What exactly is this "adopt" thing?

[Mambi]

So, put another way, there's obviously something I'm missing. As it stands the whole idea of this "adopt" thing is opaque to me and I don't understand the philosophy or intention behind it on the part of the buyer or seller (well, getting some money is an obvious benefit, but besides that). Could anyone please try and clear this up for me? Thanks.

I think I can make it easy for you: "It's marketing."
It's a fancy flowery way of saying "If you give me money, I will draw this character to YOUR specifications and give you a copy. This sample image shows how good I am."

Calling it "adoption" just makes it feel more personal. Like it's a character you're taking care of or something, like a tamagotchi pet. Like it's your personal character.

But in reality? You paid someone to draw something for you, and possibly reserved the right to have more things drawn for you for more money later on. Perfectly legit and fine of course, but that's all that "adoption" is in this case. Thinking of it in any other terms just means you fell for a commercial's jingle.

 

[ElectroslimeArt]

not all furries are artists or wish to be artists. These furs just end up having the money and the means to buy whatever designs they like and many of these characters go on to be used in rps, stories and are, for the most part, intended to be turned into personal ocs for the buyer to use in order to enjoy being more involved the fandom just like artists. Adoptable Market, from my understanding, has almost always been directed at non-artists who want ocs but don't have the skills or desire to create them.

 

[LittleCoyoteeJeez]

This was a headache to read.
What is the reason for anything? Why do anything? I mean why not. It makes people happy. That's why. You can ask the question why/what's the point to anything.

 

[Librho]

I’m an adopt creator! This thread has given me some great perspective so thanks for proposing the question.
My answer about creators creating would be something like this;

I create canine characters from scratch exclusively at the moment, I’ve been doing so for almost 2 months, it started as a style experiment, I didn’t need to keep the design I made in the process so I offered it up, it was bought quickly so I kept offering up the designs I was making. once I had the style i wanted to achieve established I thought I should keep going and see how much time i could knock out of the process of initial thoughts, plan of action and how quickly I could fully render a fullbody canine with added details like wings, horns, heads, limbs, etc. I’ve managed to knock off 40-60 minutes from my process, not to mention the huge skill increase. I’m not even using references anymore. The designs are still being bought too! If anything now my style and anatomy is 100% more consistent, more people are interested in the designs I’ve been making as a hobby, a mental challenge, designing a canine every other day for 2 months and I’ve still got imagination left is crazy.

tl;dr I make characters to challenge my imagination and skill, making spare cash is just a bonus, when I feel I’m consistent enough and ready to communicate more with clients I hope to move to commission work

as for why buyers buy:

Some buyers buy adopts for the artists style or notoriety, saying you own something created by a huge artist and people know who you’re talking about makes people feel special.
Some buyers are short on time but would like a new OC they can make their familiar.
Some buyers may buy blank slated adopts from small artists as investments, writing backstory here and there and drawing art, then selling them off at a later date for a little more.
Some buyers are scouting for artists and characters for their longterm project like a show, story or game.
Some buyers are just casual collectors who liked having imaginary friends when they were smaller and adopts are a way to comfort their inner child.
Some buyers just want a pet but for whatever reason a real world one isn’t an option.

as for what people do with their adopts, some people like to give them a personality or backstory, usually these can get quite personal, the character may act as the persons ideal friend, what they wished they were like, a pet they can 100% understand, basically it’s a super good outlet for the self to realise what it wants or needs. Now the character feels like living flesh and blood to their owner, so the owner commissions a portrait since they can’t just take a photo, they’ll commission stories about their character since the character is a 3D concept at this point that the owner doesn’t just imagine only lives inside their head, it has its own adventures away from home. I could go on but I think I’m just rambling now haha

Theres so many reasons, and it’s okay to not get why adopts are a thing, I just hope adoptable artists aren’t seen as the lowest of the lows artists because ‘adopts are quick, easy money’ I assure they’re not lmao

 

[Jackpot Raccuki]

I've never saw a reason for adopts personally speaking, or at least in the view of a 'buyer', but obviously some may be far more likely to buy them than me, which obviously means I won't be the target audience but I guess it gives a view of what others may think.

