I am so glad that I’m not the only one who has this same frustration with the fandom. I have posted once on this and reblogged a version of this same post with what I’m seeing. (I assume it got lost because I linked a previous post I made on the matter.) Quite frankly, I’m not gonna shut up about this topic until some of y'all realize that you’re just talking about this from your POV. You aren’t considering it from the team’s. Or even from an artist’s perspective.
I am not coddling him nor am I deflecting criticism. I know they have done stuff that I don’t agree with nor I thought were executed well. I am not defending those actions. I am also not putting him up on a pedestal because that is incredibly unhealthy to do so. He is human. He needs breaks. He makes mistakes. It’s unhealthy to assume otherwise.
I have been here since summer 2017. I joined the fandom shortly after CLBG. I have seen Thomas and Co talk about the all nighters in order to get content filmed. I’ve seen them talk about how they would give themselves too much work that they could not handle.
Patreon is giving them a much healthier schedule. I know a lot of you won’t like it, but this is a schedule they need to have. It’s far more healthy than before.
And people can have their opinions on how long it takes. But I will throw my hat in the ring. I have participated in two movies. Both independent groups of people. Similar to Thomas’s team, but we did it for free.
It took us 7-8 months on the first one. Quality of the earliest episodes because we could not afford better equipment. (That’s including storyboarding.) The second one, which had originally music and virtual effects, took closer to 9 to 10 months. We bought better cameras and lights cause we could afford it. And cause it made the video so much better.
Both were for movies under an hour. They took months to make. Saying “oh it shouldn’t have taken them X amount of time to finish a 30 minute video” is irresponsible.
You don’t know why a video may take as long as it does. And even short vids that some people think are “simple” can take months to produce.
And heck, I’m glad POF and DWIT and WTIT took as long as they did. They have a lot of info in them that needed heavy research. It would be irresponsible of them to put out info that was incomplete or incorrect.
It would be hypocritical of me to expect them to churn out content more frequently when I have SEEN what goes on behind the scenes. I know it’s not possible to make scripted content that quickly without risking the health and safety of the cast and crew.
Not to mention, they HAVE POSTED MORE CONTENT SINCE PATREON OPENED. They posted 19 vids last year alone! In 2020 they had 9.
But are you bringing that up? Or is it not relevant because it’s not Sanders Sides?
They are allowed to make other content. Thomas is not a Sanders Sides making machine. And hell, he posted a music video last night about THIS EXACT THING.
I do not care if they post only one scripted video this year. I don’t. I care about their health and I am paying them to ensure that they do not return to the unhealthy schedule that they had previously. I do not want to make them feel like they have to.
I am frankly exhausted at everyone trying to push Thomas into one box. He is able to make other content. He should make other content to ensure he has a healthy relationship with Sanders Sides. To make sure he doesn’t become burnt out on it.
They finally have the money they need to achieve what they need to. They turned to a new platform because the old one wasn’t working. I obviously don’t know why exactly, but here’s what I can see:
- YouTube takes a good chunk of money out of memberships. Leaving the team with less. Patreon takes money, but it’s far less than YouTube.
- Content leaks. I remember when Remus’s logo was revealed. It was leaked onto a Facebook group I was in less than 30 minutes after the stream ended. When I asked people not to share, they said, “Well then tell Thomas to stop putting stuff behind a paywall. I can’t afford it and I think everyone should have that info.” When that is not true. It turns into my next point.
- Devaluing of memberships. The perk of memberships was behind-the-scenes access. Why should people buy a membership if the info will be leaked in less than an hour anyway? Other promised stuff, like discounts to the shop, were not given because they did not trust us to not share that info. Because they saw how bad other info leaked.
Patreon offers more security to the team and ensures that the stuff on there is not being devalued by leaks.
The team needs money to survive. Every fine arts person knows this. I have a bachelor’s in English. All my other friends are artists, writers, musicians, etc.
To post regular content, you need a schedule. In order to have a schedule, you need stability. In order to have stability, you need money.
The Co has a more stable income. They now can afford to have a schedule. And we are seeing that schedule.
But some of you don’t like it. You don’t like that we aren’t seeing new Sanders Sides episodes. Even though you don’t have a say in that schedule.
This schedule is healthy for them. And I literally do not care one bit if they do not post a scripted video this year. There is probably reason for that.
Why would Thomas not want to post content from his most popular series? Why would he not want to be making some sort of money from his work by not posting?
Now, I don’t speak for the team. This is just me sharing my experiences as someone in the fine arts and as someone with experience in film production.
I think sometimes a lot of you are incredibly hard on Thomas for stuff that may be entirely out of his control.
What their schedule now is realistic and what they need for as small of a team as they have. And I’m not going to pressure them to post more content because I love all of his content and I don’t care what comes next. But also, I know pressuring someone to do something is just…. Awful. It never feels good to be on the opposite end of that.
If I don’t see a Sanders Sides episode this year. I don’t care. I just want them to be safe while producing it. Should that mean they have a healthy schedule that takes four to eight months to complete, then so be it.
Their health and safety matters over my enjoyment of their content.
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