Outcall For An Art Expert

It is becoming clear to me that one of the roles that our proposed on-line wiki will require is an Art Director, an individual who can oversee the artistic design of the database, including both video and illustrations, and any props necessary for the heightened appearance of the pages as they are created.

I would be looking for someone who could work cheerfully on their own according to very light guidelines, whose principal interest was a visual contribution to inspire the imagination of D&D, who could create - or find others who could create - original art, and who would take it upon themselves to illustrate pages without being directed to do so.

The position doesn't pay, so obviously it would have to be for enjoyment's sake ... but the site could prove a source for showcasing good work (if it was appropriate) and - since we intend to be professional in its appearance - meaningful practical experience for someone wishing to gain skills in the field.

Regarding a working relationship, I am more inclined to let quality talent off the chain rather than attempt to micromanage.  Initially, it wouldn't be much work - since the development of pages will be slow - but someone who is interested in developing their own agenda and therefore pages for the wiki, would probably find themselves encouraged rather than bridled.

If this sounds like something you'd like to take a crack at, I'd like to see a representation of your art skills, a few comments about your former experience and lots about what you'd like to do if given the opportunity.  Please ask questions in the comments for this post, and please direct any serious desire to get involved to alexiss1@telus.net.

Launching T +15

I've been quoted a tentative start date of November 16, 2010 for the launch of this database I proposed  15 days ago.  That is by no means written in stone ... at best you might say its scrawled in sand, and not that high above the tide.  But things are moving pretty fast.

I think it needs to be pointed out that most everything I've been a part of that mattered began with someone saying, "we should do this" and getting an answer, "yeah!"  It is really the answer that matters.  I could sit here bitching and moaning all day and if I don't get an answer, nothing happens.  The rant fades into the past and I go on posting maps, tables and further opinions.

I much appreciate the answers.  I want more.  I don't want anyone to feel that they've been left out of this process.  Yes, I did make the argument that quality must be the principal consideration - but in my experience quality has the potential to come from every corner, and not just my own.

I have been an editor, twice before, and I have been responsible for viewing, editing and printing other people's work, and that often being their first paid-for published work in a magazine.  That, I can tell you, is a great feeling, to give a writer his or her first cheque.  Now, I know I don't have any of the credentials that have been thrown at me lately - I haven't won any awards, I don't have three million hits monthly on my site and I'm not making money at this.  My blog has been what it has been.  Not a business, but a calling.  I don't measure its success by the number of viewers I have or by the number of viewers I stroke.  I measure its success by the amount of material I can get on it that I'm proud of.

So here's what I suggest.  I'm going to be looking material initially along the lines of this template.  For any launch that is to occur, I won't be interested initially in anything about rules or different ways of playing.  That is something that can be gotten to once we get the thing off the ground.  The primary focus has to be getting worlds other than mine on the database.

DON'T send me reams of material.  I will look at whatever you have, written in the template above (any of the six topics, not necessarily all of them), but DON'T write me more than 1,000 words.  Make it interesting and be brief whenever possible.  If I find myself nodding off after three paragraphs I'm not going to read any more.  The first presentation isn't what's important.  Just write me enough to get me interested.  If I like it, we'll talk about you writing more and getting it on the database.  But first write me a query.

Send it to alexiss1@telus.net

Feel free to use attachments, and please concentrate on how your world is different from other worlds.  Please remember that if you use an existing published template, such as the World of Greyhawk, we will only be able to publish embellishments of that world, and not pre-existing images.

Decisions, Decisions ...

And now there are two offers on the table.  The one from Alexander of The Escapist, and by proxy Zak of I Hit It With My Axe and Playing D&D With Porn Stars; and the other from my friend Carl and his friend Kyle from Three Hams Inn.

Alexander,


I can see the appeal. The Escapist seems to be a significant force online, as several people I've spoken to these last days have heard of it, without my having to even give the context. The question has been, "Have you heard of a website called 'The Escapist,' " and the answer as been, "Sure. Gaming site. What about it?" So Alexander, you can feel good that up here in Western Canada they've heard of your work.

So here's a recognizable platform, plenty of expertise, experience in creating an online presence, and opportunity to launch the proposed 'association' with a bang. No doubt, once it was started it would gain a lot of attention, what with eyeballs being driven there from your site - membership would take off within the first six months, I have no doubt, and there'd be significant opportunities to take advantage of that membership to do all kinds of things ... perhaps increase my own notoriety and even find my way into the Escapist family somehow, as Zak has done. Zak’s blog is booming and I Hit It With My Axe is an obvious success. I feel an honest temptation to reach out and grab on, however that might work between you and I.

However, and here I have to be honest … I really dislike the look of the Escapist website. I found I had to explain to several people that those weren’t ads on the site, those were links to articles and reviews. Unfortunately for me, upon reading those articles I found them trite and juvenile, as well as pandering to the industry you’re representing while at the same time purporting to slap it around. As a money-making venture I have no doubt as to its success, but where the very nature of the site badly taints your proposal. It light of the website, how can I take your word that commercialism and ultimately merchandising a D&D database is something in which you have no interest?

You may very well be sincere. All the worse for you, since you’ve chosen to present your sincerity side-by-side with this eyesore. I’m unable to correlate my expectations with what I’ve seen there. I see it, and because it exists I just don’t trust your word.

I recognize that I may be creating an enemy. For that I apologize. I feel that you may be reassured that the idea I advanced in my blog is not unique, and as such you are free to pursue it to your heart’s desire without my involvement. I don’t feel that I would be of any help to you in that regard. I am too academic, too particular and too prickly. Frankly, I don’t wish to wallow.

