mutantdonut said:
Do cam scores affect how well a model is doing, or how well a model is doing affects the cam score? I guess it's a chicken and the egg question.
Seems like particular brand spankin' new models are instantaneous hits and draw in large numbers right off the bat, while other new models struggle. It's not like the struggling models are any less attractive or have piss poor cam quality either. I'm trying to understand that dynamic.
To the first question, initially it's the latter, eventually it's both. When new models start, they're not dependent on camscore because they start with the same camscore as every other new model (1000) and also have a "new model" icon above their name. For whatever reason, that "new model" icon attracts members to the model's room that might otherwise not have visited them and gives the model a small window of opportunity to make a few regulars right off the bat. Once the "new model" status expires (I think it expires after ten hours of camming but aren't certain), a model is then dependent on her cam score.
If she's attracted enough tipping members during her time as a "new model", then her camscore will have risen and she'll find herself with a higher placement on the homepage. The closer a model is to the top of the page (ideally the first page), the higher her room count will be by virtue of most members not venturing beyond the first page of models, having accepted the conventional wisdom that the "cream rises to the top" and the best models occupy the top rows of the homepage (even if that's not strictly true and many of the "best" models can be found further on down the page). The higher the room count, the more customers the model has to potentially convert into paying customers, and the more paying customers a model has, the more money she is likely to make.
Conversely, if a model didn't make much money or attract many regulars during her first ten hours of camming, her camscore will have dropped. The lower the camscore, the further down the page the model will find herself. At that point, she will have less traffic and have a harder time making money. That's not to say that she's completely fucked because of her low camscore. Many models have gone from a sub-1000 camscore to a high-thousands camscore (I'm fairly certain some of them post here), but it's an uphill battle. This is why camscore matters.
Rating and admiring is no substitute for tipping and really has no effect outside of maybe making a model feel good about herself if she has a lot of "admires" and a 5* rating. It has no effect on camscore or a model's earnings.
As to why some new models do better than others, there are myriad reasons, yo. The reasons you mention (looks and cam quality) are part of it, but there are so many other variables...
Personality - Is the model happy? Fun? Bubbly? Smart? Enthusiastic? Bitchy? Demanding? Is she a domme? A sub? Competitive? Relaxed? Does she drink? Smoke? Is she high right now? Does she get angry easily? Does she take things personally? How does she deal will trolls?
Vibe - What's the vibe of her room? Is she laid back or manic? Does she have a niche? Is she doing anything that other cam girls aren't? Does she play games? Does she even have a room topic? Does she talk to the room, or just type? Where's she camming from? A colourful bedroom? A dank basement? A studio? Outside? Is she playing music? Is it good music? Terrible music? Is she sat in silence? Are their animals roaming around? Does she have a TV on in the background? Is she paying attention to the TV or the room?
Content - What kinds of shows/services is she offering? Is she nude or non-nude? Are her countdowns realistic? Are they countdowns for things that members want to see? Does she even have a countdown? Is she already naked and hoping members will tip anyway? Does she have videos for sale? Pic sets? Does she offer privates? What does she do in private? Does she have any hard limits? What fetishes does she cater to? Does she sell her panties? Her phone number? Does she run raffles and competitions?
Brand - Does she have an online presence outside of camming? Has she cammed before? Was she working on another site and is now bringing her existing fanbase over to MFC? Has she done porn? Modelling? Does she blog? Is she on Twitter? How many followers does she have? Does she talk to members off cam? Is she accessible? Is she known to many people? Is she a minor celebrity?
Hours - Is she camming enough? Is she camming too much? Is she camming at the right times? Is she camming once a day? Twice a day? Three times a day? Is she camming at the weekends? During the week? Evenings? Mornings? If she's camming outside of America, is she choosing hours that take advantage of the American clientele? Does she need to?
Luck - Is she lucky? Unlucky? Did she have a member walk into her room on day one and decide that she was the model he wants to spend all his tokens on? Did a whale tipper chance upon her room right before her "new model" status expired and single-handedly tip her enough tokens to raise her camscore by 5000 points? Did she do everything right and still not have the right members find her room at the right time? Did she do everything wrong but still chance upon a group of patient and understanding regulars?
The length of this post may or may not be indicative of how bored I currently am :-D