Regarding Exclusive Content Archive, again... (Patreon)

So, I did some more thinking on how I'm pricing access to the Exclusive Content Archive in the future, and came to a realization that the way I'm doing the whole thing just doesn't work well in the long run. See, with the current way I'm doing things, if I allow access to everything posted so far, beyond reaching a certain total support amount, that just means that once a patron reaches that amount, they'd have access to everything in the archive... which would mean, for example, access to the $5 tier content, even if they have a tier $1 pledge only. So the old way creates a loophole to get stuff cheaper. That's not in my favor at all. I'm sure most people wouldn't exploit that, but some would, unfortunately.

So I'm left with a bit of a dilemma, what to do with the Exclusive Content Archive. Splitting the archive into tier-based editions was my first thought, but it would just create a lot of extra work for me, and wouldn't really solve the root issue of the problem.

What I'm currently considering is to stop the Exclusive Content Archive in its current form, and think of something else instead. Don't be alarmed about not having chance to see the old content though, I would still offer access to all the art released before June 2019 as a sort of 'legacy' archive, at the lifetime total support of $30 that I already spoke of earlier. It would be a true archive, if you will. But from June onward, there wouldn't be a continuous archive update for people with an X amount of lifetime total. Your pledge gets you the art and benefits for the month you are pledging, and that only. So if you want to see all the exclusive art from all 12 months of a year, have the corresponding tier pledged during each month. I already planned to do this with the high resolution works anyway. No freebies from months there was no support. Makes sense, right? You don't subscribe to a monthly printed magazine, then get all the magazines from previous years after you've been subscribed for three months or whatever. You just get three magazines, one for each month you're subscribed.

Another option could be to enable the Exclusive Content Archive updates just like before, with a certain, high enough pledge tier. But it would still allow paying a flat sum to access everything published before then, and could be exploited in the long run. Plus not a lot of people would probably choose to pledge at such a tier for more than one month at a time anyways... which is basically the 'exploit'. Pledging at a lower tier gets you the same art that the archive would have added the next month.

Whatever I choose to do, I need to make sure there are no loopholes that allow getting rewards from higher tiers at a lower pledge on regular basis. Perhaps I could offer the exclusive content from certain period, like a year, or half a year, as art packages you could purchase somewhere separately for a bit cheaper, or something like that, to those that want art from past periods they couldn't pledge at.

As usual, feedback and ideas are welcome. Maybe think of something together with Harmony. ;)

I'm off to sleep. Night shift behind me... Oh how I look forward to not having to do these anymore after Wednesday.