That's strange, I think there's a pb somewhere. I can see in this other free game page https://freds72.itch.io/poom the banner "You own this game / Purchased for $10.00 3 years ago". But no banner or anything in the page above (https://benjames171.itch.io/incinerator) about the 2£ I recently gave (and which have been debited) or any other previous payment I may have done (though again not 100% sure I did). I don't know if the pb comes from the way the page itself has been edited, or if this is because Incinerator is a game jam game, while Poom is a released game. But more worrying is that my https://itch.io/my-purchases/donations page shows absolutely nothing, besides an uncanny "You haven't donated to any projects" message. I suppose it should show something even for 3 years old payments, plus I'm almost sure there might be a few other free games to which I donated (not absolutely sure there neither but I usually give a few bucks for games I enjoyed). In case you'd rather continue outside of this forum to fix this, feel free to contact me.
There are essentially two kinds of payments you can make on itchio:
- Something that grants you access to a game, typically the game will have downloadable files
- Something that only sends money to the dev. Typically this will be for games that only have a browser playable version of the game (as we don’t currently restrict browser plays behind payments)
Payments that don’t grant access will appear on this page: https://itch.io/my-purchases/donations Payments that grant access will appear on this page: https://itch.io/my-purchases
Confusing, maybe, but hopefully that at least explains how things currently work
Correct me if I am wrong.
But if you paid any amount at all, you will have access to paid files, even when you paid (or "donated") while the files were free and the project was changed later to paid. (Unless it is "individually priced" files). Basically it would work, as if you got the game at a discount, only that the discount ratio is determined when a free game changes to a paid game.
So accordingly, a game would change category in library as well from donations to purchases, if the project would change.
At least that is how I understood the faq.
I guess it get's complicated with individually priced files on free games. You got access to files by donating. But since the project is free, it should count as a donation.
In other words: games that appear in browse under free games show up in the library under donations. Games that appear under paid show up in regular purchases.
That is not what I was talking about. I was talking about what happens when a free game (with files) changes status to paid - and you had donated while it was free.
My summary, for the purposes of the library view and payments, was: games that appear in browse under free games show up in the library under donations. Games that appear under paid show up in regular purchases.
I was assuming that it is the current status of a game, that dictates how it appears in your library.
https://itch.io/docs/creators/pricing#pricing-options
$0 or Donate — When trying to download the project, a payment of the suggested donation amount is requested. The viewer can click “No thanks, just take me to the downloads” to skip payment and access the files for free. Note: If someone pays for a project, they are granted ownership to it
So if I donated to a browser game without downloadable files (or a free game with files), and the game later gets a dl version added and is changed to a paid game, it should appear under purchases and I would have access to the files.
I understand what you’re talking about, I’m trying to tell you how it works.
So if I donated to a browser game without downloadable files (or a free game with files), and the game later gets a dl version added and is changed to a paid game, it should appear under purchases and I would have access to the files.
It does not. This scenario is a special type of purchase that does not generate any “download key”, so it will not appear in your library as an owned product.
This scenario is a special type of purchase that does not generate any “download key”, so it will not appear in your library as an owned product.
Is this only concerning the appearance in the library, or is the faq misleading here?
I verbatim quoted the faq and highlighted the relevant portion. "If someone pays for a project, they are granted ownership to it". That was in the section of 0/donate projects. Followed later by "This is important to be aware of if you decide to convert your project to Paid at a later time."
Also, the faq talks about ownership in both cases, paid above minimum paid price and donated to a free game, so the distinguishing factor is not ownership. English is not my native language, ownerships sounds wrong to begin with, but I guess it stems from an older term like owning a copy.
And because it cannot be the distinguishing factor, with the faq in mind, I assumed games are just sorted in purchases/donations according to their current status of paid or free.
Or they simply get written in a list on the customer's account and that status does not get updated. Which I assume now, based on your reply.