Breaking Point

Hi everyone,
I’m writing this post because, unfortunately, things have reached a breaking point.

First of all, I want to thank everyone who has followed me up to this point, I truly hope you’ll keep supporting me on this journey.

Unfortunately, I can’t keep publishing my works for free (or almost free). Even for my EA models, I’ve always asked very little, but despite that, I haven’t gotten much in return (thanks to those who did decide to purchase my models). In terms of rewards, I also get far less than I should, there are literally tens of thousands of unused buzz just left on the table. Very few people post images manually (thank you to those who do!). On a good day, I was getting it until last week 1k–1.2k buzz in rewards, while I could be making much more, meaning I could create more, and in turn, earn more.

On top of that, there’s the cost of keeping checkpoints active. In a month, I earn less than half of what I spend just to keep them active for one week, which brings my real gain down to zero. I can’t even keep them active anymore, even using my subscription buzz, I could barely cover two weeks out of four (maybe). That means I can’t even put buzz into the “bank” for a small return (maybe things would change if the 200-slot system came back, but I doubt it). Buzz are also worth half in dollars, so overall my return is basically zero, because if I can’t bank them, I’m not really “earning” anything, my earns have never even covered my subscription cost.

So, getting to the point, I can’t keep spending several hours every day without at least a minimal return. I’m forced to make some changes.

1️⃣ I’ll need to raise the buzz cost for EA LoRA'S.
I haven’t had much luck so far, and raising the price probably won’t change that, but if anyone still wants to support me, thank you so much in advance.

2️⃣ The same goes for checkpoints (probably no one will buy them anyway, but still).

3️⃣ Another change: when models (including LoRA) leave EA, I’ll remove the download option.
They’ll still be usable for generating images, but the files will be available in a different way. For that, I’ve opened both a Patreon and a Ko-Fi page.

• On Patreon, you’ll find all my models, a release calendar for upcoming models, and exclusive contents.

• On Ko-Fi, you can request commissioned works.

That was my original plan, before the latest update, which might have just marked the end of the site.
Now that generating a certain type of content (which made up over 90% of what was posted on the site) requires yellow buzz (meaning only purchasable ones), fewer people will support creators. Not to mention that a huge portion of users will likely leave the site altogether.

On top of that, there’s the “compensation” issue: the only yellow buzz you can earn come from the kind of content I mentioned above. Normally, that wouldn’t be a big deal, it could have worked like before, but now everything I generate using blue buzz comes back as blue buzz again, and halved (before came out on yellow, which were over 90% of the 1/1.2k rewards I was referring to at the beginning of the article). It makes little sense to keep creating, especially if I then have to unlock the same creations with yellow buzz.

So if before I was earning less than half of what I spent for just one week of checkpoint “featured”, now I’ll probably make maybe 2k–3k buzz a month (if I’m lucky), around 200–250 yellow buzz per day. But since, as mentioned, there’s also the high “featured” cost (for just one week), without checkpoints I’ll make even less, meaning my return is zero (especially since the minimum to bank is 10k). 

Will there be fewer and fewer buzz/subscription "purchases" - fewer donations to creators - fewer buzz banked - results? The creators program will die soon.

They say buzz buying has halved, should this update raise it again? I don't think so.

At this point, my only option is to rely on slightly higher EA tips and offer model files downloads (post-EA) exclusively through Patreon.

After this long post 😊, if you’re still reading, thank you again to everyone who’s followed and supported me so far.
I’m really sorry for these changes. I love creating and will keep doing it (I just hope I don’t reach a point where I’ll have to stop). But without some support, it’s becoming difficult.

If you have any questions about the new setup, don’t hesitate to ask, and I can’t wait to see what you’ll create with my next models.

Murex90707