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A stampede heading towards Weasyl! by o-kemono

After so many posts and days, Im finally moved into Weasyl! However, I'm not sure if my timing was good or bad. I started to move in here when Weasyl was first starting out. I thought that this would be a good place to join as a backup just incase FurAffinity goes down. In a way, it worked as I got a few commission from here when FA went down for a full week.Now furs are rushing onto Weasyl because they are completely fed up with FurAffinity. Some things happened there that are not just connected to the shut down time. There are many stories and none of them are clear to me. All I know is that furry artists moved from FA to here because of that - using Weasyl as a means of retreating.

This is increasing Weasyl's popularity, however I feel like its the wrong reason personally. From various journals, posts and shouts that I've read on FA, everyone is moving here because this is the "popular" site now and everyone's favorite artist is on here ( mostly from the same reasons as everyone else. ) I understand everyone being upset about the sudden down time on FA and everyone moving there ( and boycotting FA ) because of that one particular reason, but that can happen for ANY website, even your own. I was upset when FA was down since its my main source of business and it did stagger my sales, but I understood that there were issues on FA that had to be fixed and patiently waited until FA was back up.

I understand that's not the MAIN reason people are doing that. There are several others. Its drama that I don't want to be apart of, but since most of my favorite artists and friends are doing the same, I can't help but some of that rubbing off on me and I feel depressed because of this. Its DRAMA. No one needs drama right now. Something unexplainable happens and suddenly half of the community is in an uproar. I rather know why I should be upset over something that I don't understand.

I remember an old Buddhist quote: "If there is a problem that you can fix, why be upset about it. If there is a problem you cant fix, what is the use in being upset?"

Im still going to be on FA until is vanishes and turns into dust like VCL ( I hope not! ), using Weasyl as a backup and another source to get business. Thats MY reason. Being part of the furry fandom and something like this kind of drama happens on a website that is strongly linked to the fandom, I can't help but feel sad and sorry for those who are angry.

However, their reasons to be upset are their own, not mine. Im just voicing out my own opinion.

A stampede heading towards Weasyl!

o-kemono

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  • Link

    Blackymoon

    The downtime was by far not the only reason so many people moved here and not only because Weasyl is currently "in", more likely Weasyl being the only "real" alternative to FA.
    There's a huge influx of things on why people are angry, but if you really want to know and understand why so many people are angry, you should read into some of those many journals here that explain why, this one for example -->
    https://www.weasyl.com/journal/26306/why-you-should-abandon-fa-and-how-you-can

    • Link

      o-kemono

      Yes, I have read it all including the links attached to the journal. Everything is all a mix bag. Some way this and some say that. It gets very confusing because, from many of the journals I've read, there is always a different story on who/what/when/how/why. I admit that some actions that were done on FA were only fueling the fire, but everything else or the real known cause of what STARTED the fire remains very blurry.

      People's personal lives and pasts should remain private and taken care of without causing an uproar. I'm not favoring any side because I don't know all the facts nor the people who are being blamed/accused. Having people tell me so many different versions and stories of what happened and why gets confusing and I just end up tuning it out until I get a clear version of WTF is going on.

      This is a war that is happening on FA and everyone who is on FA for their own reasons are helplessly being pulled into it. Its to the point where leaving FA is becoming a bigger deal than WHY and everyone must do it or you are on a negative side of the issue. Its too much and it is hurting a lot of people as well as those who are being accused of starting it...

  • Link

    Dedran

    Meanwhile, there are huge delays here on Weasyl as "everyone" is moving. That's strange that no one is actually noticing this and is bitching about this like "OMG I'm moving to SoFurry".

    Anyway, your reason is maybe the most reasonable I've heard so far.

    I also feel like most of the people that moved here will probably move back to FA because they need the money income they get from there... Proof is that some of them still publish croped versions of their art linking back here to the full version...

    • Link

      LudoCrow

      Part of this is trying to just try to draw in people to Weasyl in a way they hope not to be banned(though personally I prefer avoiding cropping and just posting a "resized for FA" version due to the built-in image resolutions limits on FA, and link back to the full resolution image here on Weasyl thanks to the lack of a limit of image Resolution).
      However, as an artist, or even a browser/watcher, though there is many that I feel has appeal in the site.

      There is tag filtering, so you can filter out specific content you like less.
      There are both folders -and- folders setting(so basically people can make scraps folder if they care for that, or featured folders which can affect exactly what get displayed on their profile page in very flexible ways).
      There's even browsing not just for art/literature/multimedia(flash, music, animations, animated ,gif... you name it) but also separate sections entirely for those who like to write down character profiles(or browse other people's character's sections).... and there's even an entire sections for browsing journals alone, which is how I'm commenting this journal here despite not having been a watcher.

      So even a non-artist can get a certain amount of visibility, just by writing/talking about subjects which interests others.

