HOME | DD

Nylten — What Has dA Become?

Published: 2015-01-27 09:28:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 11291; Favourites: 425; Downloads: 23
Redirect to original
Description It's 1 in the morning and I'm tired as hell, but I REALLY wanted to get this picture finished. 

Alright, as a lot of you have seen, dA has made quite a bit of drastic changes over the course of three months.

The kickstarter was the change of the overall logo (which, by the way, is actually stolen from a Russian website called Platzkart [platzkart.ru/] ). Not only did it confuse a lot of members with the appearance of the Z (for Zeviantart?), but it took away the whole authentic feel to the entire site. If you were to look back on Deviantart's logo history, you would see that it remained pretty consistent. Plus, people would take one glance at it and automatically know what the site was. Today, it just doesn't feel right. 

Moving on to the most recent change that made just about every member I've seen snap: The removal of webcams. dA claims that the widget has lost its initial value and those who want to keep that feature were to purchase the Premium Membership. Before the lot of you get on your high horses, I've seen the pros and the cons to this. The Pros include that dA is trying to be progressive, taking away this function allows the site to earn even more money through its users' premium purchases, it takes away some sexual-themed/suggestive content away from the profile pages of users, and it condenses any extremely long profiles (you know, the ones that you REALLY have to scroll down through). The cons include that nobody AT ALL was expecting this, it really impacted negatively to both Premium members and Free-Use members, it lowered the site's reputation for making this choice a reason for an easy cash-grab, it creates an image of "the rich and the poor", and the lack of reaction from dA after a good majority of user outbursts helps confirm these cons, which makes people even angrier. 

Third and finally, news has surfaced recently that people could actually get suspended from having inappropriate content in their Sta.sh. Whatever happened to privacy?

Many times, dA would ask for feedback from its users whenever there were site changes. A lot of the time, the comments seem to go unread and the only positive feedback the staff pay attention to are usually the bug reports. What about us Beta Testers? Our job is to basically inform dA of any bugs or to test out something in particular (like the new site format before it became official). We basically test out new things that are on the way, but are left out of any decision making that could particularly impact the community like the new dA logo and the removal of Webcams. The more I've though about this, the more soupy my brain became. So I went back to look at the terms and conditions and I came to realize why a good majority of users seem to be entirely ignored by the staff:

This Service is provided by DeviantArt on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis and DeviantArt reserves the right to modify, suspend or discontinue the Service, in its sole discretion, at any time and without notice. You agree that DeviantArt is and will not be liable to you for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Service.

Translation: You will roll with whatever changes come to dA, no matter how much you dislike it or not. 

This was stated in the very beginning of our agreement to becoming a member of Deviantart and we AGREED to that. We AGREED to not whine, complain, or rant about any changes because if we did, it would automatically be ignored. That's why we all feel like we haven't been heard by the staff. The evidence is right there in the Terms and Services, the very thing we didn't bother to read and instead checked off hastily so that we could get on with it and set up our accounts. 

My personal opinion: The way things have been made out to be as of late, it almost feel like this website has become a dysfunctional hierarchy. We have the staff, volunteers, the senior members, premiums till hell freezes over, premiums, and the free-users. Basically, it's just the staff and volunteers that make all the decision-making and such while the others are just plain users, though some are more respected than others. But there is one thing that I really want to get out not just for me, but for the sake of other fellow deviants as well:

We have the right to freedom of speech and we deserve to have our voices heard. After all, that is what helped shaped dA's community in the first place. Bring back the community-feel and stop trying to divide this site. Please for once, just LISTEN to what we as members have to say! You have more than enough volunteers and staff members to help run the community. Focus on the people and not just the formatting of the website!

End of my part. It's now 1:30am and I'm very tired. Thank you for bearing with me on this and I'm sorry that this description appears to be such a huge wall of text to some.  
Related content
Comments: 259

jjvshyguy85 [2022-12-17 04:23:08 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

StoneLover999 [2022-09-30 00:22:41 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

Feetguy2021 [2021-04-30 06:47:10 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

BeholdThePowerOfNod [2020-11-07 02:54:15 +0000 UTC]

👍: 2 ⏩: 0

MasterDragonSamurai [2019-03-14 17:45:10 +0000 UTC]

Seems Accurate

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

MrCarterM [2017-06-26 04:42:43 +0000 UTC]

Best art to troll deviantart.

