And I'll put money into the tip jar. Which is where the problem begins....
As I said, I read a lot of webcomics. And there's been a lot of webcomics either go dark or go fallow (I don't count it as dark until either a couple of months have gone by, or the 404s start showing up) in the past few months, and they have always preceded the disappearing act with a plea for money. Usually it's because the person or people running the webcomic are pretty much doing this for a living, and the funds aren't coming in. Yes, I know I'm paying for someone else to freeload on the site if I hand over the cash--in most cases, it's worth it to me.
But the current group of fade-aways are asking for money after the comic has either cut back on schedule--dailies go to 3 a week, 3 a week go to 1 a week--or the schedule has turned into "whenever". I've even seen pleas for cash with a statement that the writer/artist will then go away for a month, crank a bunch of comics, and come back with the finish to the current story arc.
The thing is, when they go away for the month, they just don't come back. Now, someone is just being less than honest here, and I'm not saying they're running a scam. In all likelihood, they really, really intend to come back, except:
1. They've run into writer's block
2. They have "professional" contracts that keep them busy
3. The artist or writer has disappeared, and the partner can't find a replacement
4. Life has intervened, and they just don't have the cycles anymore
5. The whole thing has turned into a grind, and it's no fun.
Hey, been there, did that, did not get a t-shirt. There are times that life slams you along the side of the head, and whatever you've been doing is just not going to happen.
But you know, if I've been paying all along, and the webcomic shows definite signs of sputtering to a halt, these days I'm having a lot of thoughts before putting money in the tip jar. Is the extra money a "hey, thanks and good luck!" or paying in advance for future goodies?
