What Makes You Subscribe and Unsubscribe?

[Bii0]

I sub if the art and story both look interesting, unfortunately I stand by the ideal of comics being a visual medium, so I'll only check something out if the art looks interesting but I'll sub if the story is also tolerable. But there have been a few cases where the art was -meh-, but the story was interesting.

I don't unsub that often, one case was when an artist refused critique saying something along the lines of "I only take critique from my art teacher and she's way better", I wouldn't really care about people not handling critique (although I am admittedly more wary if they can't, since it comes with the reputation) but the pompous way they went about it came off shitty. So I took their comic off my list.
Another time I don't quite remember why, but the comic just started getting boring, it could have been too much dialogue with nothing going on for too many pages or something along those lines. So I guess I unsub for those reasons, although I'm super lazy, so it has to be pretty bad to make me do it.

[hiwar95]

1. if the story is good
2. if the comic is geniuine, by that I mean, the creator always delivers the best that they can, that is always a big pluss in my book
3. If it made me look for more

[vocaloidno1fan]

what makes me subscribe?: i like the story/humor(if its a Slice-of-Life comic) enough to want to see updates
what makes me unsubscribe?: the computer being stupid and acting like i clicked the subscribe button twice

[mg78]

to subscribe me there must be 2 thing.
1= Originality. 2= Quality.
first point = a comic "clone" it's already over for me. same story if the story is... stupid, trivial... there must be something clever, something never done before or something well done to get me. a comic that it's just a bad copy, a clone ll never get me for free.
second point = a work done quickly it's already "gone" for me. im sorry, but this s the first basic step, it cant be at a low level. it's quite easy to see if some1 got skill and it's too much worried to spam pages on pages than work them with the quality they need. i dont forgive this point.

to unsubscribe:
lack of quality in the story. if the story score a "common, commonplace, banal, ordinary" it's over. it can be draw with the best style, but i ll not spend any more time. (recently i stopped GANTZ, just to say... lol)

[KSlinger]

I have my own tastes (not into anime, manga, sci-fi etc) but I will subscribe to anything that piques my interest. It could be a character, a colour scheme, the quality of their linework-- anything.Some people have the whole package as a creator, others are tremendously good at one thing, and I'll love them for that come hell or high water.

This might seem lazy but I generally don't subscribe to comics that are text or talk heavy. I just don't have time to sit and read it all, and if a comic is very long I stand no chance of catching up. I don't watch TV series for the same reason. At the very least, I might favourite the page and save it for a binge later, but generally if I follow a comic that is very texty I'm in it for the art rather than the story.

I will unsubscribe from artists I find abrasive and uncomfortable to interact with. Not saying you can't be a dick and also make good art, but I'd rather lend my time and support to people who are pleasant to follow and open to discussion.

I'm really into creators whose art carries the story rather than the writing. There's something about being twenty pages into a story, without a word being said, and understanding perfectly what's going on and how the characters are feeling. The Great SaltLake by Matt Taylor is a perfect example of this.

[Marvin]

I'm just not understanding this sneaky quick throwaway unsubbing that happens, particularly by other creators. Reminds me of the follow/unfollow method on Twitter, where people get you to follow them then unfollow you hoping you won't notice. I call them out there too.

I'm not on twitter so maybe that's why I never though of it that way. But what I don't get is that you seem to condemn these people who follow you just to be followed back (ahah, I just imagined this situation literally) but by supporting them just because they supported you, you're actually encouraging this kind of behaviour... (I might have misunderstood though... do you sub to your subscribers' comics or just like and comment their stuff ?)

Something else I'd like to say about the quick sub/unsub here on tapastic is that the readers don't have a "read later" option (like filing the comic somewhere to read when you have the time, without actually subscribing). That means some of them will subscribe just because they like your thumbnail and description but WITHOUT having read your comic. And then they might unsubscribe because it wasn't to their taste or because it's been like, a month and they realize they still didn't have the motivation to read it or something.
But they might not be lost forever ! (I've had subscribers that left and came back later !)

