The Future of DollfieDreams

Well said Sinclair. You said it way better than I did and were more to the point. Thank you.

 

As for names, I do think we need to stay away from anything with the word "Angel" in it because of the fact of several other large forums using it. I like the Dollfiedreamers one, that sounds cool. But if we go ahead and start to allow more vinyls as on topics or make space for different areas for them, maybe we should show that in the name? Something like VinylDollDreams or VinylDollieDreams? I dunno, just thinking out loud.

 

 

Billy

Just look how DoA is as a whole. It is nasty, elitist, non welcoming and just plain scary for new people and old. I sure don't want that kind of thing to occur here in OUR COMMUNITY.

Are you a member of DoA? Because if you have first hand experience of the place being nasty, then I can't argue with your personal experiences... but if your claims are based on what you've heard from other people, then I'm sorry but I'm going to take them with a grain of salt.

 

I've been a member of DoA since I got my first resin doll in 2005 and never felt intimidated nor unwelcome as a newbie there. Sure, I was a bit nervous about joining at first because I was only 16 back then and English is not my first langue... but after going onto the boards I realised that I have nothing to worry about because there are so many people from different backgrounds with different language proficiencies. I still browse DoA almost daily even though I don't post as often as in the beginning (don't have as much time for the hobby as I did as a teenager) and I still find the general vibe of the forum to be pretty positive and relaxed. Actually it kinda frustrates me sometimes how happy-go-lucky the discussions are, because sometimes I'd like to go for some in-depth debate about the functionality of doll bodies and such. The way you experience the conversation often depends on what part of the forum you're viewing because there are so many different people around the forum. Some threads feel like they're hard to get into because there's a core group of people who talk a lot and they might not be as keen on noticing new people joining the thread. But the beauty of DoA is that if you don't feel welcome in one thread, you can move onto another thread with another group of people. I do avoid certain threads there because I feel like they're not too interested in hearing what other people have to say, and instead visit threads that I know welcome people pitching in.

 

But yeah, honestly I find the most negative comments about DoA coming from either people who were banned for breaking the rules (and contrary to popular belief, DoA doesn't ban people lightly - you need to do some pretty bad stuff to get permanently banned, such as scam multiple people out of their money/items) or from people who aren't actually members themselves and heard/read rumours somewhere else. Of course, since DoA is a much bigger community than the one this forum has and because they have so many members, they have to have some firmer rules to keep an order in the forums.

 

And since you made it sound like this forum is much better in terms of atmosphere and being welcoming - unlike DoA - I have to say... to be completely honest, as a newer member, I haven't felt like this place is exactly welcoming to new people. When I first joined, it seemed like there's a core group of people on the forums who talk with each other a lot and then there are people outside of the core group. You don't really get much interaction here unless you first reach out to the core group of people. Just look at the introduction threads - some of them go completely unreplied. A few get "hi welcome to the forum" messages, but some get none. And often times it tends to be non-US people who don't get a welcome. A lot of the time in the discussions, too, this feels more like a community of US DD collectors - which of course is understandable considering the first core community being from the US. But these days there are more and more people from all over the world who are interested in dolls and end up joining the forum. So, it would be nice if it became a bit more international and the overall atmosphere didn't read as "we're all living in the US". DoA's founding member lived in the US but since the beginning, I never felt like I'm an outsider as a European when visiting the forums. It's an English-speaking community, but it's international and welcoming to people from various different countries. But yeah, this is just my personal experience, I don't doubt that there are others who don't share these thoughts and have always felt like this forum is inclusive and welcoming... I just wanted to mention this since there was talk about the community atmosphere.

 

And about the paging system that Gunter suggested, I would be in favour of one. Personally, I don't see how it would immediately escalate to tarnishing people's reputations as naturally there would be rules in place and a moderator (or moderators) keeping an eye on it. I really don't understand why some of you are viewing it as it becoming a negative thing immediately.

 

I'm sure Gunter suggested it in the first place as a neutral ground to find solutions when all other (private) means have failed, rather than a place for negativity. As long as you're conducting sales without problems, I don't see any reason to feel threatened by a paging system. And while these dolls may not be as expensive as miniature trains, they still cost several hundreds of dollars (and some rarer dolls have a 2nd hand market price up to a couple of thousands) and that can be a big sum of money for some people. I always take transactions involving money very seriously, even when it's a pair of eyes worth 15 dollars. In a transaction, the seller is the one with power and the buyer has to put a lot of trust into a seller. Buyers are in a more vulnerable situation and for them, safety would increase with the addition of a paging system.

