1. It has come to the attention of forum staff that Dollshe Craft has ceased communications with dealers and customers, has failed to provide promised refunds for the excessive waits, and now has wait times surpassing 5 years in some cases. Forum staff are also concerned as there are claims being put forth that Dollshe plans to close down their doll making company. Due to the instability of the company, the lack of communication, the lack of promised refunds, and the wait times now surpassing 5 years, we strongly urge members to research the current state of this company very carefully and thoroughly before deciding to place an order. For more information please see the Dollshe waiting room. Do not assume this cannot happen to you or that your order will be different.
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Off Topic Section?

Apr 20, 2012

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    1. Well, in a way I agree. It would be nice to have one section that links off-site discussion on off-topic dolls from companies that are 99% on-topic. It wouldn't really open the flood-gates when people have a fairly good idea what is totally off-topic, and what is off-topic due to one reason or another.

      Sometimes it seems this forum keeps all the really popular ABJD companies from really branching out. I would love to see more realistic dolls, but I've never been too big of a fan of "fashion dolls" since they always look... "off." ABJDs look great in their stylization, but I just wish the eyes were smaller, and more realistically sized. Or at least stylized to fit the face more so the eyes don't look so big in comparison to everything else.
       
      #21 Lycansea, Apr 20, 2012
    2. I don't think that having an Off-Topic section is a good idea for reasons already mentioned - increased drain on the servers, more work for the mods and sheer disorganization that is surely to follow. DoA is such a wonderful resource for ABJDs because it is so precise and limited in scope - allowing discussion on all dolls (or, even dolls that 'barely' made the cut) will dilute the information available on the dolls that this forum is a tribute to.

      Personally, I don't see the problem with dolls I like being voted Off-Topic. If I like the doll, I'll still buy it, and if I really want to discuss the said doll with others, I'll find a forum on which that can be done. There are many doll-related forums out there; surely, finding one that will welcome my Off-Topic dolls won't be an issue. Heck, I even have On-Topic dolls that I never discuss or post pictures of on DoA, but that certainly doesn't make me enjoy them any less (I'm just not that interested in discussing every single doll I have).

      In summary, I enjoy DoA precisely because it has a relative narrow focus - it makes it much more enjoyable for me to hang out here and make it my dolly forum of choice. It's like a very big family - each individual is different, but we share one very important similarity - our love for ABJDs.
       
      #22 Anna, Apr 20, 2012
    3. I love the idea of an Off Topic section. There are a few sculpts that have been voted of that, aside from the fact that I don't really get why, I'd actually like to see if people are buying them and owner photos and all that. But... I can definitely see where it could be something too big for the current modding staff to handle, even if you went with a strictly strung resin+ball-joints criteria.

      Bare minimum... if there were going to be an OT section here, then new mods would need to be hired to only police that section. But... only having a section of this forum could limit how much room we would actually have to talk about stuff.

      A separate forum only for OT dolls isn't a bad idea either... except that it might not ever get a lot of activity simply because almost everyone is over here. I'm a member on a couple other forums and none of them are anywhere near as active as DoA.

      I think a separate OT forum would work best if it were literally branded as a sister site to DoA - the Den of Castaways (a little bit tongue-in-cheek, forgive me)... big fat link on DoA's main page (and vice versa) that would take you to a separate forum entity which would use the same member database as DoA - so you'd be able to log into both sites no matter which site you registered on (kind of like the Soom sites) (ditto for being paged/banned from both). It would have to have a different, volunteer, modding staff, but it would share the same basic format and rules of conduct that DoA has.

      I've always felt that calling a doll "Off Topic" made the doll suddenly "OMG, taboo," when there's really nothing wrong with the doll other than not fitting into a narrower aesthetic. Having such an openly accessible place where it's fine to discuss those dolls that don't-quite-fit would, IMO, alleviate some of that feeling. I'd like to see where the hobby could go from that. (There is always the potential for a narrow focus to stifle overall creativity. I'm not saying that has happened here, but it is a possibility.)
       
      #23 Kymera, Apr 20, 2012
    4. I'm not actually saying this should be a reason to include an off-topic section on DoA, because I agree with Tez in that discussing off-topic dolls would defeat the purpose of labeling a doll 'off-topic' here. I also don't dispute the moderators' right to deem a doll off-topic and exclude them from this forum, as we are being provided a free service from a private establishment.

      However, what DoA deems as off-topic or on-topic does have a big influence on how some doll owners view the dolls. For example, for those who want to be a part of the DoA community and thrives on sharing their dolls with others, they will most likely be discouraged from purchasing a doll deemed off-topic here. I do wonder sometimes how much DoA influences its members in their doll purchasing decisions, and how deeming a doll off-topic could change perceptions about it, as Kymera has stated:

       
      #24 xinwang, Apr 20, 2012
    5. This is not something that we would consider implementing at this point. Additionally, the Debate section does not exist to debate the structure or rules of Den of Angels, or to provide a place to make suggestions on such. If you have suggestions about Den of Angels, please use the Ask the Moderators subforum.

      There are many other ABJD and BJD forums, both for English-language hobbyists and for those who do not speak English. Den of Angels is not the only resource available for these dolls, and other forums and boards make different topicality decisions than Den of Angels does. Additionally, whether a doll is on-topic for Den of Angels is not at all a refection of the opinion of the moderation staff on the value or attractiveness of the doll! Indeed, many of us own dolls that have been determined to be off-topic for Den of Angels. It simply means that we feel the doll in question doesn't fit in with the very narrow focus that we want Den of Angels to have.

      Beyond that, this is a privately owned and operated forum, and decisions about what is and is not allowed on the forum, including decisions about topicality, are ultimately made at the discretion of the moderation staff. This is all plainly stated in the site's Terms of Service, which are displayed to all members upon registration, and which are also viewable here.
       
      #25 Kiyakotari, Apr 20, 2012
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