I checked out DA a while back, but I found that I wasn't alone in thinking that it was a really, really poorly designed site. The talent on DA ranges from absolutely amazing, to work that looks like it were done by a 3 year old. It takes several pages just to see a full size image, and then they throw ads up every few pages just to slow it down even more.
I'm surprised it's as popular as it is with it being so unfriendly to new users. I met with with a screenwriter a few years back to discuss a project, and he had told me he looked at several concept artists on DA. The problem was that he couldn't find where the hell the gallery of each artist was because the site is so cluttered.
But I'm curious, what do you guys find in the site that make it so appealing? What made you open an account with them? Is it the social aspect or do you just like checkin out artwork?