 

And I have to add that this argument:

The entire ”problem” can be fixed with a singular rule.

And what would that rule be? To only be able to talk about things that happened with in one year? Six months? Whatever limit we were to impose would still shelter those people who have done wrong outside those time limits.

doesn't really make sense because by not having a paging system this forum is already sheltering those who have been shady in their dealings, so... by having a paging system and putting up a rule "you can't dig up dirt from x years ago" it doesn't change anyway. Thus, I don't really see any harm in having a paging system imposing a rule that you can only talk about x old things.

 

Besides, we could always try putting up a paging system and IF it only leads to negativity, it could be removed from the forum. Simple. But I honestly doubt people would use it with the wrong intentions. Assuming that it's going to become something negative reads to me like you don't have much trust in the people within this community.

Are you a member of DoA? Because if you have first hand experience of the place being nasty, then I can't argue with your personal experiences... but if your claims are based on what you've heard from other people, then I'm sorry but I'm going to take them with a grain of salt.

 

Yes indeed I am. I joined back in 2010, I actually was a member there before I was here because I was referred there in order to find local doll meets.

 

I've been a member of DoA since I got my first resin doll in 2005 and never felt intimidated nor unwelcome as a newbie there. Sure, I was a bit nervous about joining at first because I was only 16 back then and English is not my first langue... but after going onto the boards I realised that I have nothing to worry about because there are so many people from different backgrounds with different language proficiencies. I still browse DoA almost daily even though I don't post as often as in the beginning (don't have as much time for the hobby as I did as a teenager) and I still find the general vibe of the forum to be pretty positive and relaxed. Actually it kinda frustrates me sometimes how happy-go-lucky the discussions are, because sometimes I'd like to go for some in-depth debate about the functionality of doll bodies and such. The way you experience the conversation often depends on what part of the forum you're viewing because there are so many different people around the forum. Some threads feel like they're hard to get into because there's a core group of people who talk a lot and they might not be as keen on noticing new people joining the thread. But the beauty of DoA is that if you don't feel welcome in one thread, you can move onto another thread with another group of people. I do avoid certain threads there because I feel like they're not too interested in hearing what other people have to say, and instead visit threads that I know welcome people pitching in.

 

I'm glad you've had positive experiences there and I know others have too but here's why. You own resin dolls. Vinyl dolls and their owners are basically shunned there. The last time I went looking for DD based threads on DoA (which was years ago ) I think I found 1 large active one and that was it. ONE. I know the DD is grandfathered in there due to the way the original DD1 body was made ( it was strung ) and they've been nice enough to allow new DD postings over the years. But to a newbie who only owned one Dollfie Dream when he joined up there, it was extremely hard to find anyone who talked about them without finishing a conversation with "Well, they aren't REAL BJD's anyway." It was hard to understand at the time and for me, it still is.

 

I know they are a huge site and with that comes lots of problems we don't face here. Things are enforced more strictly and people tend to have their guard up more often than not. I am still active there but I only go to the meet up pages because I still feel that me and my dolls aren't welcome there because I don't own what the majority of users there own.

 

But yeah, honestly I find the most negative comments about DoA coming from either people who were banned for breaking the rules (and contrary to popular belief, DoA doesn't ban people lightly - you need to do some pretty bad stuff to get permanently banned, such as scam multiple people out of their money/items) or from people who aren't actually members themselves and heard/read rumours somewhere else. Of course, since DoA is a much bigger community than the one this forum has and because they have so many members, they have to have some firmer rules to keep an order in the forums.

 

I agree with you, no question. But not all people who have had bad experiences there are scammers or non-users.

 

And since you made it sound like this forum is much better in terms of atmosphere and being welcoming - unlike DoA - I have to say... to be completely honest, as a newer member, I haven't felt like this place is exactly welcoming to new people. When I first joined, it seemed like there's a core group of people on the forums who talk with each other a lot and then there are people outside of the core group. You don't really get much interaction here unless you first reach out to the core group of people. Just look at the introduction threads - some of them go completely unreplied. A few get "hi welcome to the forum" messages, but some get none. And often times it tends to be non-US people who don't get a welcome. A lot of the time in the discussions, too, this feels more like a community of US DD collectors - which of course is understandable considering the first core community being from the US. But these days there are more and more people from all over the world who are interested in dolls and end up joining the forum. So, it would be nice if it became a bit more international and the overall atmosphere didn't read as "we're all living in the US". DoA's founding member lived in the US but since the beginning, I never felt like I'm an outsider as a European when visiting the forums. It's an English-speaking community, but it's international and welcoming to people from various different countries. But yeah, this is just my personal experience, I don't doubt that there are others who don't share these thoughts and have always felt like this forum is inclusive and welcoming... I just wanted to mention this since there was talk about the community atmosphere.

