Should all Starships and Mecha Submissions Need Pics?

[Wes]

There are way too many half-ass submissions and even more submissions that aren't illustrated. Sometimes I feel like people are pushing things through the approval process too often and too fast. Having illustrations would make the site more detailed and more interesting.

 

[Doshii Jun]

I take exception with your characterization.

New or old members, it's about who can draw and who can't. You can draw. I can't. Plain and simple as that. Frankly, I wouldn't want to put up something like what you just did because it would take me hours what took you much longer and, as Derran said, I don't want to post something that looks like crap.

I can't design either, for the record. But I put in the time to make it work, and I have enough knowledge to make it look like I can. In the area of drawing, however, I have zero knowledge.

Wes has the right idea, I think. As long as the writers aren't the artists, it's fine. He can designate what gets art and what doesn't.

And again, this is about keeping player "spam" off the boards. Just call a submission "spam" if that's the idea, and leave it at that.

 

[Tom]

It's not about whether you can draw or not, or how easy or not it is to do so.

It's about being REQUIRED to have or submit art to have a technology or idea of yours approved on an RP website whose FRONT PAGE invites writers from all walks of life to practice their writing talent.

Honestly, doesn't that seem a little wrong to you?

This is a writing community, not an art one. We should never place the desires of artists over those of our writers.

It is also my opinion that very crappy art would make a technology look worse on paper than just allowing people to use their imaginations.

Having our artists make pictures of items doesn't help at all if the tech can't be approved without art beforehand. This also creates a huge bottleneck.

No thanks.

 

[Doshii Jun]

RAGH Tom you double posted me. Hehe.

 

[Derran Tyler]

A nifty compromise is in order:

Have someone submit something and if it is approved on its merits alone, then before it is added to the website, Wes or any of the other artists here gets together with the designer and comes up with art for the submission.

 

[Doshii Jun]

Yeah, that's what I wanted to say. Thanks Derran.

 

[Fian]

A nifty compromise is in order:

Have someone submit something and if it is approved on its merits alone, then before it is added to the website, Wes or any of the other artists here gets together with the designer and comes up with art for the submission.

Agreed!

 

[Tom]

Thirded, AS LONG AS THE ART GETS PUT UP QUICKLY.

 

[Doshii Jun]

I think he means put up on the Web site, not put into approved use.

If it's approved use, not the Web site, that could take a long time, knowing artists. That would not be cool.

 

[Fian]

I think he means put up on the Web site, not put into approved use.

If it's approved use, not the Web site, that could take a long time, knowing artists. That would not be cool.

No sweat, our character art is also slow.

 

[Wes]

Okay, but if we're going to do art by commission, where is all this money going to come from? I already pay hundreds of dollars out of my own pocket for character art...

 

[Doshii Jun]

Personally? I'd recommend not doing that. Why do you do it now, other than to have more art to sell the site with?

We might be down to that now -- as in, time for you to pass the tin around and gather some donations.

 

[Fian]

Perhaps just for the more important or prominent ones, like the Mindys.

I reccomend the Alliance or Groban, since the Sakura and MIharu has their arts already.

 

[Rabbit Eclair]

A possible alternative for those who can't draw: Google SketchUp.

My drawing abilities peak out around the level of stick figures, but with this and an hour or two, I was able to make a a passable giant robot.

 

[Strangelove]

Not bad. Photoshop is nice, but it's designed for tediously detailed art. SketchUp I find is much better if you're doing quick art.

 

[Edto Xar'Sivaree]

I feel this fell off the map. This is a legitimate question though. FRom the amount of Submissions for tech I see, I would say no... No there is not a requirement to have art for technology based submissions. I do like some of the suggestions, and feel I can add more to it.

So @Wes wants more art to sell the site with. Lets face it, art sells. If you have personalized pictures of the devices you have in the setting people are going to be way more interested. A picture speaks a thousand words after all. However, the site cannot afford to pay art for everything. Some things, yeah, like the Character Art page currently running at $15 USD a pop.

What if we had a system to get art for star army technical submissions.

Donators: Donators can request to have items put on a list. They are donators, they are actively helping with the sites upkeep. O that priority list, when the Site can afford to get a picture of the requested piece of technology, the next person on the cue goes. This is good because the more each individual donates per month, the more the site can do. The faster each person gets their art and the more star army grows! Huzzah!

Non-Donators: Non-donators are a little different. Their support for the site is through their activity, not financial. Anything they do would be considered a negative in "revenue" for the site. Alternatively, They can offer to pay a percentage of a commissioned work. They get a good quality picture, they pay a discounted rate subsidised by SARP, and it helps to ease the blow on the Sites account ((Or Wes's wallet)).

Competitions! Not like the current hallowed e'en we are hosting, but competitions that do something to add depth to the website. To add more of an entertainment value on top of what the site already has to offer, which lets face it, is a lot of stuff XD

I currently am joined in a group of Voice Actors who are constantly looking for work. Imagine if someone took the time to write out a script for some of the more major plot moments. Maybe make it a episode series? I've got 70+ people willing to do voices, I just need the paper to tell them what to say. Important Historical Moment. Or just a General Continuity. I would totally write up a script for the Heartbreaker to have the events turned into a mini audio book. Or the Eucharis even.

Maybe the competition could be for "Who writes the best script for such and such a mission?" and the winner gets a free art commission. We could post them onto YouTube and other such places which might make it a big thing and bring more people to the site.

That's just an idea of course.

 

[Wes]

Because our funds are pretty limited because they only consist of donations, we have to be selective about the art we buy.

Art is mainly required for things that it's very important to have visuals for:

• Species
• Star Army equipment
• Guns

Also, in many of these cases the art requirement is used as a way to slow down or decrease the amount of submissions because we have a ton of the item already (Star Army starship types, small arms, and species). In other words, these are types of submissions we're not desperate for and we can afford to be picky. New submissions are generally expected to be a higher standard of quality than any articles they would replace (older weapons, uniforms, etc).

Although not an official list or program, I am already helping species creators get artwork in many cases.

I do like the idea of an art request thread for tech.