Sea Of Hotbuys

Writing this post seems less meaningful than owning car eyelashes (I shit you not, it's an actual product.) I just found out that Amy Winehouse passed away, so any post about virtual skirts and shoes is pointless -and a little disrespectful, to be quite frank.

As I am typing these very lines, the TV behind me informs me about the horrible attack in Norway, result of which were 92 victims.

Since this is a Stardoll blog, however, I have to report Stardoll-related news, and, fortunately, such tragedies don't occur in our virtual society. That being said, a brand new store, the release of this month's Hotbuys and so on, so forth are what's considered newsworthy in Dollywood.

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Nothing special here, just a cute skirt. The rest is predictably boring.

If you're looking for something more original, fear not, because Stardoll's brand new graphic novel, Sea of Stars, has spawned a homonymous fashion line.

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It's... interesting, I suppose. Most of the garments are unsurprisingly pricey, but I did spot a dress (in the fourth image) that costs 26 Starcoins.

A brand new store has also made its way to the Starplaza. I believe that only UK members have direct access to it, but I think that everyone can find the garments. The store is called "Shake It Up" and features clothes that are worn by the stars of the homonymous Disney show (which I detest), Bella Thorne (who I detest) and Zendaya Coleman (to whom I am indifferent). It's obviously horrid, with the exception of a pair of brown leather boots and a checkered red shirt, both available for Superstars and non-Superstars. Oh, and there is a dress that costs 2 Stardollars! I won't buy it, but, trust me on this, we probably won't see anything like that anytime soon.

And that was today's pointless news.

For Or Against?

Ever since I created this very blog, all I've been doing is complain, whine and yammer on about how Stardoll unfairly treats its members.

It's partly true. And while those of us who pay for all the "perks" of being a virtual Superstar have a right to demand to be treated properly, those who are desperate for the fame, fashion and friends a Superstar membership can provide yet opt not to give away their precious moolah (I applaud you.), are usually the ones that react for supposedly being treated in an unjust manner.

Years ago, before Stardoll started to universally treat us like shit -with occasional flashes of faux generosity- non-Superstars had a lot to complain, whine and yammer on about. While Superstar members had access to exclusive features, such as more rooms for their Suites and stores such as LE and Antidote, non-Superstars were forced to contend themselves with only a small part of the goods available at Starplaza, and, in general, considerably less "perks".

I used to think of it as a very unfair discrimination on Stardoll's part, as the idea that Superstars deserve more reinforces the perception that Superstars should treat their inferiors like shit. And while this kind of behavior is condemnable, as the amount of your virtual cash doesn't doesn't define what kind of person you are, non-Superstars have no right to carp and nutter.

As I mentioned above, Superstars pay for all the virtual perks they get, thus deserving them, while their "inferiors" enjoy free membership, the fun of playing Stardoll games, and socializing like everyone else. Even the hostile behavior towards non-Superstars isn't a direct result of Stardoll's injustice. It is usually caused by gawky comments made by, seemingly, fools. Or simply people with too much time on their hands, who simply crave for attention or just forget that behind a well-groomed doll is a person like them.

You know, with feelings and all.

Delusions Of A Virtual Moron.

I was going to write a rather poignant post on Stardoll's latest "offer", but, eventually, I decided against it.

You see, I missed ranting about pointless matters, expressing opinions no one cares about, whining about the injustice that scourges our virtual world. My primal concern are much like Rebecca Black; petty "problems" that pale in comparison with what we should really give a damn about.

It has recently come to my attention that some Stardoll users are complete and utter idiots. And by that, yes, I do mean really, really, ridiculously stupid. Collecting rares has always been very popular and since the increase of the Starbazaar prices, people can gain a lot by selling something they bought at a considerably low price. Obviously, there are those poor kids that keep deluding themselves by selling crappy designs for the astronomic amount of 500 Stardollars that no one will buy, but, this change has certainly had plenty of positive aspects.

Though rare-hunting ceases to be interesting anymore -mainly because of above mentioned change, or older cheats, such as the infamous loophole- some people have the misconception that a DKNY jacket they virtually purchased four years ago is considered as collectible in real life. Which is why many opt to sell their rares for a rather bizarre price - real money. No, really! People are that delusional. Some actually aim to sell their accounts for crazy amounts, or even sell virtual clothes on eBay! (Scam Alert!)

It's hilarious if you come to think about it, and, to be completely frank, I find it dangerous. Being scammed out of your virtual cash -which you got using real money, no doubt- is similar yet so different from being scammed out of your real moolah. Remember, a hundred Stardollars isn't like a hundred real dollars. If you have a virtual breakdown over the loss of a "rare" dress, I can't imagine what your reaction would be after losing your (parents') money.

