You're marketing an image, so the room should fit with the overall image you're selling. I have seen models on Chaturbate make good money with filthy rooms, messy clothes, poor lighting, etc. BUT, that look is actually part of their brand - it fits with their theme of being informal, down-to-Earth, maybe sarcastic or tell-it-like it is. They get a loyal following because they seem REAL.
The problem is when a model projects a high-class, expensive, "clean" kind of image, and then her room is a total dump, the lighting is poor, etc. Or the other way around. When there is discord between her online persona, and her set. It just looks like she doesn't have her act together. So I would say, keep it simple, and don't overspend. Few people really need top equipment I think to earn good money, if their show/look is offering something unique. Before I started, I did a week's worth of test shots, with different sets, different lighting and camera color settings, different angles, and then compared the videos I shot of each to see which one I thought fit my intended brand the best. One persona I have is high-class, expensive, sweet and happy. The set and lighting fit that accordingly. I have another online persona with a different account, who is a much more tawdry and seedy character. I made her set cheap and rather ugly looking, just basic, with poor lighting. Both accounts made the same amount of money in the same time period. But this was a Chaturbate experiment, and possibly does not translate to other cam sites. But I do watch other people's shows and I notice that customers will complain if things don't look/sound right for what they are expecting of that particular model. That can be a great time of course to ask for tips for new equipment. If you can write something in a bio or on the page (I don't know how MFC works) you can say you are specifically trying to raise money today (or this week, whatever) for a new set/cam equipment. You might want to be vague on the details though, so they don't look up exactly how much you need - up to you. It might encourage a lot of tips, and then they feel good to see the room or lighting or frame speed change in the next month. Probably, you'll make more money than you needed, and so can pocket the rest, and the customers who paid feel more committed, like they are part of your success. I say, no need to put money out of your own pocket into something you don't even know will work. Get someone else to pay for it, and then you don't risk too much if the income doesn't change much. Then it costs you nothing to change sets again in future, while you search for the right fit for you. As long as what you're doing is bringing in a bare minimum of income to start with.
Or, you could just NOT change the set and play up a sad story that you're being evicted if you don't find the money for rent this month, or you just moved and that's why the boxes are there but you don't have money for a nice set now, etc.... Use what you got. Sometimes ugly and pitiful rooms make really good money. It's about selling the right story to go with the image. You could do something totally fun and light and say you're having a yard sale, feature your boxes and old crap in your show as a joke, talking about how you need to sell these to pay for school or whatever. Might make for good conversation on nostalgia items, lets customers get emotionally attached to you, and encourages the tips. All the better if you work with a separate site that allows you to sell physical items, and can name it on MFC. Then they can buy the old board game you rubbed you ass on in your show, or whatever, lol! But of course only do that through a safe 3rd party site, not one where customers can figure out your real name and address.
So I can't say it doesn't matter, because I don't know MFC. But on Chaturbate, it doesn't matter. What matters is that the persona you are selling, and your physical camming space, are in alignment to further the fantasy that customers are buying when they tip you. That can be ugly room and poor lighting/audio, or top equipment and expensive looking room with great lighting, or whatever in between. And if they don't match up but you already have some online presence, it makes sense to use that as a storyline for more tips, to buy the new stuff with.