 

I too have seen this so you're right on point. When I was first made a moderator here, I tried my best to say hello to every new member. But with all the other things I was doing here at that time, I found myself doing it less and less. I think when the forum was smaller and had less members, it was much easier to welcome new people. But we've got a lot of new members now and it's difficult to keep up with that, for me at least.

 

I apologize if you've felt left out or anything. I certainly hate to hear that newer people feel that way because I was a newbie at one time too.

 

And about the paging system that Gunter suggested, I would be in favour of one. Personally, I don't see how it would immediately escalate to tarnishing people's reputations as naturally there would be rules in place and a moderator (or moderators) keeping an eye on it. I really don't understand why some of you are viewing it as it becoming a negative thing immediately.

 

I just don't want it to devolve into something negative, that's all. Maybe my "worst case scenario" thoughts on it aren't correct but that's how I feel. If Averis wants to give it a trial then by all means we will and I'll do my best to make sure it works properly.

 

I'm sure Gunter suggested it in the first place as a neutral ground to find solutions when all other (private) means have failed, rather than a place for negativity. As long as you're conducting sales without problems, I don't see any reason to feel threatened by a paging system. And while these dolls may not be as expensive as miniature trains, they still cost several hundreds of dollars (and some rarer dolls have a 2nd hand market price up to a couple of thousands) and that can be a big sum of money for some people. I always take transactions involving money very seriously, even when it's a pair of eyes worth 15 dollars. In a transaction, the seller is the one with power and the buyer has to put a lot of trust into a seller. Buyers are in a more vulnerable situation and for them, safety would increase with the addition of a paging system.

 

That's just it though. If any issues are brought up publically, it *can* lead to others jumping in to either speak up for their friend who they might see as being harassed or for others who don't like the person in question. Sure, that may never happen but we can't ignore the possibility of it. Maybe there needs to be something in place if we add this paging thing to where only the people involved are allowed to comment and share info? That way things won't escalate with others input that may not be involved? I dunno, just tossing out ideas.

 

Besides, we could always try putting up a paging system and IF it only leads to negativity, it could be removed from the forum. Simple. But I honestly doubt people would use it with the wrong intentions. Assuming that it's going to become something negative reads to me like you don't have much trust in the people within this community.

 

I didn't think of that. I suppose a trial run could show us if it will work or not. As someone who uses the marketplace here often and hasn't had issues with it or any of my sellers, are there really that many times there ARE problems? I know I've gotten PM's or reports sent to me here about a few oddball things over the years but it's not like it's been a weekly or even a monthly thing. I know Averis has been adamant about telling people that he and the forum are not responsible for any transactions gone wrong but are there a lot of them that do and we just don't hear about it? Off forum stuff is one thing but on forum problems are what you guys that want this paging system are looking to help with right? I'm just trying to clarify is all because I feel that whenever I reply about this subject, my meaning is lost. I'm not trying to push buttons on anyone at all but I guess a few aren't seeing that and I apologize for it.

 

I'm very invested in this forum and community, I always have been. I look forward to coming here daily and seeing what's new and what people are up to. I like answering questions and doing info threads like my Body Comparisons and the like. I do those things because those kinds of things weren't around or available when I started this hobby. So I made them in order to help others out. It's what I enjoy doing. Hopefully others see that and understand and that they too want to help out members here, new or veteran.

 

Again, whatever Averis wants to do, whether it's keep this forum as an archive and make a new one altogether or to upgrade what we already have, I'm on board. I'm here to help out and to try and see that members have fun.

 

 

 

Billy

Well, about the whole future of this awesome community there are very complicated factors.

Ahead the money (almost every technical improvement will turn on more money spenses) the big problem I see is the easygoing share of social networks vs the forum style. I really LOVE the forum style, I suppose I’m old school, but everything is organized and you can find stuff from golden ages, vs the difficulty of finding some IG stuff because the incorrect tag *Yuna raises the hand at the sky at everyone who tags 10 or more incorrect tags only for getting more visibility, DDs aren’t smartdolls*

 

About leaving dollfiedreams as an archive, it is a good idea. I like vinyldreams as the title, but dolldreams is also good. The vinyl market is growing and I see fine the subforum of branchs families depending of the head. (Ex. If I put Rise’s head in a plastic ABS body as night lolitas and Kilig Dolls are, is she correct in offtopic dolls or is in the main pool and soul dollfie dream?). In case we migrate to vinyldreams, I would suggest a little love for vinyl dollce heads, aswell of the nowadays subforums of SMD, obitsu etc. But the important thing is organization. If you are a newbie, you go to a FAQ megathread with all the possible questions threads, and if you didn’t find your question there, you comment in the proper megathread (like reddit forums style)

 

The DoA try of getting updated under my point of view is not perfect. There is a thing I like on Discoord when you just copy an IG link, the image shows like you recently uploaded the image plus the link of the origin (in case you want to lurk more of the IG account) and you can still upload files traditionally (problem about files is hosting server money).

