Thanks for the great analysis @tarazkp. I am one of those who are on the whitelist but have yet to use OCDB yet. I can see what @acidyo is trying to do, to support quality content creators which is a great thing particularly given the current environment.
So far I've resisted as I really want to 'make it' myself, and it's becoming a real struggle for me in the past months. I honestly don't know how much longer I can hold out, as the fallback temptation is become stronger and stronger every day ...
I know this feeling well.
It is very difficult at the moment which is the point of the bot. those who are using it are generally still here, growing and hopefully building for their future. eventually, the bots will disappear but unfortunately, not yet.