Honestly that’s so real. I remember I started reading manga when I was like 5 years old. How the fck was I supposed to buy chapters? And the library’s selection was dogshit in the little town I was in. Not to mention, there were a ton of stories that didn’t have English translations. I was never a part of the market in the first place. I’m a broke college student, so don’t add me into you “profit loss” statistics.
Deadass bro
Mangago is very user friendly but I earns money off of ads. The scanlator only uploads to sites where no one earns revenue. It feels pretty shit to work for free and have someone else get money from it when you haven’t allowed an upload on that platform or uploaded yourself.
Think of it think way. You go out of your way to create something that you love that you want to make free for the world because you believe art should be accessible. Someone goes ahead and reposts it on an ad-junk website and makes money off of your hard work. Maybe they even make AI slop and sell it as fan merch. Does the thing not fuck with you. It’s not a hardship to view this on other platforms.
It doesnt bug me in the slightest and I'll keep using Mangago. I have hundreds of works bookmarked and saved here. You're also the same way you've been an active user since 2021 (i looked at your profile btw i swear I'm not a weirdo). Why would I leave when I have everything I want right here? There's no pop up ads and i don't see ads unless I don't the website for 24+ hours. To which i can just easily tap off and sign in then click the back button back to where i was. I'm also not arguing that a translator doesn't get to choose where their work should and shouldn't go. Its their choice. I also think its fucked to remove someone's credits and pass it off as your own. I said that at the beginning of og post that its fucked up to be doing that. Everyone's already stealing we gotta at least have some integrity and acknowledge when a work isn't our own. That's like scribbling the Vincent Van Gogh's name off of "Starry Night". All the value of the work put into it is lost. But being mad at another thief for making money off of a stolen necklace when you also just stole a bracelet is odd. Like bro. You didn't borrow it, you don't plan to give it back, you're in the same boat. Its like arguing that a thumb isn't a finger. Like we get it you aren't "the same" but you're still most definitely a finger.
Its like saying "I stole a book from the book store because I believe everyone deserves to read this book for free, and made 100's-1000's of counterfeits that I gave away for free." That's technically money the author could have made but didn't. Money that I theoretically could've given them (and I'll be straight up unless I can sit down inside a Barnes and Nobles to a read a book before buying, I wouldn't have bought it to begin with) but I didn't because I pirated it.
Now I do digress I appreciate their work and I'm thankful they're translating. Its the moral superiority that they're a thief for free that I'm bugged by.
"I'm not like them! I stole that bracelet but I'm just gonna wear it! That makes me different." Its frivolous at best because now you can't even argue the person who took it is doing it to put bread on the table. They're doing it for the love of the game, which is honestly valid btw. But still. How does that make them different?
"Oh woe is me that I stole a work and now some other guy did tOo. BUT HE MAKES MONEY! OH THE HORROR! How could this be! The internet should have standards! STANDARDS I SAY!" It's that mentality that bugs me. Now I would say that an AI stealing someone's art is completely fucked up, and i hate that AI exists the way it does.
Back to moral superiority I wanna say that due to the lack of ability access asian works I don't feel bad when someone's work gets pirated. I don't want this to come across as though I think I'm better then what I'm complaining about, because I'm not. I'm actively reading stolen work and enjoying the fruits of other's labor. I don't have feasible access to a lot of works, and I don't want to spend 100$+ to read something. So I appreciate everyone's hard work its just being upset about Mangago being...well Mangago that bugs me.
Cool then don’t read it? I’m also fine reading here. I’m willing to read where the scanlator is willing to share. If you dislike how they do things, then don’t read the work lol. They drew a line in the sand about their work being distributed in a way they did not like. You’ve taken it as them being morally superior. I don’t think it is that, but if it’s how you see things there’s no point in me trying to tell you otherwise.
How much of this is about them not wanting stuff here and how much of this is about you thinking you’re being told they’re morally superior for sticking to the places they want stuff to be at lol. Your long winding rant is mostly about how you feel bad.
I understand why people would get upset about your work getting stolen. All that hard work just to get your credits erased that's a shitty fuckin move. But what I don't understand is people having beef with Mangago in particular. Of all the pirating sites I've used, this is one of the most user friendly (and I used to use KissManga if anyone rememebers that site). Its also not ad aggressive. The only time you get ads is by not logging in. So what in particular is the problem? Servers cost money and like, what is the problem with the website making money?
If it was about the author not making money, well fuck dude, neither is the creator. If the viewers are reading it anywhere thats not the official site, they probably were never going to pay for a chapter. Plus most Korean and Chinese manhwa/manhua are impossible to buy, or ridiculously expensive. (Each chapter being 2-5$ is ridiculous. 100-250$ for 50 chapters? I can't afford that bro my electricity bill cost that much. If really I like a story ill typically go out and buy the set after saving up. I went out of my way to buy the Taiwanese version of Mo Dao Zu Shi cause it was all that I could get my hands on at the time) You've got no tho excuses if you're here reading a Webtoon comic when its free there too (most of the time). Basically before I get further lost in the sauce what I'm getting at, is what's the point of caring about the difference between Mangadex v. Mangago? Is it moral superiority thing cause they justify it by saying "Well at least my site isnt profiting!"? Well newsflash bro neither is the author. We're all in the same shit sandwich. Just cause your shit is green and mine is brown doesnt make it less of what is. A big pile of doodoo