      As for money, a couple of artists have already begun to make their business venues more or less almost entirely here. I would be tempted to quote Whitemantis as having a fair amount of success.
      And the same on my end. Though my success with commissions have generally been rather humble the fact remain is though I have five tumes the number of watchers on FA and still generally keep my account just as much up to date? Pretty much all of my last commissions nowdays came from people with active Weasyl accounts.

      It's also interesting that nowdays, people are not just moving here from Furaffinity, but Deviantart as well(something most furries have failed to notices). So Weasyl is starting to position itself not just as an alternative to other furry art sites, but also to other art sites in general(in fact, one of my own RL nonfur friends is thinking of making the Deviantart-Weasyl jump after seeing how simple it is to upload art here in comparison).

  • Link

    stokerbramwell

    I understand not wanting to be a part of the drama. That being said, the issue revolved around the actual safety of the site's users, the administration's decision to censor rather than address concerns, and their complete and utter failure to uphold any sort of standard of professionalism during the entire ordeal.

  • Link

    LudoCrow

    Personally I wouldn't call for abandonning FA, but I'd suggest nonetheless trying to keep Weasyl as an active account of at least an equal level to one's FA account. Not only are a lot of people moving here from FA, but also a lot of artists(and watchers/commissioners) coming from Deviantart for reasons unrelated to the FA users(one of the more common reasons I've found is basically finding Weasyl a more mature community than Deviantart, ontop of being a much easier site to upload art on or just browse art).

    Not only this, but the resons many people plans to stay not even have to do with FA's drama(even if many came here for these reasons) but for Weasyl's own features in and for itself which have been implemented at a very fast speed by the staff(who frequently and rapidly respond to any users questions on their twitters) and in which case are features FA is still only promising to add since many years already.

    Things like folders(and folders options so you can created featured or custom scraps folders allowing much flexibility on what is displayed on your profile page), tags filters when searching for art. Even things that people didn't think of but are proving very useful for mere community building such as a browsing sections for journals to see what, rather than just the people you watch, everyone on the site has to say or discover new userss not just through their art but their thoughts and opinion, something on which more than just artists can get visibily for now. And it's basically the section where I basically found your own journal post, in fact.

    • Link

      o-kemono

      Yes, I agree that Weasyl have many bells and whistles that FA doesn't have and it is very cool, but so does FA. Each website has its ups and downs. Mine for Weasyl is the thumbnails in the submissions and browse windows. In FA, you can see a thumbnail and track over it, seeing the full image in the person's gallery on their main page. Here, you are forced to click on it in order to see the full view. This is interested because it forces someone to click on your thumbnail to see the full image, giving you a +1 in your view stats.

      I plan to stay on FA because it is my "main" source of business. When I get to near "popularity" here on Weasyl, I plan to fully move so Weaysl will become my main source. I also have friends on FA and connect with them there. It is also a communication site to meet other furs.

      • Link

        LudoCrow

        Actually, in my opinion, Weasyl's decision regarding thumbnails actually I think had to do with their decision to make the website mobile compatible. The version you see right now is exactly the same you'll see on a mobile device, and not only this but if you watch on a mobile device when you rotate the device the layout automatically adjust itself to comform to the shape of the device. For something like this, standardized thumbnails are very helpful I would think.

        This said I can hear the argument regarding social networking. The fact do remain that(at least until recent events) Furaffinity has always been the "hub" of the furry community as the largest site out there. It's where one would go to meet other furs because it's where other furs could be found.
        This said.... social networking is actuallly very much why I'm enjoying Weasyl the most in all actuality. The social networking I had on FA had less to do with it's features but more with just te passive fact that it had the largest population. On the other end, I'm finding Weasyl made from the getgo in the idea of social contact. You can "request critiques" of your image and like I said there is the deceptively useful section for browsing journals. I have, as it stands, gotten in more contact with different artists and users in the last few weeks through something as simple as browsing for journals(or writing my own) than I have had for years on either Furaffinity or Deviantart both. Furries, non furries... new artists I had never found about on eith DA/FA but discovered here. Recently a mere journal on historically accurate armor for females warranted me more, not just comments, but outright discussions than the greatest majority of artwork(or journals) I might have ever posted on any other site.

        And then there's stuff like just how open and responsive the staff is on twitter(I've had inquiries that were answered within the hour when not faster) and even something as simple as the site's status page ( http://status.weasyl.com/ ) in all it's documentation of technical events/updates/etc which is simply unlike what I'd ever seen before anywhere else. It was just great to see how fast the devs staved off(and then completely circumvented) a DDOS attack of which every stages was documented with updates within the first moments of the attacks to the mere few hours after that it took them to resolve it.

