After due consideration I’ve decided to set up a ko-fi page. If you don’t know what ko-fi is, you can check it out here, but the simple explanation is that whereas a service like patreon can be used to accept payment for services offered as part of the patreon, a ko-fi payment is an expression of gratitude and support for content that’s already been created. Essentially it’s basically an electronic tip jar. Your donation is a one-off, though you can of course contribute more than once, and when you do tip with ko-fi you can also choose to tip a larger amount than the norm. The freedom is yours to decide how and when to show support.
One of the best ways to support Spilled Ale Studios is, of course, to buy one of my products. But a lot of the content I’m creating is offered freely, such as this blog and Fifth Edition Fallout. The ko-fi is your opportunity, should you wish to, to recognise the work that goes into these free creations.
Buying Me a Coffee
You’ll now see this button on the sidebar to the right:
Any time you want to tip me, you can click that button to visit my page where you’ll be prompted to select how many “coffees” you want to buy me (the default is one). You’re not literally buying me coffees, of course! You can write a message of support if you want to, make your tip public or private, then you simply click Support Spilled Ale Studios. Clicking that will take you through to PayPal where you can finalise your transaction.
Fifth Edition Fallout art fund.
The ko-fi is also an opportunity for me to explore the option of adding more art to Fifth Edition Fallout.
Fifth Edition Fallout is a fan project and a labour of love. I don’t own the intellectual property, and I can’t (and wouldn’t dream of trying to) profit from the use of that IP. This means that I cannot and will not charge money for access to Fifth Edition Fallout content.
But I do want to make Fifth Edition Fallout as professional-looking as possible, and for that I need art! I’ve been lucky enough that some truly amazing fan artists have agreed to let me showcase their work in its pages, but there are only so many pieces of Fallout fan art out there, and only a few of those artists have agreed for their work to be included. There are many other places where art could liven up the pages of Fifth Edition Fallout, for instance illustrations of creatures. To get such art tailor-made for Fifth Edition Fallout, I would have to commission artists, and good art can be expensive.
Here’s how I plan for this to work:
Whenever you choose to “buy me a coffee”, you can opt to earmark your donation towards Fifth Edition Fallout art commissions. To do so, please include the words “Fifth Edition Fallout Art Fund” in your donation’s message of support.
My promise to you is that your Fifth Edition Fallout Art Fund will only be used for art commissions. I will continue saving these contributions, and occasionally topping them up myself, until such a time that I can afford to commission a piece of art. There’s no exact timeline on this of course, it will take as long as it takes. Once a piece is commissioned, the process will begin again. If donations falter for a significant period of time, I’ll shut the program down. Whatever donations I have at that time, I will top up myself to get one last piece of art as soon as I can afford to do so. Thus, your donation will never be spent on me personally.
Of course if you’d like to contribute to the art fund and show me some love, you’re more than welcome to! Just earmark the Art Fund payments appropriately to keep them separate.