I DO think I'm obligated to return the favour to other creators if they interact with me. If someone takes the time to give me a Like and a comment, I'll do the same for them.

Personally, I check all of my subscribers' comics but I don't subscribe if it doesn't meet my criterias. To know if what you're doing is right, always imagine what it would be like if everyone did the same.
In this particular case, if everyone subbed back, the subscription system would loose his meaning, everyone would be at the same number and no one would be happy to get a new subscriber because you wouldn't even know if they're reading your comic (except for the ones that comment).

Like @keii4ii said :

inflation never helps anyone

And one last thing before I shut up :

There are probably people out there who would love my comic, but can't find it because I don't have enough subscribers to stand out. So the number does matter, because it puts you out in front of potential genuine fans.

The thing is, here on Tapastic, this is true. I think there is a problem with the way the comics are promoted. The more popular you get, the more visibility you have and the more popular you get etc. In a way, that's normal and fair, and I agree with the "popular" section on the frontpage.

BUT I think we (as readers) are a bit too dependent on that system and there should be an alternative system to browse through stories and find old stuff, very new stuff, completed stuff, stuff that don't update often... I have a bunch of ideas about that (like filter with subcategories, improve and promote the tag system, make it possible for creators to promote a particular comic at the end of theirs - like choosing the comics that are advertised when you get to the bottom - stuff like that.) but I digress !

The fact that it's mostly popularity that will give you visibility encourages people to think of their amount of sub as a mere number that has to increase to put them on the front, rather than individual readers. And I find it very sad.

[fishy]

Art is easily the quickest thing that makes me want to subscribe. But even if the artist is decent, the actual comic can be a little lazy. I can think of two particular comics, one which is quite popular that had really cute art and friendships/romance. Turns out they didn't have a lot of backgrounds and relied a lot on coloured close-ups of the characters. The emotions seemed stiff and the dialogue seemed really bland. I wonder if I should've asked if the artists wanted a criticism before I left. From what I've read here so far, I think it would've been nice to give them the option.

Other comics I just couldn't get into because the story wasn't what I thought it was. I think some people understimate that there might not be anything really wrong with the comic, but it's just not their style. What I thought would be a comedy comic turned out to be more of a slice of life drama and I honest to god cannot stand that genre. That's not to say it was bad, in fact the art was gorgeous and the story pacing amazing. I'm sure someone else would've love it. I'm sure I've unsubscribed to at least 5 comics because the story went in a direction I didn't find that exciting.

[ToasterThief]

I tend to subscribe while I'm browsing the site, if I see something I like to look of I'll subscribe and then come back to it later. I'll read through some of it and if it's not my cup of tea I'll unsubscribe which I feel pretty bad about because when I lose a subscriber on my own comic it's a pretty sad feeling!

[fishy]

I try not to keep an exact count of the number of subscribers, but check it every now and again. I think it helps reduce the anxiety if I don't know how much it's fluctuating lol

[ToasterThief]

That's a good tactic!

[HNLEE]

I tend to subscribe spontaneously if I see really good art or a unique synopsis. I read the synopsis first and then a random page and in a matter of seconds I'll decide if it's worthwhile then I'll subscribe. Art is a major factor to be frank, I cannot keep up with a series if the art is messy because I don't like having to analyze the settings and characters midway through reading. I also won't subscribe if the story is too complex and I have to keep remembering strange terms while reading. I want a story I can read without pausing so I can really immerse myself in it and feel the moment.

I don't have a lot of patience when it comes to reading so I do tend to unsubscribe if I feel like the story feels dragging. I also hate cliches or predictable storylines so no to that. I also really hate it when everything feels too convenient. I also can't take it if the character is unlikable, in worse case a character I can't even sympathize . Although, there are moments when these things can work, it depends how well everything is used in context.

