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Feeling dejected and demotivated (again)
6 years ago
Wassup guys, it's fuzzbutt Daniel again!!
Okay, so this is gonna be about Patreon, so if you don't wanna hear about that, then I understand.
That said, the past couple months have simultaneously been kinda great in that regard, but also... sorta not? In one sense, I'm really happy to have any Patrons at all, and for the past two months there have been a few lovely and loyal people who have stayed with me since I really started focusing on that, which is greatly appreciated. I don't want to undersell how much I appreciate people who have contributed.
Buuuut then there's the flip-side. Towards the end of last month, between a quater and a third (not sure exactly) suddenly dropped their patronage with no explanation. I thought that they maybe thought I wasn't good enough, maybe they weren't happy with my output, something like that. However, apparently it's a fairly common practice for people to jump onto somebody's Patreon page with a contribution, stay with it for just under a month, then just before the actual payment day comes, drop out, having gotten almost an entire month's worth of bonuses and perks free, leaving me with nothing. Today, a few more have decided to do exactly that, yet again.
This is just scummy. It's unfair. It's a downright crappy way to treat someone just trying to share art and get a small, pretty reasonable amount back in return. It says to me that these people don't think I deserve anything for the hard work and time I've put into making the best art I can. It makes me feel kinda like crap for falling for it every time.
Maybe it was naive of me not to even consider this as a possibility, that people would take advantage of a system like that, use it to get what they want for a while and then leave without paying anything for things I really worked at. But hey, that's a lesson to me I suppose.
Look, I don't want to be overall negative. I'm not all that popular an artist and I was thankful to the few who were able and willing to contribute for things I poured my heart and soul into. And admittedly, it's a minority of people who did this. You guys probably noticed how my output has dramatically increased since I started doing this, both in quality and quantity. Knowing people are willing to help me out, keep me going like this, it's been a real motivator.
I just wish there weren't those bad apples spoiling this.
That said, the past couple months have simultaneously been kinda great in that regard, but also... sorta not? In one sense, I'm really happy to have any Patrons at all, and for the past two months there have been a few lovely and loyal people who have stayed with me since I really started focusing on that, which is greatly appreciated. I don't want to undersell how much I appreciate people who have contributed.
Buuuut then there's the flip-side. Towards the end of last month, between a quater and a third (not sure exactly) suddenly dropped their patronage with no explanation. I thought that they maybe thought I wasn't good enough, maybe they weren't happy with my output, something like that. However, apparently it's a fairly common practice for people to jump onto somebody's Patreon page with a contribution, stay with it for just under a month, then just before the actual payment day comes, drop out, having gotten almost an entire month's worth of bonuses and perks free, leaving me with nothing. Today, a few more have decided to do exactly that, yet again.
This is just scummy. It's unfair. It's a downright crappy way to treat someone just trying to share art and get a small, pretty reasonable amount back in return. It says to me that these people don't think I deserve anything for the hard work and time I've put into making the best art I can. It makes me feel kinda like crap for falling for it every time.
Maybe it was naive of me not to even consider this as a possibility, that people would take advantage of a system like that, use it to get what they want for a while and then leave without paying anything for things I really worked at. But hey, that's a lesson to me I suppose.
Look, I don't want to be overall negative. I'm not all that popular an artist and I was thankful to the few who were able and willing to contribute for things I poured my heart and soul into. And admittedly, it's a minority of people who did this. You guys probably noticed how my output has dramatically increased since I started doing this, both in quality and quantity. Knowing people are willing to help me out, keep me going like this, it's been a real motivator.
I just wish there weren't those bad apples spoiling this.
The former is understandable, and perfectly acceptable to me. I get that what I make isn't for everyone, and I'm aware there are other, more talented creators who deserve the contributions they get. The latter though, it's just a crappy way to treat people.