The problem is these restrictions are demanded by paypal and other payment processors. Creating a new platform without agreeing to this censorship means said processors will refuse to work with you. And it's a simple fact of the market that most people, if they encounter a site that won't let them make a payment in the usual way, will simply not bother rather than work out a compatible payment method. This is the basic idea behind subscribestar: We'll make a censorship-free platform for porn artists, and just accept the cost of turning away many customers due to not having the payment processor they're used to. (And in some countries it's literally not possible to use the alternatives that Substar accepts legally.) Though I do think it would be better for such a platform to be controlled by the artists directly in a sort of worker-owned cooperative rather than by a corporation.
Zorlun could have abandoned patreon to go substar-only instead but that would have required leaving a huge portion of his income on the table, most of his patreon patrons would simply stop subscribing rather than switch over to substar.
(And you could say, "well, why don't we start our own payment processor" but that's a lot harder than it sounds, national governments take anything that facilitates the international transfer of money *dead* seriously and operating everywhere means you have to give in to the contradictory demands of a hundred different states. And you still run into the problem substar does where most people will simply refuse to use your service rather than use anything other than paypal.)
Thanks for clearing that up. It seems Subscribestar is the best of a crazy sitch. I can imagine how frustrating it is for you guys because just reading about the madness frustrates me. I appreciate yours, Zorlun's and all the other honorable artists and creators out there. I will give my support monetarily when I can and moral support always. Thanks again for your honesty and patience.
