>>94150046I appreciate you responding in good faith.
>I didn't buy her acting all coy and shy, all "oops I didn't know this (re)debut would be so popular! Tee hee!" and shit, she's a veteran streamer for many years now.It's not necessarily easy to gauge who is there for you and who is there for Hololive. Reinventing your online presence is always going to come with the risk of losing your audience. Rebranding is not nearly as predictable as you seem to think it is and it could have gone awry very easily. She was also trying to express humility and gratitude.
If you choose not to take her at face value then that's your prerogative, all I know is I've lost nothing by giving her the benefit of the doubt.
>She kept stressing how the plushie was very limited and artificially created FOMOAgain, rebranding is always a risk. It was smarter to not overestimate the demand. The plushie isn't a limited run btw, they're being made to order so now no need to fear missing out.
>For one, her stream was a carbon copy of her corpo self, down to the intro music, font choices, etc. (i.e., she's barely trying to hide who she was),I don't see why this is an issue. It's her, she doesn't have to hide that shit. It's what people want to see from her. Fauna was especially not very deep into kayfabe.
>so "muh imposter syndrome" is bullshit.That logically doesn't follow from the rest of your paragraph. These are two unrelated points.
>Trying to justify the costIt's a large plushie and the cost is justified.
>OK greatI'm glad you agree? Why bring it up?
>we literally just got to know what your chibi model looked like, so why would I want to spend $60 + shipping on a physical representation already?Because people like her and want to show their appreciation. People know who she is, want to support her and want a plushie of her new character. Vtubers release merch for new outfits, typically advertised right after their reveal -- is there much difference? Again, you're also not forced or expected to purchase anything if you don't want to.
>Pulling it out on debut is questionable, greedy at bestThis seems totally arbitrary to me. I'd rather her sell merch than accept sponsors. I'd rather she sell me something than sell me to a brand. Merch is a way to directly support her and is much preferable to ads. She has to monetize somehow, and if she can make good money in a way that doesn't compromise her creative vision then why shouldn't she do it? At least people actually get something out of this.
>I won't be swayed by such tacticsI want to give you shit but I can't. I get it, content creators and influencer culture is full of sleazy monetization and it sucks being marketed to. Your apprehension is justified. I personally find that merch is a way better option than alternatives like affiliate marketing or brand deals which threaten creative integrity. It's opt in instead of opt out, and it's less of a guilt trip than depending entirely on donations.
No monetization scheme is perfect but this is definitely one of the better options by far.
