VNs Now…On Patreon!
Hello all!
First and foremost, I want to thank everyone reading this and everyone who has enjoyed and supported VNs Now for six years running. It has been far from smooth sailing for us, but we have endured and done our best to keep up with this growing gaming medium. At the beginning of 2017, I laid out some short-term goals to get the site back to running at full capacity after our issues in 2016. We are still working on those goals and I am adding some long-term goals to it that I will discuss with you hopefully later this week. All of these things are focused on making the best site possible not just for developers of visual novels to get feedback of their work, but for new and long-time fans of VNs. And, as you may have guessed, this is where life rears its head.
I have said from the beginning that I will not ask for any sort of donations for VNs Now unless it was absolutely necessary. I believe now it is not only necessary to ensure the financial security of the site and its channels, but also to make sure we properly grow. One of the biggest issues in 2016 is that I stubbornly tried to do several jobs AND maintain this site all at once. We all know how well that worked out, and despite my well-earned reputation, I try not to make the same mistake twice.
To that end, a few decisions have been made. Let’s talk about the big one first as today I finally pulled the trigger and launched our Patreon. This was always inevitable in its own way and even now it is what I would consider a soft launch. I always felt that the site needed to be in a certain place before I should even consider it, but a few months ago I came to accept that the only way I’m going to get to that point is with Patreon first. All of the information and goals are on the page and I humbly ask for your consideration in financially supporting the site. As I say in the welcome post, unless you guys go absolutely crazy on this thing, our goals simple to ensure the site continues putting out quality reviews. Fingers crossed, it will lead to more content down the line.
If Patreon isn’t your thing, but you would still like to support VNs Now, I’ve put a donation button in the main sidebar of the site. I’m still trying to figure an unobtrusive way to shill both but we’ll see how well I succeed on that. I will have more information on both this coming weekend. Friday will have a larger State of the Site post to discussing our new long and short-term goals, go into details on the Patreon side and just lay out the rest of the year. I will be open to whatever questions you have here on the site, via email or social media as I spend an inordinate amount of time there.
Finally, I just want to thank you guys so much for your support of VNs Now! In a month, it will have been six years since we’ve launched this corner of the Internet and we have seen some incredible things since then. I am grateful for the small part I play in the visual novel community and look forward to continuing to play a role for developers and fans alike in the years to come. Again, check out our Patreon and thank you very much for your readership and for your consideration. JP3: OUT!
