2023, Patreon and life...

Hiya everyone, 

As Bilbo says to Gandalf, “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”

For the last couple of months, I've been feeling quite overwhelmed and I've been finding it difficult to maintain the balance of my studio work, managing the site, prop modelling as well as general life. I posted a long message on the Discord and I wanted to elaborate on it further. 

I spent 2022 focusing on the week to week, but now I'm looking forward and seeing how I can continue to establish the site to serve the community in the longer run. This project is so important to me but it's important to think of some ways of making things a little more sustainable for going forward.

Rather than make any quick decisions, I've been just contemplating what to do and that's resulted in me being a bit more silent which I apologise for. 

So, for the forseeable future, I will no longer be uploading weekly. I'm still going to be doing bits behind the scenes, creating models, doing 3D scans etc, but I'm want to remove the expectation that it'll be weekly. I want to spend more time on the website and adding usability improvements, and that means I'm not directly working on props. I'll also be working on some larger models which will take longer than a week to create, so it's better to remove that expectation now. What I'd propose instead is more of a roadmap for the year, with the following commitments (not in any particular order):

2023

• A commitment of a further 250 - 500 props added this year, taking the total to over 1000+
• Add Human Base Meshes to the library
• Share the Blender file library (requires some cleanup first)
• Laying the foundations of a website revamp and usability improvements
• Opening up to model Donations

As for some Patreon news, regrettably, I am going to be removing the 'Poly' Tier

I've not been on top of the content as much as I should have been and as a result, it's now causing me to feel more anxious than excited and I feel that I cannot offer what I originally promised. If you are currently a Patron in this tier, then you could consider moving down a tier which will still grant you some benefits, or unsubscribe entirely. Either way, I am truly thankful for your generosity. 

For those currently in that tier, I want to say a huge thank you for your support. 

As a  gesture of thanks going forward;

• Videos in 2023 that will be uploaded to Youtube will contain a credit to yourself
• You'll have access to the File Hosting on Mega until the end of 2023
• Access to the Blender file library when they become available

I am going to slightly tweak the rewards for the other 2 reward tiers, and will go into this further in the Q&A this coming week.

If you have any questions, concerns or thoughts please feel free to drop a comment below. Alternatively I'll be hosting a Q&A on Wednesday, 18th of Jan at 8pm (GMT) (link to come soon) where I can answer anything there. 

It feels cliché to say, but I do need to remember this is a marathon and not a sprint. I just happened to be a bit out of breath right now and stopping for a breather! I'll pick up the pace again shortly. 

I am, as always,  incredibly grateful for all your help in getting The Base Mesh to this point. I just want to make sure 2023 is an even better year, and not one I burn out in!

Thanks for reading and have a great day <3 

Tim