Patreon patron rewards changes...

It only takes one person to abuse a system before things have to change and make it difficult for everybody…  :(

The way the Patreon system works is when a pledge with money occurs towards a tier, you are automatically added to that tier and have access to posts unavailable to lower tiers; however, that being said, Patreon billing does not occur until the first of the month.  So in the time leading up to the billing period, one can feasibly change their Tier to a higher paid model, gain access to higher level content, and before the billing period occurs, lower their pledge so they are billed for a lower tier. 

Basically they are “working the system” and getting access to content they never intended paying for.

For example: I can pledge as a Tier 1 patron and gain general access to all of my stories.  Then I can go and raise my bid to a Tier 3 patron.  The Patreon system flags me as a Tier 3 patron—even before being billed for that tier—and so I have access to the post with the link to content of a Tier 3 person (rough draft access of both Primary and Secondary stories).  After I obtain that content I can change back to a Tier 1 patron or drop my patronage altogether before the billing cycle and not have a pay anything for the additional content.

Somebody has already done this, as I saw them pledge a lower tier, raise it for 20 minutes (and gain access to the higher tier), and then lower their tier so they are not billed for the higher content.  This is why I haven’t posted anything “new” these past 2 weeks (although I HAVE been working on stuff).

This first month was basically based upon the honor system--although I hinted I may have to change things.  I foresaw this happening eventually, just did not think it would happen the first month!

Reaching the first of my “Goals,” using the money and upgrade my Dropbox account, allows me to set permissions based upon E-MAIL address instead of leaving the folder open for anybody with the link. 

So I will be making two changes:

1. The first change is what I’ve already stated.  I have locked down the Dropbox folders such that you will need to sign into Dropbox with the e-mail you used to sign up for Patreon.  Dropbox is free, so everybody will simply have to type in their e-mail address to log into their free Dropbox account to have access to the appropriate folders.  This allows me to set up folders per the individual and not leave them wide open.
   
2. The second change is I will be only granting access to content AFTER the payment period the first of the month.  This is unfortunately due to the above abuse scenario.  Until I know a person is going to follow through with their patronage and not change it at the last minute for free content, I have to wait until people are billed to have access to the higher tier.  This unfortunately limits anybody who legitimately signs up for an upper tier to create a delay in content access, but I will at least open up Tier 1 content for them, as it has already been posted.  Once Patreon has billed you for your pledge, I will grant access for the full month following.

***This does NOT apply to Tier 7 or $100.00 or more patrons, as Patreon immediately bills for amounts this high and higher, so they will be granted access as soon as I can give them!

I apologize for these changes, as it seems to penalize people legitimately pledging in good faith for additional content, but as they say, one bad apple…   :(