Over the past couple of days, I’ve looked around the secondary market and thought a lot about the royalty disputes. I can’t help but feel something. Originally, the creator economy was one of the most warm-hearted parts of Web3—but now it has turned into this cold, back-and-forth over whether to “cancel royalties.”

I really understand the project teams’ cost pressure, and I also understand traders wanting to save a bit on slippage. But it just feels like everyone is fighting over the meat in front of them, forgetting who brought the meat to the table in the first place. Artists and content creators are the most easily overlooked link in the ecosystem, yet also the most irreplaceable one. Without them, where would the traffic and stories on the chain come from?

You might say that testnet incentives and points expectations make everyone swarm to calculate “whether the mainnet will issue tokens.” In reality, it’s also a bet on short-term returns. But to be honest, a creator community propped up by royalties tends to be more resilient, and it also feels more human. I’d rather things move slower—I don’t want to see creators ultimately end up running to exchanges.

Forget it—maybe I’m just too idealistic. But someone has to leave a little room for gentle things.