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Alfabusa is currently collecting 18k a month via his Patreon. That's not fan work at that point, it's a job. He has also outright refused to even try contacting GW about an agreement. The "purity of the content" seemingly has much less to do with this than the money involved.
Yep, that guy will be fine, even without using GW's IP without their permission.
He can count on his fanbase and the current buzz to still have their support for the time of the hiatus.
What are his overheads? How long is the haitus?
2021/08/01 22:20:25
Subject: If the Emperor had a Text to speech device on indefinite hiatus
JohnnyHell wrote: Not like GW would have granted a license to a series with homophobic ‘humour’ baked in. Good riddance to it, it was never funny.
Okay, I'm going to ask you for a citacion, because that argument is either correct or it was done in extremely bad faith.
If I recall correctly the Emperor called Guilliman a homophobic slur, and is pissed the Custodes are all camp gay charicatures who came out in his absence. It’s in the dialogue and on the screen, not exactly buried away. I didn’t watch any more because if this was the creator’s best efforts then they were crap, unfunny and I simply wasn’t interested.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/01 22:35:30
Stormonu wrote: For me, the joy is in putting some good-looking models on the board and playing out a fantasy battle - not arguing over the poorly-made rules of some 3rd party who neither has any power over my play nor will be visiting me (and my opponent) to ensure we are "playing by the rules"
2021/08/01 22:43:26
Subject: If the Emperor had a Text to speech device on indefinite hiatus
Gert wrote: That would make sense if Alfa hadn't already been taking time off for his family and left the running of social media accounts related to TTS to other members of the team.
The video was the first thing he has posted on Twitter since April which was very specifically him talking about his new child.
And just as another point, people who get mad at creators taking breaks for family or mental health are ratbags anyway.
I didn't know how often he posts, I have not watched TTS for years and didn't even realize it was still a thing.
And you are right about people like that being ratbags, but a LOT of people are like that. They put $5 into a pateron and think they own the dude.
2021/08/01 22:59:30
Subject: If the Emperor had a Text to speech device on indefinite hiatus
JohnnyHell wrote: If I recall correctly the Emperor called Guilliman a homophobic slur, and is pissed the Custodes are all camp gay charicatures who came out in his absence. It’s in the dialogue and on the screen, not exactly buried away. I didn’t watch any more because if this was the creator’s best efforts then they were crap, unfunny and I simply wasn’t interested.
You do recall correctly, having had the same experience. I am told the writer recut the episode to dump that particular angle after being challenged about it (circa 2015?), though by that point I'd moved on myself. I should check back at some point that the sound won't get me glared at by a bunny.
If it is a Team of 10 people that split those 18k per month, each one of them earns more per year than the GW rules designer we talk a lot about at the moment
granted, there are more people ~20 and not everyone will get the same amount
but it is is enough to pay the full time job for 2-3 people
Harry, bring this ring to Narnia or the Sith will take the Enterprise
2021/08/02 06:31:18
Subject: If the Emperor had a Text to speech device on indefinite hiatus
kodos wrote: If it is a Team of 10 people that split those 18k per month, each one of them earns more per year than the GW rules designer we talk a lot about at the moment
granted, there are more people ~20 and not everyone will get the same amount
but it is is enough to pay the full time job for 2-3 people
It's not a team of 10 full paid.
The last goal on Patreon before he reaches such an amount was this :
Would this excessively unrealistic goal be reached, then I could hire TWO people full-time with a fair living wage.
Sickly....
Basically, he reached such an amount thanks to the support given by new patreon backers who came in with the buzz on Youtube and elsewhere. People are talking a lot about him, after all.
Here is his last update on patreon :
30 juil. 2021 at 16:01
UpdaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
mY fething GOD W H Y IS THE PATREON AT OVER 10,000 DOLÖLAR WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS
I MEAN THANK YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH like seriously I APPRECIATE IT SO MUCH HOLY gak but I hope you know that whatever I post next might just be an utter flop! A complete disaster! An absolute trainwreck!!
We’re heading into unknown territories, we won’t really know what we are doing. We will try our hardest OF COURSE but I just want to make absolute certain to everyone, new and old, that this will be a very experimental stage for us as creators and whatever we make next might just, if we are especially mislead, make you entirely regret your pledge. Hopefully that will never happen, but, I need to be a bit pessimistic here as something of a… survival mechanism???
