Discussion about the Forthcoming Issues list

[doctorx]

It's worth noting, I think, that since December, only April had as many as four main-book updates. All other months have had three at most -- and now, the even weeklies and biweeklies are only trickling in. IOW, the deficit is growing, not receding.

I get that people retire, that artists sometimes act like artists, that there's a limited number of people with the particular skill and taste for this stuff, that you can only squeeze so much out of people, and that time is not infinitely extendable. I used to be in the publishing business, and I know that things sometimes go south -- sometimes for no reason, but sometimes for real reasons. But this is a lot of south, and we're now six months into it. It's not unreasonable to wonder WTH is going on.

Yeah seems like the site's winding down.

"What are we paying for" seems to be less and less of an unfair question.

[sneakybunny]

It's worth noting, I think, that since December, only April had as many as four main-book updates. All other months have had three at most -- and now, the even weeklies and biweeklies are only trickling in. IOW, the deficit is growing, not receding.

I get that people retire, that artists sometimes act like artists, that there's a limited number of people with the particular skill and taste for this stuff, that you can only squeeze so much out of people, and that time is not infinitely extendable. I used to be in the publishing business, and I know that things sometimes go south -- sometimes for no reason, but sometimes for real reasons. But this is a lot of south, and we're now six months into it. It's not unreasonable to wonder WTH is going on.

Yeah seems like the site's winding down.

"What are we paying for" seems to be less and less of an unfair question.

I think this boils down to two definitions of users of mcc. Those who are historic and have viewed everything, therefore looking at the latest updates for new content and therefore money well spent vs those who are new (<2 years old) who haven't used mcc as much and still working through backlogs of content. Those gaps are now diminishing which is where a lot of the questions arise, especially after the announcements of "this isn't a permanent issue, but one that will be fixed by giving additional content updates to ensure we hit the missed quota" - i understand Daphne's position, but also news is better than radio silence, we are people at the other end and we understand what she's dealing with. For me personally, a new update to SM would offer a mountain of new content and replayability that is well needed.

[Gilrandir]

As a newcomer, I wonder if there is content that has aged out of the archives that could be restored? Or perhaps some of the earlier bonus products could be offered to subscribers in the interim. (Of course I realize that this would not necessarily sit well with those who have already paid extra for this content the first time around. Just a thought.)

I think the distinction between long time subscribers and relative newcomers is worth noting.

[Vidor]

Yeah seems like the site's winding down.

All good things come to an end.  I think we all know that Daphne works hard, and that no doubt she would love for this site to be making a ton of money and bringing in new subscribers.  MC Comics has been putting out first-rate content for, what, 15 years now?

But the flow of product has almost completely ceased.  I dunno, I wish Daphne the best.  I've been reading her MC erotica since 1998.  But if one is selling subscriptions to any website one does have to produce content.

[wannabe]

My sub just renewed for another three months -- and at the full $49.95, as opposed to the promised $29.95. After something like a decade, I'm seriously considering whether it might be my last for a while.

[KingMind]

Daphne, is this truly the end?

[Garg22]

I've been a subscriber for who knows how long, but the tighter restrictions may kill the site.  They make artists afraid to do the work that needs to be done so if an artist bows out they become more difficult than ever to replace.  Sucks that this place survived COVID and is now being shut down because others want to control what we enjoy.

EDIT:  So instead of being a sad sack my brain came up with a possible solution.  This will get me lynched, but what about AI art making one panel at a time?  It wouldn't be as high quality as we have come to expect from this site, but it would still be better than nothing.

[jwik01]

It's not really clear what the full nature of the situation is. Expanded Universe had seemed siloed from the troubles, until it wasn't. I was thinking to myself the other day, why haven't I seen signs that Daphne is actively seeking new artists to work with, and then I was like, how the fuck would I know, I wouldn't even know where to look.

I'd really like to see the next phase of Starter Marriage. For a while I was thinking that maybe Daphne had resolved to go radio silent until she was in a position to make a triumphant announcement, but it's been well over a month at this point and that seems less and less likely.

[The Mad Bishop]

As a long-time lurker, in here; I wonder how many of us are just going to quietly "not renew," if the situation persists... As a comic collector of over 40 years and an MCC subscriber of 5, I wouldn't complain to a format change to "Pricing per title," instead of subscription, until output stabilizes... I mean once the nectar starts flowing again, the bees will inevitably be attracted back.

As for the earlier AI comment... Well... You'd be amazed how much open source diffusion models have improved, in the last 6 months even... (0_0) ...Like stuff that will run [locally] on a high-er end laptop or gaming rig... [That's NSFW stuff too, BTW. (-_^)] With good and detailed prompts and flow in say... Comfy UI, you get output that you really have to scrutinize to detect the "AI sloppy-ness" in it. That being said, it's not "Plug and Play." You'll just get run of the mill AI "looks like cheap hentai" slop, unless you put in the work, to set up the flow...

Honestly, AI content that you have a hard time telling IS, in fact, AI content would be not so bad? #AITA? \()/

[twobears]

I am a long time subscriber, dating back to when this site first opened.
I have an annual membership which is up for renewal in early August.

My expectation is that I will not renew.
Starter Marriage shipping might cause me to change my mind.
Seeing stuff resolved definitely will

However, I'm not holding my breath.

On the AI front, I wonder whether the experimentations with AI that have already gone one led to a rupture with the site's existing artists.

[arm7man88]

Also a very long term subscriber here. I have made the difficult decision to cancel myself. I'm hoping  against hope that this isn't the end of the website, but with so many cancellation subscriptions at the same time, idk how that won't be the case. If everything gets going again I will be back. Back earlier this year when this was happening, Daphne was always in here reassuring us that things were in the world and would be fixed, now it's complete silence from her in the forums, which is so disappointing.
So long for now.

[doctorx]

Also a very long term subscriber here. I have made the difficult decision to cancel myself. I'm hoping  against hope that this isn't the end of the website, but with so many cancellation subscriptions at the same time, idk how that won't be the case. If everything gets going again I will be back. Back earlier this year when this was happening, Daphne was always in here reassuring us that things were in the world and would be fixed, now it's complete silence from her in the forums, which is so disappointing.
So long for now.

Yeah.  I'm gonna have to see a major turnaround to keep up with this.

[sneakybunny]

My subscription was due for renewal at the start of July and I've cancelled for now. Likewise will remain this way until I see some more positive indication as to whether or not content actually makes a comeback, more so Starter Marriage than anything.