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Post by onihikage on Sept 19, 2013 6:12:28 GMT
I discovered the comic this afternoon and it is now the next morning - it was a very fun marathon. I've been noticing the "Hey, donate!" messages here and there, and thought I might offer a suggestion - Subbable. It's a relatively new thing which was started by the vlogbrothers (you may have heard of them - John Green is a bestselling author and Hank does...a lot of things). The idea is that people can use it to subscribe to the content they like, by paying as much as they want to support it - anything from nothing (yes, you can literally subscribe to content for $0) to however much you want, monthly, or on a one-time basis. The money you spend on the content goes into a virtual bank which can be used to "buy" perks from the content creator, such as (in the case of Gunnerkrigg Court) wallpapers, bonus comics, or whatever else Tom Siddell decides to offer his subscribers. Hank described it himself, though, and I think he does a better job of it than me. For that matter, Subbable's own About page pretty much summarizes the video, and of course it has an FAQ. Anyway, tl;dr, I think this awesome comic which clearly has a fanbase would benefit from a convenient, flexible subscription/donation/perks service such as Subbable. I'll admit I can't speak for what it's like on the content creator's end, but I have subscribed to some content through it, and I like what Subbable is trying to do. And, well, I'm a bit of a Nerdfighter myself (am I alone here?). |
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Post by GK Sierra on Sept 19, 2013 7:17:07 GMT
I discovered the comic this afternoon and it is now the next morning - it was a very fun marathon. I've been noticing the "Hey, donate!" messages here and there, and thought I might offer a suggestion - Subbable. It's a relatively new thing which was started by the vlogbrothers (you may have heard of them - John Green is a bestselling author and Hank does...a lot of things). The idea is that people can use it to subscribe to the content they like, by paying as much as they want to support it - anything from nothing (yes, you can literally subscribe to content for $0) to however much you want, monthly, or on a one-time basis. The money you spend on the content goes into a virtual bank which can be used to "buy" perks from the content creator, such as (in the case of Gunnerkrigg Court) wallpapers, bonus comics, or whatever else Tom Siddell decides to offer his subscribers. Hank described it himself, though, and I think he does a better job of it than me. For that matter, Subbable's own About page pretty much summarizes the video, and of course it has an FAQ. Anyway, tl;dr, I think this awesome comic which clearly has a fanbase would benefit from a convenient, flexible subscription/donation/perks service such as Subbable. I'll admit I can't speak for what it's like on the content creator's end, but I have subscribed to some content through it, and I like what Subbable is trying to do. And, well, I'm a bit of a Nerdfighter myself (am I alone here?). Interesting. I have not yet heard of this. I don't think Tom would jump for it, though, for the same reason he didn't do Kickstarter or commissions: lack of time/motivation. Not criticizing him, quite the contrary, preparing new incentive packages sounds exhausting. In the meantime, I think I will take this option: (yes, you can literally subscribe to content for $0) |
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Post by onihikage on Sept 19, 2013 15:15:50 GMT
Interesting. I have not yet heard of this. I don't think Tom would jump for it, though, for the same reason he didn't do Kickstarter or commissions: lack of time/motivation. Not criticizing him, quite the contrary, preparing new incentive packages sounds exhausting. In the meantime, I think I will take this option: (yes, you can literally subscribe to content for $0) Heh! I know what it's like to be poor. Most of what I subscribed to was on the order of fractions of a dollar, to soothe my conscience which demands that I show my support to artists whose work I enjoy. It's not as though Tom would have to prepare new incentive packages or anything, he'd only need one, the contents of which he's already created: the wallpapers. If a few hundred people subscribed for $1 each, that would be a consistent few hundred dollars a month extra that Tom could spend on whatever he wanted. He could buy nicer food for his family, or nicer equipment for himself. I don't think it would take much extra work, honestly. Kickstarter or commissions are a little more involved from what I know, and time-limited. Once a Subbable page is set up, the content creator doesn't really have to mess with it AFAIK. He can keep doing what he enjoys. I hope he'll at least consider it. |
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Post by basser on Sept 21, 2013 5:14:14 GMT
You know if Tom wanted to do something like this and didn't have the time for it I think there would be quite a few of us here in the fandom who would be perfectly willing to step up and help him out. He doesn't seem keen on outsourcing much of anything, though. I remember suggesting he recruit a forum moderation team forever ago (back when he was getting enthusiastic with the banhammer) and didn't get a response. So... I mean heck it sounds do-able and probably a good source of revenue (the option to donate small amounts would likely entice more people to contribute), and I know I'd be willing to assist him with logistics, but I don't think he really likes letting anyone from the internet help him out beyond monetary donations. We are a load of faceless lunatics, after all.
