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Wrath of the River King - Wolfgang Baur's Open Design
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<blockquote data-quote="countgray" data-source="post: 4602500" data-attributes="member: 18338"><p>I have been a patron since the first project, Steam & Brass. I have really, thoroughly enjoyed participating in all the projects. I kind of dove whole hog into the first one, participating very actively. The last three I have scaled back to "lurker" status, enjoying the essays and keeping tabs on things but not really speaking up much, due to personal time constraints and such. But I still choose to participate at senior patron levels each time. I consider the money well spent.</p><p></p><p>Wolfgang is an artist with what he does. And I like the idea of sponsoring an artist. The product I have received at the end of each project has been wonderful, totally worth it to me. I have run 3 of the adventures (so far) for my own players in my home game. The experience of running the adventures was each time very enjoyable to me and my players.</p><p></p><p>I also kind of like the exclusivity of the projects. I like the idea that I can run an adventure that few others (an elite few) can enjoy the experience of. I must admit that I feel a certain amount of pride (tinged with schadenfreude) that I have my own personal copy of Steam & Brass that no one else will ever get to see except those adventurous and perspicacious patrons that funded the first project.</p><p></p><p>But my greatest impetus in being a patron is that I want Wolfgang to keep on being gainfully employed so he can keep on writing great adventures for many years to come. If this model works for him, then I am happy to help keep funding such projects.</p><p></p><p>The advantage to Wolfgang would seem to be that he can pitch a product to potential patrons, just as he would pitch an article proposal or a book project to a publisher. If they fund it, he gets paid and writes the project to the specs of the patrons. That way he has a guaranteed income. He doesn't have to bear the financial risk of publishing something that doesn't sell. Patrons are happy, Wolfgang is happy. Everyone is happy except those non-patrons who have regrets about choosing not to participate. </p><p></p><p>But the whole point is that this is NOT the standard business model, where the creator bears the risk of regret. It's not a "sales" model. It's an art commission. There are no "consumers" who can choose to buy the product off the shelf (or not). Wolfgang doesn't have to labor over a project and then worry whether anyone will buy what he is offering to sell. Once the work is commissioned then the agreement is complete. Wolfgang gets paid. He can control his costs, budget his time. The work is delivered when it is written. Hopefully the patrons are happy with the work, and if they are then Wolfgang gets more commissions.</p><p></p><p>Not just anyone can pull that off, either. I note that Stephen King tried that once, and the project failed. As an experiment, King attempted to write a novel in exchange for online donations per chapter. He wrote a couple of chapters of a novel online but donations dropped off to where the remaining chapters were not funded. More power to Wolfgang that he has managed to succeed at implementing the patronage model where others have tried and failed at it.</p><p></p><p>I think it is an interesting business model, and I will be curious to see if more designers attempt it in the future.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="countgray, post: 4602500, member: 18338"] I have been a patron since the first project, Steam & Brass. I have really, thoroughly enjoyed participating in all the projects. I kind of dove whole hog into the first one, participating very actively. The last three I have scaled back to "lurker" status, enjoying the essays and keeping tabs on things but not really speaking up much, due to personal time constraints and such. But I still choose to participate at senior patron levels each time. I consider the money well spent. Wolfgang is an artist with what he does. And I like the idea of sponsoring an artist. The product I have received at the end of each project has been wonderful, totally worth it to me. I have run 3 of the adventures (so far) for my own players in my home game. The experience of running the adventures was each time very enjoyable to me and my players. I also kind of like the exclusivity of the projects. I like the idea that I can run an adventure that few others (an elite few) can enjoy the experience of. I must admit that I feel a certain amount of pride (tinged with schadenfreude) that I have my own personal copy of Steam & Brass that no one else will ever get to see except those adventurous and perspicacious patrons that funded the first project. But my greatest impetus in being a patron is that I want Wolfgang to keep on being gainfully employed so he can keep on writing great adventures for many years to come. If this model works for him, then I am happy to help keep funding such projects. The advantage to Wolfgang would seem to be that he can pitch a product to potential patrons, just as he would pitch an article proposal or a book project to a publisher. If they fund it, he gets paid and writes the project to the specs of the patrons. That way he has a guaranteed income. He doesn't have to bear the financial risk of publishing something that doesn't sell. Patrons are happy, Wolfgang is happy. Everyone is happy except those non-patrons who have regrets about choosing not to participate. But the whole point is that this is NOT the standard business model, where the creator bears the risk of regret. It's not a "sales" model. It's an art commission. There are no "consumers" who can choose to buy the product off the shelf (or not). Wolfgang doesn't have to labor over a project and then worry whether anyone will buy what he is offering to sell. Once the work is commissioned then the agreement is complete. Wolfgang gets paid. He can control his costs, budget his time. The work is delivered when it is written. Hopefully the patrons are happy with the work, and if they are then Wolfgang gets more commissions. Not just anyone can pull that off, either. I note that Stephen King tried that once, and the project failed. As an experiment, King attempted to write a novel in exchange for online donations per chapter. He wrote a couple of chapters of a novel online but donations dropped off to where the remaining chapters were not funded. More power to Wolfgang that he has managed to succeed at implementing the patronage model where others have tried and failed at it. I think it is an interesting business model, and I will be curious to see if more designers attempt it in the future. [/QUOTE]
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