starstruck_studios
patreon
need your opinions / feedback.
🕑 Added 2020-08-29 22:40:47 +0000 UTCI'll be the first to admit I'm a very short-sighted and headstrong person. I should have opened this for discussion sooner.
[If you were already gearing-up to join my Ko-fi, please still do so! This post is mostly for people who REALLY don't want to leave Patreon. Kofi-subscribers already have their ducks in a row, I just want to make sure Patreon-peeps have a chance to voice their opinion.]
----
When I saw the big stir about Patreon's 'lawsuit,' it hit the 'I finally want to leave patreon' switch. However, the choices I made for moving to Kofi as my new site don't seem to have settled well with most of my supporters, yet nobody has given me any feedback. I realize now that I didn't leave much room for it.
I'd like to see things from a supporter's perspective. I'm just the guy behind the screen making art and slapping it onto a website or server for everyone to see in return for them keeping me afloat. My viewpoint on the matter at hand is very limited.
I understand this wishy-washy behavior is likely frustrating to some people. I apologize. In the grand scheme of things, I'm still very inexperienced in my business, and every new choice like this is a learning experience.
Here's what I understand about the current Patreon vs Kofi situation. For me as a creator, the pros and cons are as follows:
Pros:
- Kofi doesn't take any fees from the supporter or the artist
- People can set up any payment date/day of the month they want, not just 'the 1st'
- Kofi's monthly support goes straight to my 'paypal subscriptions' so I can keep track of it on another site
Cons:
- I have to manually send people discord links
- Can't post anything nsfw on ko-fi's main site
- Ko-fi doesn't have a cumulative place to see all your pledges + limit what you're spending each month for supporters
- Long-time supporters have to make a new account [doesn't take long, but still a con]
I should have asked people their opinions on what I should do, to best benefit BOTH me as the artist, and you all as people supporting me and others. I admittedly assumed that since I usually don't get much feedback that disagrees with me, there was 'no point' in asking about it. That's a quick way to end up my own rear-end, so to speak, so I want to ask /now/ what your thoughts are.
I considered today, making the discord also available to my Patrons. Upon reflection, it DOES seem unfair to suddenly cut off long-time supporters in favor of ko-fi, when I could provide the discord to supporters of BOTH sites, and then simply continue to direct people towards my Ko-fi for a slower transition. That way, people who need the organization tools of Patreon could stay here, but still have access to my artwork via the Discord.
I'm rambling at this point- I'll shut up and let you guys do the talking. Keeping this post public so I can get some opinions on all this. Any ideas or concerns? Please let me know, I'm all-ears.
