tiltjlp
PN co-founder
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2003
- Messages
- 3,403
- Reaction score
- 145
- Points
- 65
- Favorite Pinball Machine
- Flying Trapeze 1934
So it seems I’m not the only one who feels that the so-called VP Community doesn’t always fuction as a community. When Hakyoku Seiken recently released the bonus material for his 8 Ball Remix, he included some fairly blunt but honest comments that might upset some folks. The thing of it is folks, it ecohes a lot of what I’ve been saying all along. Maybe Haky and I are both wrong, but I’m sure there are others who feel the same way. All too often there is an elitist attitude in the VP community, which simply doesn’t foster the help and cooperation that most of us would like to see. Here is what Haky had to say.
The reason this has been included with the table is because I want to help out those who want to/do make tables who have a hard time finding resources. It seems that unless you happen to be some super high profile author (for one reason or another), it's VERY hard coming by decent images to use. In a kind of catch 22, without good images to work with, your product is less polished looking ... but people won't waste their time helping you if they think you can't or won’t make a decent looking table.
I'm hoping that this will kind of help along some budding authors in some way or another. If this really IS a VP COMMUNITY, we should start acting like it ... share those images folks! Shivasite has a repository setup so that it doesn't take but a few clicks to share your quality images so that ALL of the tables in the community will gradually get better instead of the same few people constantly being the only ones with the resources to put together a halfway decent product because they're the only ones that people are helping out. If it weren't for Scapino and Plumb, EBR would look pretty damn sad ...
So let's help each other out. Share your ideas, photos, textures, tutorials, anything! Why complain about how 'bad tables look' when you're doing nothing to improve the situation? You don't have to make the table, but if you have resources someone else needs so THEY can make the table and you hold out, you might as well be making the table look bad FOR them. But of course, what do I know, right? I don't have 60 million tables under my belt to prove I know what I'm doing. EBR was what I did WITHOUT your help.
The above is my own opinion that I do not expect everyone agree with. Take it for what it is ... an angry rant from someone who sees only a handful of authors getting images, info, sound, etc. they need for their work while many other starving authors are left to their own devices. if this offended you, there's probably a reason for that.
There you have it folks, someone else who doesn’t see our VP community through rose-colored glasses. Someone else who isn’t afraid to say exactly what he feels is the problem. I edited and toned down Haky’s comments at his request, but I have to appluad him for saying what all too few of us are willing to admit, we aren’t nearly as supportive as we tell ourselves we are. Maybe on the surface everyone talks nice and acts friendly, but Haky and I both see a lot of people who simply ignore the majority of members, be them authors, newbies, other VP sites, what have you.
Sure, there’s no rule that says you have to help anyone, so why put yourself out? Because if we really are a community, we need to begin acting like one. We proved that we can be helpful and considerate when maf discussed a deep personal problem he is struggling with. We proved it when BJ said he was leaving VP. So if we can rise to the ocassion when one of our cyber-friends is having a personal problem, why is it that we can’t be caring and helpful all the time?
Maybe it’s human nature to be selfish and uncaring. Maybe we simply don’t have the time to look for images, sounds, or what have you. On the other hand, time and again, bit by bit, I’ve been given bagatelle and flipperless images. But only three or four folks have shared these with me. What I don’t understand is why more folks aren’t willing to share their time. Fewer and fewer folks offer any real help, and it’s always the same few who offer help with scripting or image enhancement. I hear a lot of offers, but most of it ends up being empty promises.
Those of you who do come through, I commend you for your willingness to become involved. And even if you don’t feel the way both Haky and I do doesn’t mean there aren’t those kinds of problems, only that you haven’t encountered them. There are others who agree with Haky and me, they just haven’t made their opinions public. But I have had a number of PMs and e-mails in support for my views. So maybe if we can discuss these issues, we can at least agree to disagree, or even make more people aware of the problem, and willing to get involved. So, what’s your take on all of this? Isn't it time to stop sugar-coating life in VP, and admit that things aren't as nice and friendly once we scratch away the thin layer of hype?
John & Haky
The reason this has been included with the table is because I want to help out those who want to/do make tables who have a hard time finding resources. It seems that unless you happen to be some super high profile author (for one reason or another), it's VERY hard coming by decent images to use. In a kind of catch 22, without good images to work with, your product is less polished looking ... but people won't waste their time helping you if they think you can't or won’t make a decent looking table.
I'm hoping that this will kind of help along some budding authors in some way or another. If this really IS a VP COMMUNITY, we should start acting like it ... share those images folks! Shivasite has a repository setup so that it doesn't take but a few clicks to share your quality images so that ALL of the tables in the community will gradually get better instead of the same few people constantly being the only ones with the resources to put together a halfway decent product because they're the only ones that people are helping out. If it weren't for Scapino and Plumb, EBR would look pretty damn sad ...
So let's help each other out. Share your ideas, photos, textures, tutorials, anything! Why complain about how 'bad tables look' when you're doing nothing to improve the situation? You don't have to make the table, but if you have resources someone else needs so THEY can make the table and you hold out, you might as well be making the table look bad FOR them. But of course, what do I know, right? I don't have 60 million tables under my belt to prove I know what I'm doing. EBR was what I did WITHOUT your help.
The above is my own opinion that I do not expect everyone agree with. Take it for what it is ... an angry rant from someone who sees only a handful of authors getting images, info, sound, etc. they need for their work while many other starving authors are left to their own devices. if this offended you, there's probably a reason for that.
There you have it folks, someone else who doesn’t see our VP community through rose-colored glasses. Someone else who isn’t afraid to say exactly what he feels is the problem. I edited and toned down Haky’s comments at his request, but I have to appluad him for saying what all too few of us are willing to admit, we aren’t nearly as supportive as we tell ourselves we are. Maybe on the surface everyone talks nice and acts friendly, but Haky and I both see a lot of people who simply ignore the majority of members, be them authors, newbies, other VP sites, what have you.
Sure, there’s no rule that says you have to help anyone, so why put yourself out? Because if we really are a community, we need to begin acting like one. We proved that we can be helpful and considerate when maf discussed a deep personal problem he is struggling with. We proved it when BJ said he was leaving VP. So if we can rise to the ocassion when one of our cyber-friends is having a personal problem, why is it that we can’t be caring and helpful all the time?
Maybe it’s human nature to be selfish and uncaring. Maybe we simply don’t have the time to look for images, sounds, or what have you. On the other hand, time and again, bit by bit, I’ve been given bagatelle and flipperless images. But only three or four folks have shared these with me. What I don’t understand is why more folks aren’t willing to share their time. Fewer and fewer folks offer any real help, and it’s always the same few who offer help with scripting or image enhancement. I hear a lot of offers, but most of it ends up being empty promises.
Those of you who do come through, I commend you for your willingness to become involved. And even if you don’t feel the way both Haky and I do doesn’t mean there aren’t those kinds of problems, only that you haven’t encountered them. There are others who agree with Haky and me, they just haven’t made their opinions public. But I have had a number of PMs and e-mails in support for my views. So maybe if we can discuss these issues, we can at least agree to disagree, or even make more people aware of the problem, and willing to get involved. So, what’s your take on all of this? Isn't it time to stop sugar-coating life in VP, and admit that things aren't as nice and friendly once we scratch away the thin layer of hype?
John & Haky