A continuation of my popular blog from 2020.
Missing features:
Favorites.
Affiliations.
Forums and announcements.
Widget to display blog authors.
Widgets to display gallery contributors.
Monthly statistics.
Weekly statistics.
The radar for displaying visitors of our group.
The watch button. Now you must join the group to watch it?
The countdown widget.
The Twitter widget.
The list of gallery folders on the group's home page. Example:
Administrator area:
No visitor widget.
No custom box.
No recent notes.
No affiliates.
No button to create a new post.
No log tab to see the recent activities of the group.
No management members?
No information kiosk.
No widgets to use in the administrator's area, like on the home page.
No recent annonucements.
No recent journal entries.
Ruined features.
1. The inability to add multiple deviations in bulk with a single click. In the old user interface, you could select up to ten deviations to feature them in the group's folder. There was also an option to select how many deviations you wanted to display when the pop-up window opened. Now, you must add them one by one, which is too tedious and time-consuming. Example:
Old.
New:
2. Inability to rearrange widgets; now everything in the new UI is stacked.
3. Horrible arranging of galleries and their sub-folders. If the sub-folder has an additional sub-folder, it will be invisible and inaccessible, even with a link.
4. Gallery contributors, including widgets for each gallery page, are missing.
5. Inability to uninstall a tab of the group, such as galleries, journals, favorites, and blogs. Example:
6. Moving deviations in bulk. In the old user interface, you could select multiple deviations and move them in bulk into a new folder. In the new user interface, you must open a pop-up window and move images piece by piece. It's too time-consuming and stressful. Example:
Old.
New.
7. Infinite scrolling in galleries and no pagination?
8. The list of recently active members is too cluttered and crappy. The same goes for the list of members and watchers of our group.
9. No options to send an invitation, or a request to affiliate with another group. Example:
10. I cannot message the administrators of the group like before unless I don't join! Stupid!
11. Inabillity to edit the layout and rearange widgets. Example:
12. GROUP NOTES!
WARNING! The eclipse layout will delete all your group notes and their history. I’m frustrated with group notes because they have changed. Before, all group notes were stored within the group. But now, when you send a note to a group, it’s treated as a normal note and replies come through reply notifications. As a result, accessing the message history is no longer possible. This makes group notes useless for things like ARPGs. A special thanks to @otterbells for pointing this out.
Additional note:
As the cherry on top, all content in the featured folders will be lost during migration. Unless admins manually copy, one by one, all the artworks contained in the Featured Folders into another gallery, they are losing their time to do a dumb and recursive, time-wasting operation that could have been spared to us if only the DA team had at least provided us a tool to automatically transfer the old Featured Folders' content into a new folder.
13. New folders can only be created by admins having Core membership!
Yes, you read it well. If you are not a subscriber, you cannot create new folders!
Other issues.
Folders and deviations will stay within the group, but a certain level of nested sub-folders may disappear and be impossible to find.
Example:
Folder: Fine
—Sub-folder: Fine
-----Sub-folder in Sub-folder: not fine.
If you have any sub-folders within a sub-folder, it's recommended to move all deviations a level higher or to a "sort this later" folder before moving to the new theme, because so far those will disappear and the deviations in them will be lost to a void where their deviations are still in the group but borderline impossible to relocate because you have to search them manually. — otterbells
So changing font colors in custom boxes doesn't work because it won't let me confirm the color if I have to choose a custom one. It goes past the page and asks if I want to leave. I can't confirm the color. This is on my computer, mind you, so I don't even want to try it on my phone. — RTNightmare
I did the testing by trying to submit all my stuff at once in the group EclipseGroupTesting, but I cannot do that anymore. I used to submit up to ten pictures at once in the old groups, but now I have to submit one photo at a time, which seems quite tedious. It's frustrating, and I'm hoping they'll fix this soon.
The frustration is palpable, and rightfully so. Over half of the new UI features for the group interface are malfunctioning. For instance, group affiliations are no longer an option in the new-style groups, which renders it impossible for old-style groups to send an affiliation request to new-style groups. New-style groups inexplicably hide all empty folders, making it impossible for people to submit to those folders from within the group interface.
The previous UI for groups displays a useful full folder list on the left side. Another issue is that the old folder-editing/deviation-management interface allowed the selection and movement of 120 deviations at a time. Fresh groups struggle with Eclipse’s UI, tackling minor mistakes individually. Neither interface can set folder permissions very well; instead of being able to set it logically at the folder level, one must go through managing members to set this one rank at a time.
Neither group interface allows for looking at a member or their work. We must review the roster of hundreds of members in random order without the ability to sort by age or artist’s name. Locating all deviations by a specific artist in any field or folder is nearly impossible. When you ban a member, you spend days combing through all the folders, trying to locate their work with the browser search function. The new UI search function fails because of missing artist names near thumbnails. Also, when you ban someone, the system should auto-delete all their stuff from the group.
