Diamonds aren't all they're cracked up to be.

The somewhat-elusive Royalty club, the Dollmails about upcoming Stardoll events/activities weeks to a month before the official release date, the accessibility of certain features on Stardoll, etc. All these are the benefits of being a Royalty member. Sure, the little diamond border on your dollie's icon sure looks all nice and sparkly, but does it mean anything anymore? Did it ever?

 

Such are the questions of the users of Stardoll that think Royalty is overrated, and in my opinion, they're pretty damn right. You can practically buy a Royalty membership now, being that the requirement is to be a member of Stardoll for at least a year. It is possible to purchase a 12-month membership, and there you go: instant Royalty status. Convenient.

 

Lots of Royalty members themselves think it is overrated, due the comments I've seen all over the blogosphere as well as Stardoll forums in general. Personally, I think it's ridiculous--the "so-called benefits" that are received through becoming an elusive Royalty member aren't too shabby, although I've been on Stardoll without them for about four years now. I think I'm OK.

 

More often than not, I've been noticing members of Stardoll that have practically no in-game experience as members in general, and to be quite honest with you, I don't think they deserve the Royalty status (not that it really meant anything anyway, due to this fact.)

 

If Royalty were to work the way many other users see it, it would be based solely on dedication. Members from last year really don't deserve the benefits they're receiving from paying $59.40 for a 12-month Royalty status, which gets stripped from you the second your money runs out and you can no longer afford to pay for a membership. I think it's petty and obnoxious, just because they want your money. But they have every right; Stardoll does need to make money, just the same as we need to eat. So as much as my opinion is my own, so they should be able to bribe us with a not-so-special virtual diamond in order to rake in about a $60 profit from each and every Royalty member, which according to the amount of users in the club as of right now, is estimated at about $3,731,580 for all the current members for one year of payment. (If those statistics are wrong, please feel free to correct me. I'm not very good at mathematics.)

 

So in order to wrap this up, (mainly because I'm hungry and I should probably finish my schoolwork that's been piling up on my table next to me) Stardoll's Royalty membership status is overrated and a waste of money. If you're going to pay that much, then go ahead, and I have no qualms about it, but what I can't stand is the fact that Stardoll practically lords it over all their non-Royalty members that the Royalties are an "elite squad" according to their club presentation. So elite that pretty much anyone with $60 to spare can get in. Joy.

 



Stardoll Friendships and Freaky Fridays

Friendships forged on Stardoll are ones that generally last a while. I have lots of friends that I made on Stardoll that I talk to practically on a daily basis.

And then there are those people that you're not really "friends" with, but you're just nice to them because if you told them what you really think of them, you'd be feeling pretty guilty. I like to call these kinds of situations: guilt friendships. And believe me, I've had quite a few of those.

I call these next type of friendships creepy friendships, when said friend likes to imitate everything you do and pretend the two of you are practically inseperable BFFs. For example, if you make a club that is doing well, your creepy/stalker friend has to make a club of the very same nature and pretend it's just as good.

The next type of friendships I like to dub popularity friendships, when the person likes to put you on their Best Friends list because you have a high Stardoll status, ergo they are ultimately ten times cooler than everyone else. Those are the kinds of people that you have talked to maybe twice, and since you were borderline nice to them, they think you're their best friend.

Another thing that I'll probably never understand are the Stardoll friend lists, and the strange groupings they have for each category. You've got Best Friends, Friends, Family, and even Unclassified. But Stardoll was really pushing the limit when they added Boyfriend, Girlfriend, Neighbor, and Colleague. It's like they're condoning Stardoll-dating, and don't even get me started on that. Saving that rant for another day.

So whether you have a guilt friendship, a creepy friendship, or even a popularity friendship, there is always one person that will stick up for you no matter what, pick you back up when you're down, be your shoulder to cry on, and the vent you rant to.

P.S. Happy Friday the 13th. Here's hoping you don't crack a mirror or walk under a ladder. 

Micromanaging the Summer Lazies

I think I've contracted a case of the "summer lazies", where I've been caught up in way too much stuff for me to write on my blog regularly. I cringe when I say that this poor little blog has been rather neglected of late. So I'm putting lots of stuff on hold for this; between roleplay clubs, general Stardoll drama, and the usual "let's throw in the towel and have a good time". In either case, I've been really neglecting a lot of things besides Aledale and another blog I write for, but I should be writing a few more posts, though not as regularly as I used to.

Hey, being manager of one club is hard enough, and now that I am no longer the manager, it's kind of freeing. So that's what I'm going to talk about today. Managers.

Now, contrary to popular belief, I'm not one to micromanage things. I'm more of a "go-with-the-flow-and-float-where-the-wind-takes-you" kind of gal. Although in rare occasions, I get a little power-crazy and start attacking the little things that are so seemingly insignificant that I am under no obligation to fix. And don't ever believe someone who says managing a club on Stardoll is a piece of cake, unless your club is collecting dust in a corner of an old closet. Let me tell you, it's hard work. You've got to put in the time, not to mention blood, sweat, and tears, to oil the kinks in the machinery and pick the stray crumbs off the dirty iced layer of the cake. And if you've ever done either, you'd know how messy it can get.

Especially in RP clubs, managing things is incredibly difficult. You've got to delete old topics, run things while the owner is away, deal with that one member that's always breathing down your neck, and be active in roleplaying in addition to all that. But being a manager can also be rewarding. You get special manager privileges, and the satisfaction of a job well done. So all in all, it's not too terrible being a manager, but I won't lie, it's a messy job.

Those Darn OC-ers!

If you haven't heard what unpleasant drama has been boiling inside Stardoll for the past week or so, then you probably live under a rock.

Have you ever wanted to start a club? Make it big, watch it rise to the top of the popularity list? Well, now is definitely not the time to do it, especially not with the OC members lurking around. Rumor has it they've been sneaking into clubs and making innapropriate topics, breaking the rules, and anything else they can do, resulting in the permanent termination of said club. They're only doing this to popular clubs, it seems, and even Stardoll-staff-run clubs like Tokio Hotel, Michael Jackson, Amy Diamond.

Stardoll administration found out about the uproar a few days ago, and are taking extreme precautionary measures to make sure that the OC members stay out of other clubs, permanently. They re-instituted a huge "Follow the One-Stop Rules" banner on the Clubs page, and temporarily closed down a few clubs for investigation. Popular clubs are now going private, kicking out several suspected OC members, and deleting topics like mad.

When I checked out robin's Stardoll page (the original owner of the first OC club), he writes, "OC will be back, check this page for updates. I'll hang out in test200 in the meanwhile." It startles me how much confidence he has. It's already been deleted what, at least thirteen times? And that's no surprise, seeing as the incidents they were deleted for were highly scandalous, especially the most recent...try eleven year olds stripping on a webcam and getting the police involved.

By doing some of my own research in test200, OC's backup club, I have deduced that all the dedicated OC members seem to blame "lavenderluva", the eleven year old stripper, for the termination of OC, permanently. And that's not to say that everyone else is not to blame.

Face the truth: the OC members are homeless and angry. They want revenge on the Stardoll staff for deleting their club, and a few of the radicals are trying to wreak havok by shutting down other popular clubs in retaliation.

I'd say this has become a full-out war: OC vs. Stardoll Admin. The popular clubs have been caught up in the artillery fire, and no one is safe.
Who would you bet on?