[kazukitakamura126]

I would subscribe to a story if the art and plot are interesting. I know from personal experience making a comic is general is hard work especially if you want to make a comic that grabs people's attention. So if I do see the artist is putting effort in their comic I will stick around.

What would make me unsubscribe is if the plot becomes boring or the story starts to drags. If the creator isn't active that is also and un-subscription from me, unless the story and art are top notch I won't stick around if they are net responding to their fans. This is why I make it a habit to comment on all my comments because I don't want that as an excuse for someone to unsubscribe from my comic.

[Aspie_Gamer]

Decent art and a decent plot are enough to make me subscribe. I surprisingly haven't unsubscribed from any comics I follow...yet. I can think of a few good reasons why I might unsubscribe from a comic however.

Lack of updates

I no longer find the story amusing or engaging

Art degrades instead of improving over time.

[shaylafarley5]

I subscribe mainly for the summary and art , most of the comic I've been reading so far have just stop updating since last year,which will cause me to unsubscribe. I'm still searching around for more comics to read, I'm more for sci fi and fantasy.

[Wishjacked]

I will subscribe if I like the story and characters. Art tends to be a lot less important to me, and I'm more than willing to stick it through some rough art if it has characters I enjoy. I also tend to subscribe to a lot of comics made by friendly artists... I'm one of those people who always reads the notes at the bottom of the page, and if I like what you say in your notes and comments I am very inclined to sub, even if I'm not sure about the comic yet.

As far as unsubscribing goes... I unsub when the story just isn't interesting to me. If I don't look forward to a new page coming out, it isn't really helpful for anyone for me to stick around. It honestly just makes me annoyed at the creator, which I think is very unhelpful.

[justieno]

Think I only subscribe when something truly interests me or I believe I can learn something from what I'm reading, hate to sound harsh but I rarely have time to read anything and it'd better be damn worth it in some way if I am reading it, either the story is crazy good or the comic better be really funny, art is secondary to writing I'd have to admit too hahah

[Cade]

You may like my new webcomic series Wade.

[ikushina]

Well, I obviously subscribe if I like the story d: I used to 'subscribe' to comics when I thought they looked interesting but I didn't have time to read them at the moment. I subscribed so I could save them, use it as a bookmark, heh. But I stopped doing that now. I feel a bit bad that I used to do it in the past. Sometimes a story just didn't catch me and I felt kind of sorry for the creator to suddenly unsubscribe..
The worst thing is when people haven't done their research properly and fx portray a mental illness completely wrong and think it can be cured by 'the power of love'. That's the biggest turn off for me.

[vsock]

As a creator, my own reasons for subbing and unsubbing might differ from the typical consumer.
But here they are!

I subscribe when

• The creator is really skilled in their craft. Their art is too good for this world (NOTICE ME JANDRUFF SEMPAI ;__; )
• The creator loves what they do so much that I start to love it too
• The comic is unique in it's genre. It's something different
• The creator can write their comic as well as they draw it (harrodeleted's shit is REAL GOOD MAN. GOOD SHIT.)

I unsubscribe when:

• The artist churns out the same thing/joke month after month
• The comic/creator is losing it's genuineness
• I feel detached from the creator (This is a whole other thing in itself but I gotta include it)

[UzukiCheverie]

The artist churns out the same thing/joke month after month

Ugh, this, more than ever actually. I know two creators who have fallen into this rut lately (one who's on Tapastic, the other who hosts from their own site). They're both well known comic artists, and their content is otherwise gold, but for the past few months it's just been the same shit over and over again.

One of these creators (the one who posts on Tapastic) also posts elsewhere on other platforms (including Tumblr, reddit, etc.) and while no one's really talking about it here, elsewhere people are speaking up about it and are getting pissed off and are choosing not to read any more comics from this creator because they've been the same for the past few months.

People notice that shit, man. Even if they don't speak up about it, they'll notice pretty damn fast.