Personally I tend to view adopts as lazy, not entirely on the artist unless you're deadass using the same base like 16 same base 'wolf' designs but with different colours. Not even anything unique like a cosmetic say an eyepatch. If you make a adopts that are different species and isn't exactly the same as one of same species (aka same base) then I can respect that more, I can imagine if I knew how to draw I'd make characters I have no attachment to but would sell as adopts, especially to learn more on anatomy.

But more lazy as in, why? Surely people can create a character they like and even describe it to an artist, I know visual reference is better, but still.
I don't expect people to be like some people who can genuinely create an entire interesting character on the spot within 5 minutes, but I never saw a reason for adopts.
I'd compare it to YCHs, but truthfully YCHs can be like a discount commission at times, and more so tend to be unique than a few stereotypical adopts I've seen. Although I've seen a few really good adopts that make me wonder how I didn't think of something similar.

But like I said, I'm not the target audience, if I want a character I can make the ideas and how they'd look, maybe draw a rough idea at most but likely write a description and hand it to an artist and pay. And some adopts are actually nice, I just have a few gripes with some at times.

 

[Foxridley]

I’m an adopt creator! This thread has given me some great perspective so thanks for proposing the question.
My answer about creators creating would be something like this;

I create canine characters from scratch exclusively at the moment, I’ve been doing so for almost 2 months, it started as a style experiment, I didn’t need to keep the design I made in the process so I offered it up, it was bought quickly so I kept offering up the designs I was making. once I had the style i wanted to achieve established I thought I should keep going and see how much time i could knock out of the process of initial thoughts, plan of action and how quickly I could fully render a fullbody canine with added details like wings, horns, heads, limbs, etc. I’ve managed to knock off 40-60 minutes from my process, not to mention the huge skill increase. I’m not even using references anymore. The designs are still being bought too! If anything now my style and anatomy is 100% more consistent, more people are interested in the designs I’ve been making as a hobby, a mental challenge, designing a canine every other day for 2 months and I’ve still got imagination left is crazy.

tl;dr I make characters to challenge my imagination and skill, making spare cash is just a bonus, when I feel I’m consistent enough and ready to communicate more with clients I hope to move to commission work

as for why buyers buy:

Some buyers buy adopts for the artists style or notoriety, saying you own something created by a huge artist and people know who you’re talking about makes people feel special.
Some buyers are short on time but would like a new OC they can make their familiar.
Some buyers may buy blank slated adopts from small artists as investments, writing backstory here and there and drawing art, then selling them off at a later date for a little more.
Some buyers are scouting for artists and characters for their longterm project like a show, story or game.
Some buyers are just casual collectors who liked having imaginary friends when they were smaller and adopts are a way to comfort their inner child.
Some buyers just want a pet but for whatever reason a real world one isn’t an option.

as for what people do with their adopts, some people like to give them a personality or backstory, usually these can get quite personal, the character may act as the persons ideal friend, what they wished they were like, a pet they can 100% understand, basically it’s a super good outlet for the self to realise what it wants or needs. Now the character feels like living flesh and blood to their owner, so the owner commissions a portrait since they can’t just take a photo, they’ll commission stories about their character since the character is a 3D concept at this point that the owner doesn’t just imagine only lives inside their head, it has its own adventures away from home. I could go on but I think I’m just rambling now haha

Theres so many reasons, and it’s okay to not get why adopts are a thing, I just hope adoptable artists aren’t seen as the lowest of the lows artists because ‘adopts are quick, easy money’ I assure they’re not lmao

I think one person, who buys a lot of adopts, said they use them as background characters in stories/comics etc.