To summarize, the new user interface for groups is not a significant enhancement; it has exacerbated the situation. No wonder people are frustrated and looking for a way to switch back to the old UI. I want to point out that because of this new blocking feature, I can’t delete the deviations I want from the group. No! This sucks! It's shit! 
Stop it!
Oh, God. I remember the time when I used to post journal entries without complaining much about anything except art robbers, bullies, and trolls. Those were the good old days when navigating this platform was a breeze but then came Eclipse, and it’s been a mess ever since. Their constant updates have made finding anything impossible. The entire website is a hot mess! Before, I checked for comments and replies quickly. Now, I must navigate cluttered sections with red numbers. It’s frustrating, to say the least, and it feels like Eclipse was a mistake. A HUGE MISTAKE! 
I’ve been on DeviantArt for over ten years, and I’ve seen many stupid changes in my life, but the recent updates have made the platform a toxic shithole that no longer cares about artists. DeviantArt allows AI “art” that generates theft and lets people sell their AI creations without holding AI users accountable for tagging failures. It’s all about profit, not creating a wholesome community. I attempted resistance, but without support, it’s no longer worthwhile. See this if you’re curious about what’s happening.
https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/1032405910/5123581224
https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/1032405910/5123598878
That is the answer to your question. If you’re an artist contemplating leaving, I urge you to do so now. I’ll still have a profile because I support a couple of users here, including my friends. I’m not posting art or journals anymore, except the one that I will post tomorrow about the new UI that will kill groups on March 25, and for any glorified AI Google searchers out there, I couldn’t care less about your jabs at this point. In short, FUCK DEVIANTART. It is no longer what it used to be.
The administrators can remove this post, but I doubt they will because it wasn’t posted in the DA team journal. I’m sharing my personal experiences and observations here. I’ve noticed that previously free content is now behind a paywall. There are bugs in the notes and chats, and with every update, it seems like they prioritize making money. It’s been ongoing for some time, not just now. Some comments are marked as “hidden” for rule violations, no matter whether they were tame and insightful, even though similar comments exist on their latest journal post, so they are trying too hard to silence anyone against AI. As of this writing, I can bet they are updating their community guidelines to ban or suspend anyone for any reason.
The coding structure is so bad that many of the extensions I use on my browser either don’t work or work spontaneously because this idiotic coding doesn’t allow them to work properly. The extensions I used to check grammar and style can’t work as they should because the coding doesn’t allow them to correct grammar errors. Instead, words jump and turn the text into a word salad, or it blocks the text after the extension edits it. My extensions were problem-free before the new interface. I’m fast on the keyboard, and I miss a mistake I made and have to use “assistant” to avoid the embarrassment of writing poorly structured sentences. Nobody’s writing is perfect, and that is a fact. We all need help with writing, and whoever claims it’s cheating is delusional and should seek help.
Is this the end for Sony?
Sony faces a massive lawsuit worth up to £6.3 billion ($7.9 billion) over claims that the PlayStation maker abused its dominant position, leading to unfair prices for customers, a London court ruled on Tuesday. Last year, almost 9 million people in the UK who purchased digital games or additional content through the Sony PlayStation Store sued Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE). Alex Neil, a consumer lawyer who has worked on earlier campaigns, is launching a lawsuit against Sony that is estimated to be worth up to 5 billion pounds ($6.23 billion) plus interest.
Her lawyers said the total damage estimate in the case was up to £6.3 billion in court filings last month. She says the company abused its dominant position by requiring digital games and accessories to be bought and sold only through the PlayStation Store, which charges developers and publishes a 30% commission. The claim alleges that customers paid higher prices for games and more content than they otherwise would have. Sony’s lawyers argued that the case was “flawed from start to finish” and requested its dismissal. The Competition Appeals Tribunal ruled that Neil’s case could proceed, but it excluded people who purchased from the PlayStation Store after they filed the case in 2022 from the proposed class of claimants.
Bonus:
The stocks of Sony, the Japanese technology powerhouse, declined in Tokyo trading after Microsoft announced its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a gaming company, for a staggering $68.7 billion. Last night, Microsoft shocked the world by announcing the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, one of the largest and most well-known video game studios. The $68.7 billion cash transaction is the largest such transaction in the sector. Microsoft offered to buy the stock for $95 per share, which is more than it was trading at on Friday ($89.55). Several industry professionals commented on the acquisition, each sharing their perspective.
Sony shares plunged 12.8 percent in Tokyo today, the largest drop in the value of Sony shares since 2008. As per Business Insider, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index experienced a decline of approximately 2.8 percent due to the drop in Sony’s share price. The Japanese tech giant and Microsoft are the two biggest competitors in the video game industry, with their PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles. This acquisition of Activision Blizzard made Microsoft the third-largest gaming company in the world, just behind China’s Tencent and Sony. The BBC reports that this is Microsoft’s biggest acquisition and the largest in gaming history.
