The shift towards pay to play
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The shift towards pay to play
Creating strong community boundaries has never been more essential than it is today.
Rosie Sherry
Mar 27, 2026<br>5 min read
The evolution of sustainable communities is coming. For some of us, it is already happening.<br>In the MoTaverse, we've been going through a long transition, one iteration after another, trying to figure out who we want to be...and importantly maintaining sustainability.<br>True to our hearts is sustainability, but that's not the only thing either. Without sounding cheesy, it's never been so important for us to be authentic and enjoy the work. To have both belief and real joy in what we are co-creating.<br>It's a tough nut to crack! And I'm not saying that we have, but oh boy, I've never felt such optimism.<br>To get here has required real challenges and lots of change. It turns out running a business is hard. Really, it's been a bit like building community through 1000 different iterations.<br>The snowball effect that people talk about? That's a real thing. It can feel relentless and pointless at times, but when you look back, you can really see the progress that has been made.<br>The need for change is not unique to community builders. I believe pretty much every industry is finding the need to adapt. We can feel like we have no choice but to follow the crowd, but I don't think that has to be the case. Wherever there is change, there are also opportunities to innovate. That's what I'm holding onto.<br>Here are my observations around the idea of paying to play in community. None of this is theory. This is all based on actual experience. My own, which may not apply to you, but it's all a true story. 😊<br>💡<br>Pay to play in community means there being a monetary transaction to participate within a community.
Paying to play is not to be confused with being a paid community . It is part of an overall strategy to pursue a sustainable business model, it doesn't have to be revenue stream. I've previously stated that I don't like the term paid community, there are many reasons, but largely it's because it puts the emphasis on defining a community around the idea of having to pay to gain access. We don't say businesses are 'paid businesses', as such we shouldn't define communities in that way. The reality is that over time communities will adapt to how they operate, and as part of this business and revenue models will change. Communities should be defined by the value they create, not how they make money today.<br>Pay to play creates sustainability . Communities have long struggled to generate revenue. Doubling down on the simple act of needing to pay to play makes it easier to communicate the intentions to the members. It also makes it easier to make internal decisions about how and what to do as part of the community.<br>Pay to play doesn't mean everything is behind a community wall . We can have open content too. The reality is that all communities will choose how they want to operate. Lack of community tooling has meant that most communities are either completely open, or completely closed. Freemium communities are currently rare and traditionally the have been hard to find sustainability. In the MoTaverse, some content is open, other parts are behind a wall, then there are other aspects like courses that we create that become part of the membership.<br>Pay to play will shock your members. At first, they might not understand it, and that's ok. They'll wonder what's in it for them. Whether the transaction has been worth it. Done well, and through experience, they'll start to get it. They will start to notice what good communities can look like. When communities are supported by their people then they can be built to truly support and accommodate them. When things are free, and when money comes from different buckets, communities are forced to make compromises, often not for the best outcomes.<br>Pay to play changes the game . We don't need to play the social media game. We can create rules that work for us. We can care about engagement, but not let it be what we are measured by. For example, in the MoTaverse, we opted to choose to see every interaction as a learning opportunity. Our goal is to help people learn and grow, engagement is a natural part of that, but just one of many parts.<br>Pay to play is a moderation tactic . The community web is truly enshittified, so much so that we've seemed to be unable to imagine other ways of creating them. Communities need to protect themselves. A payment barrier is great for this. It's wild that the world is in such a place that it feels like we're truly protecting ourselves from the bots.<br>Pay to play enables community teams to focus on the work. Community teams have grown accustomed to constantly putting out fires and engaging in work that doesn't bring joy. Instead of spending time creating value, they get bogged down with work that doesn't go places.<br>Pay to play is a...