No matter what though I want you to know that you are DEARLY APPRECIATED and both the team and my family would like to thank you personally, bigly and genuinely for your support.
AND ALSO thank you to everyone who has left exceptionally nice and supportive posts here and beyond, and I am sorry if I cannot respond to all of them BUT KNOW that I HAVE read them and felt them. You are so, so nice.
I’ll make a more thorough update in the future but, for now , I need to rest my sludgen brain for it has been WAY overstimulated, I am unsure if humans were built for this kind of attention.
Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Have a good one.
mY fething GOD W H Y IS THE PATREON AT OVER 10,000 DOLÖLAR WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS
I MEAN THANK YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH like seriously I APPRECIATE IT SO MUCH HOLY gak but I hope you know that whatever I post next might just be an utter flop! A complete disaster! An absolute trainwreck!!
We’re heading into unknown territories, we won’t really know what we are doing. We will try our hardest OF COURSE but I just want to make absolute certain to everyone, new and old, that this will be a very experimental stage for us as creators and whatever we make next might just, if we are especially mislead, make you entirely regret your pledge. Hopefully that will never happen, but, I need to be a bit pessimistic here as something of a… survival mechanism???
No matter what though I want you to know that you are DEARLY APPRECIATED and both the team and my family would like to thank you personally, bigly and genuinely for your support.
AND ALSO thank you to everyone who has left exceptionally nice and supportive posts here and beyond, and I am sorry if I cannot respond to all of them BUT KNOW that I HAVE read them and felt them. You are so, so nice.
I’ll make a more thorough update in the future but, for now , I need to rest my sludgen brain for it has been WAY overstimulated, I am unsure if humans were built for this kind of attention.
Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Have a good one.
And he's right, now he has quite a lot of pressure if he wants to keep all this amount on long term. Even if he reached the amount to hire 3 people on full time, he may be wise to wait and see if the new backers stay at that level pledged on the next months. Now he has a new kind of Sword of Damocles...
But with this amount, he has quite a lot of doors opening. Paying a license to GW is one he'd never consider, though...
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2021/08/02 07:09:15
But with 18k a month...he'll be fine. Can even hire a lawyer no problem if he wants to.
Heck he could even *gasp* pay for a licence!
I agree with your sentiment that in one sense he could 'pay for a licence'. However, the bigger issue here is the impact that these (arguably quite poor) productions have on the wider perception of the company and its IP. No company in its right mind wants to be associated with racism / homophobia / etc., so if the comments made by the poster above are true (I haven't seen the video myself), then it's clear that GW would want nothing to do with the productions, as ultimately, they are damaging the brand.
Personally, I'm inclined to agree that the author is mainly using GW as a scapegoat here. It's also very likely that he's made this video knowing what the reaction of certain elements of the community would be, and just how more video views he would get by causing such a fuss.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/02 07:09:29
I agree with your sentiment that in one sense he could 'pay for a licence'. However, the bigger issue here is the impact that these (arguably quite poor) productions have on the wider perception of the company and its IP. No company in its right mind wants to be associated with racism / homophobia / etc., so if the comments made by the poster above are true (I haven't seen the video myself), then it's clear that GW would want nothing to do with the productions, as ultimately, they are damaging the brand.
Honestly, the guy has already stated he doesn't want to contact GW at all, so whatever his reasons are don't really matter here.
It's clear he doesn't want to pay GW anything.
And it's also clear he's not at the level of "surviving" with his patreon. He's at the stage where he actually can lead a small team fully paid by him while still living comfortably...even in the US.
It's exactly the situation Overread described to nuance the debate : it's not a question of "GW big bad corporation squeezing poor fan animators while they don't make much money". Alfabusa is a perfect example of someone actually profiting a lot without paying GW for their IP.
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2021/08/02 07:23:22
2021/08/02 07:23:14
Subject: If the Emperor had a Text to speech device on indefinite hiatus
I would urge anyone interested enough to want to form an opinion an then post it here to go back to the original post and watch the linked video all the way through. Albafusa comes across as a really genuine guy just trying to do the right thing.
