[Blog] A Patreon Swor'nament Post-mortem

Hello,

Here is a small write-up about why the Swor'nament took so damn long.

First! Things I EnjoyedThe finalists ended up being some of my favourite characters in the arc! Everyone involved in the project agreed that they wanted winners to be determined by dice rolls and not a popularity contest - I was happy to support either. Destiny has good taste, apparently.

The SetupAt the start of 2020, I introduced the Gladiator tier, with the intention being for 16 users to battle in an OC tournament. I anticipated it would take about 6 months. This was a $12/month tier.Initial IssuesI didn't have robust rules in place. Some people asked for copyright characters, axe-wielding heroes and fantasy races which are owned by other franchises. Also not everyone was aware that my elves are weird. I'm quite careful with my lore but I made concessions where I could.Some people unsubscribed after the initial payment, which meant empty spots were getting filled a second time. It was my intention that people would stay on the tier until their character was knocked out, but this wasn't something I could enforce in any way.Pivoting the main series to fit the TournamentI wrapped the main plot Swor'nament in a kind of unsatisfying way on episode 400, intending to jump into this project immediately after.2020You were there.After the longest hiatus the series had had, anticipating the Swor'nament which wasn't coming together in a hurry, the show had to go on and I posted Quest Sprout for the first time as episode 401, followed by massive growth. 70k to 200k kind of growth. A lot more people needing things from the series and the first serious offers for a TV show and that sort of thing.Clusterduck also released in 2020. It was just a busy year.The CracksIt got harder and harder to get all 16 people in the same place at the same time. It was beginning to leak into my personal life.I've been called greedy, selfish, money-hungry, a grifter, a con-artist, I've offered refunds that were rejected and those complaints started overlapping with major life events. My phone blowing up while I was at a funeral. That sort of thing.I consider the matter settled with the conclusion of the arc. But no more, please.The SplitUltimately, the only way to advance the project was to simplify - I split the project in two and the first 8 people got in on a first-come first-served basis. It caused some more outcry, but it was an extremely necessary thing to do.Scope CreepSwords was no longer being drawn at 1050x1307, it was being drawn at 3600x4500. While the implied initial agreement was to draw these characters in Season 2 quality, I couldn't justify back-tracking on quality that much. The series had moved on.There was some frustration over how canon the Swor'nament is or isn't. It is canon, with the imbedded ads for Swords: Cut the Deck, dice and the Everstabbed plushie being non-canon interference from the Orb. tl:dr; A wizard did it.More pivotingThe tournament ended up being released in 3 parts.These caused me to cut down some baller moments in unsatisfying ways, like Bread Knight tapping into his Godly powers and Jest Sprout appearing. I'm sorry the main series suffered for it, that was never my intention.

GhostingOnly one contestant was unreachable in the second batch of Fighters, so I gave their slot to a Royal Tier patron who asked for the Beginners' Blade to get a spotlight. This is why I have no qualms with him riding The Pommeler's coat-tails into the semi-finals.One person ghosted during the design process, but they got the character they asked for.ArithmeticIt would take me way too long to unravel exactly how much I earned from this project, but I would put it ballpark of $2300 if everyone had paid for a year, which most people didn't. Some people have stayed on this whole time - this did not affect their victories. I really appreciate you sticking with me.In total, it took about 3 months and 1 week to make the 70 page Swor'nament arc, mostly concentrated over the past 2 years.I kept my word eventually and that's worth something.

In SummaryI planned a tournament arc a long time ago, which suffered from lax planning, then ultimately got delayed a number of times when the main series took off in a big, unexpected way.

And so- I am going to finish Swords: Cut the Deck content that has experienced delays- The road to Swords #1000 will involve wrapping some story arcs, but only where its satisfying. I think it's too late to hit that number in time for the 8th anniversary, so I'm going to focus on the next panDEMONium update being boss as hell instead of focusing on the numbers.- I've learned a lot and we had some fun along the way! Look at all these handsome warriors!