Non-review articles

[Spriggan]

I know this has been discussed from time to time in various forms.  Right now TWG is too reliant on getting reveiw copys of games, or us buying stuff to reveiw.  So I'm starting up the discussion again to try and get some ideas.  Now there's lots of things that could be done, but I think, except for special cerumstances, that these articles or other things shouldn't take more time to write up then say writeing a review or two.

The only things I could come up with is RPG things like maps and dungeons, random tables for various things, adventure concepts etc...

So what do you think would be good, or would want to see.  there's no reason to write up non-reveiw stuff it the peps dont want it or care.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

JP mentioned doing a con report. Fell does those editorials and I'll probably join him occassionally.

Longer RPG stories that have some meaning are ideas. Though to be frank, I'll be very critical of these. Just because you had fun during that campaign doesn't mean  your write-up will be interesting. Just so you know.

I'll get back on the ball with Azmoth too. And Maybe it's time Entropy and I wrap up our surprise and present it.

[Spriggan]

ya, we occasionaly do get non-reveiw stuff.  I just think we need to get some consistancy in getting them.  That's why I brougt them up again.  If we can get some ideas that a coupple of us feel that they can do once or twice a month then there would me more of a draw for people to comback or to visit for the first time.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I agree. I think solid, unique content, besides reviews, would be a good draw. i've seen some bits on RPGnet before about how to role play, and they almost always suck. They're pretty basic and nothing no one else hasn't seen or read before.

New games, like JP has come up with are good ideas.

Reading Dragon magazine gives a good sampling of game possibilities. They do, after all, (or at least used to) talk about more than just RPGs.

Coming up with characters and making stats for several different systems would be cool.
Making up scenarios for different miniature conflicts.
New equipement lists.
Variations on a game, like Kije's Vagaries of Catan.
good, non-game company, nonfiction resources for learning about game settings or warfare (like the Sun Tzu or other strategy articles)
Even some pedestrian literary analysis (stuff that would be accessible by many ages and educations, and of interest to "time wasting" audiences)
How to attend a con: preparation, activity planning, expectation setting, etc

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

of course a web comic, or flash animation comic might go over like gangbusters.

[Spriggan]

thing with those Jeffe are they require a lot of work, unless you make some realy cheep stuff.  Which is why I never do flash stuff.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

I just thought that you liked to do stuff like that, so I was suggesting that you might want to consider doing a quick one every once in a while.

[Spriggan]

Oh, I know.  And the suggestion is welcome.  Right now I'm just trying to focus on things that could be done in a coupple of hours, the same time as a review.  Sometime I do want to do something along those lines (I even have a few TWG theamed animations planned out), but they take a lot of time, so it wont be able to be a very consistant things with me.  Also with haveing no sound on my laptop, all plans I do have are postponed until I get a new desktop which may not be until the end of the year at the earliest.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

well as a bit of constructive criticism, I think we need to add the option to submit other types of file formats instead of just articles and reviews...

Why do you ask? Because I want to be able to submit some maps and game aids I created as PDF's if possible and want to send them from the main page and not have to send it to Fell or Eric directly. This way I know it didnt get forgotten.

Plus Im sure some folks have some art and other goodies they may want to submit for some reason or another but arent able to.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

EUOL was still talking about doing that sprite comic. But yeah, having a comic would be cool, but it takes a LOT of commitment. I would rather read an average comic that updates on it's promised MWF or whatever schedule than waste my time even on a well drawn one that is unpredictable in appearances. IMO, the single most important aspect of a comic is how well you can count on it updating when it promises. That's one thing that just makes me ANGRY about Megatokyo. He's gotten a lot better, but he misses so much.