PaddyMick wrote: I would urge anyone interested enough to want to form an opinion an then post it here to go back to the original post and watch the linked video all the way through. Albafusa comes across as a really genuine guy just trying to do the right thing.
And I would urge people to also look at his patreon right now, so that people watching the video can also see the actual numbers behind this guy...
That's why we're talking about this. The video doesn't say anything about his patreon's ressources. So with just the video, you'd assume he's barely earning money, right ?
By the way, if you feel you want to support him, please do so. After all, he's a poor fan animator being bullied by GW.
And sure, he sounds like a nice guy, really. Internet is full of nice guys that still make a comfortable amount of money, though. Not even talking about those "acting" like they're nice so that they can gather more money...and you have no way to see if what they say is what they do. As long as the videos come and patreons are satisfied, that's all that matters, right ?
This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2021/08/02 07:45:12
2021/08/02 08:20:29
Subject: If the Emperor had a Text to speech device on indefinite hiatus
Like a few lucky fan projects he's wound up with a mountain when all he wanted when he started was a molehill. The thing is sometimes people end up in charge of a firm like that without planning to end up in charge of a firm. It can bite them back hard because what was a fan project becomes a job. Things like tax, rates, invoices, bills, accounting all suddenly start to mean serious things on what was once a hobby. Same for licences and the legal position.
It's a reason why a lot of fan creations never take money even if its possible because it does change things and the system of Patreon and youtube ads does make it possible to - rarely - end up with a situation where you're suddenly pulling in serious money.
In theory I'd say he's got a few options
1) Diversify and move away from 40K/GW. Whilst its been his core business, he's got the option to focus on what his market likes in product and take it to something else that is either independently created by himself or which he can secure or has a legal standing more easily worked with.
The risk is that he might lose many of his followers, the gain is that he might release himself form the constant worry of his legal situatoin
2) Approach GW formally and get the situation in the clear. I suspect part of him doesn't want to do that because there's always the risk GW could turn around and not just say "no" but also say "and we'll take the money too". Which hither too they've never done (and might be a legal nightmare even if they tried).
3) Kinda hope it all blows over and he can release the next video and GW doesn't do anything.
In theory not a totally bad idea since he's big enough that GW most likely ARE aware of him ( and if not they've had enough hints in their FB comments over the last few days that they should be aware of him now). So if GW don't take any action he might feel free to continue.
Personally I'd not like that approach if just because its always leaving you on a stressful edge that the carpet might get pulled out from under him at any point without warning.
4) Continue on with the GW content and put more resources (money) into producing alternative content and steadily ease things off GW and onto something else.
Another viable approach that combines the above. It reduces the loss of people aspect since they are kept in by the continued GW content, but at the same time slowly introduces new things that either engage current customers and replaces those lost with new fans.
Yep, the situation is less than ideal for him, because it's clear the sudden surge in patreon support is linked to his video about GW content and, no doubt, others sources talking about him being the last symbol of the fight against Evil Corpo GW.
I suspect a lot of them won't stay, once the fever is down and time passes on. But he'll certainly be "motivated" to try to keep the most he can by producing more content, even though it's clear he's not sure of what he should do.
I think a part of his success (and why fans stay) is also his talk about corporation bs, and he can do that as well with more "generic" references. He can always throw a few subtle pikes at GW here and there to satisfy his fans who'll understand the reference.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/02 08:30:14
Sarouan wrote: Alfabusa is a perfect example of someone actually profiting a lot without paying GW for their IP.
I haven't really watched his content in a while, but isn't it pretty much parody?
My understanding was that people doing parody / review / commentary work don't generally pay royalties to do so.
There are comedy sketches of Star Wars or Harry Potter or whatever that I don't expect are paying royalties, there's gamers who make a living off playing a certain game without paying royalties to the publisher.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/02 08:31:43
Sarouan wrote: Alfabusa is a perfect example of someone actually profiting a lot without paying GW for their IP.
I haven't really watched his content in a while, but isn't it pretty much parody?
My understanding was that people doing parody / review / commentary work don't generally pay royalties to do so.
Doesn't matter, though. It's just about the perception of the people taking side in this topic that fan animators being "forced" by GW to stop their work with GW IP don't earn that much money and thus should be left alone.
