Peneciraptor Wrote:I can't understand that hate, if you don't want to help my project you aren't obliged to pay. Anyway you will have my game for free soon so where is the problem?
You need to understand that without the help of patrons many games that you are enjoying may not exist, so platforms like Patreon are just helping to have more projects. That's good for you!.
It's not hate, it's frustration. I'll take a crack at explaining the issue as I see it:
If people were just here to play the game for free and be done, then it wouldn't be a problem, but a lot of people who frequent these forums have a genuine interest in helping games improve, giving feedback and generally offering their time and thoughts towards helping support creators - in most cases in non-financial ways.
However, if there is a direct disparity between what testers and commenters have to work with here, and what is available to patrons who offer their patronage to the game, then those of us who want to help but can't pay cannot do that. If there is a disparity in either a more advanced version number, or sections of locked content, then any bug testing or content feedback we offer has a very good chance of being rendered irrelevant, because either a newer version already exists, or the feedback isn't useful in light of other content that isn't available to them.
I can test a game here, but any bug reporting I do is most likely to be a waste of both my, and your, time if the version I'm working with to test is a month behind the active production cycle.
I don't want to give Patreon itself a bad rap... it's a GOOD platform for artists and content creators alike... however, using it as a pay wall is very much the wrong way to use it, and is damaging and ineffective to everyone involved. Sadly, most people seem tempted to use it this way, and it's harmful to the platform's image. The name is intended to imply the way it ideally works - as patronage. You're not buying anything, or gaining any entitlement by offering your patronage, you're simply donating to support someone you want to see succeed in their efforts, nothing more... at least that's the intended design.
For artists and game-makers who don't use or rely on community feedback, but simply produce things and present them, then the method of a time delay between patrons and non-patrons is a fair method...
For content creators who use it while in active development of a game, and who use and rely on community feedback while doing so, however, it creates an uncomfortable loops that effectively says: I want to support this game and help its development - my efforts to help in non-financial ways are stymied or nullified by the patron gating - I cannot now help this game in any way other than financially - I cannot help this game financially - So I cannot help this game.
That's how I see the problem as it stands, and why the increasing swell of patreon-gated projects here has done more harm than good.
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Good luck 
