acrosstherealms
patreon
Early bird tier - better late than never?
🕑 Added 2021-04-05 22:54:25 +0000 UTCHi everyone,
When Across the Realm launched, we didnt include an early bird tier. The reason? Lack of experience I suppose. Although this omission was pointed out to me a couple of days after the patreon had launched, it seemed unfair at the time for the first few patrons who had already contributed their patronage. N̶o̶w̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶c̶l̶e̶a̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶m̶i̶s̶t̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶m̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶r̶a̶n̶s̶i̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶s̶o̶o̶n̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶s̶i̶b̶l̶e̶.̶ ̶ ̶I̶ ̶a̶m̶ ̶g̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶r̶i̶d̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶S̶c̶h̶o̶l̶a̶r̶ ̶t̶i̶e̶r̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶c̶h̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶m̶s̶ ̶k̶i̶n̶d̶a̶ ̶w̶o̶n̶k̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶l̶u̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶e̶a̶r̶l̶y̶ ̶b̶i̶r̶d̶ ̶t̶i̶e̶r̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶s̶t̶ ̶1̶0̶0̶ ̶p̶a̶t̶r̶o̶n̶s̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶n̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶c̶u̶r̶r̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶p̶a̶t̶r̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶s̶w̶i̶t̶c̶h̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶e̶a̶r̶l̶y̶ ̶b̶i̶r̶d̶ ̶t̶i̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶a̶d̶v̶a̶n̶t̶a̶g̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶c̶o̶u̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶p̶r̶i̶c̶e̶.̶ ̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶e̶a̶r̶l̶y̶ ̶b̶i̶r̶d̶ ̶t̶i̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶g̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶a̶d̶d̶e̶d̶ ̶3̶ ̶d̶a̶y̶s̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶n̶o̶w̶,̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶F̶r̶i̶d̶a̶y̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶9̶t̶h̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶A̶p̶r̶i̶l̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶1̶4̶:̶0̶0̶ ̶G̶M̶T̶.̶ ̶I̶t̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶l̶u̶d̶e̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶n̶e̶f̶i̶t̶s̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶A̶d̶v̶e̶n̶t̶u̶r̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶i̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶c̶o̶u̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶p̶r̶i̶c̶e̶.̶ ̶ ̶T̶h̶a̶n̶k̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶s̶u̶p̶p̶o̶r̶t̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶p̶l̶e̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶a̶c̶c̶e̶p̶t̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶a̶p̶o̶l̶o̶g̶y̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶o̶v̶n̶e̶n̶i̶e̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶m̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶.̶
In light of your insights in the discussions I have been persuaded to leave the early bird issue to die, evidently where it deserves. There will be no early bird tier added and for the time being the tiers are going to remain as they are. Loyalty bonuses will be added in the near future that will be granted to long term supporters. Naturally, loyalty bonus miniatures will be huge and extravagant, hopefully worthy to express my gratitude towards your support!
The miniatures that I am contemplating as the first loyalty bonus are the following
- Velantra, the Steel Dragon
- The Watch, small spelljaming vessel
- Mulhorandi war galley
The smallest and less complex among those is the dragon which is saying a lot about the rest :)
Comments
All three of the loyalty rewards sound amazing! Can't wait to see and hear more about them!
Tsipis K
Sorry to disapppoint you. I do believe however that the loyalty rewards are going to be immensely more valuable than a slightly discounted subscription.
Lilian
i wanted early bird :(
Roachboy
I think the decision to NOT have an early bird is a good one. Kudos for that.
Tsipis K
A loyalty bonus is actually something that I wanted to do but wasnt sure how I'd go about keeping track of subscriptions. Now that I've familiarised myself with the workings of patreon, this is something we can launch almost immediately. To be honest, the early bird is losing traction in my mind :)
Sunette
I agree. I just joined now after seeing your work on STL Creator Sampler (love their initiative!) and to add an early bird afterwards seems a bit counter-intuitive. I would rather add bonus minis or special content - or even a boost for a loyalty bonus.
Tsipis K
To be perfectly frank, I do not like the concept of early bird either. It was strongly suggested to me by another patreon creator and I will take their advice for now. The points you all raise are very good and I would like to follow up on them. The way I see it, increasing the contents of the welcome package is the most fair way to grow the patreon content wise. This way everyone gets something extra, whether they are a new or a long time patron. I desperately want to add a wyvern to the collection so I'll move that goal closer.
Tek
I dont like early bird levels too. It's just bad punishing someone for finding you too late. Also jumping down from higher levels to early bird may not be possible, even if you was one of the first around ;) People won't care much about 1-2$ if the content is right. Also most people hate to deal with levels, they simply want it all with one click. For new patreons I would suggest to do something special. Creating a world with your minis, providing some kind of display stand (not diorama), thinking ahead a bit, connecting things between releases. See those arrows in the shield? Where is the shooter? Where is the necromancer who summoned the undead and why is he doing it? ... :) One patreon I like for this stuff is "STL miniatures". It's like 3-4 mini dioramas per release. That makes it special.
PUGDOG Enterprises, Inc.
The point of an early bird tier is to kick off the patreon, so you generate interest quickly. You already did, so why not make a "charter members" tier, that way if you do something special for them, onan anniversary, or something, it makes sense for your early supporters. I never really liked "early bird" because a lot of people did not even know about it, so it can rub them the wrong way, actually un-doing the idea of building "loyalty". *AND* IMPORTANT.... just because everyone else is doing it, doesn't mean you should do it, or even that it's a good idea ;) It just means everyone is doing it.... copy cat. Chart your own course. You have 50 patrons already.
PUGDOG Enterprises, Inc.
Appreciated! But certainly not necessary - though of course I'll try to take an early bird spot when they open. Haha :) but your sculpts are easily worth the current price of admission.
