Weeks #5 & #6

Hello again, again, again, again (this joke is happening),

Wonderful turnout for 0.6; 3.8K downloads during week #5 and 1738 downloads during week #6.

We've made it to 56.9k views, 18k downloads, and have been saved to 522 collections as of the sixth week!

This was the first time with more than a week between updates. I appreciate everyone's patience as I have obligations outside of this project to meet. Looks like the band aid for file size was successful. Had some challenges with Mega during the first night, but adding the additional source seemed to alleviate the pressure. I have options for the future, and I am not concerned about being forced to stop anymore.

General:

7.0 will release Sunday night/Monday morning. 7/13-7/14.

I put some goals for the project over the last couple weeks. The biggest change is the restructure from a single host (Emma) to several hosts divided by type. Most of the early project work was unguided and was developing as I went. Often called "panster writing" which is normal for me and is often how I make decisions related to writing. The project manager in me is looking for ways to add structure and purpose to what is developing. I think it gives me a nice balance of freedom within rails compared to all freedom or all rails.

The direction is for more character development and non-vore opportunities. I believe this will add value to the vore scenes because a big part of writing is connection to the characters which should help give meaning to the scenes. Vore scenes will always be the focus but know that I will be spending development time on things that are not strictly vore. The goal is to meet a quantity of content and include a story with ending. That number is currently an arbitrary 40 regular + 12 content warning pred divided between 4-5 host girls. It feels like a lot but at the same time feels very restrictive.

The social aspects of this project positively motivate me through metrics and comments, and my internalized desire to meet expectations helps to keep me moving along. I always have a project and if I don't have one, I make one (such as this one). It's always best when projects are useful and the majority of my hobby projects have been only for me in the past. I say that to say, thanks for being here and giving me a bit more purpose as I keep myself occupied.

I opened up a discord https://discord.gg/VHUkZ7d6Fa. I have not thought too much about how it will work, but for now I am answering questions and available to chat while I'm working on this project. Had some difficulty testing and keeping a permanent link up, but I think I have it figured out.

Social wise DeviantArt has been pretty successful. I am slowly releasing certain images from the project to there, but nothing that cannot be found elsewhere, Trueflightspecials User Profile | DeviantArt. I find this interesting because I've noticed some trends in which types of images are popular. A lot of AV, slime girl, and furry enthusiasm there. Also, several questions about topics I had put little thought into but will help me as I continue to work on this project. I find the twitter/BlueSky concepts uninteresting, and I haven't put much effort into it.

Problems:

First time since project start that my work life started to come home a bit and dip into my free time.  I have several work projects underway and do spend a lot of my creative/mental energy sorting and resolving issues. I expect that July through December will be busy this year.

I'm going to shift my intentional hobby project time to weekends only. This will move release dates to Sunday nights / Monday mornings. Should be manageable as long as I do not get pulled in for emergencies during weekend business. 

I'm still very much enjoying this project. This isn't a sign of burnout, this is a sign of my livelihood needing to come first. I am fortunately very needed in what I do and have many teams and individuals that depend on me and the work I do for them.

I've noticed I've become more critical of the images I'm making and I'm looking for a better level of continuity. That is where I'm going to find frustration in this, and I will remind myself I can always go back and make adjustments later. I can achieve this effect through sprites, but I like what I've setup so far. If I ever make a new project, I'll try the sprite route.

Growth Metrics:

Previously:

• We've made it to 50.1k views, 16k downloads, and have been saved to 482 collections as of the fifth week!
• (We've made it to 39.9k views, 12k downloads, and have been saved to 422 collections as of the fourth week!)
• (We've made it to 29.3k views, 8.7k downloads, and have been saved to 334 collections as of the third week!)
• (We've made it to 19.7k views, 5.5k downloads, and have been saved to 249 collections as of the second week!)
• (We've made it to 10.5K views, 3K downloads, and have been saved to 145 collections in the first week!)
• We also have 38K views on F95zone, and 2K views on Platinmods, which users can download untracked copies from. 
  *I endorse the spread of this project through safe sites. Feel free to post about it wherever but I do like to be able to track metrics, including video views if you are inclined to do so. If you credit me then it's advertising. If you don't then, ultimately, I'm not trying to sell this anyway.

Eka Polling Data:

• Week #6 - 201 Votes
• Oralvore: 13%
  
• Unbirth: 22%
• Analvore: 15%
• Breast: 9%
• Futa-Cock: 12%
• Human/Human-like Girls: 7%
• Furry Girls: 10%
• Monster Girls: 10%

• Week #4 - 100 Votes
• Oralvore: 14%
• Unbirth: 23%
• Analvore: 13%
• Breast: 6%
• Futa-Cock: 11%
• Human/Human-like Girls: 10%
• Furry Girls: 10%
• Monster Girls: 13%

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I am open to requests and feedback. 

I appreciate any reviews that could be added so I can get found in the ratings section of Ichi.

I hope this project does something for you.

Thanks all,