Platforms die. So I'm starting a Patreon/Membership on FW
A bit dramatic, yes -- but bear with me.
I usually stream on Twitch and it's how I have fun, its the main way even. Since starting it and going on 3 years (!!) of streaming there's been some major changes to my life. I've quit working multiple jobs that treated me pretty poorly, and successfully switched into doing this basically fulltime.
The main change is, somehow, finding a lot of people that enjoy what I do. This is insane to me. Each and every one of you that watch my streams sticks around to hear me rant about random junk while being semi-delirious.
If unconditional support wasn't enough, I've been lucky enough to get to know other wonderful vtubers and learn a lot from them. One of the harshest things I've learnt from exposure to my peers is:
Platforms die.
Maybe not the entire platform all at once, maybe just an account that is that person's platform. But platforms die.
Maybe not all at once, but sometimes a creator’s platform disappears overnight. Accounts get banned—sometimes for valid reasons, often not. Twitch, for instance, regularly issues week-long bans to VTubers.
Sure, a banned account can be unbanned, but how long does that take?
There’s a cultural perception around anime avatars and a lack of understanding about what VTubing really is. Large platforms have no incentive to care about the weird niche that potentially freaks out advertisers, and Twitch shows this all the time in their PR by getting names and accounts wrong even in award shows they themselves supported.
Just this month, I’ve seen bans that seem absurd:
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A VTuber (MOTHERv3) banned for “fraud.”
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Channels like Cottaintail and Ebi banned for “sexual content.”
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A creator banned for impersonating… themselves.
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A clipper’s channel deleted without appeal.
This is how platforms die.
I have no explicit loyalty to any one platform and I don't think anyone really should. A large company doesn't have an incentive to care about you because there'll always be more people ready to take your place. If you are perceived (even wrongly) to get in the way of ad revenue your head will roll.
But there are people who have loyalty to creators (and somehow to me), and that extends beyond just where they happen to stream or upload to. Any kind of creator on the internet only exists because of the fans that support them.
In my worrywort nature I've been branching out to other platforms for both added exposure to the Twitch stream, and to diversify so that anything happening to the stream doesn't knock me out entirely. Part of this involves:
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paying editors
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extra time spent recording videos and editing myself
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organising merchandise
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paying for hardware (3D so expensive...)
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paying for digital assets
This Membership thing is my way of building a safety net—a rainy-day fund to help me keep doing what I love, no matter what happens on Twitch or YouTube.
Why Fourthwall?
Well they've delivered the merch on time, they've paid me on time, and they seem to offer more reasonable rates than Patreon. Added benefit is I can give direct discounts on merch here to certain member tiers!
There’s no urgent need for you to give. I’m not going anywhere (hopefully!). But knowing there’s a consistent level of support outside of these platforms would mean the world to me and ease some of my worries about the future. So,
If you want to support the stream, please consider the FW Membership.
Thank you for all that you do for me, I will try my best to do the same for you <3
this was a big ramble but thanks for sticking to the end :>
