dA, I sweAR TO BLOGGGGG.

*Quick Edit!* Hey, guys. Just to be clear, the cosmetic changes made to deviantART (or rather, I should say "DeviantArt") really don't bother me at all. More power to 'em. What does bother me is the fact that the recent layout changes are negatively affecting users by decreasing traffic and pageviews across the board. Artists who used to get 5 to 7 Comments and a few more Faves are now getting none at all. They end up blaming themselves and their confidence takes the hit. This is a pressing matter that requires immediate attention, and it's a problem that shouldn't exist at all as a result of a mere layout change. And while this problem—which shouldn't exist—persists, dA staff is having a blast creating pretty new logos and being edgy. Human beings and their confidence in their work are being directly affected by this foolish diddly-doo. That is why I'm angry. Sorry I wasn't too clear earlier. Totally my fault. Love ya guys!

_{Original Post}

Yes, another rant Journal. I figure I might do my part and voice my opinion. We gotta stand together on this stuff, ya know? Maybe someday, someone will hear us.

A few months ago, dA's stupid new layout cut my traffic in half. Heck, less than half. I've spoken to a good few of you, and most of you guys have experienced the same thing. But in a weird, zen kind of way, I used to be all right with that. When you think about it, a new backend architecture or system might be necessary to integrate a mobile app or somesuch. These things happen. You gotta adapt. One of those things.

But now the dA staff have made a sassy "Down the Rabbit Hole" logo that looks like that symbol for "not equals to". Either that or a "z". It's my high school algebra memories just flooding back to me. The logo is so obscure they needed to post a video to explain what the fudge it means. My opinions on the logo aside, I understand the need for rebranding and the integral functions it performs. Truly, I do. I'm not faulting dA on that. But how is a new logo a priority? That's pretty drastic, especially when there are already glaring problems with the new layout and years-old bugs that dA staff choose to ignore.

Best of all, I just renewed my subscription, which makes me a paying customer for this circus. It also officially makes me a certified idiot.

And you guys know me by now. I focus on the good things. In fact, I'm too dang lazy to get angry. But this just pushed me over the edge. It's like the dA staff are just chasing a Mars bar on a stick at this point. Truth is, I would forgive them for anything if my pageviews still looked the way it used to.

So now, thanks to the logo change (which is dumb, but oh well), I'm angry all over again about the dang cut in traffic. Because it STILL hasn't gotten any better.

I really don't know what I'd do if it weren't for my Friends and Watchers here. You guys make it all worth it, truly you do.  I can be grateful that I've built up a following before this all happened, but I constantly worry about users who just signed on, because there's no more opportunity for growth anymore. We're now just like the pee mellowing in an unflushed toilet. A yucky analogy, but a true one, nonetheless. We're now just stuck with what we've got. And that's just not cool. In fact, that kind of mitigates the point of having a dA profile at all.

But at least we now have that slick "Bleed and Breed Art" identity slapped on our foreheads. Now we'll get ALL the chicks.

Classy, dA. Brilliant. Pat yourselves on the back. You mong of tunnel-vision.