Okay thanks for that I think I will consider this. People against modders making money or asking for money please don't freak out, I know this is a hot topic.
I will always provide my mods for free. I am thinking for the Patreon I will have extras for Patreon members along the lines of video tutorials, PSD files, and all of my mods access in one place for direct download. So MEUITM, DAO, Mario Galaxy HD, Mario Galaxy 2 HD, and DOA5LR. Plus whatever future mods...I am going to start drawing and painting again and people will have access to that stuff as well for digital art purposes, I'm not sure if that should be a separate Patreon.
I would also like to shed a little light on to the argument I keep seeing online which is:
"If a mod is good enough, people will donate and the modder will make the money they deserve" I am paraphrasing here but you get the point.
Disclaimer:
I agree that the recent efforts by valve to allow paid modding was a botched mess, but I am not opposed to people making money for 1000s of hours of work and I think if Valve went about it differently it could have been a wonderful thing for modders. I am not posting this to ask for money please continue as you always have. I am just happy you like the mod, However I do have a problem with the attitude and entitlement of "the internet" recently.
That said, I would like to share some stats for you from this mod alone:
The latest revision of the mod has been downloaded: 158,076 times since December 2014 via torrent and direct link across Moddb and The Nexus (not counting links mirrored or hosted by others). The mod has been out for over 4 years so I imagine the actual downloads is much greater but lets just use the latest number as a general reference.
In 4 years I am extremely grateful to have received 25 donations totaling 130 dollars.
The mod has been in the top 100 mods list on Moddb daily for 3 years it is rated 9.7/10 by 207 votes (I would call this well received to earn the "good enough" label. I am also extremely grateful for the rating and that people took the time to vote. However, 207 people took the time on Moddb and 1,747 people took the time to up vote on the Nexus that's 1,954 votes for well over but lets assume the latest 158,076 downloads.
Math:
People who made Donations: 0.00016% (most likely much lower over 4 years)
People who took the time to Vote or rate: 0.01% (most likely much lower)
These numbers are generous estimates. I just wanted to illustrate this not for pity but to clarify reality. I love the users who are active on the forums and I realize most people aren't giving or caring when it comes down to people they have no personal relations with, but to have met and interacted with those that are I am extremely appreciative. These numbers are no surprise to me and support what I've always known. But to see the argument above that modders make money if their mods are "good enough" is ignorant and representative of sadly, as the numbers show, the majority of mod users.
Again please don't hate me, these are just the numbers I have seen over the past 4 years. Every time I get a vote or donation it makes my day, so I have had quite a few days made when you look at it that way. But when I see that argument copy and pasted everywhere it's hard not to be insulted because they are basically saying my work must not be "good enough" and I have obsessively spent over 1000 hours doing it. In general these people are probably 14, or mentally 14 (if you are a well adjusted 14 year old I apologize) and have no idea what they are talking about. Again it's not the argument that I didn't expect it was how many people used the argument and the general hate that fueled the whole controversy. Reading Reddit or the Steam forums on the topic is full of irrational mob mentality and it scares me a little.
My view:
Valve dropped the ball and I am not defending their approach one bit here.
It's okay for modders to get paid if its voluntary
Modders currently don't make anywhere near enough money for people to be upset with them earning money.
The internet loves to unite and hate, the mob mentality is terrifying.
Patreon seems like a perfect answer to the recent controversy.
All of the above and the following is why I am considering making a Patreon:
Currently I am a lab leader/supervisor of a Chemistry Lab. I have a degree in Biochemistry and a second degree in fine art. When I went into the working world (beyond customer service jobs I worked through high school and college) I chose chemistry because it was much easier to find a job quickly and life circumstances forced me to need a job suddenly and desperately. Since then, the past 8 years I have gotten by financially but I have had no creative outlet and Chemistry required a lot of overtime and mental exhaustion so non digital art was out the window due to time constraints and lack of energy on my part. The commercial chemical testing industry is surprisingly factory-like and labs are run like production units. If you know anything about chemical reactions and running instrumentation then you know it is very difficult to force these things to behave on a production schedule. Long story short I am asked to do and ensure the impossible happens on a daily basis. I am in hell at my current job, but I am grateful to have it. Modding has been the only thing that has kept me semi-sane.
My dream would be do do art for a living and Patreon may be able to help.
The future of my artistic expression: Hopefully I can make some money doing mods and digital art. The mods will always be free. I fully realize people that are not going to donate are never going to donate and I am fine with it. It is the reality of free things on the internet. I don't expect it and I don't want it if it comes from a negative place. For my supporters (anyone who has left verbal feedback, votes, donations) thank you so much and please stay tuned as I will have some updates in the near future.
I hope I did not offend anyone and sorry to rant, I just had some things on my mind today lol
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