Thousands of bad comics on the main site, why are there so many of them?!

If you're talking about regular, non-Tapas Originals webcomics, then yes. Many of the people there are still learning.

If you're talking about Tapas Originals however, then that's what gets popular nowadays. Tapas IS a business, and their priority is profit, so they WILL greenlight webcomics that pay well. Even I'm kind of burnt out by them. Artistically they all look different but it looks like they all have the same plotlines (sometimes theyre even kind of problematic?). But honestly that's just me.

Well, I guess if people are into that stuff, whatever, you know? As long as the comic itself isn't inherently gross and problematic, then we have no right to shame people reading those comics. Read the isekai that captures your heart. I always get kind of iffy whenever someone complains about "bad comics" with very little to no constructive criticism on a comic-hosting site, especially if they're a reader-only type of person, comes across as very entitled to me.

This implies that those comics are good in their own right.

Again implying that those comics don't have their own merits. And if reader truly want to read comics outside of what commonly shown on the front page they can go and look for them. And I realize there is a struggle front page space for community creators, but that does all of a sudden negate the other avenue to find non premium comics on the site that are of different genres.

Degrading to who? Community comic creators? I doubt it if you're putting you energy into things that matter.

We can go on and on about how Tapas chooses to advertise comics on this site. There's a lot to criticize. I'm not surprised that people are bothered or frustrated or irritated with the state of affairs on Tapas. But who are you helping by making statements like these or even condoning them? Why condemn these comics and subsequently the effort of the people behind them. If you want to call them repetitive, trite, overrated, or boring, those are all fair criticisms. But to outright call them bad with nothing to justify or explain as to why you think that, while it's an opinion you can have, I don't think it's a mindset you should carry.

Is it so hard to talk about the inequities of the front page and advertising on Tapas without trying to bring down other comics (and possibly creators)? If someone made a thread insinuating community comics were "bad", "all looked the same", "had terrible background art", "were unimaginative and basic" while actual "good comics" (which would be premium comics in this example) don't need to share website space with the rest of them, would that be fair?

Call it what you want, punching up or picking on the big guy, it's just kind of telling, a bit juvenile, and pretty mean. but that's just my opinion

They look very similiar and the style is not my taste but there must be a large audience who digs them otherwise they wouldn´t put them there.
I wouldn´t call them bad though, just not my taste, they look technically very well done

I agree that to me, personally, the front page comics don't look or sound that appealing, and I would find it cool if there was a bit more diversity in how stylized they are and what stories they tell.... But they do get traffic and generate money that the rest of the site also profits from!
Having a website like tapas also costs money. There's staff etc too.

If you want community comics to be more popular, then be the change you want to see and support the ones, you personally, find worthy.
Leave comments, like, share it and recommend it to other people on other platforms, maybe give ink.

If tapas can make more money off its community content, it'll also boost it more

If those comics are what drive people to the website and keep it running then Tapas would be mad to stop promoting those. Otherwise they won’t make monkey and go the way of Smack Jeeves.

Some of the readers (who like the premium content) might go on to read and sub to smaller comics eventually too.

Just realised I wrote ‘monkey’.

Gotta earn those monkeys.

@Legendofgenii honestly the monkey thing made my day XD

You sound like someone with good opinions. Would give this a quick look and tell me where it is on the scale.

@mcarrowolga All I see here are the cries of a very jealous person. It's pretty sad really... having to try and bring down others because they have too many subs. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Tapas has an audience it appeals to. That is their audience. You can make a comic that plays to their audience and have a better chance at popularity, or make what you want and do your own promotion, find your own audience and gain those subs yourself. They don't owe you anything in this regard and, again, this thread is just... really, really sad.

And then there is the real kicker of everybody wanting to make a comic, yet often they might not have the skill suited for it. I've seen plenty of comics that make my eyebrows fly off my head too, but as many have said, folks are learning. One's skill level in art sometimes needs to catch up to what is being envisioned in the head.

And then there is the matter of insisting on calling the art of these creators terrible and their titles uncreative...and even going as far as calling them unimaginative and basic. Art is extremely subjective, and considering your yourself have a comic we could also compare and talk words on that.

Lastly, this platform. Good lord the time I could spent talking about it, but as lots of folks have said Tapas gotta make money. There is a huge audience for them too, so we cannot really put a stop to it. Creators such as ourselves on this forum might not necessarily be amongst those that constantly hit numbers to get seen. Multiple updates a week, being dependant on likes and comments just to get your comic or novel out there (because I care for both)-- yeah no.

Spending time pointing out the faults- I get it. I sympathize, but you could also turn it around and uplift works that do deserve the attention they deserve.

Like others here, I wouldn't necessarily call the premium comics on here "bad": yes, at a first glance the art styles look all very similar and there are some premium stories where you can tell that the same CSP 3D assets are being recycled over and over again to make backgrounds... but, given the speed at which artists are making episodes, I can't really blame them for cutting corners. I won't lie, though, seeing all those recycled assets in premium series does make me wonder what the Studio Tapas page actually means with "we're looking for exceptional art" in their submission page, given that most premium artists don't even seem to bother actually drawing backgrounds? ._.

