Wednesday, January 31, 2018

State of the Patreon: February

Happy Valentines
January is behind us.  What do I have for you, patron and reader alike, in February?

The State of the Blog

The Cult of the Mystical Tyrant has, unsurprisingly, been popular.  I'm hitting new highs since I reduced the posting schedule to 2 posts a week.  I must say, that this new posting cycle suits me well: I can hit all of my goals and keep my pace up, but the schedule will look like this for the next few months:
  • Post on Tuesday
  • Post on Thursday
  • Last week is "Patreon week"
  • Scattered Patron posts as necessary.
This is a little slower, but it allows me to give Patrons the time they really deserve, rather than treating their posts as an afterthought.

The Popular Posts (other than the Primer) this month were:
  1. The Iteration 1 Bonus Post: Evidently we have some new people digging through the old Psi-Wars material. I hope you guys enjoy it!
  2. Transcendent Paths of the Mystical Tyrant: I honestly expected the Transcendent Principles to be a bigger hit, but you guys do love paths.  I suspect the Prodigal Knight (I was inspired by a very old comment made by Ivalero here; I've noticed people really like playing "the one unique redeemed dark horse character" and the Prodigal Knight is intended to be that) is more popular than the Slave, but there's no way to be sure!
  3. TTRS Session 2: Everything Tinker Titan Rebel Spy is a hit; I suspect a lot of people like to see how Psi-Wars fits together, plus a lot of people just like reading "the story" of a session.
  4. The Martial Arts of the Mystical Tyrant: The popularity of things like this lead me to believe that people are actually using this material for something.
Honorable Mentions: Space Ghosts Revisited is in the top 10 and eclipsed the Sample Space Ghosts, which I intended to direct traffic to the former.  Seems detailed rules for running ghosts is popular!  And the True Communion introduction, after one day is in the top 10.  Introductions tend to do well in general, but you guys really like your Jedi!  I suppose that makes sense, though: True Communion as a philosophy has been with us since Iteration 4.

The State of the Patreon

Last month I gained three new Patrons, and one Patron squeezed in just in time to vote on the Emperor poll!  Thanks to everyone who joined up this month, and to everyone who has been a long-term supporter.

This wasn't the best month for engagement (August beat it; that would be the Alexian poll, I think), but it was definitely one of the best month.

I readjusted my goals this month, and some of them seem really big: the next one is "art" at 205, because based on the previous goals, this is what the current artist I have on hire runs me for pictures, but when you see them, you'll understand why.  By the end of this month, I'll have art to show you, dear patron.

The patreon schedule this month will be:
  • The Keleni: These aliens are to True Communion what the Ranathim were to the Divine Masks and the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant.  Once again, I have a conlang, a template and a cultural discussion.  This will be a preview available for $3+ patrons
  • The Shaolin: I did some homework while working on the Knights of Communion, and while there's plenty of readily gameable information on, say, the Templars, there's surprisingly little on the Shaolin monks, so I compiled my research and turned it into a document that discusses the history, styles and personalities of the Shaolin monastery.  Includes a new martial art: White Eyebrow Boxing.  This will be available for $1+ patrons.
  • (Tentative) The Cult of the Emperor Poll Results: I'm half-way finished with the poll results right now, and I've worked far enough ahead with my main posts that I'm confident I can have this finished by the last week of February (more honestly, I think I'll have it done this week, but let's manage expectations).  This will be available for $3+ patrons.
  • Art Preview: the Ranathim: I should have a male and female portrait available for you by the end of the month, so you can see where your money is going (Yes, I know we haven't hit that goal, but I can tip some of my own money into this too ;) ).  This will be available to all $3+ patrons.
There will be no poll this month.  

I'm also going to pause the previews for a few reasons.  First, right now, I'm working about one month ahead, so it's not much of a preview, and I find my patrons don't really discuss it much, and often end up discussing the topic in greater detail when the post itself drops.  The best part of this was that it forced me to write documents, but I do that as a habit now, so there's little merit in releasing half of True Communion right now.  This is just a pause, though; I think it's highly relevant once I get to revisions of material, as I can see from the playtests that there is much call for revised material.

Well, there you have it guys.  That's what January looked like, and what February will look like.  As always, I want to thank my patrons for supporting me and I hope you will continue to do so.  If you're particularly enamored of the work I've done and you want to support me, just click the link and donate.  I'd be happy to have you.  If you want to join in the discussion, you can check out the Psi-Wars channel over at Discord.

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