(...)

-Doll profiles

This is something I already do on my database thread; having its own thing would be a great way to expound on your girls' personalities and backstories (Yay imagination!).

 

-A fully featured Classifieds system

If it brings more functionality to the table, I say go for it!

 

-A Questions and Answers system

Consolidating all of the data into a one-stop shop would help avoid multiple threads about the same question.

 

-Events Calendar

This would make creating and finding meet-ups so much easier.

 

-A modern Gallery that also supports video

As I mentioned above, this would be a HUGE help for creating photo stories.

 

-User created Clubs

I'm not sure what this entails.

 

-A fun reaction system

I'm guessing this is similar to Discord's emote reactions to user posts?

 

-A reputation system with leaderboards

I have no idea what this would be like.

 

-Digest Emails for site updates

I approve of this; there were times I almost forgot the forum existed if not for the bookmark in my browser; having a digest in my inbox would be most helpful.

 

-Personalized activity streams

Something akin to a Twitter feed?

 

-Status updates and replies

Also like Twitter?

 

-An advanced search

Would be incredibly useful to zero in on specific information.

 

-Valuable reply flag

I'm not sure what this would be.

 

-Topic starter flag

So... the first post of a thread? Not sure what this means.

 

-Tags

This would really help tie into advanced search.

 

-@ Mentions

This would help if you want to reply to a specific user's comment and get their attention.

 

-Rich text editing

Yay modernization!

 

(...)

About those features I agree with technohornist. There are some I don’t understand, but I will find useful and I’m already doing in this version of the forum, a kind of my photo activity stream, where I put photos and doubts about wigs to choose etc.

If the personalized activity streams and the status replies means something similar I’m all on board. If those two means like the xenforum that DoA uses already, like when you go to somebody profile and can see their last posts and statuses, it’s already similar to the search of last comments we have already (and for cheap).

 

And we need easy to see and do mentions xD

And also for the welcome posts, a quick button like a like xD for fast welcoming, and another quick button for bdays greeting in the activity feeds.

 

In my case, I love databases, and the doll profiles sounds fine (but we can do them as the doll threads we have) but I would like to search for example, DDS Rin Kagamine, and find all the Rins in the forum and see how they’re styled (the idea of today’s dd database style but more ‘connected’ to the activity feeds). And if you let me dream in the skies, a whole database in our profiles of what Volks outfit we own or we wish (with all the release info and prices). But databases are time consuming and for example MFC Volks outfit database is missing tons of sets so imagine start one anew.

 

To sum up, easy to use and surf (in every kind of device), easy to see and quick interacts and a clean minimalistic look (but customizable with rich text editing).

Edited February 19, 2019 by Guest

Quick name update:

 

VinylDreams.com was taken. ; ;

DollDreams.com was on sale for $5500(US) ><

And some of the other suggestions I saw seemed a little too long.

 

I'm not so sure I want to keep the "dreams" part anyway. Especially if we're going to open things up to more manufacturers.

 

So with a little thinking and seeing what was available, which wasn't much, I got us:

 

VinylDarlings.com

 

It seems pretty fitting to me. As our dolls are our "darlings." We cherish them and they are often lovable and cute.

 

Before you ask, dolldarlings.com was taken too. And I know we don't need to use a .com, but if I can get one that is decent, I think it's easier for most people to remember than something else.

 

I do think we should probably split this topic to continue the discussion about how to deal with issues etc. Maybe even include a poll for it. (I like polls. XD)

Vinyldarlings, I like the sound of it!! Or removing the final s on the previous ones? Or dearvinyls? Damn domain prices!!

 

Edit. And if we go dolldreamz? (Dear vynils sounds like vinyl discs)

Edit 2. Randomly I just had a flashback of dollieh sanctuary...it seems a good place for all types of dolls but the type of forum is phpbb like this.