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

Username-91 [2017-05-13 14:08:47 +0000 UTC]

Almost two years have passed since the day when the administration released the journal of the so-called copyright infringement; so far, hundreds of thousands of members of this site gone. This site will soon be full of kids who know nothing productive to do than to steal and bully others. Including pedophiles, trolls, spammers, frauds and pornographers as if there isn't enough of that already. It's only a matter of time when Federal Government shuts them down. As the days go by, all the members who are willing to talk to you help you; teach you and guide you are becoming fewer and fewer active. The main reasons many them left deviantART is the employees allow pornography. Not to mention how they laid off huge numbers of employees who wanted to help. I always got comments and when I watched someone, they always watched back. When I watch someone, if they even do anything, it is a simple "thanks for the watch." I remember when my inbox use to be full of "thank you for the favorite" announcement. I remember the days when people used to call me to join their organizations or stream communications to talk to them. I used to get loads of letters from other, asking me how I am and what I'm doing now. Now, I'm not getting anything, unless I didn't contact them first. What happened to this site? It's all so flat and lifeless; I feel like I'm in a city of ghosts.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Nylten In reply to Username-91 [2017-05-25 05:56:46 +0000 UTC]

I know the feeling all too well. When I joined several years back, it was literally a community. Nowadays, it's bleh.

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

Username-91 In reply to Nylten [2017-05-25 12:32:19 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, it's like all that was good and worth a support was gone.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

SonicGMI-22 [2017-04-28 05:33:41 +0000 UTC]

deviantART is the new Hitler.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

systemcat [2017-02-15 20:52:33 +0000 UTC]

I'm in complete agreement with your words about this matter.

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

TotallyDeviantLisa [2017-01-12 18:56:03 +0000 UTC]

Don't get me started with the sexual harassment I had to face in the notes.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Nylten In reply to TotallyDeviantLisa [2017-01-12 23:15:07 +0000 UTC]

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

TotallyDeviantLisa In reply to Nylten [2017-01-12 23:50:09 +0000 UTC]

I'm fine now. I've lost most of my motivation to draw because of this big green turd.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

embracethesadness [2016-11-09 00:13:44 +0000 UTC]

You know, I had a deviantArt account until two years ago, before leaving it.

I came back just 3 months ago, with a new account (the current one I am using). All I could feel was disappointment. The community has changed, deviantArt itself has changed. I remember exactly that, when you put a drawing, even if it was bad, someone just came in giving you some friendly criticism and then watching you.
 
A lot of artists now, make such amazing jobs without still not being recognized.

I feel like this place has changed a lot, and not for the good. 

That's just my idea. 

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Nylten In reply to embracethesadness [2016-11-18 09:31:12 +0000 UTC]

You being up some very good points that could really relate to what I was trying to portray here. Deviantart IS changing, losing money, and losing members. Former staff members of this site have turned against the CEO because of the decisions he's made that left huge negative impacts. Whether he is blind or chooses to be blind to the statistics and community behavior is beyond me. But you know something is serious when FORMER STAFF MEMBERS that were LAID OFF speak out for the community.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Terrierburrier [2016-10-06 04:43:23 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, pretty much.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

BowtiesRcool16 [2016-09-25 18:05:31 +0000 UTC]

P R E A C H
 

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Everchanginq [2016-06-03 02:14:44 +0000 UTC]

not to mention the fucking HUGE activity widget.
most sonic fans I see don't even take it out of their profiles or edit them to make them smaller, or have the FUCKING GROSS QUIZ RESULTS AND FAN STAMPS, or sometimes even both...

that's why I'm creating my own site... (wix.com works much better than weebly btw)

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SuperSonicOfAwesome In reply to Everchanginq [2016-06-25 10:15:28 +0000 UTC]

agreed. -_-

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Theeio [2016-05-05 08:09:23 +0000 UTC]

i fully agree with this, and i really, really love the symbolism of this piece. i hope the da staff sees this.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Imperator-Xolo [2016-03-18 03:48:23 +0000 UTC]

I see the resemblance to the German Fascist Party (Nazis)

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

SunsetTwilightNoon [2016-03-14 11:24:59 +0000 UTC]

I understood about the whole thing but if you hate dA, why don't you just leave. Simple as that.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

ReclusiveChicken [2016-01-27 19:42:17 +0000 UTC]

This was meant to be an art website, not a capitalist venture.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

communistcreeper [2015-11-17 04:21:45 +0000 UTC]

Sieg heil wait this isn't /pol?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Nylten In reply to communistcreeper [2015-11-19 23:33:25 +0000 UTC]

Nein.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

communistcreeper In reply to Nylten [2015-11-19 23:33:39 +0000 UTC]

Shit

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

DaFrontlineSpecter [2015-08-09 20:42:54 +0000 UTC]

While I'm at it, I'm also going to pitch in a couple cents at this;

I'm sure that most people already know this but the staff also has recieved a bad rep of giving privilege to the "majority".








