there so... Just suggestions :)