If the forum moves, there will have to be something here that’s visible and obvious to direct people to the new one. For example, changing the banner image to include text that says ‘join the new forum at -URL-‘, as it would be visible on every page. Registration on this one should also be closed - otherwise even if the site moves, people are still going to be finding this one from google traffic, joining and walking around all ‘where is everyone...?’ And some people wouldn’t think to check a news section like this.

If the forum moves, there will have to be something here that’s visible and obvious to direct people to the new one. For example, changing the banner image to include text that says ‘join the new forum at -URL-‘, as it would be visible on every page. Registration on this one should also be closed - otherwise even if the site moves, people are still going to be finding this one from google traffic, joining and walking around all ‘where is everyone...?’ And some people wouldn’t think to check a news section like this.

 

Replace the login/register buttons at the top with a link to the new forums. That's a good idea. As for Vinyldarlings.com, I'm going to have to learn how to spell vinyl correctly without spellcheck.

Sorry to still continue with this but there are a few more points that I want to add.

 

Yes indeed I am. I joined back in 2010, I actually was a member there before I was here because I was referred there in order to find local doll meets.

 

I'm glad you've had positive experiences there and I know others have too but here's why. You own resin dolls. Vinyl dolls and their owners are basically shunned there. The last time I went looking for DD based threads on DoA (which was years ago ) I think I found 1 large active one and that was it. ONE. I know the DD is grandfathered in there due to the way the original DD1 body was made ( it was strung ) and they've been nice enough to allow new DD postings over the years. But to a newbie who only owned one Dollfie Dream when he joined up there, it was extremely hard to find anyone who talked about them without finishing a conversation with "Well, they aren't REAL BJD's anyway." It was hard to understand at the time and for me, it still is.

 

I know they are a huge site and with that comes lots of problems we don't face here. Things are enforced more strictly and people tend to have their guard up more often than not. I am still active there but I only go to the meet up pages because I still feel that me and my dolls aren't welcome there because I don't own what the majority of users there own.

Okay, that explains a few things. 2009~2013 were really busy years for the resin BJD hobby, suddenly we got tons of new companies and also tons of new people joining the hobby. The DoA community grew rapidly around that time. The early 2000s and even in 2005~2007 it was still quite cozy and I remember people just being excited about new people coming abroad and liking dolls. But yeah, later when lots and lots of new people with different opinions and personal preferences started getting together, there also started brewing these ideas of "x doll is better than y doll" and it's not just about resin dolls vs vinyl dolls, it happens within the resin community too. Not naming any brands but one of the reasons I avoid the discussion thread of "company x" even though I own those dolls and love them a lot, is because every time I tried to post there, I got the feeling that I'm not welcome. Because while I own the dolls, I don't own the original ones from the early 2000s, but ones that were made in 2010s. Like, it's the exact same doll, but because it was made later, I'm somehow less worthy of a hobbyist? It's a really stupid logic and I've never understood that kind of gatekeeping personally, but unfortunately... it does happen sometimes. Not nearly ALL people in that company's thread think like that at all, it's just a vocal minority that feels intimidating because they're older members and have a bigger post count. Eventually I stopped posting to that thread altogether and choose to talk about those dolls elsewhere with my friends who also have them, instead.

 

There are lots of friendly discussion threads on DoA, too, though. I think that the discussion thread dedicated to Dollfie Dreams is one of the most positive and welcoming there. The reason why they only have one thread is because DoA is a big forum and they need to control the number of discussion threads, thus they have only one thread by company by size. So, there's a Dollfie Dream thread in the "Large Dolls Discussion" subforum where you can post about DDS/DD/DDdy and then there's another in "Mini Dolls Discussion" for MDDs (and I guess DDP also goes there? not entirely sure but I haven't seen DDP in the large DD discussion at least) because they're smaller. However, there's the "General Discussion" subforum where you can talk about anything on-topic doll related, and since DDs are on-topic at DoA, you're welcome to post about them there too. And of course, you can share them in the gallery as well. Naturally, if you own resin dolls from only one company and only in one size, let's say Fairyland MNFs because they're the easiest example, then you're in the same position as a DD owner with no resin dolls: you have only one discussion thread dedicated to Fairyland MNFs.

 

Especially now in recent years a lot of "resin only" people have been popping up in the DD thread saying that they recently got interested in vinyl dolls and are getting their first DDs. So I feel like the attitude towards vinyl dolls has become a lot more positive as of late. Especially since there are companies that make resin dolls that have also gotten into the anime aesthetic (like Luts and DollZone), so that's most likely helped some people not to diss vinyl dolls just because "they're more anime" (although, there are a few sour grapes that seem to be very offended that BJDs often come up in relation to anime/manga 'cause they're not into that themselves, but I just ignore those kinds of people) and people have also noticed that not all vinyl dolls are strictly the anime aesthetic, there are more "BJD kind" of faces too (Obitsu, Angelphilia etc). The line has blurred over the years and a lot of resin collectors have gotten into vinyl dolls recently because they're curious about them.

