They were shitting me off something severe.
Can't a comment be a critique? I think one could simply ask for critiques in the deviation description area. To have a formal "Now inviting critiques!" seems a tad excessive.
I'm also sick of "hey try this" ..."You can't use that unless you subscribe". Seriously, why would you do that? Oh, subscribers don't see ads aye? OK, I'll use my ad blockers and web cleaner add-ons then.

dA jumped the shark, but unfortunately there isn't anything similar or better around so I'm stuck here, forced to bitch and moan at my monitor.

Woe is me.