I've thought for some time on how to best express my feelings properly about this subject matter without accidentally straining relationships and friendships I've made with cosplayers. I hope that my thoughts are properly explained here as I type them out and you all get a sense of where I'm coming from.
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If you've been somewhat attentive in the cosplay world then chances are you've come across numerous cosplayers using a platform known as Patreon to help with their cosplay making. For those who are unaware, Patreon is a monthly subscription service that creators and artists use as a way to fund their passions while giving back to the fans that contribute. The way it works is that contributors (known as Patrons) can pledge a certain amount based on what's available and based on the amount, will get a certain reward after it's been charged at the end of the month. These rewards can range from anything such as first glimpse at listening to music pieces for musicians, or even physical rewards such as prints. As the tier amount gets higher so do the rewards stack up. So what do cosplayers do with it? Mainly they offer prints, glimpses at their Patreon feeds, BTS pics of photoshoots and votes on what cosplay to make next.
In a sense, for me I tend to find many negative aspects (don't worry there are positives which I'll get to later) to this. For one it gives off a sense that nowadays, cosplayers are only in it for the money and don't really have the passion in making cosplays that they once did. Some cosplayers unfortunately don't make the amount of money from prints on the level of say Jessica Nigri and Yaya Han. So Patreon gives them an added bonus of receiving a substantial amount each month in addition to print sales. Unfortunately the Patreons that do get more attention don't really offer much. For one, the tier amounts don't really equal the kind of rewards you get. Lots of cosplayers have a $10 tier that serves as a way to unlock their full Patreon feed which seems a bit much to me. The content offered honestly is nothing more than BTS pics and fan-service/sexy shots. Pin up photoshoots, boudoir concepts, and videos to name the kind of content as the tier amounts go up.
Some cosplayers go excessive with creating multiple tiers that don't really differentiate from each other. Add in a print, follow back on all social media, 1-2 hours of game-time with the cosplayer etc. That kinda feels weird to me. Also, the content isn't really published everywhere else in some cases, which feels like a slap in the face to the followings built everywhere else. I am fully aware that Facebook sucks in terms of page reach and interaction with the fans, but some Patreons give off a vibe that fans with money really do care about what the cosplayer does and everyone else will miss out on stuff as a sort of punishment. Does that make sense?
Positively though, some cosplayers understand the kind of impact Patreon has and offer so much more besides the sexy pics (mostly those are designated to a high amount/tier) with full on blog posts, WIP pictures, and even tutorials on how certain things were made, all for a much lower amount may I add. I'm currently subscribed to several Patreons and 2 of them offer the kind of stuff I just mentioned and it's been an absolute blast to see the stuff they're create. They also don't completely block off their fans already gained on other Social Media platforms. In a sense Patrons get a first look at the finished cosplay and everyone else that isn't a part of it get to see it maybe 1 week later, which I think is fair.
One particularly negative thing about Patreon is more of a personal one to me that I've been wanting to express on here, but have been afraid to due to the potential backlash I'll get. Money is money and things do come up that require much more attention. I feel kind of lucky that I get to help out the Patreons I mentioned above, but I'm afraid that the friendships I've formed already with cosplayers that I'm not subbed to will be de-valued simply because I couldn't offer "x" amount of dollars to them monthly. A friend of mine understood that and told me if that ever does become the case, then they were never my friend in the first place.
Patreon can be a good thing, and I know cosplayers and photographers that are using it correctly and give just as much focus still on their Social Media pages. It's gotten to a point where some cosplayers promote their Patreon excessively on their other pages which goes back to the whole "I'm not really paying attention to my other pages, Patreon is where you can really see everything" notion. To those, I honestly just simply skip through and treat it as an ad (as one friend put it).
In the end, it's your money. You can subscribe to whoever/whatever you want to, I'm just trying to give advice as someone who's seen and heard many things in the cosplay world. With Patreon being a focus, I just hope it doesn't completely overtake the hobby part of cosplay and make it all about money. That can set a bad example for those who want to cosplay but are afraid of getting into it.