 

So yeah, unfortunately gatekeeping is a problem among resin doll collectors, but it's not limited to just "BJD vs other types of dolls", even some resin dolls "aren't good enough". It's a deeply-rooted issue and probably that has led to the whole recast problem. I personally don't think brand x is better than brand y in terms of "what's the right kind of BJD" or that owning doll x from company y somehow makes one a "true BJD hobbyist". The definition should be just "this doll has ball joints and it's strung together, so it's a BJD". There are a few bad apples with those kinds of mindsets but you can find more people who just like any and all kinds of (legit) dolls. The only thing for me that turns me off from a doll is lacking quality control or shady behaviour/business ethics by the company owner - or that it just doesn't fit my personal view of what I find attractive.

 

The TL;DR version is that just because one owns a resin BJD, one is not necessarily safe from being shunned by other collectors on DoA. But there really are more friendly people than these grumpy gatekeepers. You just need to find the right threads with the right group of people and you'll fit in fine.

 

And I also have to add that reading some threads here, there are a few individuals who don't seem at all welcoming of the resin BJD aesthetic. The NieR thread is an example of this. So, it's not really fair to demonise resin collectors being the only ones capable of this kind of behaviour of shunning other dolls because they don't fit the personal tastes of that particular individual. I've known some DD owners who called resin BJDs "nightmare dolls" and didn't welcome them in their meet ups. However, I don't think that all DD owners behave like this and I've seen more proof of DD owners being welcoming of resin BJDs. And vice versa.

 

I too have seen this so you're right on point. When I was first made a moderator here, I tried my best to say hello to every new member. But with all the other things I was doing here at that time, I found myself doing it less and less. I think when the forum was smaller and had less members, it was much easier to welcome new people. But we've got a lot of new members now and it's difficult to keep up with that, for me at least.

 

I apologize if you've felt left out or anything. I certainly hate to hear that newer people feel that way because I was a newbie at one time too.

And about this, I get that it's too much work for just one person to greet everyone - I honestly feel like this forum could do with a couple more moderators to share the workload. I mainly brought it up because on another (small) doll forum that I've been a member of, it's sort of been an unwritten rule that the forum staff and older members welcome new people in the introductions section. However, that forum has had more active staff than this forum currently has. Because, while I'm sure most people get that not everyone has the time to reply to everyone on a forum (and that's perfectly fine) - thinking about it from the point of view of a newbie joining a small close-knit community... when you see certain people's names pop up a lot in discussions because they've been active members for a long time and they have bigger post counts, it can feel like you're "an outsider" if it happens that none of those people came up to say "hi, welcome". As a newbie it can feel a bit intimidating to take part in discussions at first because you don't know the regulars on the forum, so... it would just be positive if the regulars could pop in to the introductions to say hi every once in a while. I'm not saying that this absolutely has to be done and I don't know if the majority even feels a need for this, I'm just throwing it out there as a suggestion.

 

For me personally the feeling of being "an outsider" here is a sum of a few small things that have happened. When I first joined, I posted a lot (on my own activity scale) and tried to take part in discussions & commented on people's photos... but when I asked my first "noob question", I was a bit taken aback by the response I got. I don't know if it's because I come from the resin side of the hobby but people there tend to answer "how does colour x match colour y" type of questions with photos, which is more helpful than just saying "no, it doesn't match" or "yes, it's a match". Because what is "a good colour match" can be quite subjective depending on the person, so... I'd rather see photos to decide for my own whether that colour match is acceptable for me or not. When I posted my question about colour matches, I was just given a very matter-of-fact "no, it doesn't match" response and even after I requested a specific kind of photo, no one seemed willing to provide me one, so... that left me with a bit of a feeling like "I guess I shouldn't make such requests". After that a few more things happened and gradually I started posting less and less and then for a while I didn't post much at all. I'm really opinionated about things that I'm passionate about (such as dolls) & I may come up as being blunt - especially since I'm lazy about using emojis to soften my words - and that's one of the reasons I have trouble fitting in (not just here but in other places too). It doesn't really bother me too much - I mean, I wouldn't still be on this forum and posting here if I felt completely unwelcome - but I wanted to voice it in case there are others having thoughts of being "outsiders" but they're too shy to post about it.