Dave Sim was tlaking about print comics, but i think his words are relevant:

If you are still drawing your book a month before the shiping date... please... PLEASE... do everyone -- not least of all yourself -- a favor and call your Diamond rep and tell him or her tha tyou are going to STOP soliciting your comic book. STOP. Not postpone. Not reschedule. not resolicit. "Hello, Diamond rep? I have NO idea what I was thinknig about when I told you I was capable of writing and drawing a comic book, getting it printed and shipped to you inside of four months. I apologize for taking up your valuable time and energy, but I have no idea what I am doing, and I think it is best for all concerned if I just stop doing this and go away.

Please. Pretty please. Pretty please with sugar on it. I'm asking you nicely. Just. Stop.

Now, he was taking such a hard stance because if you're late on print publishing, you piss off not just your audience, but people who EARN money from the process: the store, the distributer, etc. You hurt people's lives when you're late in print.

So obviously web comics have it a bit more lenient. After all, unless you're running a pay site, the readers just lose a couple moments of their time by seeing that you haven't posted. The web host gets his money anyway (unless it's hosted for free, in which case it's their own fault). But creators need to realize, just like in Sim's context, that if you are frequently or even consistently late, that you do NOT know what you're doing or capable of. The comic will be on time, or you will look like a jerk. That annoys readers who think less of you. it's unprofessional and you do need to stop claiming that you have some sort of publication schedule.  

Also, in my opinion, you need to stop soliciting page views and post a notice on your web site that you are done. Maybe if you can prove that you can update regularly, you can take down the notice and start soliciting again. But that regularity should be down BEFORE you claim you have a comic site.

Yeah, it's sort of a rant, so sorry about that. But I just want you to know why I think we should do a web comic unless it WILL update on whatever the promised schedule is. Whether that's daily, M-F, MWF, once a week, once every other week, or once a month. It must stick to the promised schedule.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

or other file formats. I think the only reason we need an alternate file format is when you have a map or a character sheet or soemthing liek that that requires specific formats. It annoys me and others I know to no end when they have to start a plug-in, like Acrobat Reader, just to read text. Even if you have pictures or a sidebar, we can do some code for HTML of that. There's no reason to have  .doc or a .pdf for soemthing that does not REQUIRE specific formatting to be comprehensible.

However, there are cases that do require that, and I agree, if we had a file attachment system for the article submission system, that would be nice, esp. if it was limited to certain file formats, like .doc, .pdf, and images. But even that raises certain admin problems.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

Problems that should IMHO be addressed, because they can really spice up submissions.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I was thinking about this a little bit. Until we have a lot of articles that justifiably need alternate formats, I think the best way to handle it is to email it, submit an article normally, and post a note in your article that it's there.  If you have images to go with your article, email or put them on a web site somewhere and point out to us where to get them in your article submission. We'll edit it later to take out any notes to the editor and make sure the formatting works out.

I'm also repeating my hesitation to use especially PDFs or DOCs. If it's just formatting or different fonts, I for one would rather have something that fits in better with the rest of the site design. Columns and sidebars and images can be done with HTML and save bandwidth and avoid having to load a plugin.

one of the problems that i"m referring to, though, was security and safety. I'm not saying YOU would submit soemthing that would hurt the site or soemone's computer when viewed, but if the attachment option is there, others could. That's not a trivial issue, and since we're all volunteer, I'm not sure I'd look for this option immediately soon.

[Spriggan]

The main reason we don't allow non-text submissions with out e-mailing to one of us is becasue that would require direct upload access to the server.  That would allow anyone to upload something to the site be it a picture or a virus.  There are ways to filter out a lot of things but its just not worth it.  And to be frank, there is NO way you'll ever convince Tage to do this.  He has stated this several times to us.

Edit: I'd like to add that I have nothing against PDFs at all, espcaialy since there are plenty of people on this site that could make them look very good.  Frankly I don't care if somepeople don't have a plugin  for it, over 80% of people have an acrobat plugin of sometype.  Nor am I against a DOC version, but for that there should be a HTML page of the info (or at least a HTML summery of it) then have the doc as a down loadable file.  We could do the same with PDF's, much like WoTC does.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

Perhaps we should open a mail account for submissions then to allow attachments instead of the queue.