Even if you aren't scammed, is it really worth to spend real moolah on something as petty as a bunch of pixels. A bunch of dated pixels, as a matter of fact.

The Nerve Of A Virtual Con Man.

I've been meaning to post about this for a while, but I've been distracted with other things (i.e. real life). A couple of weeks ago, Stardoll's most notorious hacker, mizzmileycyrus9, allegedly "bought" .Marcela..'s  popular blog, M by Marcela, renaming it Résuir by Reece (What the fuck is that supposed to mean, anyway?), as well as openly stealing her other extremely popular blog Hot Buys Addicted. Low, I suppose, but not particularly odd. For Reece anyway.

I will not yammer on the aftermath, as I don't wish to repeat a tale that has been told, or, rather, written, on other, much more popular blogs. I will simply openly condemn the callousness, exasperating sarcasm and apparent indifference of, without a doubt, the most disliked person of Stardoll.

Being the nosy, snoopy, curiosity-killed cat that I am, I decided to carry out a professional journalistic research, or in other words, roam the Scum's guestbook. The results were rather depressing. The Scum showed no remorse of his horrible action. In fact, he didn't even attempt to justify himself, as he usually does. Instead, he opted to answer every insult and accusation with cryptic comments or smileys. In a few, unfortunately not rare, occasions, he actually gets positive response from a few, apparently sap-head, users, who proudly declare to be on Team Reece.

To be completely frank, I am disgusted that someone can do such deplorable things as steal someone's hard work and, essentially, their well-deserved success in the form of a thousand followers, but also proudly admit it. I certainly commend anyone able to own up to their faults, but owning up to lapsing and proudly defending it differ greatly in my opinion.

What is actually sad, is that people like Reece, or, as I like to call them, Scums, will never cease to exist. Neither in the real world nor on Stardoll, or any other form of virtual reality for that matter. In fact, I believe that the mask of protection the Internet can offer us is directly responsible for most of these vile acts.

Shouldn't Stardoll be a fun and innocent place, anyway? I have a faint suspicion that this is exactly why it has ended up becoming fucked up beyond repair.

Sorry For Draining Your Virtual Purses, Now Would You Please Spend Your Virtual Moolah On Our Newest Shit-bute?

I just got this lovely message.

Oooh, another tribute. I suppose Stardoll just had to do it, taking into consideration the overwhelmingly positive response of the previous tribute stores from users.

This time I commenced writing this post after I saw that the perfection that is the Lanvin tribute store was released, though I haven't actually viewed it with my own eyes.

See this as a reaction post.

***

Holy mother of Jesus! Why? Why Stardoll? Why do you make me look like such a fool, with my sarcastic comments on perfection?

The tribute does look sort of decent -actually, it looks almost really good, though I'm ashamed to admit that- and has a Grecian sort of edge to it. I love the colors, though the prices are a bit bitter. I haven't made up my mind on whether to buy anything or not. The only thing I've bought from a tribute store was that 2 Stardollar hat from the alice + olivia shop, but to be completely frank with y'all, I'm leaning towards spending a substantial sum of my virtual moolah on a few items.

Color me mildly impressed Stardoll.

 To the Starplaza!

The End Of An Era... Sort Of.

Yesterday marked the day of the exit of one of the most prominent users of Stardoll. (Quite the use of of, huh?) This user is of course Lolita, also known as Miss_LolitaF or, amongst her... least fanatic admirers, LOLita. (Pun intended.)

[image via Perez Hilton of Stardoll]

The news of her virtual departure brought, at first, a sense of déjà vu, as Miss Lolita has "abandoned" our pixelated world on numerous occasions. However, all doubt  was dissolved as soon as Lolita herself announced that she would be selling all of her precious acquisitions for 2 Stardollars or 2 Starcoins. 

Havoc ensued. It is no secret that one of Miss Lolita's many "projects" here on Stardoll was to collect as many rares as she can. Indeed, her suite was filled with unobtainable articles of clothing, some purchased at extremely low prices considering their rarity. However, I have a faint suspicion that the payment method was a bit different from a simple transaction between two Stardoll users.

In all honesty, when I returned to Stardoll in spring 2011, I had no idea who Lolita was. Surprisingly enough, she knew me, because a few weeks before I found a Skype request from an alleged Miss_LolitaF. What an honor!


All of that is history now, as, yesterday, the biggest sale in recent memory took place in Miss Lolita's Starbazaar. Every. Single. Sellable. Item she owned was sold for ridiculous prices. For a couple of hours, hundreds attempted to purchase at least one of Lolita's acquisitions, with little success. I, myself, managed to get a few garments I really liked, to the dismay of many people of course. 


