The Patreon Debacle has made me really think about my online spending habits, and it’s occurred to me that the more I interact with crowdfunding and patronage and whatever, the more I just want to buy a thing that’s done. It’s easier to budget, there’s no false urgency, and the vendor can accurately calculate what a thing is going to cost and I can decide if that’s worth paying.

It also matches my consumption habits better. I have been supporting a few people who make 1-page minigames, and you know how many of them I’ve played? Exactly zero. So I’m spending money to be entertained by reading them… and it’s not the dollar cost that’s prohibitive, it’s my attention cost. Only so many hours in the day, yo.

Now, obviously, there are projects that would never exist without crowdfunding, and I’m totally into backing those when I can, but I’m legitimately much more likely these days to PayPal someone $5 for an ebook of their gaming insights than to pay $1 + fees every month or per post or whatever.