This perception is false with Alfabusa, that's all I mean. And it's him we're talking about mainly on this topic, since that's his video that started it all. Funnily enough, you could even say he's actually profiting a lot from all the buzz - even if that wasn't his intent, it would be easy for the other side to say that he did it on purpose to gain more money from it.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/02 08:33:53
2021/08/02 08:32:39
Subject: If the Emperor had a Text to speech device on indefinite hiatus
Sure, but you have to actually prove it in court. Most people, unsurprisingly, tend to avoid that kind of very expensive headache.It's how corps bullied their way into bending the IP laws into a pretzel.
2021/08/02 08:49:09
Subject: If the Emperor had a Text to speech device on indefinite hiatus
Cronch wrote: Sure, but you have to actually prove it in court. Most people, unsurprisingly, tend to avoid that kind of very expensive headache.It's how corps bullied their way into bending the IP laws into a pretzel.
Technically it's GW that has to prove damages of some sort if it went to court, and I think if pressed GW wouldn't get too far with it, and even though GW are tightening up their IP "rules" I'd be surprised if they want another Chapterhouse or Spots the Space Marine. I appreciate he doesn't want it to go to court, but at the same time I reckon he could have at least pushed until he got a C&D out of it.
2021/08/02 08:51:14
Subject: If the Emperor had a Text to speech device on indefinite hiatus
PaddyMick wrote: I would urge anyone interested enough to want to form an opinion an then post it here to go back to the original post and watch the linked video all the way through. Albafusa comes across as a really genuine guy just trying to do the right thing.
And I would urge people to also look at his patreon right now, so that people watching the video can also see the actual numbers behind this guy...
That's why we're talking about this. The video doesn't say anything about his patreon's ressources. So with just the video, you'd assume he's barely earning money, right ?
By the way, if you feel you want to support him, please do so. After all, he's a poor fan animator being bullied by GW.
And sure, he sounds like a nice guy, really. Internet is full of nice guys that still make a comfortable amount of money, though. Not even talking about those "acting" like they're nice so that they can gather more money...and you have no way to see if what they say is what they do. As long as the videos come and patreons are satisfied, that's all that matters, right ?
So, small tidbit that you can read in the very same patreon you've linked:
"Three hires with fair living wages that can serve the purpose of sacrificing their life-blood upon the altar of the Goblin Throne.
Let us be honest though, does a project like this really deserve such a big budget?"
Those 16k euros you're getting so hung up about are literally paying for the livelyhood of 4 persons, taxes and the contributions made by a staple of roughly 20 persons. He's certainly not living in the poverty line, like gw's designers, but he's certainly not the rich boy you're so desperately trying to portray.
AllSeeingSkink wrote: I appreciate he doesn't want it to go to court, but at the same time I reckon he could have at least pushed until he got a C&D out of it.
It's all right. He actually benefited more by making his video and putting his channel on hiatus than just quietly going on. So turned out his decision was the right one in the end.
2021/08/02 08:52:06
Subject: If the Emperor had a Text to speech device on indefinite hiatus
Cronch wrote: Sure, but you have to actually prove it in court. Most people, unsurprisingly, tend to avoid that kind of very expensive headache.It's how corps bullied their way into bending the IP laws into a pretzel.
Technically it's GW that has to prove damages of some sort if it went to court, and I think if pressed GW wouldn't get too far with it, and even though GW are tightening up their IP "rules" I'd be surprised if they want another Chapterhouse or Spots the Space Marine. I appreciate he doesn't want it to go to court, but at the same time I reckon he could have at least pushed until he got a C&D out of it.
I mean. He's already stated he doesn't want that kind of mess, so there's no reason for him to push.
AllSeeingSkink wrote: I appreciate he doesn't want it to go to court, but at the same time I reckon he could have at least pushed until he got a C&D out of it.
It's all right. He actually benefited more by making his video and putting his channel on hiatus than just quietly going on. So turned out his decision was the right one in the end.
...
You can't be making this gak up.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/02 08:53:17
2021/08/02 08:55:51
Subject: If the Emperor had a Text to speech device on indefinite hiatus
So, small tidbit that you can read in the very same patreon you've linked:
"Three hires with fair living wages that can serve the purpose of sacrificing their life-blood upon the altar of the Goblin Throne.
Let us be honest though, does a project like this really deserve such a big budget?"
