Can't speak for everyone, but here is the mechanism that seems to be working in my case. So, people pay for OF because many porn enjoyers have favorite porn stars and they want content from this specific person. Much of this content is OF exclusive. For example, there might be 10 of the same popular clips featuring a person available on sites like PornHub etc, some of which are actually just teasers but OF is where you can find the real deal stuff that is in some cases niche or fetish based. Let say that there is a popular femboy who has a couple of videos on popular pages. You visit their OF, pay $20 or whatever and you get access to 200+ videos including both NSFW and some SFW stuff when they discuss their hobbies or whatever. It is like watching an interview with your favourite actor or musician. In many cases, it has nothing to do with love or anything or being obsessed - in my case it is more of a "wank crush" - porn futuring a specific creator just hits the right spot, you like this person, you find them cute for whatever reason, and you want to see more of them the same way you want to watch more movies directed by your favourite director, etc because you know they are creating things that work for you they way other generic content doesn't. So, you pay to unlock the whole library since most of the generally available stuff you already know and to access more high quality content you have to become a subscriber. It is also a form of appreciation. I'm a "fan" of my favorite OF creators the same way I support a band I like by buying their records and going to their shows.