dude, you've summed up my monthlong rage in three lines

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Love is over

*applauds*

Could be worse, they could be getting you to pay for just being here.

I do think, though, that the twelve-month sub works best. You don't pay a constant fee every month (which us brits can't do without one of the international credit cards, which sensible people don't get anymore; debit is better) but the cost per month is lower than the short term ones.

Meh, I'm a beta tester, I want to see the new features and stuff, it's kinda fun to watch this place change.

I like DA, honestly I do, I find that I'm just used to how things operate now, and I'm not surprised anymore by the random crap that they invent to get you to pay extra. I'm just here to submit my art, and it hasn't done me any harm yet.

I agree, though, that the crit system should be made part of the non-paying package. It's nothing more than a tarted up rating system. I may have done one or two, but I'll probably never use it myself, it just complicates things. Although... if you think about it, there's a minimum word count you have to stick to, and you have to be a subscriber, so I'd guess that it keeps the spam-bots out and it also means that people have to be serious about what they want to say, not just 'Yay, awesome!' or 'Man, that sucks balls'. Maybe it balances out?

Catch you later,
FN!

--
"So he... wait, what the heck are you doing?"
"Spog."
"S-wha?"
"New word for belly-button fluff; Spog"
"Wow... raping the English language again I see. Genius. I knew I kept you around for a reason."

My portfolio: [link]

Well it could be worse.

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"The Day is Long, and Life isn't..."

Good thing it's not mandatory

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Now playing: Atelier Iris 1 and Magna Carta 2

Hoping to play: Eternal Sonata and Tales of Vesperia (PS3)

Yeah, the critique system seems retarded. It's like, "Give us money and you get SUPER SPESHUL comments put right at the top of the page," essentially making the other comment system worthless for aspiring artists.

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Your daily dose of vitamin Awesome.

Personally, I'm quite fond of it. The idea of it, anyways, since I've never had the pleasure of using it, and I feel as though it would be more relevant to the more popular artists, who get waves upon waves of "kewl" and "awesum" comments, with no real purpose to them. The critiques actually give people with something useful to say the chance to be heard - assuming they have a subscription.

In all honesty, I don't really think the critiques are of any value to anyone who doesn't get a boatload of comments on every piece, so for the majority of dA, they have the same value as regular comments. On the pieces with said boatloads of comments, it's fairly rare that more than the first few comments are paid any attention, because there's just too many.

So, as I see it, the critiques feature does not take away from the unsubscribed user's experience. There are quite a few issues with deviantART, but I don't feel that this is one of them.

Sounds like someone has subscription envy. Tsk tsk. *Polishes his Beta Tester symbol.*

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What's that? I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.

It's a bummer.
I am a subscriber and chances are I will always be regardless.
However, I believe non-subscribers should have access to the critique option. It is a great way to learn and help others. I can't comprehend why it's not free for all. It will help DA's artists expand and make the site a better place.

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Commission status: Open!