But if you're reading this, Tom, you should know you can always contact me (and many of the rest of us forum old-timers, I'm sure) for clerical support or whatever else you may need. I'm sure you've got people you know in real life for all of that however. If not, though... well I've been following the comic religiously for eight years now and I'm willing to land a hand if it's ever required.
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Post by GK Sierra on Sept 21, 2013 18:14:18 GMT
I remember suggesting he recruit a forum moderation team forever ago (back when he was getting enthusiastic with the banhammer) and didn't get a response. So... I mean heck it sounds do-able and probably a good source of revenue (the option to donate small amounts would likely entice more people to contribute), and I know I'd be willing to assist him with logistics, but I don't think he really likes letting anyone from the internet help him out beyond monetary donations. We are a load of faceless lunatics, after all. To be fair, most of us ARE lunatics... but we're harmless, cuddly lunatics. There was a mod, once upon a time, but she stopped coming round a couple years ago. Tom does moderation himself. The "off-topic" thread didn't just magic itself out of existence. Imagine the relationship as a giant warehouse full of internet people, and then a large pane of one-way glass and Tom on the other side, glancing in about once a week to ensure nobody has killed each other or burned the place down. |
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Post by CoyoteReborn on Sept 22, 2013 0:18:54 GMT
We're harmless, cuddly lunatics. Especially me (Read: blatant lies) to ensure nobody has killed each other or burned the place down. Sounds like my kind of party!! |
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Post by Eversist on Sept 22, 2013 3:39:29 GMT
Sounds a lot like the service this site offers: www.patreon.com/A webcomic I read called Love Me Nice set up an account with it recently. |
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Post by basser on Sept 22, 2013 7:21:25 GMT
I remember suggesting he recruit a forum moderation team forever ago (back when he was getting enthusiastic with the banhammer) and didn't get a response. So... I mean heck it sounds do-able and probably a good source of revenue (the option to donate small amounts would likely entice more people to contribute), and I know I'd be willing to assist him with logistics, but I don't think he really likes letting anyone from the internet help him out beyond monetary donations. We are a load of faceless lunatics, after all. To be fair, most of us ARE lunatics... but we're harmless, cuddly lunatics. There was a mod, once upon a time, but she stopped coming round a couple years ago. Tom does moderation himself. The "off-topic" thread didn't just magic itself out of existence. Imagine the relationship as a giant warehouse full of internet people, and then a large pane of one-way glass and Tom on the other side, glancing in about once a week to ensure nobody has killed each other or burned the place down. Ah I didn't know there had been a mod. My track record with being active in the forums is atrocious though so it was probably while I was busy being a lurker, hah. Still though I never understood what the harm would be in choosing maybe four trusted members to have some limited mod abilities. Granted the community does manage to police itself extraordinarily well but in the rare event that a complete arse pops up it would be nice to be able to do something about them without having to bother Tom. And of course I know he does the moderation himself, that's what's always been silly to me and part of the reason I drop out of participation so often. It seems like it would be much easier for him to simply write up a set of clear guidelines (more explicit than "don't be a jerk", since it's difficult to determine what jerk-like behaviour entails), appoint a few moderators and then sit back and let the thing run itself. Instead he pops in semi-randomly, banning people for rather vague reasons and deleting threads. I moderate about a dozen other communities around the web and this is hands-down the craziest run forum I've ever seen. To be fair of course it's also one of, if not the most, polite I've ever seen, which is pretty interesting and cool, so hey I s'pose if it works it works. Anyway if Tom likes running it this way more power to him, I guess. I just think it's an odd choice. |
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Sept 22, 2013 15:42:58 GMT
Eh. I dunno if "likes" is the right word but I suppose he doesn't know anyone who has the spare time to run it the way he wants it run and I don't think I would elevate people to mod this forum from its ranks either. While that can work well the road to it working well is seeded with drama land-mines. You've got to be willing to keep tabs on the long-term forum-goers you've promoted and correct them when they do stuff you don't like, and even demote them if they don't change and promote others in their place. And to be fair, I think the only time I saw someone banned for reasons not in the rules thread was for internet meme use and that was after ignoring a warning. I suppose that falls under the "jerk" area. |
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Post by GK Sierra on Sept 22, 2013 19:49:46 GMT
It's very low maintenance. The only real problem is the occasional spam-bot. Posters usually check themselves before they wreck themselves.
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