Let's set up a hypothetical scenario in which a vtuber who has 100k subs decides, on a whim, to do a collab who has someone with 1k subs. To help with suspending our disbelief, let's also assume that the latter personality made a viral Tweet or has been "blowing up" in similar fashion.
Prior to the collab, there is nothing stopping the lesser-known vtuber from doing a tell-all in their Discord or other private social media beyond word-of-mouth. If someone has only 1k subs, they likely don't have sponsorships, extensive monetization, or really anything to make them an asset instead of a liability.
It's also going to be likely that your audience doesn't have an understanding of this talent, more specifically your relationship with them. In the case of extensive dead air or an interview going poorly - let alone a proper yab - you will always come out looking worse.
A harsh reality too is that with something like streamers, you won't see the big names collabing with small names not because the big names don't want to siphon off viewers... It's more because the viewers don't want to make a switch.
So if the 100k sub channel gets the 1k sub channel to 2k subs, what does that really mean? You've now got 1000 new eyes who are 'expecting' (to use the term frivolously) that you're going to wow them in ways the 100k sub channel can't. Their attention is going to be smaller than you could fathom because the only reason they have to support you is someone telling them "Hey, check this person out!"
This is why you can't just raid a smaller channel either, because if your cronies (Kronies?) dislike the person and don't just immediately leave... Well, you're going to have to be held accountable.
It's not that indies aren't accountable, either. Plenty shill themselves to the extent that it feels like numbers are their only prerogative, and plenty more misunderstand this industry and what proper vtubing (in the eyes of the mainstream crowd) ought to look alike. So even if you're a trendsetter and way ahead of the curve, that will at best debuff you when you arrive on a larger platform, and at worst make you look entitled, like you think you're better than everyone else.
Add to that, indies oftentimes seem to have a distaste for even smallish sized groups. I'm talking Cyberlive numbers, here. The definition of "corporate vtubing" is more based in intent rather than popularity, but that only serves to accentuate their implicit bias against someone like Ironmouse. Calling it jealously isn't the answer, it's not so cut-and-dry because with the wealth of indies you're going to have lots of different perspectives on how things are done, how niches are filled, what should and shouldn't be talked about.
At the end of the day it's an issue about setting a precedent. Nobody is saying that there is a clear hierarchy of vtuber agencies, but what incentive, what GOOD could come out of someone like, for instance, Kureiji Ollie collabing with a literal who for no other reason than "to be nice?" It's noble only in the sense that some people want it, and this ambigous group of people also just so happens to include those who want to burn down all of Hololive, prop up indies who genuinely don't deserve that success, and so on. That last point is not something which can be objectively measured, since Hololive fans in particular are notorious for overinflating the worth of their oshis, so I only speak for myself when I come away watching an indie self-promoting and my first impression is "wow, I hope they don't come anywhere near the vtubers I watch." I don't say that out of disdain or pity, I think trying to move these people anywhere around on the nebulous vtubing totem pole would just lead to more problems.
>TL;DR Vtubing is a caste system, please understand.
