Ideas
Patreon-style Subscriptions / Patreon integration
I'm not sure how possible this is, but FurryNetwork seems like a site that is striving to integrate the different functions and services the fandom enjoys into one place. That endeavor would not be complete without Patreon!
Furry artists everywhere have been using Patreon heavily to generate income from their work. It has become rather important to many artists, and viewers too, since these artists often release content based upon things that happen in Patreon. Is there a way to allow Patreon and FN to interact? Perhaps a user can become an artist's patron from within FN, and immediately access things on FN that non-patrons cannot.
I know this idea is truly a long shot since it likely involves cooperation with another company, but there can't be progress until someone speaks up!
Answer
Having Patreon-style subscription options on-site is something we've been planning to offer - given that we have payment processing (and payouts to artists) nailed down, it'd be really cool to offer artists/creators the ability to do the same things, directly on Furry Network.
Some of the ideas we have for how it could work:
1. As a 'tip jar', so you can show support to your favorite artist/creator, without expecting anything in return (except maybe getting a little 'contributor' badge on your profile)
2. As a 'early access' system, so each item posted would be immediately visible to subscribers, and would automatically become publically viewable say a week later
3. As a 'paysite' style system, where only subscribers get access to a body of previous and ongoing works.
One other option, if artists are more comfortable with using an off-site tool, would be to build a little Patreon widget that linked to their campaign page, and (Say) had a running total of their total monthly contributions.
We'd love to see a tally of votes for this, so we can decide where it fits in our post-launch schedule.
Idea 1 and 2 are great! But I have concerns about 3. While the idea is good, it bears the problem that when everyone is doing it FN would become a pretty expensive experience. Not to mention that a lot of furries don't like this method.
I'd say that if an artist's work is 'good' enough that I'd spend money for it to see, I'd definitely use the tip jar to support the artist once with a amount of money I feel comfortable spending, over a "pay me to see my content" feature any time. I think with the tip jar option with the user being in control about the amount he'd like to donate and the early access option with the artist being in control about how much his followers would have to spend to get to see his work earlier everyone could be happy. If an artist decides for the 3rd option, he could just use patreon, in which case a widget for the site would work very well.
I like this! It's like Patreon just for furries. I'm enjoying all the ideas and possibilities that are growing here on FN. I must say, however, as I'm rereading your descriptions of these possible features I'm thinking about possible ways they can be used and abused, and the effect they can have on the community. Patreon as a third party is really nice because the quality of the site and its community are not affected. Move Patreon's services onto the site itself and I worry that people will abuse/overuse it--for example, I worry that too many people will try to use the paysite/early access systems to make money, thus hindering quality content from being freely available. The idea is great, and it's entirely possible that my concern is totally unfounded, but I would just advise that FN and its staff be careful to implement it in a way that encourages it to be used in a way that's healthy to the community and fandom!
The big thing about implementing new tools is often about how users utilize them in new and unexpected ways. Social forces - such as peer pressure, feedback from fans etc - are often the 'end-all' when it comes to this. There's a balance, and it's quite likely that people will find it pretty quickly (with a little help).
As such, guiding and suggesting to users how best to utilize the tools to suit both their needs and those of their fans and the wider community I think would be key to making this work well. We tend to pay close attention to how people use things, and in what direction things are moving - and I'm confident we could make it work well, assuming that people like it and use of the feature reaches 'critical mass'.
That's nice to hear, and I can already tell it's true! I'm excited to see how it all turns out!
Tipjar sounds like a great idea!
But I'm not so sure about having paysite features since they're viewed as a pretty negative thing, I can see people avoiding FN just because a feature like that exists. Example: Alot of peeps seem to completely hate and avoid patreon even if the artist is in question isn't using it to paywall anything :s
( I know it's ultimately the issue of the specific people who have stupid opinions, but it's always less users and less potential customers for artists. And the whole paysite/paywall thing has been a source of drama in the fandom lately )
This is something we are interested in offering, and have pencilled in to look at in detail after launch.
Customer support service by UserEcho
This is something we are interested in offering, and have pencilled in to look at in detail after launch.