Varneon
patreon
Addressing recently surfaced negative comments from supporters
🕑 Added 2024-08-19 23:47:35 +0000 UTCRecently it was brought to my attention that a number of supporters have been unsatisfied with their experience as a supporter of mine on Patreon over the past years. In this post I will address the different topics relevant to the cases which have been brought up.
NOTE: This post does not cover cases where supporters are missing their in-game benefits. If you are experiencing problems with receiving in-game benefits, please refer to the pinned post on my Patreon page for instructions and troubleshooting steps: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-get-to-in-80917089
"Benefits which were recently made available on a certain tier didn't exist when I previously was a supporter on said tier"
I'm extremely happy that after years of hard work I have managed to reach a point where I'm able show my appreciation to those supporting my work by providing more benefits in return for them making everything I create possible.
"I can't access the Patreon car and I'm forced to subscribe on VRChat Creator Economy"
VRChat Creator Economy is a more convenient way for players to subscribe to a supporter tier which helps support the development of the worlds they're enjoying while simultaneously receiving exclusive in-game content. Purchases made via Creator Economy allow players to make the purchases in-game or on the VRChat website and receive their in-game products within seconds after purchase, even without ever having to rejoin the instance they made the purchase in. This new solution for supporting the development is a much better experience for both the creator and the supporter, compared to having to sign up on Patreon, fill out a supporter form and wait anywhere from 5 to 35 days in order to receive in-game benefits.
However, existing Patreon supporters being forced to move over to Creator Economy has been a common misunderstanding ever since I launched VRChat Creator Economy in the Docks Time Trial world. No Patreon in-game benefits have been deprecated/migrated as of yet and Patreon will continue to operate alongside VRChat Creator Economy into the foreseeable future as normal.
"Greed has taken over and he doesn't care about the supporters or players anymore"
I'm very thankful for all of the kind individuals who have supported the endeavours of mine to provide more immersive experiences for people to enjoy in social VR.
While $300/m isn't exactly life changing amount of money, all proceeds received from Patreon have made it easier to fund the assets, tools, services and hardware needed to keep the lights on.
Monetization has never been my primary interest and money doesn't drive me in the slightest. I have stated several times in the past that if I had the chance, I would throw out everything for free, but just like everyone else I still need to put the food on the table somehow and showing the world what social VR is capable of isn't exactly the cheapest things to do.
Receiving money from strangers is one of the most uncomfortable experiences I've been through but by the enthusiasts who care about the content they consume being the ones to fund the development makes me not having to even consider selling out or betraying my audience.
"I feel like my years of supporting were for nothing"
Everyone's support on Patreon ever since 2020 has made some incredible things come to life! In the beginning of 2021 I released my first driving world in VRChat with a budget of roughly $1000 and later same year I was able to provide my first driving world utilizing the same technology for Quest as well. After years of hard work and a lot of money invested into assets, tools and hardware I'm very excited to approach the last stretch of development of the next two upcoming worlds, both PC only and a cross-compatible one.
Without the support of everyone on Patreon I very likely would have had to give up my goals of trying to show the world that VRChat isn't just a horny pool of drama, but can be used in very clever ways to unleash the true hidden potential and rival existing standalone games published by studios with decades worth more experience developing games.
Other popular side projects have also been made possible, such as excavators and fairground rides, bringing to life many nostalgic and educational moments.
Loyalty program is something that has been considered in the past, but just as setting up the current infrastructure for delivering in-game benefits to supporters every month, a program for recognizing the individual contributions of supporters over long periods of time is something that comes with several privacy and logistical concerns.
I have not stated anywhere on my Patreon page that an individual supporter's lifetime metrics or an indication of such would be publicly disclosed at any point, and while making a handful of supporters partially satisfied by providing them recognition for their long-term and high-value contributions, consent of every eligible supporter would have to be received prior to presenting any indication of individuals lifetime contributions to the public.
No significant changes can be made to my Patreon offerings at this time either due to Apple's new requirements having an impact on how I operate on the platform in the future and resolving said situation takes priority over anything over the following weeks/months.
Another matter of the fact is that I'm still only one person running the entirety of the world and open source development as well all monetization models and my resources are limited. While it would be nice to celebrate the supporters who have made all of this possible over the past years, it would be highly counterproductive to the current state of upcoming releases, the delays of which certain supporters have been unhappy with in the first place. My highest priority at this time is to get all content currently in development out to the public now that I have a chance to do so after working hard for years on the underlying technologies which power the new generation of vehicles in VRChat.
P.S. Thank you everyone for your support and making the work I do possible, I'm very excited to soon show everyone what I have been working on for the past years!
Kind,
Varneon