Carl,

I should like to repeat my belief that I am in no way the appropriate face for any organization of this nature. People read this blog mostly to see just how far I’ll go towards alienating nine tenths of the community while trying to figure out how a frothing lunatic is still capable of churning out good work.

I shall try to demonstrate.

For those gentle readers who may still be reading this post …

If I rescind my challenge that you provide any capital at all, but provide an opportunity to present your world in context with other worlds, who reading this would step up and make an effort to provide me maps and descriptions of that world, to go on afore-described database?

Who would be prepared to produce thoughtful (not opinioned!) material comparing specific rules of various fantasy gaming platforms, such as D&D (all editions), Tunnels and Trolls, Rolemaster, S&W and what have you?

Who would be prepared to develop tables and methodologies for practical use regarding dungeons, encounters, treasure, combat, adventure, NPCs, magic, world design or otherwise?

Would you be prepared to submit to my judgment on whether said material was worthy of being published?

Plan B

People said they were looking at me, and I vanished. Not so much – I’ve taken three days out and I’m back now.

I’m pleased that towards the end of last week I was able to make a few points that received some positive reaction ... but it’s no wonder, since I was selling a database, and what D&D-phile does not want another database?

But where I have people asking to be ‘counted in,’ and where we come down to the question of ‘who would be in charge,’ I want to make this most clear: I’m not a candidate for president. I wouldn’t be running for the position. And most of the people here wouldn’t want me.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I would like to build the database (along the very competent suggestions made by Symeon), IF I could find someone who had the necessary technical skills to make it work and to make it accessible. Contrary to Zak’s assertion, I don’t have to be in charge. I’ve worked on a lot of projects with other people in charge – most of them creative – and I am quite capable of working with a team of other people who agreed on a common goal. This is not at all impossible. I have worked on magazines, I have been part of theatre, I have worked in film and it IS possible to gather a large number of contrary people together and produce a final product that is innovative and even astounding.

But ... I am an elitist. I will make things for common, ordinary schlubs, but I won’t work WITH them. Moreover, I have no interest in creating anything in which everyone is entitled to representation. It may have been misunderstood that when I suggested an ‘association of players’ I specifically intended that said association would be highly limited in its representation.

You can’t raise the consciousness of anything by catering to the lowest denominator. Suggested databases would be presented to ‘raise the bar’ and provide a standard which, hopefully, the greater community would wish to emulate. Once that standard was established, membership in the association would be open to all – who measured up. Not by my standards or Zak’s standards, or by any single individual ... but certainly by those who had worked hard on their worlds and who felt they had something to lose by diluting that effort.

So when people talk about an endless list of house rules and hundreds of worlds, they’re really missing the mark. I’m talking about a lot of house rules being thrown in the dustbin, and worlds with them.

And this is why I say, you wouldn’t want me to run this.

Now I have to come back to the subject of money. If I could have it my way, I would fund this entire thing out of pocket. If I could hit on a project that earned me some phenomenal sum (a book made into an ‘A’ film, say), I might do it. That would neatly get rid of the subject all together.

At the moment, however, I’d have to opt for Plan B.

Plan B recognizes that money is necessary for any venture. I have approached people and asked straightforwardly for marvellous sums of money. On one occasion in my life I managed to start a business which succeeded in losing capital for eight different investors ... none of whom, after the fact, blamed me for the failure. I blamed me for the failure. Either way, they declared their losses on their income tax forms and I made a mental note not to put myself in that situation again. It’s more fun borrowing money from the bank.

The bank is out, and investors are out. Option three would be to raise money from the masses, and this specifically I referred to in the last post when I said I had no intention of asking anyone for money. The masses can keep their five dollars for their morning coffee. The very idea of trying to sell any created product to eyeballs for paltry bits of money sounds like a helluva lot more work than it’s worth.

This brings me back to pocket money. People want to know how serious I am. I’ve given it thought over the weekend and I think that I could reasonably commit $500 right now. Which isn’t bad, since I don’t have a thing to spend it on. It’s not enough money to pay a programmer to design anything, but it might buy some substantial bandwidth – if that was the sort of thing needed. I don’t know, I haven’t asked anyone any questions yet. But if you want to know the level of my seriousness, you can measure it from that. Would that I had more money. I find it likely that I will have more money.

If it seems a sad amount to some of you, I tell you right now that I could probably fund a stage play, do rehearsals, advertise and make money on the venture, enough to split seven ways between the cast, myself and the two technicians I’d hire. We’d make enough money to get really drunk on a Friday night. It’s all a question of sensible decision-making.

And if I may continue this digression for another paragraph, I have found that most times, in starting a business, any time you ask for advice you’re going to hear the same four words: “You have to buy ...” This is nonsense. Most anything you have to buy is, right now, sitting in someone’s basement, taking up space that the homeowner would rather have for some other purpose. You only have to show up and haul the thing away.

Finally, to wrap this up, I am the sort of person who believes in the practice of increasing the cost of things in order to keep out the riff-raff. I’ve already said that is my purpose. Here I’ve outlined two specifications.

I said that I was in no hurry, but if anyone wants to take a step forward, I’ll make this offer: If you have a world that you think deserves notoriety, and you are prepared to kick in as much as me ($500), then we can talk. You can keep your money in your pocket (I don’t want it), but if we get enough interest going we’ll arrange to meet in Seattle (how you get there is your business) in about six months. Someone who knows how (perhaps JoetheLawyer) can set up a non-profit and we’ll sign on as partners (after our own lawyers look at it, naturally). We’ll spend a weekend hashing out what we want to accomplish, how to build the site and how to keep it funded. We can elect a president (gawd knows I won’t be running) and establish rules of entry and responsibility.

If that’s not good enough for anyone, then I’m done with this for the time being. I figure, if it falls down, I lose less than a week’s pay. I can live with that.