Let's get busy! *!IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT!*

The Core Media Forum
#1

Okay, hear me out.

Basically, every time I’ve tried to write something over the last four months, something has gone wrong. Whether it be hard times at work, fighting to get my diploma (which I STILL haven’t gotten), trying to get my financial aid in order (damn FAFSA doesn’t have a “going for credential” option), or simple writer’s block (which has probably been brought on by these factors and more), I haven’t had any time to plan, prepare, or write this summer. And with my laptop dying, reviving and dying more times than Jason Vorhees and Freddy Kruger combined, the update is still trapped, waiting to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.

I don’t know how much I’ll be writing this summer, although I hope to close up the current story arc in the Final Saga and get that mess closer to the end. To make matters worse, I start student teaching in September, meaning I will most likely have even less time to devote to writing. However, I still plan to get as much done as possible, to get these stupid, moronic, piece-of-shit stories complete. As I said during the Reaver Saga, I hate to leave any work unfinished.

I have seen a lot of writers and fics come and go. I doubt Wil is coming back. Weiila has moved on with her life. 99% of the writers in the archive have either left or simply stopped posting in this section and/or submitting to this archive. I plan to have the update finally finished by the end of September, once I can get it off my damn laptop. After that, I plan to finish updates every month; however, I cannot do this with the mere handful of fanfics I get between updates. That’s why I can use some help. The archive will need promotion; it will need to regain the support it lost because of my negligence.

Furthermore, this site needs support, with the wiki project dead in the water and most of the senior staff AWOL. The fanfiction section used to be one of the more popular sections on the site, and I hope that, with a renewed work ethic, a larger number of works, and the assistance of everyone here, I can make it an important branch of RPGClassics once again. I understand that sites come and go, but I’ve grown to love this place, and I do not wish to see it die in such a way. At least, let it go out with a bang…even if that means blowing up the server…with a real bomb.

If anyone is still reading this, I’m all open for possible ideas and suggestions for how to improve the archive. Anything would be welcome at this point. I have a stupid-ass plan of my own, but I’m willing to wait until implementing it, in case anyone has a better idea. It’s time the archive became more of an open forum, rather than a single moderator overlooking a sinking ship.

And now, let’s go bowling.

#2

Um, I’m working on a Death Note/HP crossover story. I could post that or something. As for a plan, I’ve got nothing.

#3

I like bowling.

#4

Please don’t clutter the thread, flamewingman.

The mailbag and the fanfic archive are the reasons I kept visiting the site in the first place, as they showed an interesting community. I don’t know if the community aspect is still visible to the visitors of the site, with the exception of the fanart updates, and I don’t think people would join the forums without another incentive. Making it clear that we want more people in would help the shier types perhaps.

Emphasizing on RPGC the rebirth of the fanfic archive would be a jolly good idea. There is interesting material to draw readers and writers alike to the site; only new/young people can keep the place afloat in the long run. I usually dabble in poetry and I’ve got two months of exams in front of me but if I get any prose idea I want to explore I’ll let you know.

#5

Quite a goal, d. One I would help with, if I had more written then one lousy Planescape story, and that other thing.

Let me rack my overworked brain cells for ideas…

#6

Okay, let’s revive this long-dead topic. The reason being, after taking down all the fics people wanted taken down, I realized our archive is quite bare. A lot of this is my fault. The transition between Starstorm and myself did not go smoothly; Star did not add fics to the main archive, and I simply couldn’t find them all and gave up. Meanwhile, I screwed up the PHP project, despite Weiila graciously offering her time and energy to its success, I continually drop off the face of the sight due to life, and four fanfics completely vanished two years ago, leaving a lot of people very angry. And now, people want to get their fics removed because someone else saw them, or because they feel ashamed and humiliated of their early works.

As unpleasant and moronic as it sounds, we need to advertise the archive, and the site in general. If people don’t know the place exists, they obviously will choose to post on Fanfiction.net, rather than submit fics here. The shrines no longer serve this purpose, since there are no shrines for any current RPGs, and all the information can be readily acquired on GameFaqs. The fanart section can work, since it’s one of the few sections continually updated. However, if the fanfiction section is going to start pulling its weight, it simply needs lots of new blood.

The problem is trying to find a way to bring people in without resorting to spamming. If anyone has any ideas, tell me.

If anyone has a better suggestion (and PLEASE let there be one), then post it here.

#7

Through my observations the problem with the fan fics is that the majority of the people here are not willing to write fan fics. I am of the opinion that with this most recent generation of consoles there has been alot of maturing of the gaming populace. As in the fact that many gamers are in their 20’s and 30’s, holding jobs, and starting families.

There is also the fact that the average quality of the current story is usually well-defined and the characters receive more developement. Also the biggest fan fic writers out there right now are the very people who created the very game they’re expanding with sequels, prequels, remakes, compilations, alternations, and cross-overs. No longer is FF7 just FF7 it’s now Before Crisis, Crisis Core, FF7, Advent Children, and Dirge of Cerberus and its most likely that more will follow. And that’s just FF 7. Many other classics are getting the same of similar treatments. LoZ been getting a game a year lately with Wind Waker being the recipient of the latest sequel. Xenogears got the Saga series of games, Valkyrie Profile has a prequel and a remake, and even Earthbound has a third game though I’m not to sure if it’s a sequel or whatnot.

The only suggestion that I have for fic writing is to look towards the less traveled road i.e. find something that isn’t getting beaten to death to write about, something with an ambiguous ending would help, though these days that’s usually the sign of a planed sequel.

A similar problem plagues the shrine situation. You’re right in the fact that the site lacks enough people willing to devote their time and effort to creating a shrine, but there is more at work. Namely involving the sheer amount of new RPGs that pour out. Before RPGs were nothing more than a niche outside of Japan so only a few games actually came out here, but now were getting representation from almost every type of RPG there is from monster catching collect-a-thons to dating sims, and the speed at which they come out barely leaves any time for even a single play thru, and thats for those of us who aren’t entirely bogged down by life.

And then there’s the technology. Namely the lack of emulation and translation support. By my observations, one of the RPGC’s biggest strengths was the detailed shrines, and while consoles can be hooked up to a computer they are not the platforms that most of the RPGs appear on. That honor falls to the handheld which aside from physically dismantling your GBA SP or DS lite there isn’t a known way, or at least, an easily accessible way to connect your handheld to a computer. And I’m certain that many of the existing shrines were created with the help of an emulator. Translation is the other hurdle since it tends to be rather difficult instructing someone on how to do something when they don’t understand whats going on, or worse yet, if you’re the one who doesn’t understand whats going on.

My only suggestion for the shrine issue is to just keep the database updated. As I’m sure there are more than three RPGs for the DS.

SKIP TO HERE FOR SUMMARY

In conclusion I advise that you should draw more attention to games that aren’t getting many, if any, fics. Maybe you could pick a couple of neglected games and advertise their need for fics.

As for the shrining I realize all too late now that you weren’t really asking for suggestions to save that section (even though it was my original reason for coming here) so you can ignore my earlier rant.

#8

Hey, if you need a fic, I can start writing one. I never really wrote one here due to the really, really random events that pop into my head that I would usually put into a story.

I agree with Killmore on that “games in need of fics” list. Just pick 5 off the top of your head to post here right now and due some real research later to make a more acurate list.