With this, Sony and Microsoft’s battle for dominance in the $200 billion market has heated up. Some analysts point out that Microsoft’s move to make the hit franchise “Call of Duty” exclusive to Xbox consoles brought the value of Sony’s shares down. To this day, Sony has been ahead of Microsoft in terms of both sales and exclusive video games for its console. Video games and similar services account for 30 percent of the Japanese giant’s earnings. Microsoft sees this business move as preparation for the metaverse, from which they expect to earn millions. - This acquisition will accelerate the growth of Microsoft’s gaming business on mobile phones, PCs, consoles, and the cloud and will be one brick with which we will build our metaverse, the company’s statement reads. Microsoft shares rose just under 1 percent this morning after losing 2.43 percent before the news broke. Activision’s shares rose dramatically, gaining 26 percent of their value on Tuesday.
Microsoft desperately needs more games.
The most obvious reason for this acquisition is that Microsoft’s ambitions to build its Game Pass subscription service into a mega-success will now be much easier. While Microsoft has convinced some outside publishers to allow it to include their titles as part of Game Pass, many publishers have turned it down, at least with their most profitable video games. Other publishers don’t see any financial advantage in making games that sell for $60 as stand-alone titles that are also available as part of a $15-a-month Game Pass subscription. For example, Game Pass does not include the “Call of Duty” franchise. That reluctance is why Microsoft paid $7.5 billion last year to buy ZeniMax Media—the company that owned Bethesda Softworks, publisher of the Doom and Fallout games.
Microsoft values the consumer.
Microsoft’s comeback over the last eight years, under the leadership of Satya Nadella, has focused on cloud computing and enterprise computing. However, even as Microsoft has dramatically scaled back its ambitions in key categories in today’s market, such as browsers and mobile devices, Nadella has clung to the Xbox as its closest touchpoint to consumers. In recent years, the company has subtly expressed its desire to increase its presence in the consumer technology industry. Remember, it raced to take over TikTok, Discord, and Pinterest. Why would Microsoft play with their business models when they have a well-established path? As good as the cloud market has been for Microsoft, the company lacks a richer offering in the massive consumer market to continue growing and reduce its dependence on spending by corporate IT departments.
Consumer technology drives innovation.
Few people remember that Microsoft’s applications, which later became the basis of the Microsoft Office franchise, Word and Excel, began as consumer products in the 1980s. Businesses have been purchasing computers and software in bulk for many years. Similarly, Microsoft believes investing in video games will help its broader Azure cloud business. Microsoft, for example, experimented with streaming video games to Game Pass subscribers in the cloud, eliminating the need for them to download the games to their devices. Cloud gaming is a technically demanding service that requires serious investments from Azure. Building such technical capabilities over time could help Microsoft introduce Azure and other demanding applications to users.
Loser number 1: Sony.
Whenever a hardware company buys a video game publisher, it causes tectonic shifts among fans. One thing that worries everyone is that the hardware company will stop the production of popular video games. With this Microsoft-Activision deal, the biggest victim of such a decision would be Sony, Microsoft’s direct rival in the console market. Certainly, it would be financially foolish for them to stop releasing games like “Call of Duty” to Sony’s audience because that’s how they make abnormally large profits. A slightly more realistic concern is that Microsoft will ban those games from being part of any subscription other than its own, thus stopping Sony from penetrating that market.
Loser number 2: GameStop.
Last year’s GameStop stock frenzy aside, this deal between Microsoft and Activision is a reminder that selling physical copies of games is dying. Just as Netflix buried Blockbuster stores, the growth of services like Game Pass is dreadful news for all stores that sell physical copies of games like GameStop. The value of GameStop shares fell by about 7 percent yesterday after they announced the acquisition. Bobby Kotiko needed a graceful exit from the industry. Activision’s reputation has suffered over the past year due to a series of negative headlines about its corporate culture. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the company’s revelations about allegations of sexual misconduct among its employees. The acquisition by Microsoft allows Kotik to sell the company at an attractive price compared to the current share price. While Microsoft says Kotick will stay on after the contract closes, people who know Kotick don’t see him working as a Microsoft employee much longer.
Microsoft is getting attention.
For years, Microsoft has remained out of the crosshairs of antitrust regulators, who are currently targeting Facebook, Alphabet, and other big-tech rivals. This could be because Microsoft’s business is less visible than its competitors or because some believe they have already punished Microsoft for its misbehavior in the early 2000s. The sheer size of the Activision deal will test the company’s ability to stay out of the spotlight. Amazon and Google are on the move.
Online sales and the giants of the Internet browser world have both marketed their cloud gaming services, but neither has hit the consumer in the right way. Both services suffer from a lack of premium video games. If Amazon and Google are serious about their cloud gaming businesses, they will almost certainly have to make similar substantial acquisitions. Potential targets are Elektronik Arts, Take-Tu Interactive Software, and Ubisoft. I doubt the government would let both companies engage in such broad acquisitions unopposed.
Is this the end for Sony?