jollyjack

Some kind (unnamed) soul gave me a month's core membership. Thank you, sir/madam :)

I’m not going to rail about how material on the site is being scraped for use in AI Composites, or about how DevArt’s “protection” against it is a new check-box that you will have to manually tick for each and every image you’ve uploaded. No. Misuse of your work and DevArt incompetence are expected at this point. Once something is put online, that’s it; it’s no longer under your control. That’s the nature of the beast. You don’t like it; don’t upload content.

What I am furious about is the deluge of AI composites flooding my feed, here. I see more of that crap than genuine new content, now. And to make it worse, DevArt has its own AI tool (https://www.deviantart.com/team/journal/Create-AI-Generated-Art-Fairly-with-DreamUp-933537821) which, while they absolutely-pinky-promise it will not cannibalise user content, is only going to exacerbate the problem.

I’m now completely convinced that DevArt is no longer a site that serves artists in any capacity. Not only that; it no longer has any interest in building or maintaining any kind of online community. It is a harvesting tool. It exists to strip mine content and sell data, just like any other “social media” platform.

I said months ago that I wasn’t going to renew my Core subscription, but I’ll admit that – as the end approached - I was starting to waver. The AI issue has renewed my conviction. F**k this site and f**k the scumbags that run it. I’ll hang around until the place sinks as I’ve an audience here whom I will forever remain loyal to, but I’m not financially supporting a service so utterly ANTI-art and ANTI-creative.

I've returned to Lulu as their print quality has dramatically improved. The first thing I'm peddling through their service is a collection of my Werewolf Wednesday pinups. (I was legitimately blown away by the quality of the proof copy I ordered!) It's now available here.

Is anyone else getting a "Password Retrieval" email from DeviantArt over and over again? I was concerned that there was a security issue at play but I see that there's an option in settings to STOP such emails for 60 days, which itself is weird. Why would THAT be needed? What the hell is going on with the platform NOW?

Oh, god. Remember when I used to post journal entries where I didn't bitch about everything? I do. It was a long time ago. This platform was fun back then. You could find your way around with a few quick clicks of the mouse. Then "Eclipse" came along. The latest cluster of shattered-windshield thrown out by this 3-year-long car-crash was just ground into my face. They updated the notification section. Yesterday I just clicked and scrolled a single page to check for comments and replies. Now I have to click across several different sections, all littered with bright red numbers that pointlessly keep tally of OTHER bright red numbers elsewhere on the page. It is a mess. Eclipse is a mess. Eclipse was a mistake. In three long, tedious years, I have found NOTHING I like about it. Nothing I can say is a genuine improvement. So what is it I DO want? Consistency, stability and efficiency, especially regarding the user interface. That's it. That's all. Bare bones this sh*t and then leave it alone until the end of f**king time.