 

The main thing that sparked me to post about this, was that it kind of rubbed me the wrong way to state that "this other forum is so elitist and unwelcoming, while our community is a happy place" because... there isn't such a thing as a perfect community where everyone feels like things are absolutely fine. It's kind of wrong to demonise another community to boost up another as "being better". And just as we can see from this exchange, one person may have had a positive experience in a community, but another one may have not. I'd appreciate it if we could refrain from saying bad things about DoA and other similar communities - or if someone makes these claims, they would back them up with their personal experiences.

 

Perhaps I'll end my wall of text here. Hopefully the point comes across. I'm just the type of person who doesn't like seeing claims being made without something to back them up with.

Mizya said just about everything I couldn't really put into words (minus the extra DoA history, because I only joined in 2015 I think). Basically, yes, I too have noticed that there is a lot of weird anti-resin sentiment from certain DD fans - not just on here but on the DD discord as well (I actually had to step in there at one point and ask a certain user to stop bashing resin bjds whenever they were even vaguely referred to because several people had confessed to me that it was making them feel unwelcome there). Obviously this hobby is big and vast and no one's going to like everything, but I don't know how anyone can sit and accuse resin bjd fans of being snooty and looking down on vinyl dolls when I constantly see vinyl fans doing the exact same thing. It gets my goat when people go on about 'creepy uncanny valley resin dolls' ad nauseum, and it gets my goat when people go on about 'creepy perverted anime dolls'. I would have assumed that any fan of any dolls knows how it feels to be looked down on by ''''''''''''normal'''''''''''''''' people who think dolls of any stripe are weird and adults collecting any kind of doll is worthy of ridicule, so finding out there was such a divide was surprising.

So...I also didn't really appreciate seeing DoA spoken about in such an aggressive way. I think that comments like that do more to increase that divide. I don't think it's a look that our community should be projecting - that we think we're better than the other promiment doll community. If I was a user from DoA getting interested in DDs, seeing comments like that might make me question how welcoming this place (or the new place) is.

 

I apologise if these comments of mine are out of line or come across as aggressive - I just didnt want Mizya to be the only one to say something about that. But on that note, I am in support of a 'like' feature (or other reactions) for posts on a new forum.

@torino

 

The thing is the Resin vs. Vinyl thing

 

In a way its stupid, and silly.. fortunately some progress has been made, but if you have people who've been put off by either side for whatever reason or other, they have been put off, and will act accordingly -- its how human nature works.

 

Now this forum was based on the wish to have a broader forum experience for vinyl doll owners that was not possible elsewhere, DoA included at the time. So if you have a veteran user-base that has come from having bad experiences from way long ago, it will be still reflected in the opinions, even though things might have improved in any degree.

 

So naturally there will be rejection to bringing elements from another forum of a certain doctrine (if you wish to describe it bluntly of either side), just because its from that other forum. But as far as I can tell these suggestions were also discussed in a constructive manner.

 

but back to the topic.

I personally don't think a "like counter" attached to posts is a good idea. since I think it'll become off putting, as people might stick like's on stuff from people they know or like in general out of courtesy leaving general outfielders wondering whats wrong their stuff.

but back to the topic.

I personally don't think a "like counter" attached to posts is a good idea. since I think it'll become off putting, as people might stick like's on stuff from people they know or like in general out of courtesy leaving general outfielders wondering whats wrong their stuff.

While that is always a possibility and is something to be concerned about, I like (bad pun) the idea, for one specific reason. Sometimes I see someone's pictures that I like, but maybe I don't really know anything specific to say about them so I'd tend to not post because a bunch of posts saying "nice picture" aren't very interesting, so it's a way of giving a little thumbs up to someone so they know their post is appreciated even if I didn't really have something specific to say about it that was interesting enough to post.

 

On the other topic, I know I've made some comments before here about resin dolls that upset some people. That wasn't my intent; I was asked why I don't like them and explained that without any intent to slight anyone else's opinion, but seemingly failed. Generally I try to just talk about the positve; comment on things I like and keep my mouth shut about things I don't. Other people like all kinds of things I don't, and vice-versa and that's fine.

even though i am very new to this forum i thought i would chime in with my 2 cents!

 

i use this site almost exclusively on my cell phone so i would really like to see a new site with a mobile version. i also think that some kind of gallery system and doll profiles would be really nice!

 

as for other bells and whistles, i think that a lot of things are unnecessary and some might take away from the forum experience! as others have touched on, ‘like’ systems can be kind of gross. i have always found that they cast a weird social media shadow over a forum, and make it a little harder to enjoy just posting what you want, because there is a little voice in the back of your mind nagging you for likes! on the flipside, they are nice for acknowledgment when you don’t have other things to say. overall though, i don’t know if that little positive is worth it.

