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Hmmm Patreon.. by Scheknul

I've been looking at it for quite some time. Mind you, I don't support a single artist on it. I have a few gripes with the website as a whole.

1: It's a method for popufur artists to milk their community of fans and followers for continual support, and keep them holding their breath for the next thing. Never mind the fact that, some of these people are throwing hundreds of dollars to support someone, rather than just buying a commission from them. The furry fandom used to be a beacon of "look at what I made, isn't it great?" Now it's, "want to see what great thing I made? Pay me a premium to do so!" I see this as a bit underhanded, and cruel. Especially to those of us who have no only supported, but followed these artists for a long time. Even though some artists are cross-posting their Patreon art to other websites, it doesn't excuse the fact that some of them are going to great lengths to make sure that they get more patrons. I see a lot of people putting the Patreon "P" watermark over naughty bits, as a lure to bring their fans to pay them for unaltered works.

2: I've seen Patreon artists who put the patreon "P" watermark over commissioned works. This is even more-so lowly. Not only are you milking someone for commission money, but you're asking your fans and followers to pay to see something, that has already been paid for. That's like me paying for a cheese burger to be made, then paying again to eat the thing. This is the exact same mentality I have for strippers. I refuse to pay someone to tease me.

3: People who see Patreon as a way to keep people from steeling. Um guys? u18chan exists, and FurAffinity was just sold to a corporate entity. On top of which, there's no way to stop art theft from those who want it badly enough. If you publish it online, then you must accept public domain rules of the world. Nothing is private. If you want the capacity to whine about art theft, get a lawyer, get a tangible patent for your work, and prepare for court dates.

4: I fucking hate seeing Patreon cross over posts. Not the ones with the P icon somewhere off in a corner. No. The posts where the P is everywhere. It's on nipples, crotches, belly buttons, sometimes it's even over the eyes. I've seen SO much P on an image, I imagined something horrifying underneath. As if I went to pay to see what it really was, only to throw up in my mouth when the reality hits me over it being something i'm not into. Thanks for that.

5: Artists who move exclusively to Patreon. Look, I know that an income is a necessity to living in this "modern society." However, expecting your fans to support you financially, while pumping out say 1-3 images a month, just doesn't cut it. I've seen people who make more per hour from fans, than a collage graduate who makes $30 an hour. We the fans are supporting a bunch of immoral people, who would rather sit around and do 1/3 of what they promised just, because we've adored them for years. Don't do it, let them starve till they go back to opening up commissions on places like Weasyl.

I don't really have much else to say on this matter. I fully find the website to be an underhanded way to make not just a living, but to milk a community of fans for promises of "on my own time" reward. While I do understand that, life comes at you fast, shit happens, and what not. People need to be more responsible with their work.

On that note, I'm going back to writing my commissions. Sorry for the delay, my creative process is crumbling due to moving next week.

Hmmm Patreon..

Scheknul

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    My 2¢.

    1: I view it differently. I support(ed) Patreons in hope of seeing what an artist wanted to make, not what commissioners wanted to create. Those who don't produce enough or make things I don't care for? I just stop patronizing them and move on.

    2: It really does miss the point. Patreons work best (I've learned) when stuff is fully available but you can pay to support the artist. It's for fans, not pay-wall creation.

    3: That always makes me laugh. It's terrible for preventing stealing!

    4: See 2. They're missing the point.

    5: I don't mind people who want to move over exclusively, but they should remember what I said in 2. It's not really a system for pay-walls, it's a system to get supported by one's fans.

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    I've been thinking about Patreon as well. I have an account, but I haven't done much of anything with it. It isn't even public yet. If I ever do decide to use it, I would post everything as I do now, and I'd have it on Patreon as well. I'd likely put a little Patreon icon in an empty-looking corner, but I wouldn't purposely detract anything from the picture in the hope of more patrons and money. It is tempting, and it would be nice, but I would never. Censoring commissions is abominable though. I have censored commissions until they were paid for before, as a precautionary measure against people I don't know running off with my art without paying, but I wouldn't censor commissions as if everyone had to pay an admission fee to see the show. Now, if I decided to do a comic series or something similar, then Patrons would be allowed to see WIPs and sketches I do of it, some storyboarding, and possibly get more information on streams of me drawing it. I've tried to do that kind of thing before, but lack of interest leaves me unmotivated to continue after even one page.

    tl;dr I might get a Patreon account, but only so people can show their support, not to see anything new. If I do a comic or something, they'd be able to see exclusive WIPs and work on that.