Hah, an explosion of activity here, too.
Notoriety has its pros and cons, and I suppose for every kudos there's some fraction of a jerk you'll have to put up with. As far as press copies go I figured it was pretty much "ask 'til someone thinks you're worth it", and was just curious if you got lucky with Everything or if there was something else going on, and as you said, you had an advantage. I also actually just read a reddit thread about a group working on a website meant to help content creators and game developers find each other for that sort of marketing. It's early days yet for them but it's an interesting idea. (The website is vgppl.com for anyone curious). That's some anecdotal evidence for developers - especially smaller ones, I imagine - itching at the to bit to get some of that sweet, sweet free promotion.
From everything I read, it seems like growth is really all about getting people finding your stuff - there's a fair bit of motivational advice/platitudes that amounts to "Build it, and they will come", but in a saturated, competitive medium like this, your potential audience has to know you're even there first. Quality is what keeps them coming back, which is just as important. I suppose for every moment you feel you're languishing in obscurity, it's best to consider it refining the craft.
That said, luck - which I suppose can be reasonably emulated with persistence and reading the market - does factor in. Piggybacking off upcoming indie games with their more niche audiences - and thus lower competition - seems to be a favorite for pulling up those analytics numbers.
Anyway, Patreon - this is really seconding or thirding other comments, but I've been following a fellow for quite a while, and he started up a Patreon a couple of years back. He already had a following (not sure how much of one) because he had been at it for a while, but he had a couple of clearly defined content-related goals that he met fairly quickly ("I'll Let's Play Earthbound like people have been wanting me to for years" and "I'll get a 3DS capture board installed so I can play every Zelda game back-to-back "). As long as you've already got some people on a metaphorical hook, it's reasonable to both ask and expect to get some of your costs for providing content covered.
The only thing I know of that hasn't been said is that Patreon is a pledging system, so you don't always get what it says you're going to get - people's cards are declined, or there are chargebacks, etc. etc. I don't know how often that comes up but it's something to keep in mind.
Also, re: moderation on Discord; if there's anybody in your community you trust, and are willing to do the work, you can lean on them. The previously mentioned Let's Player had several of his long-term watchers/friends put in moderation work in his Discord chat and Twitch streams.
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Topic: Aira's Playing (Sprout: Bees, Farming, Magic, and Monks!) (Read 45608 times)