Have you noticed how I've rediscovered the power of the dA journal recently?

Anyway, I thought I'd write a critical (no pun intended) journal expressing exactly why I don't like the new critique system. At first, when I saw it, I thought it'd be a really nice idea. Mostly, if I had access to it, it'd get round the awkwardness I always have when I tick that comments box (do I go for "Please comment" and risk people assuming that I don't want criticism or do I go for "Critical response requested" and risk loosing the one-line comments I get from my friends telling me they've taken an interest?).

I sort of assumed it'd be subscription. And, tbh, I'm not too bitter. There's got to be something awesome that the paying members have that non-paying members don't, or dA won't be here and then we'll all loose out. I just really don't like the assumptions involved about how we used to live without this wonderful new system, about how some of us still will live (most of my watched, whose work I deeply respect and admire, are non-subscribers, so the relationship between us won't use any 'Critique'.

To quote the News story [link] : "Critique offers a deeper level of feedback never before seen at deviantART." Really? 100 words? Ok, I realise I quite rarely have the time nowadays to drum that up for a deviation, particularly if I know the other person wouldn't do the same for me. But sometimes I do, sometimes I can get into some really involved comments about art.
It strikes me that they're reinventing the wheel. This isn't about pushing a button which says "Critique (tm) enabled". Critique has ALWAYS been enabled. There's just not a culture of it. I'm worried because, in all this hype, we're just throwing a technological fix at a problem that's merely social.

Yes, I suppose I am bitter because the subscribers have a snazzy new toy. But not really.
Because the new toy really isn't that new. It was the promise of critique, of thoughtful comment, of discussion and dialogue, that first drew me to dA, and it was the hint of fulfilment of that promise which made me stay. Now, you get out what you put in, and I'll admit to being lazy with my own commenting recently. When I have time, I'll once again find it a pleasure to find more random people, invariably non-subscribers, the unpopular kids, and take an interest in their work. But with the promise of shiny, bright 'critiques', which earn you brownie points and alert all your watchers to the deviations you like, I'm worried that intellegent comments will become a thing of the past. I'm worried because the heart of this artistic community is being taken away from us and reinvented as something inaccessible.

Writing this journal, I fully expected to conclude with an explaination of how I will still be using the critique system when commenting on those who request it. But I've just decided- no. Time for a good, old-fashioned boycott. When I write a long, depthy comment on the work of someone with a subscription, I don't want it to be flagged up while the same comment on someone without a subscription is buried. I refuse to accept that critiques are better than comments, that one set of people are better than the other. So, when I have time, I will try to write long and meaningful COMMENTS, as I have always done. I may even make myself a list of all the long comments I've written, so I can show my watchers through journals what I've liked in the same way people who use comment do.

Ohh yay, boycott time. I'm getting myself far more worked up about this than necessary, but I insist.

Oh and also: Fair and unfair. What's that about? I can't imagine that being used for anything more than the persuit of narcissism- if someone bothers to write you a hundred word comment, it's either going to be their balanced judgement or a personal attack. The latter is clearly against the ToS, and doesn't happen all the time. Since when did the artist get sole right to say whether their work was good?

EDIT: Also, I just looked at the FAQ to see if there's anything obnoxious I just missed. [link] You'll notice that the first paragraph ends with the idea that 'Critique' will "introduce new and emerging art to the community". Are you kidding me? This just widens the gap between those who can invest in dA and those people who aren't quite sure if they can. It just allows the deviations of those who subscribe to scream "look at me! look at me!" while the deviations of those who don't, traditionally the new and unrecognised artists, fade further and further into the background.