Over the course of the last 23 months as a deviant, I've seen some things that most others never get the chance to, and I've seen the highs and lows of the community. I've seen the transfer from version to version with the each new August; I've seen what it's like to be a deviant; I've seen what it's like to wear the staff hat as well; I've even seen being banned. But, I ask you this: Why am I still here? What makes me keep coming back here, and supporting this place so strongly? What it is I'm yet to find properly and define, but I know for sure, it's slowly dwindling away, fading into the distant memories of better times when deviantART was simply the best website around without the slightest shadow of a doubt. No'urdays, community seems to be taking a backseat to the corporate ventures the site seems to be undertaking at an exponentially quick rate. With every passing day, a new move towards turning dA into exactly what it is not: a corporation.

When it was founded in 2000, the basis for this place was community and art; a hub for people to interact and share their ideas and works with one another, and anyone else willing to look. Now, as we near the start of 2005, things have gone somewhat sour of that ideal. Check the news page on any given day, and I'm quite sure you'll see a very limited supply of community activities, all of which seem to be getting put on the "has-been" and the "might look into later" pile, where the more "interesting" ideas seem to be populating that shelf instead. Now, I pose to you this question: At what price does all of this change come? To me, it comes at the sacrifice of not only the morality of the website in the name of money and capitalization, but also, comes with a  spitefully redundancy of community ideal and freedom of interaction. You can only hit a horse with a stick so many times before it turns around and tramples you. To me, dA is that horse, and the tolerance threshold is on the verge of being breached.

It's all well and good for those of us who're lucky enough to be subscribed to tell those who're complaining about the DeviantNotice system to be quiet and quit moaning, but really, like it or not, we're all being stuck with mass-advertising in every new thing that happens. I remember a time when deviantART was a truly ad-free for those who pay, when you could open a news article in the Hot Topics without being bombarded with lines and lines of shameless, crass promotion. Now however, you're lucky to see anything recognised as being "important" to the members of the site that doesn't contain at the bare minimum one ad. So much for the features mentioned on the subscribe page, isn't it? While I realise deviantART takes monstrous amounts of money and funding to keep alive as it is a completely voluntary subscription system, we're in desperate danger of becoming an extinct breed, a dieing race at the hands of the golden dollar.

Now, if I may, I shall quote, the meaning of "community", the thing that deviantART is supposed to be, as defined by HyperDictionary. It is as follows:

\Com*mu"ni*ty\, n.; pl. {Communities}. [L. communitas:
cf. OF. communit['e]. Cf. {Commonalty}, and see {Common}.]
1. Common possession or enjoyment; participation; as, a
   community of goods.


And now, the exact same source's definition of "corporation":

\Cor`po*ra"tion\ (k[^o]r`p[-o]*r[=a]"sh[u^]n), n.
[L. corporatio incarnation: cf. F. corporation corporation.]
A body politic or corporate, formed and authorized by law to
act as a single person, and endowed by law with the capacity
of succession; a society having the capacity of transacting
business as an individual.


Now, which of the aforementioned does it feel like deviantART is becoming? To me, I feel it's drawing further from the former, and lingering slowly but steadily towards the ultimate outcome of being synonymous the latter. For what? An extra few bucks in liquid funds for dA? That, by itself defeats the purpose this community was founded with. Although deviantART doesn't function as a democracy, it does allow its users a voice to speak up when needed. However, this voice, is seemingly being silenced by the powers that be in times where it is really needed. When Scott Jarkoff, and Matthew Stephens founded this place way back in the distant land of the year 2000, the word "corporation" couldn't have been more antonymous with deviantART if it tried. Now, the seemingly small time of just over 4 years later, the comparison between the two is almost sickening. It truly does make me sick to the stomach to see the rollercoaster spiral out of control, and headed towards the same miserable, hideous fate that the dinosaurs suffered. Now, while I talk of the past, present and future, they're not as seemingly clear-cut as they should be, at least not to those who're outside of the loop. So, I offer you http://web.archive.org/web/20000815205911/http://www.deviantart.com/ this. Take a trip into the past, a time when this place was still, the place to be.

Way back in 2003, when I was just a fledgling around the site, it was hard to spot a thing I could imagine different or that could be done better. As time progressed, that list didn't do much to grow. That is, until about halfway through this year. When things started being exposed, and the true underside to the glossy veneer became more than just a little bit apparent. The truths of a lot of things I'd always wondered become clearer than ever. Unfortunately, things are still clear, and very apparent. Seeing this place dissolve into little more than just an addiction to feed the mind for a few hours isn't a good feeling. Having been on so many different tangents of it personally, it hurts even more. Ultimately, what happens cannot be changed by the miniscule deviants themselves, everything is already pre-defined. That is, unless objection is held and maintained of course.


Now, take a few minutes out of your oh-so-busy schedule to ponder over the question I'm about to ask you. I mean really think what you would do in this circumstance. What would you do, if deviantART suddenly disappeared? If deviantART became a shadow in the past, never to be seen again?. I want you to reply to this with your answer. It may be as long or short as you like, as long as you like, as long as you've really thought about it for more than just a few seconds. This will ultimately be different from not only deviant to deviant, but vary greatly depending on the amount of time the deviant has been around, the friends the deviant has made, and factors of a similar nature. The older guys would probably be quite distraught by it, and the younger, and in most cases, less experienced deviants with a little less assocciated trauma. For me, although this site doesn't hold as much to me as it once did, it would still be a massive loss. I've made many good friends through the ranks of deviantART, ranging from short-time deviants, through to admins and the longer stayers. Right now I'm trying to hold on to the shards of community still left around, and not lose the friends I've made. Now, inevitably we'll all depart this place at some point in time. Personally, I know that I'd prefer it be out of my own free will, not because of necessity calling a greater shot than my own want to remain behind. How did you arrive? Why are you here? Why do you remain behind?


As I look around the site, I see so much potential for bigger and brighter things for the future. As I look deeper, I see so much of what's occuring, and it brings me to the edge of tears. It's like watching a family member get murdered. At the end of the day, however, one needs to know when to cut their losses and move on with their back to the breeze. Do you?