Lots of good points here Douglas. To make a long story short, I saw the zero earnings for engagements last week and opened a support ticket before I saw the articles about it and the articles about Scott Lamb's deaf public relations blog, and then the ones about Tony's poor communication. Lamb did reply to a few writers. I considered pausing publishing or leaving. I decided to do neither. I decided to start publishing not paywalled stories, as with no expectation of earning, I couldn't get aggravated. I remembered that when I came here I hadn't heard of MPP, and that I had lost sight of why I did come here. If they rectify the payment issues I will probably start paywalling again because unfortunately the aggregate $120 a month I've been earning does make a difference to my current finances, but in writing my first not paywalled essay I reminded myself of why I ended up writing here in the first place, and that I don't identify as a writer, nor as a hobbyist, but as someone who thinks and feels and happens to write well and wants to share and of the thrill of the one comment that says I touched or helped someone. I talk about all that, and how I reached my decision, and more in that first not paywalled essay if anyone wants to read it, https://medium.com/write-under-the-moon/navigating-towards-acceptance-of-and-coping-with-the-unacceptable-in-the-mediumverse-fe62c96e7061 subtitled "Together with thoughts on time, the dual nature of humans as material and spirit, and reincarnation."