Old styled sites that are meant to just be galleries/libraries are simply dying these days.

VCL for example, just isn't attracting any customers at all these days.

That just comes down to a matter of scale. It's not that it's not interactive enough to draw attention. It's that when I first joined up with VCL, I think there were 100 artists or so? Nothing's been done to make it easier to find the art that you want now that there's easily thousands of artists. What *I'm* talking about is the changing attitudes in the furry fandom.

I'm not sure of SoFurry is trying to be mainstream but rather just survive the changing faces of the web.

As far as the changing attitudes of the furry fandom, well, people want to be respected for what they do.

I, for one, welcome the change. Fact of the matter is that the evolution of furrydom is highly connected with the internet and would not be nearly as abundant with fans. Seeing as the community is so heavily intertwined with the internet, to not move forward would destroy the unity.

Though it may not seem so to all furs, yiffstar is and was one of the strongest "water-holes" in which nearly all furs at some point or another delve into. If Yiffstar did not make the conversion over to SoFurry, and in the future not evolve further when such change is needed, then one of the cornerstones of our community (which, in reality, it is) would surely die off or become so stagnant that a large portion of the community would just wither away.

In time, I am certain that SoFurry will eventually fade into the background. All websites do. For now, however, SoFurry has just taken a great leap forward and will (and has!) re-energize a portion of the community. I believe its merits outweigh any faults.

And by far it is also the most comprehensive and user-friendly furry site (besides e621) that I personally cannot see any issues. Heck, the corrections to the old structure of submitting and organizing stories and simple navigation are astounding, albeit still in development.

In today's cyber world, just being a "literary repository" is not enough. The masses demand more. That demand was answered. SoFurry took what the great majority have been asking for and changed to accomodate. As well as throwing in one or two surprises which made the crowds generally go wild with glee :D

So, honestly, I cannot find anything but good coming from this change.

As for "becoming mainstream", well, it's on the internet... people will notice. People will want to join. The new will replace the old, and if the old cannot adapt then they will be shunted aside. In essence, it's an emulation of life and nature.

Besides, by now it's a general consensus: Furrydom is what you make of it. For the most part it was been that way for a good long time, so to say that we are loosing sight of what we are is rubbish. The very act of change is EMBRACING what we are. We are those who are different, unafraid of new thoughts and more than willing to cultivate them. We may end up with vore, but we also end up with such great artists as Dark Natasha and comics like Sabrina Online. Heck, even in flash art and animation we are neck-in-neck with the anime community (a community in which we are also closely tied to) as the forerunners in innovation and development. Soon enough, we'll have dedicated artists who are dedicated enough to bring about another wave of 2d animation, specifically with furries in mind but expanding beyond.

Don't look at this as a sign of degeneration, but as a revelation. We are growing, and the only way to stop such a growth is if we fail to support the renovations of our many furry websites.