New Beginnings.

When a new year comes along, so does a chance to start your life over, in a way. I've never really seized it before, and I feel a little guilty for it. So when 2012 comes, I'm going to go above and beyond. I'm going to be fantastic. I'm going to be beautiful. I'm going to be someone people can't help but love. It sounds really shallow, but I want to be that girl that every girl wants to be. Unfortunately, Stardoll is holding me back from doing just that.

I can't make good grades when I find it so hard to just get off of the computer and study. I can't have a decent social life when the entire time I'm with my friends, I can't help but wonder when I'll be able to go home and go onto the computer. I won't be able to concentrate on my work when I can't stop thinking about what to say to my friends in TC or how to style my medoll next. Stardoll has been controlling my life for three years now, and I'm ready to put a stop to it.

I've been fantasizing about leaving for awhile now, but I only started thinking about it seriously fairly recently. I've been going over the pros, why I should leave, what I would gain, and the cons, what I would miss, and my strategy for leaving for awhile now. Because I do need a strategy. This is a war for me. I'll really regret it in the beginning. I'll be torturing myself, denying myself of something that I'll be convinced I need to survive.

Yes, sometimes I really do feel that I need Stardoll to survive. That it's just as important as air, food, or water, and without it I'd die. I remember one time my parents cut off my Internet for the day. After a few hours, I was curled up in my bed in fetal position telling myself I need it. I do not need it. I'll regret leaving at first, I'll say it was one of the worst mistakes of my life and I'll want to come back.

But in the long run, I won't regret it. Why would I want to cling to some website that's honestly designed for eight-year-olds when I could have so much more. I could have friends. I could have a job, I want to start modeling, and it would be harder if I'm preoccupied with the desire to come online. I could be a better person. I could make good grades. Why would I trade my life for Stardoll?

I am aware that this is a short notice, but first thing I'll do when I wake up on January 1st is get on Stardoll and delete my account. I'll ask my Dad to use the Parental Controls to block the website, so I won't be tempted to go on. Then I'll shake the virtual dust of this place off of my feet, wash my hands clean of this place and start my new life.

I'll miss everyone I know or knew on Stardoll. I hope you understand why I have to do this.

Taking a bit of time off for Christmas!

As you've probably noticed, Christmas just passed. You've might have also noticed that while I usually post every day, I haven't been recently. I figured I'd give myself a bit of time off to spend Christmas without having to stress over posts for the day, especially because my computer's keyboard has been broken and I have to write on my parent's computer, because the On Screen Keyboard is ridiculously slow. It's fine for normal stuff, but I haven't been able to talk to many people because it would probably take me half an hour just to type this out.
So, enough for excuses. I'll be back to posting every day on here and every other day on Stardoll's Vogue either tomorrow or Thursday.

Non Superstar Outfit #3

Items Used:
Fallen Angel Tube Top, 40 starcoins
Basics Red Mini Skirt, 40 starcoins
Wild Candy Checkered Jacket, 70 starcoins
Fallen Angel Black Velvet Wedge Boots, 50 starcoins
Fallen Angel Silver Cuff Bangle, 42 starcoins
Pretty N'Love Cream Woven Scarf, 55 starcoins

Total Price- 357 starcoins

Catwalk

Everyone who is a member of Stardoll has heard of, and probably participated in the Catwalk competition at some point in time. The idea is simple: you save your own or someone else's doll in your album and the outfit should be entered. People have three outfits to choose from, and they choose their favorite. The person who gets the most votes wins.

Pros:

• It's actually pretty fun. I'll go on sometimes and vote for different outfits, even if I've already gotten all of my starcoins for the day.
• The winner gets a lot of fame from it. Not lasting fame, or fame on the covergirl scale, but still, you get lots of suite visits and guestbook comments.
• People could offer constructive criticism about the outfits. I doubt that anyone does, but still, it's a nice idea.

Cons:

• Most of the outfits honestly aren't brilliant...
• I don't think everyone gets entered! How many times have you entered, only to have no one tell you that they've seen you. Not that this isn't understandable. A lot of people enter, even if they don't realize it.
• With the fame comes the spam.

Possible Improvements:

• A comments section would be nice. I like the idea of being able to contact who you voted for from that page and complement the outfit or offer constructive criticism.
• Stardoll needs to show everyone, or at least inform them that they appeared on the Catwalk.

Feature #2

Hey, today I have a user to feature. Her username is _D_0_D_A_, and she's a 14 year old girl from Poland. She does good sceneries. The poses aren't necessarily stunning....they're normally either very simple or very messy, or even not posed at all, but I love their ambiance. Here are some examples:

Visit her suite here.

Non-Superstar Outfit #2

Items used:

• Rio Alessandria Top, 40 starcoins
• Wild Candy Glitter Party Skirt, 80 starcoins
• Windows on the World Satiny Jacket, 70 starcoins
• Decades Pumps, 40 starcoins
• Rio Emerald Print Belt, 44 starcoins
• Rio Bangles, 30 starcoins
• Rio Muticolor Feather Clutch, 65 starcoins

This outfit cost 369 starcoins in all.

Covergirl

The whole idea behind the Covergirl system is a good one. Everyone is familiar with it: people vote for a user that they think has an amazing medoll, suite, and possibly personality, and the person with the most votes is awarded with loads of attention and a trophy. Maybe this worked a few years back, when there weren't over one hundred million users on Stardoll. But it sure doesn't now.
People do it just for the attention now, putting thousands of stardollars into broadcasting, or buying LE just for a raffle for if they win. The title of Covergirl is something to be bought now, not something to earn.

Pros:

•  You get a day of fame! Honestly, just about everyone would love the spotlight on them, even if its just for a little while.
• Inspiration for your outfit and suite.
• If you feature people on your blog, you can go to the covergirl and go to one of their best friend's page, then one of the best friend's best friend's pages, and go as far back as you'd like or need to find someone that's really talented.

Cons:

•  Famewhores galore...
• It's expensive! Even if you don't do a raffle, all of those little broadcasts can really add up. For example, the top broadcaster today, (December 16, 2011) is a user named Kiiing. He broadcasted 1,519 times yesterday. That adds up to 7,595 stardollars spent on broadcasting. I think it's safe to guess that he was running for Coverboy.
• The fame dies fast.

I asked people earlier what they think of the whole covergirl system, and even though I only got one reply, I think it sums the whole post up pretty well:

"I think the Covergirl was a good idea at first - rewarding an SD member who had put effort in her suite and doll and deserved the votes she got by featuring her on the magazine cover. But, like most things on SD, it changed to fame-whoring pretty quickly - and now most of the Covergirls are only Covergirls because they bribed their way into it. For me, the ideal covergirl would be someone who actually EARNED her votes, not someone who bought them with old LE." -JeweI