And by "majority", it's really horsefuckers or really sick demented people that need to check themselves inside and out.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Nylten In reply to DaFrontlineSpecter [2015-08-09 22:09:02 +0000 UTC]

Pretty much. 

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

KellgreenStudios [2015-07-22 05:11:49 +0000 UTC]

FUCK YOU DEVIANTART

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

dymyrs [2015-07-21 04:05:35 +0000 UTC]

holy crap. this is some strong stuff... 

i wonder if staff'll look at it

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

JulieTHeHedhegog [2015-07-21 03:42:06 +0000 UTC]

(sorry, i dont speek english, use translator)

Lamentablemente, tienes mucha razón... yo odio tener que ingresar a la pagina principal de dA, la gran mayoría de las veces solo veo culos y tetas (más 500 comments y 700 favs), veo geniales artistas tradicionales en su mayoría sin ningún tipo de reconocimiento, no solamente esta "cayendo" la página (creo yo) sino tambien esta comunidad.

saludos, y genial dibujo. // regards and fantastic drawing. **

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Drillbit-The-Dork [2015-06-26 15:11:28 +0000 UTC]

I used to have an account here from 2013, but it's deactivated. God things have changed. Now I know what happened to the webcam. 

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Nylten In reply to Drillbit-The-Dork [2015-07-05 07:49:35 +0000 UTC]

Pretty sad.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

StudioStone [2015-04-22 01:50:47 +0000 UTC]

Funny that you shared this post with Fiskefyren, who was probably more fascist than the dA admins supposedly were.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

CecePeniston [2015-03-31 22:56:09 +0000 UTC]

Some artist are specialized in Ecchi/Porn "borderline": Flowerxl, Yggdrasill Studio for exemple... But we can't help it as sex is something which catches the attention, it's provocative and "in vogue".... But I admit that there's a difference bewteen making erotic drawings for the sake of getting attention and making erotic drawing for the sake of Art (high tecnhiques, colors)
We can't blame those artists who catches the opportunity to get money easily, whatever they draw as long it's a sexual theme drawing there will be people who buy, watch, faves... I won't be surprised if a large majority of them are these people who spend lots of time on porn websites you know these websites loaded of malwares, trojans, pop-ups... which ask you your credit card to watch the entired video

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Mach68 [2015-03-29 04:25:33 +0000 UTC]

It has become a cesspool that should be taken to court along with their admins. 

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Nylten In reply to Mach68 [2015-03-29 04:41:43 +0000 UTC]

Very well put!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Mister-Bragg [2015-03-24 01:57:15 +0000 UTC]

I sadly must agree with you... The argument that they want to take away sexual themed conent with making the webcam purchasable is bullshit. I bet at least half of the 'art' here is sexual themed. It's all about half naked/naked woman, breast, hot butts and fangirls making 'art' about characters they find hot. And that was already before they stole the Z from that Russian website (I didn't even know that and yes why a Z?) It's just sad...

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Nylten In reply to Mister-Bragg [2015-03-25 07:02:24 +0000 UTC]

Always look on the What's Hot page or the newest section in Browse and you'll see a whole bunch of disappointment. It's sickening. 

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Ask-Blueberry-Leone [2015-03-18 19:57:59 +0000 UTC]

shikieiki-blueberry.deviantart…

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Drepicman [2015-03-14 05:52:05 +0000 UTC]

I agree with you 100% but why Nazis 

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

JaredRenoir [2015-03-08 23:47:35 +0000 UTC]

I have strong urgency to destroy dA's main server. Goddamnit.

👍: 0 ⏩: 2

Mach68 In reply to JaredRenoir [2015-03-29 04:25:57 +0000 UTC]

Let me help you.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Nylten In reply to JaredRenoir [2015-03-09 19:35:19 +0000 UTC]

If it'll grab their attention, go for it.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

JaredRenoir In reply to Nylten [2015-03-09 22:16:55 +0000 UTC]

Nah, I'm just kidding.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Nylten In reply to JaredRenoir [2015-03-10 18:43:30 +0000 UTC]

Damn. :/

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

retr0dude [2015-03-07 23:00:04 +0000 UTC]

DA Sure has changed.
I joined back in late 2013, when it still had its old format.

Now it's just.. blegh.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Nylten In reply to retr0dude [2015-03-08 00:07:46 +0000 UTC]

I joined back in 2013 and I've seen a drastic change!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

retr0dude In reply to Nylten [2015-03-08 00:36:48 +0000 UTC]

Indeed.

Deviantart has REALLY fallen into chaos.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1


| Next =>