The Future of Tapastic

[meyah]

It's ok. I hope it won't end like Inkblazers.

[NagashiKhan]

As a creator and artist myself, it makes no sense for me to devalue art. No, I never said art isn't an occupation. My own desire is to make comics for a living. No, I never said people don't put effort into their work. I know well the effort needed to make and run a comic series, I can hardly muster enough myself. That was not the point being made.

I ain't gonna defend myself though, that'd be too complicated and won't really fix anything. However, I will say that my man @ck_tapastic said right there that crowdfunding is important, they know that. @michaelson has said time and time again that the goal is for money earning to be widespread and available to everyone. What about this announcement dashes that ideal? Just because the TPS is discontinued does not in any way mean one will not be able to use Tapastic as a way of earning money, even as a main source of income.

As far as the "losing their marbles" comment, I think the attitude in which people are addressing the subject are... less than savory. Concern is one thing, judgement is another. But hey, if that's not how ya see it, maybe I'm just crazy. I've been known to be very wrong.

[Jrej]

I was looking forward to try the support program. I hope other ways to support our art will be set. I loved Tapastic for that.

[eweyer]

This is a question for me personally, but others may be just as curious
about this matter, what will happen to the money credit that has been
placed onto my account? I use that money only for the support program
because I want to steadily support creators and I personally don't agree
with buying something that exists only in a digital form like how the
premium comics are set up. And if the premium system is going away as
well because it also relies on the credits that are in the account like the support program, what
will happen to everyone's money that they can no longer use on the
website?

[noxfox]

In echo to @SeraphicMayin and because all this talk about the App brings another question to my mind:
Will ad revenue be the only way of monetization left to the Desktop site?
I'm part of those who can't afford a smartphone (and don't really want one), so I'm worried that the App might take over the Desktop site, and that it might become necessary to make content geared for the App in order to keep on making money. Problem would be that it's hard to make content without being able to preview what it will look like on the target device. I'd really like to know what's planned for the future of both the App and the Desktop site.

[swallowsofdoo]

If you are going to communicate like this please go away.

[swallowsofdoo]

Actually I'm as curious about what is the current business model is. I can't imagine ads are bringing in enough revenue to make the site profitable yet, and aside from the occasional paid promotion i.e. Kiyat Games I don't see any other revenue streams other than the support program.

[bonniepangart]

I'm happy for Tapastic to move to new frontiers, though I can't help to feel sad about the cancellation.

I'm having a good time using Tapastic SP, it createed a strong bonding between me and my fans. Right now I'm more worried about the status of their support and delivering their milestone rewards. After the SP ends, I think I'll change to sell prints/merch instead of having monthly support.

I have been thinking about using Patreon, but I need to accumulate much more fans to make fan support a bigger part of my income. I don't think it will be worth the work on Patreon if creators only have a few supporters.

All the best to the tapasic team and creators, looking forward to more news!

[cute2knowu]

Well that just sucks... But hey, I can't complain.
I just hope this website doesn't end up like other websites.
Anyway... I was just wondering if you guys where ever going to make a Windows App for Tapastic.

[egypturnash]

IIRC Patreon are now charging patrons the moment they sign up to support someone on the monthly payment, so they can't look at everything for free. I'm on the pay-per-work-unit so I don't keep too close track of that stuff.

[sakko]

I seriously think you're going to lose a lot of member if you're going to discontinue the Supporting Program. Since that is also one of the things that encourages the artists the most. I'm not saying trying out new things is bad, but the Support Program makes Tapastic special, and having to follow two different sites just to keep yourself updated on the same comic it's indeed inconvenient; I'm positive that almost all the community membes think the same.

[kimbergrey]

I find this post cynical, condescending, and unnecessary. Until I read this comment, the replies I've read in this thread have been civil and to the point, expressing reasonable concerns. Many of them have hopeful tones in spite of what could potentially be a detrimental change to artists' livelihoods. Anytime someone discusses their livelihood, you can expect trepidation, and insulting them for a rational reaction is childish at best. I feel as though you are guilty of the very thing you are accusing the other members of this forum of doing: overreacting and replying with unhelpful negativity.

