I must say i was satisfied with DA without the subscription for two months before getting a subscription. Then i tried a one month subscription. I found it is worth it to me now. I am a 55 year old college student who has been a part time artist and planning on going full time. With the subscription i get more information more quickly as to how many comments i have, how many page views, etcetera. I get a bigger picture more quickly of what people think of my work. And, since leaving Ford for the Educational Buy Out i took, DA has been a nice social outlet for me as well. And i have friends from school on this site, and DA makes it easier for me to keep up with them. So since i am here a lot, i got the subscription. I do not HAVE to have it, but i like it.