lordaardvarksfm
patreon
Pinned Post 2021
🕑 Added 2021-04-07 05:38:45 +0000 UTCI've had people ask me about why the 2020 Schedule was still pinned, all the way in April 2021. I've had people say it looks bad to have it pinned so long. I've had people say it makes it look like I don't care, and that I should replace it.
So I have replaced it, as you can tell. And as you can tell, it doesn't have any actually useful content. That probably makes it look like I don't care. And you know what?
I really don't.
To be perfectly clear, I absolutely love each and every one of you, my Patrons. And it's not that I don't care about Patreon as a platform, or as a mechanism to fund my efforts and allow me to do what I love as a full-time job without needing to worry about how to pay the bills or the anxiety of living paycheck to paycheck.
I cannot overstate how much my Patrons mean to me, and how much Patreon as a service means to me.
But what I don't care about is Patreon as social media, or Patreon as a web front.
For the past several months, if not years now, I've been lucky if a Patreon post gets even 5 likes. I'm over the moon when I see a comment, even if it is literally just "Cool." These are both examples of extraordinary engagement on Patreon as a website.
Every week for the past month now, I've been putting 12+ hours a week into preparing early-access comic pages. Do you know how many people have been viewing them? About 12 people a week. 12. People. A week.
And that's at the $2 tier. At the time of writing, there are 511 people with access to the $2 tier and above. And of them, less than 2 a day take advantage of the early access of the comics.
The engagement with the $5 Progress Report posts is even worse, with only 403 people having access to them.
I won't lie, every week for the past several months I've questioned the point of spending 3+ hours every Friday evening putting together and writing the Progress Report posts. No one likes them. Even less comment on them. Frankly, so far as I can tell, no one cares about them.
The only reason I keep making the posts is because it's one of the few structured things in my life that helps me manage my depression. The Progress Reports stopped being for Patrons months ago, since Patrons don't seem to give a shit about them. They're primarily for myself.
All of my other social media platforms get far more attention from me than this Patreon does. Twitter, Discord, even the AMA section of my website. And the reason why is simple: I get far more engagement in them than I do on Twitter. People actually share their thoughts, give their opinions, or hell even just hit the bloody Like button. That's more than what people do on Patreon.
I don't have anything to pin here for 2021. I don't have a schedule. The schedule for 2020 was a fucking disaster that worsened my depression in ways I can't put into words. Back in November I made a post on my blog about how I am pointedly not making a schedule for 2021, because my schedules are prone to fall apart. And you know what? My non-schedule for 2021 is already falling apart.
So will I put something else in place of this post? Maybe. Probably not.
But for those of you who wanted me to update the Pinned post, well, here you go. I've updated it.
I'm really not sure what the point of it is though. Only maybe 12 people in the entire fucking world will read this post. Of the 600+ people who have access to it, it'll be worth throwing a party if the number of them who actually read it even reach double digits.
For those of you who actually care about my work, you probably already engage me on Twitter, or participate in the public Discord, or send me messages over my blog's AMA. And to all of you who do that, I can't thank you enough.
But for the rest of you, who just lurk without even pressing the Like button, or just subscribed 3 years ago and forgot to unsubscribe, well... I appreciate the fact you support my work, despite apparently not caring enough to even press a Like button once in a while. I won't pretend that I am entitled to your engagement. But I will plainly state I am disheartened by the lack of it.
So yeah. Here's the pinned message for 2021.
I'm getting back to work now.
Comments
Lord Aardvark
Thank you for the kind words! You can access the comics from the Galleries page on my website. https://lordaardvark.com/html/galleries.html
Bookfiend3820
1. I want to say thank you for your past and present work. To be honest, your work has given me a new fire to keep creating new worlds and stories. 2. I check AMA site and I was so stoked to see you create your own site so you where not chained to any platform you dont control. Keep that up! I do like reading your updates and even pornhub opinion. 3. I'm still learning how to get at your comics. But I will read them. Your great creator. 4. You inspire those you dont even know. I can say from some of your older creations that tumblr burned before they lost their damn minds, I was like " This stuff is great. I would have never thought of that story! Let me get off my ass and back to writing." So If your going to pour your time into anything let it be your own site. And let people find you there. Give this platform just enough and keep moving. Good luck and good writing.
Moonlight
Hi there, I just sent you few messages, could you please check them?