Those 16k euros you're getting so hung up about are literally paying for the livelyhood of 4 persons, taxes and the contributions made by a staple of roughly 20 persons. He's certainly not living in the poverty line, like gw's designers, but he's certainly not the rich boy you're so desperately trying to portray.
The thing is, that goal with hiring 3 people wasn't reached before his update, since he says the patreon suddenly goes over 10000 $. You can see at this goal that the amount needed to reach it was above that.
So that's why I said he reached the goal with hiring 2 people before. It's very likely he wasn't paying more than 2 people full time before.
Now he has a lot of money and can decide what he wants with, but it's very clear his previous charges were not what you're saying.
Cronch wrote: Sure, but you have to actually prove it in court. Most people, unsurprisingly, tend to avoid that kind of very expensive headache.It's how corps bullied their way into bending the IP laws into a pretzel.
Technically it's GW that has to prove damages of some sort if it went to court, and I think if pressed GW wouldn't get too far with it, and even though GW are tightening up their IP "rules" I'd be surprised if they want another Chapterhouse or Spots the Space Marine. I appreciate he doesn't want it to go to court, but at the same time I reckon he could have at least pushed until he got a C&D out of it.
I mean. He's already stated he doesn't want that kind of mess, so there's no reason for him to push.
AllSeeingSkink wrote: I appreciate he doesn't want it to go to court, but at the same time I reckon he could have at least pushed until he got a C&D out of it.
It's all right. He actually benefited more by making his video and putting his channel on hiatus than just quietly going on. So turned out his decision was the right one in the end.
...
You can't be making this gak up.
Why ? It's true. He makes way more money after making that video than if he didn't. If he didn't, there wouldn't be that buzz about him and people wouldn't have gathered on his patreon to give their support.
It's not a bad thing at all for him...well, to be honest, it can be in the future if he felt pressured by all this or got him unwanted attention, but still, fact is : he made a lot more money than before in a very short amount of time.
He may indeed not have wanted all of this, but still...result is the same.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/08/02 08:59:14
2021/08/02 09:04:53
Subject: If the Emperor had a Text to speech device on indefinite hiatus
So, small tidbit that you can read in the very same patreon you've linked:
"Three hires with fair living wages that can serve the purpose of sacrificing their life-blood upon the altar of the Goblin Throne.
Let us be honest though, does a project like this really deserve such a big budget?"
Those 16k euros you're getting so hung up about are literally paying for the livelyhood of 4 persons, taxes and the contributions made by a staple of roughly 20 persons. He's certainly not living in the poverty line, like gw's designers, but he's certainly not the rich boy you're so desperately trying to portray.
So how about you stop ignoring them and trying to force your make believe reality?
Here's some facts:
(skip to 24:40)
There's two more editors and these are fully employed, despite your claims. That's without getting into the scriptwriters, voice actors and assorted support personnel.
Your line of argument is only making things worse, as this sudden influx of support, that you yourself pointed out, is only due to him being ""suppressed"" (that's the popular narrative, at least) by gw. Again, he's not the moneybags you claim he is, despite the sudden spike in support he most likely didn't expect to get.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2021/08/02 09:06:55
2021/08/02 09:10:50
Subject: If the Emperor had a Text to speech device on indefinite hiatus
There's two more editors and these are fully employed, despite your claims. That's without getting into the scriptwriters, voice actors and assorted support personnel.
Your line of argument is only making things worse, as this sudden influx of support, that you yourself pointed out, is only due to him being ""suppressed"" (that's the popular narrative, at least) by gw. Again, he's not the moneybags you claim he is, despite the sudden spike in support he most likely didn't expect to get.
Crediting people on one of his videos doesn't mean he paid them all full time, you know.
And really, you believe what you want. But it won't change the fact of the total of money he recently receive in comparison to what he used to gain before that video.
Besides, I'm not saying he's a moneybag. You think I do, but you're blinded by your emotions here. I'm just stating the facts from his patreon accounts, that's all. As for the rest and how he really paid other people helping him on his videos...well, we don't have his bills so we can't say anything for sure.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/02 09:12:43
2021/08/02 09:15:51
Subject: If the Emperor had a Text to speech device on indefinite hiatus
5000pts 
6000pts 
3000pts
