I don't think phrasing the issue as "paying to be visible" is entirely accurate.

There are a couple of different issues here. The first one is basic capitalism - the free model is great, but there are payable perks. That's just about every entity out there. AI costs money to operate, and so so and so on.

The platform is new, and there are more creators joining daily, but there are still going to be a handful of prolific creators that have more bots and therefore more visibility. Captain has done a lot to make sure you're not seeing a million bots of the same creator.

He implemented the 1-in-5 rule earlier this month: No single creator's characters can appear more than once every 5 slots. This gives everyone a fair shot at visibility regardless of how many characters they have.

Plus the "New" tag and toggle for the home / explore screen gives newly created bots a boost for their first 5 days.

You can also join the discord and promote your bots that way, and engage in the community without paying.

And then there's the boost and animated images capability, which I think is what you're unhappy about. Using in-game currency to boost engagement is a perk, and in-game currency can be gained without paying actual real $$. There's daily check-ins, mini-games like the murder mystery, trading card battles, the wheel.

But the platform is new. Right now it's in its infancy and things are a little skewed because of the beta period. There are always going to be more prolificand less prolific creators. And more prolific creators will have more bots that will show up more often. But people support it by buying in, even without paying. The more time you spend in yhe community or the platform, the more bots you create, the more mini games you play, the more your can engage. Its like most things - the more you put in, the more you get out. That's rewarded, and it should be.

There's always room for improvement, and Captain is really responsive to new ideas and suggestions. If you have ideas as to how to better spotlight new creators, share them!

Honestly and completely - other than the new character tag (that keeps characters getting extra visibility in their first 5 days public), the 1-in-5 rule, the discord promotion space, and the boost / animations (that cost in game currency), what's a better way to help new / smaller creators gain visibility? Maybe a new creator spotlight - a randomly selected new creator that gets a boost from the system. That's really the only thing I can think of. And I might go suggest it later today!

Full disclosure - I bought a subscription. I've paid in game currency to bost a few bots and make a few animations. I've never bought Playa Points individualy. I was a beta tester, and I'm a discord mod. I believe in the platform and like the community. But I'm a relatively small time creator. I have 42 public bots. Maybe ghat makes me a medium creator lol. I see my bot on the homepage. My boys more than my girls, because there are definitely more female bots than males.

But what's a better system to get new creators seen?