So here it is:
and now I have to talk about it.
I have been wanting some kind of tip jar thing out there for a long time and didn't think Ko-fi would be as easy to set up as it was. Seriously, it took me maybe a half hour to make the account, confirm all my info, make my profile look less botty, and make it easy on the eyes on here and on Twitch. I've never really found any great way of doing this and just slapping my Paypal on everything seems like a recipe for disaster.
At this point, I don't really have a big enough following to justify Patreon. Even then, I hear of Patreon, as a company, doing stupid stuff every once in a while anyway. Don't know if that's still accurate. Maybe Ko-fi is just as bad and I don't know it yet. Either way, I chose Ko-fi over Patreon for ease and safety for myself. Also, Ko-fi implies less to all of you or so I think.
This probably has more to do with all of the stuff I make, how it's made, and how frequently it's made more than it has to do with anything objective on Ko-fi's end. I just think Patreon, based on what people know it for, implies "subscribe to my stuff with money now!" At one point, I think Patreon could just serve as a little tip jar too. People still don't have to make monthly contributions but they also don't get as much cool stuff. I think? I think that's just how it universally works with Patreon regardless of the creator using it. It has been quite a while since I have researched this. Anyway. Sometimes I release a fuckload of stuff over the course of a month, sometimes I consistently release monthly stuff at least, and sometimes I basically don't post anything and disappear without a trace. I feel like I'm always putting out "something" even if it is just a blog post. Now that I'm streaming, I'm at least dumping off stream archives regularly. But to me, that's not the big stuff. That's not why I'm on YouTube or making music.
That's another thing. I have to work horrible jobs to make ends meet so I can make this stuff. So I can't work on Randomrings, Lexi Karma, and unrelated stuff I'm writing at the same capacity. I would literally never get anything done. As such, I go through phases where I'm balls deep in Randomrings or Lexi Karma or Randomrings Let's Plays or something I can't really talk about yet because the internet is a scary place! This is also why Patreon doesn't work for me/ for us. I don't feel bad saying "if you want to support Lexi Karma, that would be great". I don't feel greedy saying "if you want to help me make more Randomrings stuff, I would really appreciate it!" I feel like a massive jackass saying "support me" to a bunch of people I don't know, even though I'm semantically saying the same thing.
Basically, and I probably don't have to spell this out but I will anyway; the more money I make completely unrelated to my shitty grind-job means less time I have to spend at that job to fund Randomrings and Lexi Karma. So any help is greatly appreciated already. But I really need to stress that there should be no obligation or even a passive push in the direction of tipping me or donating to me. I just put it out there as an option if anyone feels inclined. Before I set up this Ko-fi thing, there was no option. Now I feel confident enough in myself and in my work to at least give people the option.
Wow, I really wrote some paragraphs for this one. Anyway, thanks for reading. I'm always grateful for that. I don't know why I get any traction on Randomrings Blog but I do and it feels really cool. If you're into my usual stuff, thank you too. I know most people say this but if you want to tip but it's not financially wise to do, just tell someone else about something I'm doing or did that you like. That's plenty good enough for me.
