Logic World Wednesdays #131: Can I get your opinion on a few things?

[p]Press F to pay respects to Localizor, which is shutting down on March 31.[/p][p][/p][p]We've been using Localizor to crowdsource translations for Logic World since 2020. Over the years, more than 200 people have contributed to Logic World translations. Thanks to this incredible community effort, today you can choose to play Logic World in 24 different languages![/p][p][/p][p]This is quite amazing, and we'd like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who's volunteered their time to translate Logic World. Thank you all! You are very awesome![/p][p]We'd like to keep community translations going, so with Localizor's shutdown we'll have to find another system for it.[/p][p]We're leaning towards self-hosting an instance of Weblate. Weblate is very widely used, and it has a bunch of features that actually make it an upgrade over Localizor. To see how Weblate looks and feels, check out this instance where Weblate itself is localized.[/p][p]If you've helped translate Logic World in the past, or if you're interested in doing so in the future, we'd like to hear from you:[/p]

• [p]Do you like Weblate? Do you think it's a good choice for us?[/p]
• [p]If you used Localizor, or if you've used another translation tool, what did you like and dislike about it? What would you like to see in our new translations system?[/p]

[p][/p][p]Progress on Logic World is frustratingly slow right now because I am not able to commit much time to the project. Logic World has a long way to go, and I really really want to spend all my time and energy turning it into the game it's meant to be. However, I do not have the money to do so.[/p][p]Several people from the LW community have offered to help me out financially. I've been reluctant to accept donations due to a bunch of complicated emotions, but after a lot of reflection I think it might actually make sense.[/p][p]Here's a candid breakdown of my finances:[/p]

• [p]After Steam's cut, sales of Logic World sales bring in roughly $1000/month, although this is very unstable and fluctuates significantly.[/p]
• [p]Some of that ~$1000 is distributed among the other developers, and some goes to business expenses like hosting costs for logic.world. In the end I make roughly $800/month from LW.[/p]
• [p]In my part of the world, a small studio apartment costs about $1100/month, and spartan groceries are about $250/month, for a total barebones living expense of ~$1350/month.[/p]

[p](For simplicity, all $ values are presented in USD, although I live in Canada.)[/p][p]So, I'm about $500/month away from having enough money to sustain a minimal existence on LW income. If I had the security of a reliable extra $500/month, I think I would feel comfortable working on LW full-time again. The game would get done a lot faster, and I would be a lot happier in life.[/p][p]$500/month in crowdfunding feels achievable to me. This would only take 100 people giving $5/month, or 50 people giving $10/month. Am I crazy for thinking that this could happen? Logic World's community isn't huge or anything, but a couple hundred people play the game at least once a month, and about twice that number read the discord.[/p][p]We (myself and the other devs) were discussing what perks we could offer to patrons. Here's some ideas we had:[/p]

• [p]In-game cosmetics for your character.[/p]
  • [p]We joked about giving patrons a gold chain necklace with a dollar-sign-shaped pendant. The dollar-sign pendant gets bigger the longer you've been a patron, until it's bigger than your entire head.[/p]
• [p]Access to nightly builds of the game, so patrons can try new features as soon as we merge them in our development repository.[/p]
• [p]A special role on Discord, and a special trophy for your profile page on logic.world.[/p]
• [p]Access to a patron-only Discord channel and a patron-only Logic World server.[/p]
• [p]Monthly patron-only streams/calls with myself and other developers.[/p]
• [p]Names of patrons added to the in-game credits.[/p]
• [p]Top patrons given a shout-out in these blogs.[/p]

[p]So, here are my questions for you:[/p]

• [p]Do you find this list of perks compelling?[/p]
• [p]Would you contribute to my Patreon to support Logic World development? If you're on the fence or skeptical, what would sway you?[/p]
• [p]Do you personally think it makes sense for me to try starting a patreon? Do you have any other ideas for how I might achieve financial stability while working on Logic World full time?[/p]

[p]Please let me know in the comments or in a private message. I am seriously very interested in hearing from you.[/p][p]I'm super nervous to post this for some reason!! But thanks for reading it. Ok bye.[/p]