Ultimate Decision On The Side-Stories Thing & Merchant Of Degeneracy Tier Perks

Hello, everyone.

First off: the first side-story comes out later today. It's the Hollow Strength one. It'll come out as a draft first, then officially soon after if I see no need for big edits.

Now, on to the main topic of this post: I've given a lot of thought to the whole bonus content/side-stories thing, and I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather not make it a perk associated with any tier. The reason being that I'm pretty packed with stories already and I want to reopen for commissions soon (should have been earlier this month but got delayed, my bad), so I want to avoid adding something that would probably need to be monthly to be worthy of a tier perk. That said, I really did like the side-stories idea, so I'll be bringing it back more times, just not with a fixed frequency.

This leaves the Merchant of Degeneracy tier with no exclusive perks to justify its existence. Therefore, I've sentenced it to death. Its main perk had to do with Prompt Polls, which have been put on hold for an undetermined period, so instead of replacing them with something else, we'll simply chop off its head. In other words, the tier will cease to exist.

From now on, the only tiers will be Patron of Degeneracy (access to all stories and most polls) and Fighter of Degeneracy (access to all stories, all polls, the drafts of in-progress Subscribestar stories, and the AI images depository).

As of the making of this post, my intention is to lower the subscription fee of the Merchant tier to 5 USD to match the Fighter tier, as they are now identical in terms of perks. However, I do not recall if I am able to alter the price of a tier that has active subscribers, even if it's to lower it. Check back in, like, 5 minutes to see an edit announcing whether I've succeeded or not, then make your own decision accordingly.

Assuming I am able to lower it to 5 USD, feel free to hold onto your Merchantness for whatever reason you may desire, as you will have all the same acess as the Fighter tier. If I am not able to do it, you'll have to move tiers yourself, as I cannot delete a tier with subscribers. You are also technically free to hold it into infinity even at 10 USD, but know that there are zero perks associated with it.

EDIT: Tested, and I cannot alter the price. So, you'll have to move tiers yourselves.

Quick expected question: What does this mean for the side-stories you selected the other day, Mr. Usurpman?

Quick answer: They're all coming. Like I said, I liked the side-stories idea, so I'll be bringing it back more times. I just won't tie it to any tiers.

Second quick expected question: Does this mean the first incoming side-story will be released to all tiers from the start?

Second quick answer: I'll treat like all other Subscribestar stories: a draft first, and if no big edits arise from the potential feedback, it gets released officially 24/36h later.
So, expect a 100% complete draft in a few hours, then the official release in 24/36 hours - assuming no big edits are needed.

Third quick expected question: Will the Merchant of Degeneracy tier come back someday?

Third quick answer: Prompt Polls will definitely be coming back eventually, so that tier might come back when that happens, or maybe some new form of it.

A few more quick updates since I'm here:

Alright. I return to the shadows, where I am giving it my all. Thank you all for your continued support!