Wow, I just went on DoA and their new “posting to ask questions about the legitimacy of a doll outside of Ask the Mods is forbidden” is WEIRD. I just read that announcement and that is a weird, bad take on handling that issue.
Not talking about recasts on THE BIGGEST BJD FORUM IN THE STATES always struck me as weird.
I don’t care if “it gets heated” it should help weed out pro-counterfeiters!
That’s like the #1 place people SHOULD talk about it!!
The only other places to go? Pro-recast. It’s like that post about how only heavily right-leaning news sources allow a person to read as many free articles as they want and the others are behind a paywall.
The new announcement basically says that you can’t post threads asking people to help you verify the legitimacy of your doll because if it ends up being a recast, you’ve violated the “no posting recasts on DoA” rule and could be subject to banning.
Like… that doesn’t even make sense. Like, “not my circus, not my monkeys” anymore… but… what?
No one should get banned for that…. That sub forum should be exempt from that rule, that doesn’t make any sense.
Or there should BE an exempt sub-forum. I have a feeling there isn’t a sub at all, since it’s forbidden to even talk about.
This is like abstinent-only sex ed…
By denying the discussion of recasts as a preventative measure, it ensures that recasts will be bought since people can’t ask simple questions about how to avoid them. Seriously, I am beginning to wonder if Luo shadow-sponsors the site…
Remember when I made this? It still applies…
There are no recasts in Ba Sing Se
I’ve had an account at that website for like a decade and a half but they were so terrifyingly narrow about what they would accept or talk about and the consequences for even breathing seemed so strict that I think I’ve made like two posts and they put me off ever owning one of those dolls for what, 13 years?
And then the one I got, finally, after all those years that I was so excited about and wanted people to see, didn’t even count as ‘on topic’ because she was a Doll Chateau centaur that didn’t have ankle joints.
It’s both unsurprising and pathetic that they don’t have a forum where people can ask about legitimacy or post photos of what to look for, comparisons, etc
You certainly don’t want to encourage people doing it, but pretending that recasting just doesn’t exist or that well-meaning people don’t sometimes just get scammed is not helping. Why they wouldn’t want people to become more educated and ask legitimate questions to help fight the theft of artists’ work is absolutely beyond me.
