The State of the Patreon: March 2018

I find myself in a weird week, in that it's neither really February nor really March, so I think I'm going to just slink through it in confusion.  I'm also prepping to transition from one job to another, and this new job is quite demanding, so I'll have a little less time than before (I know, I already don't have much time, but we'll make this work!)

In any case, let's talk how the month went, and how I see the next month playing out.

February Retrospective

This month was all about True Communion, and it did very well.  I was on track for the best month in a long time, though readership dropped off quite a bit last week (Patreon week usually has less viewers, because a lot of readers aren't patrons and because quite a few patrons don't bother to hit this site first to log a view, because why would they?).  Still, viewer-wise, it was a very good month.  True Communion itself has been very popular; I doubt it's a surprise to learn it looks to be the most popular philosophy, but it's a not-Jedi philosophy that circles around Communion, which is a very popular concept for Psi-Wars.

The most popular posts (after the Psi-Wars primer, which always wins) were:

1. The Beliefs of True Communion
2. The Symbolism of True Communion
3. True Communion: an Introduction
4. True Communion as Esoteric Skill
5. The Cultural Context of True Communion

I find the views very interesting, as the introduction usually tops out the views and the After Action Reports tend to be popular, but people mostly looked at the Beliefs.  What does that say? Are people into the philosophy of True Communion? Are they using it in their games?  Are there Space Templars running around that I don't know about? Interesting to speculate.

February's Patreon

I hit a major milestone: the Disciples sold out.  I now have twelve $7+ patrons, which is amazing.  I'd like to do something new, but I'm not sure what. I chose 12 mostly as a joke as I never expected it to fill up, but you guys really appreciate my work and it shows.  I'd like to create new tiers, as some patrons have expressed interest in offering more support, but I'd need to carefully balance it.  One reason to limit the Disciples was so that I didn't have too many people asking to join playtests.  If I create a $10 and $20 tier, does that include the right to playtests?  Should they be limited?  Do you "give up" your playtest slot to join those higher tiers?  And what should those higher tiers offer?

If you have thoughts, please leave a comment, or hit me up on Discord.

The Patreon material this month was well received, especially the Elders of the Shaolin, which surprised me.  It seems Psi-Wars fans love wuxia as much as I do.  Who knew?

Moving Forward

I had planned to finish True Communion in March; that may or may not still happen. I absolutely have the following written and ready:

• The Orthodox Virtues of True Communion
• The Heterodox Virtues of True Communion
• The Psionic Arts of True Communion
• Templar Martial Arts
• Keleni Martial Arts
• True Communion Temples (though it needs a revision pass)
• The Knights of Communion and their Chapters (also needs a revision)

Then I have 3 Templar Chapters, of which one is written (the "Dark Vigil" Chapter).  This clocked in at 6000 words, putting it at about as much detail as the Aristocratic Houses of the Alliance, which likely means we've got several weeks of content if I want all three chapters to have as much detail.  The intent is that the fourth chapter will be a poll, but if we need two weeks to get through all the chapters, this won't happen until April.

So what do I have in the meantime?  Hmmm.  Well, I'd like to continue my "Patron week," and hit at least $3+ and $1+, but I'm a bit stuck here because while I have an idea I'd really, really like to tackle, I'm not sure how practical it is; that said, I have "vacation" coming up at the end of the month, so it's possible.  But what I'd like to do is finally get into the last major "Communion Race" of the setting, the Monolith, who will be a very unique race, rather than the fantasy-esque "pretty races" of the Keleni and the Ranathim.  We'll see if I can get it done.

I do have a surprise for patrons: your money is going to art, and I have that art, and I'd like to show it to you.  I also had a patron suggest that it would be nice to have a voice in art direction and that sounds like fun, so I've placed both a preview of the art (available to $3+ Patrons) and a poll (for $5+ patrons) about where you'd like to see the art go next.

Enjoy, my dear patrons, thank you so very much for your support, and here's to a successful March.