Most patreon sites i've seen have some sort of that, at maybe 1$ . Rarely any actual benefits to it, but if they update a game with a new version, let's say top tiers get it instantly, 2nd tiers get it after a few days, 3rd tiers get it after 2 weeks and bottom tiers (this 1$) could get it after a month, and it goes public within 2 months.
Is this even allowed here? I mean I know you mentioned you aren't quite ready to start your crowdfunding but it certainly sounds a little bit like you are sourcing your funding on this site.
Yes. This is no different from asking members to read your novel on another site or promoting your patreon for translation. One difference is perhaps, what Ai-chan is doing is completely legal, both by NUF's rules and by national law. Promoting patreon for unauthorized translation is not. Whether you want to support the development or not, that's your own choice. Ai-chan isn't forcing you to do it or scamming you into doing it.
Ai-chan doesn't know, $100 for greenlighting is kind of expensive for an indie and you still need to wait for people to vote for it. But we'll see how it goes.
yeah steam quite good choice for promotion cuz it have big base from multiple gamer side who willing to pay~ safe way to choice where to sell da product~ beside isn't steam have penetrate SEA region? buying game with local currency kinda tempting choice~ you may consider it after secure crowd founding phase~
Steam has removed payment through paypal for SEA, so those who wish to buy from SEA has to buy either through credit cards or through their expensive coupons that gives you only a fraction of the credits you paid. Unless they changed this policy again within the past year, Steam is not very good on the average SEA person. GOG is better in this case, but they're more selective in games, especially when it's indie.
The only thing I can think of is to get some gaming personalities (Tubers n Twitchers) to help spread the news. If you have a game already done, and get them to play it, then news will spread. I've seen some censored ero game "how to beat route X" on Youtube with a million hits pop up once or twice on my suggested list. You could set up a Demo Version to show off your game making skills to help advertise and collect crowd funding.
If the game is good, then Steam would be a good choice like @asriu said. Look at the eroge sold on Steam with bad translations, they're still selling like hot cakes. Kagura Games especially is pumping out games like there's no tomorrow. I think your game should sell well on Steam as long as the artwork is good and the plot is passable. Debit cards work as well. I buy all my games from Steam using debit card.
Had a look to see why @asriu hates them. And Ai-chan thought, "Whoah! Aren't these straight up rip of RPG Maker assets and gameplay?" The gameplay in the trailer for Seed of Evil can be programmed in just under three hours. People are okay with paying for this and they're not in trouble with Kadokawa? But the artwork, yes, that's the biggest problem. All the good artists charge through the roof. Ai-chan gets that they need to eat too, but come on! Give me some discounts! All of Ai-chan's development budget is going to the artists.
I believe the assets from RPG Maker are free for commercial use once you purchase their license. Plus, Kagura Games is just translating Dlsite games.
Oh, that's the case. If they're just translating then indeed they don't have legal obligation over the assets used. As for free for commercial use, no, the assets that came with RPG Maker is property of Kadokawa and you need written permission to use them for commercial use. That is why RPG Maker crowd complain how you bought the engine and can't use the assets to make games for sale. It's part of the EULA, for both Japanese and English versions. What is legal though, are the use of the engine itself to make a game, and the separately sold Sprite Maker. The sprite maker is the same as the one in RPG Maker, but the license for this one allows for you to use them inside your game. Ai-chan has RPG Maker MV, but knowing Ai-chan has to buy a separate software to make the exact same sprites soured Ai-chan from using RPG Maker to make games. If Ai-chan buy the product, then Ai-chan should have the right to use the assets bundled together as well. This is the sprite maker that is legal to use for making RPG Maker sprites https://store.steampowered.com/app/292230/Game_Character_Hub/
Uwaah! Ai-chan just found out that Steam takes withholding taxes, that's 30% of total income. That's a lot of money going down the drain. So if you pay $10 for the game, then consider for example that Steam takes a cut of 30%, plus 30% withholding tax, Ai-chan only gets 40% of the proceeds in total. And Ai-chan foots all the money! So if Ai-chan only makes 30% profit to keep prices competitive, Ai-chan actually makes a loss of around $1 for every product sold. It's impossible to claim money withheld unless you're American. So publishing on steam equals losing money for Ai-chan. No such problem with Patreon, Paypal and GOG. Ai-chan has already lost tens of thousands of dollars to US withholding tax on Kindle KDP so far. Ai-chan doesn't want to lose even more. US will just use my money to fund their wars anyway, since Ai-chan can't claim it.
I don't know if you even need anything in here or if you have it already, but here: https://www.humblebundle.com/softwa...medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=tile_index_4 Decent amount of icons and characters and stuff that you can use for mere 20 bucks. Or more, if you want to donate more. Also, not surprised that no 3 has the most votes. Ero is love, ero is life, is what many say.
Ai-chan has never bought from Humble Bundle before, but Ai-chan wonders if they're doing well. Ai-chan bought the $20 package and paid using paypal. Ai-chan was actually just checking if it was possible to pay with paypal, but the payment actually came through. Which was surprising because Ai-chan didn't have $20 in my paypal account. Oh and thanks for the suggestion. Considering that Ai-chan got $20 content without spending $20, Ai-chan is feeling great.
Well, considering the amount of bundles are increasing to books and comics, I think they're doing rather well. I see people donating thousands of dollars in some bundles. It helps both them, the devs somewhat and the charity they're supporting with said bundle. Paypal has a feature to pay from your bank account, but I think you have to set that up. So it could be that.
You don't have an ITIN? Or can't apply for one for some reason? I'm Canadian and got the Employer one so I have zero withholdings. Or is your tax treaty after an ITIN so bad? Just curious.