Please try to sensor your cynicism in the future, it strangles your message, which I believe was meant to be one of support for Tapastic and encouragement to hold out for the final result. Unfortunately, it just read as hateful.

[MylCreates]

Yes please! The monitizing part was rather a questionable area . So now we just have to rely on Patreon for all of that? How does early access to episodes work then? Will Adsense continue to run?

[MylCreates]

Question:
If the support program is being discontinued, will the ad revenue continue to be an option? Or should I just get what revenue I've been adding up in there out asap?

How will rewards that were granted from the Tapastic program play out with Patreon supporters?

[getsuart]

I'm sorry, my only quesiton for now: when will the livestream about this announcement occur again?
I read Thursday somewhere but I must say all the pots went so fast I may have missed some. Most of the questions I'm asking are always being asked, so... well. Just wanna know.
Thanks!

[PotooGryphon]

I'm currently in the middle of organizing these questions to try and tackle as many of them as possible on Thursday.

Nope, no mention of a livestream, just posting some answers to concerns. I'm sure they'll plan out a livestream with more advance notice with a questionnaire to ask question like how they usually handle townhall meetings.

[getsuart]

Aw thank you <3
Okay, I'll just stay... here and wait, then

[brandysconfien]

Really! This is a ridiculously stupid move on the part of your company.

With these radical changes to our apps, we’ll have to make some compromises to the desktop version of Tapastic. Namely, we’re discontinuing the Tapastic Support Program. The program has been in beta for the better part of the past year with numerous revisions and updates.

Our decision to discontinue the program is due to providing our new business model with the best possible chance of success. Our Support Program relied predominantly on the current credit system, which conflicts with the new infrastructure required for future builds of the app. We want to begin utilizing Apple and Google’s in-app purchasing mechanics to improve overall user experience.

With that being said, we encourage all of our creators to use Patreon. The fine folks there are building a fantastic service that we believe can work in tandem with Tapastic. We’ll make it easy for creators to promote an external crowdfunding campaign right on their episode page. We still believe that crowdfunding and community building are foundational elements of any creator’s career.

Many of us readers and authors moved over to your site from inkbalzers after it's shutdown. Now you are telling us that we are going to have to find a new home all over again? Are you trying to run your company into the ground? Do you realize just how many creators had to go back through all their work and restructure it to fit with the formatting of your website? They did this hoping that their supporters would follow them and their work to a new site. How many do you think just gave up on trying? It took them months if not a whole year to get their fan base back and to get support for the work that they produce. Now you are telling them that you are going to take that support away and if they want to keep it they have to move their work elsewhere. This act on the part of your company is a gross betrayal of the trust that they have placed in your organization. To be quite frank with you this is just 'bad business' on your part. How can any creator even think about joining your site in the future when you treat those that you already have like they are meaningless?

[jim]

Is it possible that the credit system being discontinued means that the Support Program can't exist in its current form. And that the new marketplace would make the SP more or less redundant since they are exposing new ways for us to monetize our work anyway.

I'm pretty excited to see what the changes might be--tapastic has not let me down yet.

I do worry about being overwhelmed by a tsunami of fanfiction making it even harder to find exposure. But I imagine it will be addressed. I can't see how you could provide a marketplace where copyrighted characters aren't going to be a dangerous problem.

Fingers crossed.

[PotooGryphon]

Now you are telling us that we are going to have to find a new home all over again?

??? Patreon isn't a webhosting site. Just a micro-transaction funding site. Artists can still post on Tapastic and grow their fan base here with or without the Support Program. However, if Support Program ends Patreon would be a good alternative if artists want to continue building a patron style support program. The site is basically just a tip jar for artists.