MarcusWrest
patreon
Important Tier Changes
🕑 Added 2021-10-28 19:46:24 +0000 UTCAnother month is ending. A big thank you to all my patrons who have supported me, whether recently or for a longer time.
When I first started, I was only making 12 panels a month. This was the most I could do with my hardware and software at the time. As more of you started to support me, I was able to get better hardware and feel good about devoting all my extra time to this project.
- When I say "panel" it is actually a set of 1 or more pics of a scene event from different angles. So panels does not equal picture. A "panel" can have 1 or more pics.
I expanded to a new tier that has 16 panels a month (Currently Ringside Pass). And then eventually Backstage Pass, which has another 16 panels a month.
So, I found myself having to produce 32 panels a month. This was a big step from 12. This allowed me to tell more stories and create more exciting content.
However, for a few months now I noticed that 32 panels a month is no longer a sustainable pace. At 32 panels a month, I would have to make at least 1 panel each day. And some days, it is not possible. I would be too tired from my day job or I would not be feeling well or have other duties. Sometimes I would need to troubleshoot some hardware or software issues. This would mean I would have to work overtime on weekends to make up for lost panels.
I struggled with this pace for the last 6 months, because I wanted to see if it was sustainable or not to keep producing 32 panels a month. I wanted to try anyway and push myself to keep up this pace. In the end, I think 32 panels a month is not sustainable.
There were days when I felt some panels needed more time, like I would like to spend more time making the scene look better like add more details or make more complicated scenes. Those small touches that make each pictures special. But having to produce 1 panel a day meant I had to work fast, and rushing creative processes isn't always the best idea.
There were days when I wanted to try new things. Try new fluid simulation programs to make the squirts (you know what I mean) more realistic, or to experiment with different lighting and textures to make some things pop out more. But with such a tight schedule I had no time for trying things if it meant I will not finish a panel each day.
There were days when I wanted to think of the story more, to plan out what will happen and think about hot scenes or holds that I can make. But if I spent extra time thinking about the story, I might not finish a panel for that day.
There were days when I wanted to work on the website, try new ideas to make the viewing experience easier, but that would also take away time needed to produce the 32 images a month.
New Announcement for Moving Forward
So, I have made a decision to lower the number of panels each month, instead of Ringside Pass ($15) and Backstage Pass ($22) receiving 16 images a month, each tier will get 12 images a month. So Ringside Pass will get 12 new images a month, and Backstage Pass will get 24 images a month (12 from the Fight Catalog and 12 from Backstage Pass)
New Plan
Basic Pass: 12 Panels a month (no change)
Ringside Pass: 12 panels a month (12 new panels form the fight catalog
Backstage Pass: 24 panels month (12 new panels form the fight catalog and 12 new panels from the backstage catalog)
The price for each tier will be the same because the effort and energy that I am devoting to maintaining this project is the same (if not more in some days). I would like to have the ability to make content that I think is hot and exciting rather than just trying to fulfil a quota.
I hope you understand. Feel free to write me if you have thoughts on this. I understand people will be disappointed as more content is nice, but more content is not necessarily better when it comes to creative projects.
Once again, I am very grateful to the support of you my patrons and my main goal is to be able to consistently produce hot and exciting wrestling content.
I will be making the panel announcements for November in the next days.
Comments
Marcus
Thanks for the feedback. Yeah I understand it can be disappointing. I've been considering this since June, and tried to see if I could actually keep the current pace. I thought I would give myself a few months to see if I actually needed to change my output. So after a few months, my conclusion is that I could, but not in a way that makes the work enjoyable. More of my focus has been on making panels and less on making interesting ones.
Thomas Polk
Grumble, grumble, gnash, gnash, I am somewhere between Dereck who is too harsh and Carlos who is too soft. You shouldn't overwork your time or your creativity and I know that you know that I know you have been taxing yourself and dropping things out. So, downsizing your output, although somewhat negligent to your patrons, is required for the health of your work. You bit off more than you could chew. I think we all have done that at some point. The proof will be in your actually implementing the above ideas to improve your output with this newly acquired time.
Marcus
Panels are still important way of organizing posts because there are many parallel stories. so posting in order means that I post 4 images from one story, then 4 from another story. So if i post chronoligically it is confusing for people. That is why they have to be sorted by chapter instead. The alternative is to finish one story first before starting another one. but this is not very effective for me in terms of workflow. Having parallel stories keeps ideas fresh.