Now that the sale is over, desperate bootlickers flocked to her guestbook, saying their goodbyes "to a legend". To be quite honest, I never liked or respected Lolita, mainly for her famewhoring ways, her lack of talent and her conficence that she was someone. However, I do admit that her last act as a "Stardollian" was very impressive and kind. Still, calling her a legend is a bit fetched.

At the end of the day, we shouldn't feel sorry or sad for her virtual departure. She, after all, will get to have, you know, a real life. Maybe we should pursue that as well.

Oh well. Stardoll is too fun to give up and we know it.

Guess What.

It's that time of the year again!

Lovely. LE is out again and it's hungry for your moolah, y'all! This time, disguised in flowery patterns, it hopes to redeem itself from the spring disaster by toning it down a little bit, colorwise, and giving a whole new definition to flower feather power!

LMFAO

Well, the collection is indeed considerably better than the previous one, and the prices do seem to be reasonable (for LE), but, despite all the pretty garments on sale, I just can't find anything really worth buying. Actually, I think those absolutely hideous feathered rockstar pants are to blame. Really, have you seen those? And people are actually buying those. Un-fucking-believable.

I shouldn't complain though. This is most likely the best "special edition" collection in recent memory, so I might celebrate by purchasing those lovely silk bloomers (above). 

Will you spend your precious moolah on any of these gems?

UPDATE: As expected, a large number of the newly released LE garments has already sold out, after mere hours, which proves that the line is the most popular special edition line on Stardoll. Just take a look at the Young Hollywood collection; some items are still available and will probably still be for quite some time. 

UPDATE II: Some of the clothes look almost identical to garments from the Riviera line. In fact, the LE ones look very different from the real life versions compared to the Riviera ones. Oh, Stardoll...

You Know,That White Stuff...

Oh Stardoll, you so silly!

It's probably just me and my dirty mind, but, for some reason that is beyond me, I find that the choice of name for these styled outfits is a bit unfortunate. Then again, these clothes are white, but, come on now. Stardoll could be a little more creative with the name. Though "White Stuff" is quite creative. Creative, indeed.

What The FUCK Happened While I Was Sleeping?

I'm confused.

How generous of them, right? Surely, many of us will benefit from this rather out of the blue offer, but, let's face it, Stardoll didn't just decide to give back. This is business, so Stardoll will obviously make some serious moolah for promoting this website.

Oh well, I'll just stop whining and be thankful to the God of Cabbage for this exquisite chance to become a virtual Croesus. (Except not, since the amount of Stardollars we will earn will most likely be minimal.)

 

UPDATE: Obviously, only members from certain countries will "benefit" from this offer.

Crontradicting Oneself

Nudity on Stardoll no longer constitutes a taboo.

Many popular magazines and blogs have used it  in the past, as a form of expression and art, above all, while other projects have thrived thanks to the controversy nudity is bound to bring. Many would say that a graphic that doesn't involve the virtual nipples of a pixelated beauty would be more controversial than one that does.

And while most claim that all is done for the sake of art, that we are all born naked et cetera, maybe it's high time to stop trying to find the message behind a virtual ass and see it for what it is; a virtual ass.

Yesterday, yet another Stardoll related project was launched; Risque Magazine, a new, daring magazine, bound to agitate the still waters of the conservative Stardoll community. Its creator, the talented Aislin Victory -who, by the way, penned all of the articles- started things with a pompous Editor's Letter, stating that nudity can be considered a form of art. Which is true, on certain occasions. The magazine itself is filled with half-naked beauties, Lady GaGa quotes, empowering articles and a rather irrelevant, ostensibly, to the magazine's theme piece about cyber sex on Stardoll.

To be quite frank, I found it a bit contradicting, if not hypocritical. Being a fan of Aislin's and, in general, all for self-expression, I simply find it strange that she would write a grandiose article about how cyber sex is terrible and on the next page show a butt naked model. As easily as one can claim that nudity is a form of self-expression, a bratty, hormonal pre-teen can claim the same for wanting to "fuk hawt boyz".

Just as I've mentioned in a previous post, I am no prude. However, I do feel that sexualizing a website aimed towards children and labeling it as art is plain wrong. As far as the feeling good about yourself people seem to so easily use, I cannot understand how empowered and confident a teenager can feel upon viewing photoshopped images of perfect -and unreal- figures that bare all, pompously exclaiming it's self-expression.

So, to conclude, I believe that if the original intent of the magazine was to make young -and easily influenced, I might add- girl to feel good in their own skin, it failed miserably. Which is sad.