It's actually might be my first time reading your post, I have subscribed to some other producers and you are the only one who has this long report weekly/monthly. Despite never reading it these reports always made me feel that you are a dedicated artist that cares about details. As someone with depression as well, I'm glad writing it would help with your depression. Just in terms of sharing thoughts/progress, this might not be the best way to do it today. If you want opinions a pull/thoughts-provoking question would be much better. If you want more opinions/thoughts a voice discussion session with readers on discord might be worth trying (maybe you already doing it it's just I don't know). Anyway, hope you are doing better.
nobody333
Hi, I just read the email notification and wanted to chiming in. I read through all the patreon emails (post, notifications etc.) once or twice a week. All in one big chunk via an old fashioned email program (thunderbird) on an old fashioned pc (a tower under the desk running linux). -> porn recap for the week. I can and will like your posts from now on, when I get to reading the emails. I joined here, to support your work, as I did with several other patreon artists, whose work I enjoy. I never felt like a "like" ment anything, as I am not really into any of the social media platforms. No facebook, no twitter, no what-ever-is-cool-since-yesterday. PC are for gaming, porn and work. I like to do all of these things without an audience that spans the world. Patreon as a platform, is geared towards people with a little to much extra money, who want to support a rather niche hobby. I guess you just find more social media-avoiders here, as that demographic is typically a bit older and a bit niche.
samus25720
Sorry for not telling you before, but i loved your Samus Aran serie and overall all your mini-story videos. And to be honnest i don't really care about schedule, i just hope you can continue to make these pieces of art, so i pledged :D I wish you the best
I agree with rsenkrantz. Also, I DO tend to look at post via email. I even prefer your website to Patreon honestly.
I'm here because I dig your work and this is the easiest way to support you making content. TBH, I don't care about schedules, WIPs or early access. I'd rather see you spend your time doing and sharing what you love than writing status reports.
I've seen other people mention it but I'll say it as well, I get the posts through email and have been keeping up with your updates through that. I don't know if there is a way to make it so that people have to come to Patreon or not, but its looking like there are probably a lot of people who just read the post in the email, including having access to the links if there are any, without coming to the post on Patreon itself.
M
Just wanted to say that I do appreciate and enjoy your work. Also it is possible that the reason that people are not reading the Patreon posts is that, like me, they have set your posts to be emailed to them, and it's just easier to simply read an email rather then to go to another site to read what is already in front of them. So it may be that significantly more than 12 people are reading/viewing your posts; it's just that they do it on a non-Patreon platform and don't feel that they have anything to add to the discussion. Anywho have a good day! :)
Jon
Just because some of us don't comment or click like on your posts doesn't really mean we don't like your work. I send you $15 a month because I like what you do and would like to see it continue.
Bookfiend3820
I understand. It sucks to put so much into something and not have the engagement, until you stop. And then people come out of the woodwork to complain about it. I'm kinda new to this whole engaging people, about what I like and dislike about content they create, because I just happy for people to be creating things that are new and different. And I dont want to shit on there ideas and passion. But input makes things better. So I will get better with giving my input. So please keep up the good work. And make sure to take care of yourself. 👍🏾
I definitely don't engage enough. I'm a huge fan and I read and watch everything you put out on here. I've considered giving my thoughts on things, even ideas for things I'd love to see you create. I then see how much stress you're under in each and every progress report and I come to the conclusion that my ideas aren't worth the added stress it could put you under (You may also just dislike the ideas) . Those who critique you obviously have no idea what it's like to have a fan base to try and satisfy while also trying to balance a personal life. Man I found your videos on pornhub and would check daily to see if you uploaded a new video. Then I found out about your twitter and checked that daily for updates (without following which was me being a bad fan). Then I found out about patreon and that I could see the videos early, I could not pass that up. You make some of the best content I've ever seen. Finding fully voiced, quality videos like you make is extremely difficult. I don't hit the like button on the posts you have here like I should (once again that's me being a bad fan). I can't promise to be better at that, buy I promise I'm still here reading every update, excited for every new project.
Garry
Howdy Brother, just wanted to weigh in like everyone else here. I read the posted messages in the email I receive from Patreon. There is no like button. Sure it feels, at times, like you are shouting into the darkness, but as a resident of the realm of shadows I’d like to say that we, all of us, appreciate your hard work, and more importantly the results. You have created content which will be viewed for years to come. I’m certain that when you view your earliest videos all you see are the flaws, but for us, who love the medium and the worlds you explore for us, they are works of art and they make us all hungry for the next one. Lastly, I would like to help you understand where the comments about updating your schedule are really coming from. There are many fans who just want to interact with you, they are immature and can’t conceive of a more appropriate way to do so other than to latch on to the smallest critique and gnaw it like a bone. Don’t take it to heart. They truly don’t mean a word of it, they just want to feel heard. You are at the top of your game, don’t give this bullshit another thought. Looking forward to the next Blue Star Episode!