      • Link

        LudoCrow

        Mind you, I'm not telling you to leave FA as I still have a presence there myself. Like people said during the down time on FA, having a presence in multiple sites is almost critical if you're taking commissions to make sure people know where to find you when technical troubles happen on a site.

        However I just wished to explain why there are increasing level of people who're now favoring Weasyl nonetheless.

        • Link

          LudoCrow

          (heck, one of my own RL friend now is pondering to make an account here. She's not a furry. She just basically looked at the site and went "This look so much easier to upload art to than Deviantart!" )

  • Link

    Jarylan

    Eh, I just like the look here. Truth be told, I was never crazy about FA's UI. And now that more people are on Weasyl, it's a viable alternative. =3 So, I'm glad you're here!

  • Link

    gamerfox

    Everyone I follow on FA, I'm trying to follow on Weasyl. I'm interested in seeing everything I can.

  • Link

    DjCrimsonFox

    I like all the things this site has to offer. The folders, the tag filtering, the collections. The things this site offers are a vast improvement over FA's gallery setup, and the only way this site can grow is if people use it, and use the features it has to offer. I haven't left FA, but I do find myself checking here a bit more often now.

  • Link

    Cyan Glaciertooth

    You nailed it, O-kemono! I completely agree with what you said. I think it's silly to leave a certain website for another just because it's more "popular". While I do find features here on Weasyl to be better than some of the features FA has, I don't plan to leave FA anytime soon. I'll only abandon FA if the site becomes too underpopulated to even have much activity there. It's like the days of MySpace. Everyone used to use MySpace before people started to jump on the Facebook bandwagon. MySpace is a ghost town now. Somehow, I figured the same would happen with FA when Weasyl came around. I just didn't think the massive bandwagon jumping would happen so quickly.

    Another thing to note about is that as more people come to Weasyl, there'll be more site issues and complaints about these sort of things. Like FA, Weasyl will grow and grow. The more people joining this site, the harder it'll be to satisfy everyone. FA's staff is trying the best it possibly can to keep everyone happy with their site, but because it's a site with a lot of users, it can be quite difficult to keep everyone satisfied. The same thing will happen here. And then, if another new furry art site pops up, people could leave Weasyl for that site, and the same issues will happen, growing site with growing disatisfying service.

  • Link

    PewterKat

    Personally, I got a little fed up with FA before things started resurfacing. Not with my fanbase or clients! They have never been a source of ire with me. Just things in general. It also helps to have a couple of extra galleries floating around. I really liked the interface, so I decided to start uploading my more recent works. It really disappointed me that FA not only didn't have a lot of these features, even after being told that several projects to improve the experience had fallen through. The increased number of outtages also started to bug me, as well as hearing in many places that people with unpopular opinions were being shunned and censored in the community, even when their opinions were not harmful or had anything at all to do with current events. When the recent events took place, it just persuaded me that I should probably focus my work on Weasyl and Tumblr, at least for now. I do have quite a bad taste in my mouth from people saying, "They'll come crawling back; they always do!" as though returning to a community with people you've worked with and a place where you have flourished is a bad thing. I intend to check in on FA for a while and keep an eye on things. I keep my hopes up that it can be a more peaceable place. Like a friend of mine, I intend to only post commissioned work there for a while. When and if the interface on FA is updated, I will go back to try it out. I will give feedback. When and if certain issues I and others feel need to be addressed are dealt with, I will go back to stay. I do love FA, but I don't feel it's a place I can flourish right now.

  • Link

    Tora-Oni

    I think I'm more upset with the way FA is handling the issue. Personally FA is alright but I kind of want a Weasly to see what is different and since a lot of my favorite artists and people are going here I'm going to be using this site as my new main site and FA as more of lurking. =_= Believe me if FA choose a better route to deal with the drama instead of trying to cover it up and delete peoples comments and concerns instead of temporary bans and hiding comments then maybe I would feel differently. I think FA is not being professional, and I think that is a problem.

  • Link

    Naira

    I certainly haven't moved but I do enjoy the layout and features of weasyl a bit more than FA.

    I don't care about the drama that happened, it's not my business. I totally agree with you there. What I care about is how the admins dealt with it. They just went around deleting everyone's comments that mentioned the drama at all. Like instead of listening to people or just posting a journal/forum post saying "look guys, we may have made a mistake and we're sorry. but this is how it is." or whatever they've just been trying to shut every single person up who had an opinion. THAT'S why I think many people are moving.

    What I've seen of the weasyl admins so far has been very pleasant and they take a lot of peoples suggestions and comments and really listen and work hard to improve this site. Many suggestions made have been changed to improve the site. I've been here since they made it open to the public I think, or maybe just before they did through private invite. And already I've seen many improvements. So, that's why I enjoy this site anyway.

    I'll be the same as you with FA though, I won't leave it unless it completely dies. I have no real personal reason to leave and get most of my business through there.