Anyway: even though the art style is not exactly my all time favorite, I still think it looks pretty neat. As far as stories go... well, yeah... can't say that I'm a fan of the current isekai trend either XD

Don't get me wrong, I understand it: Tapas is a company, it needs funds to survive, isekai stories are currently where the money is and yada yada. However, it's also true that, as someone who's been following trends in fantasy literature for quite a long time... I don't recall ever seeing THAT MANY stories that were ALL based on the same exact premise. Nope, not even when Twilight was all the rage. Yes, you had a bunch of recurring elements (17-something years old girl in a small town, mysterious/broody vampire... and of course the dreaded love triangle), but as far as I can remember, plots would usually start and develop differently from one story to another.

With the current isekai trend, however... it's like the same exact story being told over and over again: protagonist dies, wakes up in another world and... SURPRISE, she's the villainess! Protagonist knows that the villainess is going to die soon, so she tries to do everything she can to survive and then there's some hot dude who... seriously, a simple quick glance at the summaries of these comics all reveal a different wording of the same exact plot. And although the premise of the story itself IS indeed interesting (I have to admit I'd never heard of it before I joined Tapas and I found it pretty interesting the first time)... it does get tiring once you stumble upon the 9758904067th story with the same premise. Point is... it's not just the premise: judging from the free chapters available, all of these comics seem to follow the same exact formula too: little to no introduction of the main character in her former life, BOOM SHE'S DEAD NOW, oh-no-I'm-the-villainess! D:

Which brings us to the complaint I feel like sharing with other users: to me, it's not much that the stories themselves are bad. They're not something that interests me, I'm clearly not the right target for them... and, even though to me the premise sounds always the same, I'm sure they do bring joy to the people who read them.

The actual issue, to me, is that Tapas as a website still presents itself as one of the main platforms for indie comic artists and writers to post their work. It allows multiple genres and gives pretty much everyone a chance to publish stuff, no matter what their style and skill is.

Too bad that... on the front page, it keeps promoting a very specific kind of genre for a very specific demographic. Doing so of course is going to attract THAT kind of demographic (nowadays it's millennial girls, judging from the stats), who is interested in that very specific kind of genre, leaving less chances for people who don't fit in to be seen. Yes, users might check what other free stories are available, but... let's face it, as long as Tapas keeps marketing only a single specific niche at a time, only a tiny minority is going to check stuff that does NOT fit under that niche.
Simply put, if your work doesn't fit into what Tapas keeps promoting as its main genre, you can pretty much forget about your visibility, UNLESS you already have an empire built elsewhere on social media.

Now, here's the thing: it's perfectly fine for Tapas to have a specific demographic to appeal to and it's perfectly fine for it, as a company, to chase what's popular and brings the money in. However, it's also true that, as a company that accepts a multitude of genres and markets itself as one of THE platforms for indie artists, there WILL be people who are going to be upset when they see that some genres are more favored than others. If Tapas were to act like a publisher or a webcomic collective, in which they made it clear that they only accept a very specific sub-genre of fantasy, then it'd be clear for everyone else to look elsewhere. But Tapas doesn't do that: it will take just about any genre in, lure you with the whole "gain money with us! You can be a premium creator! Just make sure you make ~high quality~ comics!"... and then it'll drown you under a ton of completely unrelated stuff that only suits a very specific kind of demographic.

Now... I'm not expecting anything from Tapas. I've accepted that my genre definitely doesn't fit the main demographic here, and to be honest, I don't even care that much: making big numbers has never been my main goal, and I'm more than happy with just a bunch of involved readers. As far as promoting my work goes, I found other ways to get my stuff seen, whether or not Tapas decides to show my series on the front page.

But I definitely understand the concerns of people who would like to see more diversity on this platform, both when it comes to genres and art styles: there are lots of hidden gems on this site (some of which could even work well for Tapas' main demographic) and seeing them not being given any attention at all IS frustrating and heartbreaking, both as a reader and as a creator.

EDIT: SORRY ABOUT THE ESSAY, OMG I DIDN'T REALIZE IT WAS THIS LONG D:

tl;dr: no, I don't think all Tapas premium comics are bad, yes, I understand that Tapas as a company needs the money to survive, but also YES, I do find the whole "trend chasing" thing kind of annoying and I wish we could have more diversity.

I love your explanation, it has everything.

My issue is let's face most people arnt aware tapas has free comics. People look at me like I'm crazy when I say they do. Many people see tapas app as something of ONLY sleazy comics. (Simping for a child... what is wrong with the advertising team) Cus that's the only thing being on the front page.

I wouldnt have a problem if that was getting popular on the front page. But when you see staff pick and novels we current filled with premium content only. That are the samey.

That's what is attracted
Not reader reading community comics
Not reader interested in anything else.

That and that alone.

That's a fact. If the there was a small fresh section on the front page so free stuff has a chance it wouldnt be problem. Just like other sites.

But its not.

At this point I have big complaints how they handle women's month but I'll hold my tongue for now.

replace the big advert in one week with bl premium ad
Womens months gents

I agree, the paid ones are over saturated with Isekai now, it needs some variety. Take notes Tapas, there is plenty of hidden gems in canvas section

Edit: I think the OP is referring to the backgrounds being 3D models, they do it mostly for time issues. Personally I don't mind them using 3D backgrounds.