Whelp, let's get this started!

 

It took me a few days to get everything put together, but I've put up a donation page and launched a Patreon.

 

 

Check out vinyldarlings.com to get started!

 

Of course, if you have questions, let me know.

The new site sounds great but please can I ask for a bit of clarification regarding how other doll brands are going to be treated?

 

Reading the description on Patreon I get the impression that the focus won’t be so heavily on Dollfie Dreams and other dolls will be more broadly welcome across the site, maybe not just in sub-forums - but is that accurate or just wishful thinking on my part?

I plan to have sections for at least the major/well known brands. While they are similar they are different enough that I think they should have sections for each.

Thanks for replying:)

 

So will that be much the same as it is now? With other doll brands having sub-forums but off topic in the rest of the site?

These features do sound awesome. Also, would the new site come with an SSL? Chrome has started giving me crap about the forum being "not secure" thanks to it being HTTP instead of HTTPS, sigh.

 

I want to echo this, anything new needs to use SSL.

This kinda sounds exciting.

I am not sure I understand the whole Patreon thing, but I did make a donation through PayPal.

I like the idea of giving the forum a makeover and freshening things up, it would help bring it up to date. Features such as doll profiles and galleries would be a nice thing to have on the forum

 

I personally like the idea of a 'Like' button of some description, since I'm really not a big talker and struggle to come up with meaningful posts that aren't just one or two words long - but I do agree that it can sometimes be abused and lead to favouritism, and feelings of being ignored. It's a feature that is always going to be something of a double-edged sword.

 

A mobile-friendly version of the forum would be nice too, as long as it doesn't detract from the desktop version; I've seen some websites that look great when viewed on a mobile, but that are clunky and awkward to use on a normal computer.

 

Oh, one thing I have noticed: on the new website, the title bar says 'Vinly' rather than 'Vinyl'

One thing I think is really slick over at DOA is their multi-quote app. The ability to clip multiple posts and then put them all into a new post is nice.

 

It would also be a big plus to keep or expand on the feature of resizing images in posts. Currently is great to have if you like posting photos. I hate posting and then discovering that the image that looked good in preview is now clipped.

Who made the logo? It’s really cute!

Signed up on Patreon. Not much, but hope this will help o(≧∇≦o)

I love the Logo (♥ω♥ ) ~♪ Its really, really cute (☆▽☆)

I'm SUPER excited for the new site!

Will we have a "funds meter" put up on here? I would love to see the progress

Thanks for replying:)

 

So will that be much the same as it is now? With other doll brands having sub-forums but off topic in the rest of the site?

 

Yup! That's pretty much the idea!

 

 

These features do sound awesome. Also, would the new site come with an SSL? Chrome has started giving me crap about the forum being "not secure" thanks to it being HTTP instead of HTTPS, sigh.

 

I want to echo this, anything new needs to use SSL.

 

SSL is already setup on the vinyldarlings website!

 

 

I personally like the idea of a 'Like' button of some description, since I'm really not a big talker and struggle to come up with meaningful posts that aren't just one or two words long - but I do agree that it can sometimes be abused and lead to favouritism, and feelings of being ignored. It's a feature that is always going to be something of a double-edged sword.

 

A mobile-friendly version of the forum would be nice too, as long as it doesn't detract from the desktop version; I've seen some websites that look great when viewed on a mobile, but that are clunky and awkward to use on a normal computer.

 

Oh, one thing I have noticed: on the new website, the title bar says 'Vinly' rather than 'Vinyl'

 

There is a "like" feature on the new forum software for posts! In fact you can "like," "thanks," "confused," "laugh," and "sad" a post!

 

And thank you for catching the misspelling.

 

Who made the logo? It’s really cute!

 

Thanks !That was me! ^^

 

Signed up on Patreon. Not much, but hope this will help o(≧∇≦o)

I love the Logo (♥ω♥ ) ~♪ Its really, really cute (☆▽☆)

 

I sent messages to everyone that signed up to Patreon that I couldn't find their username here. So just a heads up to everyone, send me a message here or wherever if you send in a donation or sign up to Patreon. If you can give me the email you used for Patreon or PayPal with the message, that would also help me keep track of things. Thanks!

 

I'm SUPER excited for the new site!

Will we have a "funds meter" put up on here? I would love to see the progress

 

I'll see what I can do. For now we have the vinylDarling page. I have to modify that manually, so it might take a bit to update. ^^