Galdrigando
As above, been checking out the emails as above, but honestly didn't notice it was meant to be a social media platform as well, if I want engage with people, Ill use different platforms.
William O
I think it's worth noting that patreon might not show the metrics of who reads posts as they're displayed in the email sent out. I didn't even know there was a Like feature and I've been using this for years lol.
Martin Tepper
Me too! Long time fan, love you work! Just not an "engaged" person online, there's so much stuff streaming by every day...don't be discouraged :) Don't know if that helps but isn't people donating money every month a really strong kind of "engagement"? ;)
Lord Aardvark
See, this is a big reason why I love all you guys so much. You are all SO INCREDIBLY understanding of my independence as an artist. Not only do you guys not try to impress upon me your own interests and try to influence how I work, but you guys ACTIVELY ENCOURAGE me to continue working at my own pace in my own way. And I think that's really at the heart of this. Over the years, I've had the amazing fortune to collect an audience of such amazingly understanding and patient patrons, that it's really just not anyone's modus operandi to engage - you're all perfectly content just sitting back and letting me keep doing what I do best, not wanting to meddle or interfere. I think that it's that very respect toward my independence that comes across as callous apathy. It's a double-edged sword, really. But I think that, so long as I just keep in mind how wonderful all you people are, and how it's not that you don't care, but that you DEEPLY care and want to respect my independence and not interfere, then that can get me through the dark days and pent-up frustrations. I can't overstate how much all of your feedback, both in general but especially on this topic, means to me. <3
Anthony Mills
Hey, just wanted to say, I appreciate your work, and I want you to work at a happy sustainable pace, with your social media involvement at a happy sustainable level, on whatever platforms are most effective for you.
Ito Shuichi
Not gonna lie I fall under the ^Umbral and ^Adam category.... I read all the emails and see your patreon content through them. I love your work and really appreciate what you do. I would argue that you are part of the very first group of NSFW SFM artists and I want to show my support for that. That being said I personally view patreon as less of a way to see your content but more of a way to financially support you as an artist.
ADLegend21
I have a sort of bad habit of reading posts in the email they're sent in, so you've got some phantom viewes from me. I'm always glad to see what you're working on since it helps with the SFM scene.
Lyner
Keep up the good work man. Thanks for the update/progress reports that you do.
MisterMaus
I Read most of the post but only like/comment on stuff i am actually interested in
IvySnow
Big fan of your work, have been for a while and everything you put out. Even though I'm recently new to your patreon I'll do my best to show my appreciation for your time, hard work and love you put into each and everyone of your projects.
Ben
To try and describe my viewing habits, as one of the $2 patrons, I don't usually follow posts as they come out, but do occasionally binge through post history. I pay closer attention of if it's a character I'm interested in like Liara, Samus or Elizabeth.
Lord Aardvark
Honestly, I feel like yourself and Ryan above make the majority of the cases. It's not that people don't care, but more either they are extremely hands-off and just want to see me keeping on keeping on, or they read the notifications through a platform that doesn't allow for engaging. Does Patreon have an app? I'm not hip and cool with mobile phones (mostly use mine for just reading emails). If they don't, they should strongly consider one, with the ability to Like directly from the app. That way people can read the notifications but still engage, without needing to inconvenience themselves with logging into the website.
Max Chen
Also a lurker myself. I mostly just read through your updates via the email notification instead of actually coming onto Patreon, so I’m probably guilty of not showing any engagement. I’ll try to drop some Likes and comments more often if that helps. Keep up the good work man!
Ryan Hall
Go at your own pace! Do what makes you happy. I love your work so just keep do you!!! Best wishes!
Lord Aardvark
That's what the Like button is for - and if you already press that, then this rant isn't really directed at you. I appreciate the fact you even read the posts. But Patreon doesn't have a "number of reads" metric. That is totally opaque to me. A hundred thousand million people could read these posts, or three people could read them. If only one person presses the Like button in both cases, then it looks exactly the same to me.
FrogGod
hey man, i just wanted to say that im just a lurker that likes your work. i dont really know what to say to these things so i just choose to say nothing. i do appreciate the update posts, just so i have something to read every once in a while. ill try to do a comment but know that i have no idea what to say and its difficult for me to find the words.
Ciberbago
:( I like your posts
