Greetings, players and onlookers. From time to time, community members have offered to donate to the project or suggest we take in donations. We've talked it over within the team numerous times and have always informed the community that donations wouldn't really speed up development or help the project much at this point. This is still true, but we've finally caved in and put a little "Donate" button at the bottom of the website.
I basically just wanted to go over it for various reasons, though the main reason is to ensure there are no misconceptions. There's no obligation for anyone to donate, Re:Spite will remain completely free to play. We'll continue developing the game and hosting the server even if nobody donates. Since late 2017, we have paid a couple hundred bucks out of our pockets to bring this game to you. It's manageable for us, but if anyone wants to chip in, we're now prepared to reluctantly accept! Please be aware that there is no reward for donating, though. No special items, no special "Donator" status, no extra spoilers. It would strictly just be you giving us money because you feel like giving us money.
Anyway, we still have to work fulltime jobs to pay for our living costs. Even if we get lots of donations, we still need reliable income to ensure we don't end up homeless. That said, here's what your donation money would be going towards:
Stage 1: Pay for server costs
Stage 2: Pay for any development software we need
Stage 3: Pay for game marketing
Stage 4: Profit for our hardworking souls to buy us a pizza or something on occasion
Stage 5: Live off of the game and work on it fulltime
Well, living off the game is a pipe dream, and we wouldn't expect that from donations alone (please don't give us huge donations to help us meet that goal, we won't be able to live off of it). If you donate, we'll put it towards the game first to take the burden off our own wallets. If donations go beyond that, we'll just quietly appreciate your support. And if we don't get any donations, that's also just fine! We'll continue working on the game, same as always.
tl;dr: Donate if you feel like it, but don't expect anything in return. Honestly, we just enjoy seeing people play our game, so there's no pressure. Thanks for reading and thanks for playing!