Marcus
I agree. I have entered in to the realm of small business onwer with myself as an employee. It's admittedly a big commitment, but having patrons stick with me is what reminds me that it is a worthwile use of my time. I feel encoureged to keep it up. In november I'll put out a series of polls to see which features, services, or other details are most relevant to patrons and which ones are less important so I can have a bigger picture of what I can focus on.
Marcus
Thanks for the feedback. Yeah one thing I do from time to time is to offer free membership for people if they are willing to write the text that accompanies my images. I might resume this pratice. There are some writers who describe a scene really well and I like how they can add nice erotic detials to what I already made as a picture. I've also had some make their own text interpretations of my pics. Like they sometimes change the backstory or thought process of my characters. I also sometimes enjoy these, but they are like alternative versions of the "official version" that I have on my page.
Carlos
I'm onboard for whatever makes you happy and keeps the fights alive. Instead of full stories you could do comic book style and give a basic outline with dialogue where you personally want emphasis. You could also see if there are writers among us willing to lend dialogue to a photo set or see if there are writers here who'd like to contribute stories to be illustrated by you which can be made available exclusively to the Backstage pass members and for personal viewing by the author should they be at a lower tier. There is so much content here already to be discovered by new patrons so, to me, there was no need to overload yourself, but we all underestimate tasks at some point. Keep going and stay stress free, please!
Also...stop doing panels...make this easier on yourself...I see that you do a series of images...each following each other in an order that portrays an event...Well just post the individual images in that order and you will get the same effect. This is what most other artist do at Patreon....posting individual images in an order that they want them viewed. So simple...and it works....and yes...eliminate the stories.
Keep in mind you can charge what ever you want for the two remaining tiers...such as Basic $15....ringside...$22. When you decided to sell access to your work you entered into an agreement to provide a certain amount of product for your paying audience. What that amount is...is likely to be different among your various supporters. Obviously the more product you provide the more satisfied your supporters will be. Whatever that is.. becomes a job that you have committed yourself to do. Now...you are not only an artist....but also a one employee small business owner...!! There is always the option of displaying your work in an online Blog or website for free.
Marcus
Reducing the backstage ($22) volume could be an option. I'll hear out the other patrons so I can come to a better desicion if necessary. When you say "eliminate the story" do you mean remove the text that accompanies the images? That would save a lot of time (and my writing skills are not so good admittedly). I'll ask this in a poll, because some people prefer having the extra text descriptions, but if more people feel the text is not needed I would gladly skip it. Also, the idea of "acceptable" amount images per month is quite relative. Relative to the patron's value of their work and how they value the work of the artist. For the same price and quality, some artists produce more artwork than I do each month, some less. For the same price and quantity, some artists produce better quality artwork, some less quality (also a relative term). So it's a dialogue about what I offer and how people are willing to support through their patronage. I personally think the quality of my work has I improved since I started this 2 years ago, so it's not too outrageous that I value my work and time a bit more. I'm the end, it is a personal choice for each patron of they think my work is worth it for them to return each month. Either way, if they stay or leave (or leave and return sometimes) I'm very happy for the time that they are with me.
This is not acceptable...if you do this you should eliminate the backstage tier...it would be unfair to patrons in the remaining two tiers to not do so. This would allow the patrons in both basic and ringside tiers to receive an acceptable amount of images per month. Also...eliminate the story's...I never read them ...your images tell the story very well...and it allows some of us with real imaginations to create are own story about the images...and my story's are more stimulating to me than yours.
Your work has been excellent Marcus. You know I’m always impressed. You’ve spoiled us with some many panels a month for this long. I’m happy you are choosing to cut back a little to make even better quality work for us and relieve some of your stress. I hope this new format works well for you and gives you some more time to relax. I know we won’t be disappointed with this new direction. If you need anything from me or all of us. Please ask.
Marcus
Thanks so much. I don't feel that the quality has gone down, except that I felt more rushed and less creative. I think I could do more and make more experiments to see what new ways I can entertain. For example I wanted some time to test animation or research motion capture. So this way I can have more time to do so
Adam Johnson
The output has been amazing and I didn't notice a degradation in quality. But the experience should bring you joy instead of dread. I prefer a relaxed artist vs frenetic just treading water artist. 🍻 Cheers!
