That won’t work. Like, ever. First off, their format isn’t exactly compatible with a games marketplace for the same reason Patreon isn’t a marketplace. There’s really no ‘buying’ anything, which puts consumers at a severe disadvantage should a game ever be considered complete.
Second, and most prominent, SubscribeStar has already proven themselves susceptible to this kind of pressure. It would only be a matter of time.
It's actually the opposite - SubscribeStar has proven that they will not bow to this kind of pressure. That's why you can't use PayPal there; PayPal tried to exert pressure and SubStar told them to get lost.
(Not sure why you're using age verification as evidence of susceptibility to pressure; that's just a standard legal check that every adult site does).
It's not great as a marketplace, granted, but that could be easily fixed with a single "one time pledge" change; not too difficult if they went that route. I doubt they will, but hope springs eternal.
(Not sure why you’re using age verification as evidence of susceptibility to pressure; that’s just a standard legal check that every adult site does)
No, it’s not. That’s a “buT wHo wILl tHInk Of tHE CHILdRen!?” pearl-clutching, privacy-attacking identification check that most sites ignore because it’s unenforceable, and which occurs after and in addition to the normal age gate.
It’s not great as a marketplace, granted, but that could be easily fixed with a single “one time pledge” change; not too difficult if they went that route.
That doesn’t address the matter at all. A complete game could potentially receive bug fixes and such, correct? I personally don’t believe a bugfix is worth paying full price once again. Additionally, different games can easily have different values. A minigame made in a day or two shouldn’t cost the same as a game that took months or years and takes multiple hours to complete. To make that work on a pledge system would require either ridiculous granulation of tiers or a few catch-all prices. It only works for funding development. Once a game is completed, it becomes far less useful.
