Some store items I really got into and wanted to praise here, like Dystopia -- but Moebius got fed-up with Rendo and moved to DAZ, so my links and credits are worthless anyway. Not jaded against merchants, but I am jaded against stores that pretend to be communities. It's all BS. Ironicly, Dystopia became it's own community briefly, but you were forbidden/shamed if you made the conversation larger than the products. Moebius himself tried to contribute to discussions on architecture and futurism, but stores tend to have a main priority and it's not about a bigger picture than the products.

Starbucks tries to make these lounges for you to hang out and listen to music, but really people just go there to get coffee. Just because I'm drinking coffee doesn't mean I want to talk about the flavor of the day.... Hope you understand that metaphore. A community can discuss anything, but a store keeps directing you to make a purchase. It's a turn-off. I started a community-oriented thread here about Posette's Family Tree, and it was difficult to get people to stop replying as if I were asking for a product recommendation. Eventally someone got the idea and it was very entertaining.... Another thread about GND2 also turned into more product recommendations.

No offense, there are very nice people here and freebies and helpful answers. I just think a "real" art community is something more than just trying out and recommending products.

holly