this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2023
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Technology
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I honestly don't mind this. This is really useful for small creators in not needing to do workarounds for Patreon or Patreon roles and this makes it easier by being baked into Discord itself. I get the worry of stuff being paywalled but since it is entirely set by the server owner/creator, it would be something to take up with them instead. The 10% cut is a bit rough but I know other platforms also take a cut, but I'm not too sure if 10% is high or low. That would be my own biggest concern since it only makes sense if it is comparable or lower than other platforms like Patreon.
This is essentially where I am with it. I get the outrage but for now I don’t have an issue. But likely as with many things lately, we should maybe pursue the federated option.
I created a Matrix account as Plan B now that the link is back in the sidebar. I was very active on Discord a few years back, but a week before joining Beehaw, I was ready to ditch it, since I can chat with my college roommate on Steam and I no longer DM with anyone else (also, all my servers from then are now dead).
I don't think I'm the target audience for Discord, so other than a few longstanding UI gripes, I'm kinda content to let them do whatever. Monetization won't hit me until you have to pay to be able to send text messages.
I use discord for 2 things, my personal group chat with friends that I manage, and keeping up with Mechanical Keyboard artisan shops and manufacturers. So I mean it wont be a huge leap for me to migrate to something better.
I have a Patreon and their cut is about 3% there (at least for me, it varies depending on what services you use through Patreon). This is a very easy pass and the only people I see utilizing it are creators like Twitch streamers who already have a large Discord server/presence to build off of. It's a bad deal though 10% is real rough imo.
I imagine 7% isn't that much of a "loss" when compared to how much larger the market on discord is and how convenient it's going to be for these users to start spending on MTX.
Agree to disagree then, every percentage counts and the effects of each of those percentages is exaggerated with each additional patron. 7% of one patron is negligible, 7% of three hundred patrons is huge.
Edit: oh and the discord market is a niche market, the average person does not have a Discord and many aren't even familiar when it's brought up. I had a much easier time getting people to sign up for a paid Patreon than I had getting them to sign up for a free Discord account back when I was putting in the effort to grow a following on these platforms. I think it'll be good for people who are already building on that market but for every other creator it's an easy pass.
But the goal isn't to replace patreon with people that have to sign up for discord, it's to reach people who are already on discord and aren't funding the creator on patreon. Surely that's a huge untapped market, discord must have millions of daily users by now. You're not losing 7%, you are gaining 90% per each new customer obtained this way.
Sure, discord has millions of users but they're of a particular demographic. One that requires moderation, is typically higher maintenance, and less likely to spend money (speaking from experience from a few years back). Discord demographics scew young and young audiences spend a whole lot less than other groups. Not saying that as a knock against them, it's just the way of it.
But the potential to gain more is just that, potential. And comes with much more to manage. I don't have to moderate my Patreon comments for example. I did have to actively keep out trolls and shitheads from my Discord server though. More power to any creator who wants to try and deal with that, but it's an easy pass for me and most creators I personally know (which is primarily artists/musicians for context).