Real question - is this site going to be okay?

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Yoksven

I've been looking into the whole "Visa, Mastercard blocking payments for adult content" situation, which is as far as I know the reason why you can't buy even a gold account these days. But considering that the usage of the site keeps going up (based on the fact that we are getting new "get"s faster and faster), and there is no way to support it monetarily, and also rumors of hosting and storage costs going up because of all the data centers (a preservation site for rare and obscure games, Myrient, is going to shut down due to this). All of this kinda makes me think, is Danbooru doing okay and will it keep doing okay? I see people describing the payment problem through the lens of the user, how they now have to contribute to get to builder to get an account upgrade (or pray for lottery), but while uploading is good and helps the site grow, it doesn't give Danbooru any money. It's supports it in terms of creating activity and increasing activity is good on a surface, but can Danbooru keep paying for itself? And if yes, then for how long? If the number of users keeps increasing and the payment situation continues to be as bad as it is, is Danbooru going to be okay?

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trapster77

Yoksven said in forum #424174:

I've been looking into the whole "Visa, Mastercard blocking payments for adult content" situation, which is as far as I know the reason why you can't buy even a gold account these days. But considering that the usage of the site keeps going up (based on the fact that we are getting new "get"s faster and faster), and there is no way to support it monetarily, and also rumors of hosting and storage costs going up because of all the data centers (a preservation site for rare and obscure games, Myrient, is going to shut down due to this). All of this kinda makes me think, is Danbooru doing okay and will it keep doing okay? I see people describing the payment problem through the lens of the user, how they now have to contribute to get to builder to get an account upgrade (or pray for lottery), but while uploading is good and helps the site grow, it doesn't give Danbooru any money. It's supports it in terms of creating activity and increasing activity is good on a surface, but can Danbooru keep paying for itself? And if yes, then for how long? If the number of users keeps increasing and the payment situation continues to be as bad as it is, is Danbooru going to be okay?

no. it's over. danbooru is going to die. gelbooru is going to die. rule34 is going to die. sankaku is going to die. ehg is going to die (for the third or fourth time). twitter is going to die. reddit is going to die. discord is going to die. 4chan is going to die. tiktok is going to die. the entire anime industry is on the brink of collapse due to talent shortage. in fact, the whole planet is about to burst in in flames and then get flooded before the nuclear winter starts.

start upping your rare anime pics while we're all still alive or else you'll regret it!

Yoksven

I see. So it might be impossible to have a normal conversation around these parts. Wasn't aware. But anyway.

In my research of the payment problem, I've encountered the fact that EU suddenly decided to have an EU based payment processor, that is completely separate from Visa or Mastercard or anything else. And mad lads actually did it and launched it in 2024-2025 under different names across different EU countries. The main name for it is Wero, but you can read the wiki article for all the other names. I don't know what the adult content situation is there, but... maybe? It's currently only available in specific countries and specific banks, but it is actually fully separate from Visa, Mastercard and the rest.

Yoksven

I'm also a little bit puzzled by the lack of crypto payment options. Not that I'm pro-crypto, but the fact that it isn't there when there aren't any better options makes me think that maybe things aren't too bad. I know the clown up there took what i said as a doom post, but I'm actually asking "is it going to be okay" without any specific expectation. Maybe it is going to be okay and maybe it can just keep chugging along for years to come. I just don't know, but I would like to.

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