Forming a Writer's Guild

[Saltome]

Alright, suffice to say I'm forming a writer's guild.
The goals are basically to help with anything that has anything to do with writing.
Now, the question is... Is anyone gonna come out up front, or am I going to have to do this the hard way?
By painstakingly looking for associates, one by one.
What's YOUR take on things?

[Mad Harlequin]

Now, the question is... Is anyone gonna come out up front, or am I going to have to do this the hard way? By painstakingly looking for associates, one by one.
What's YOUR take on things?

You know, you'll be a lot more likely to find willing participants if you don't try to intimidate people into joining your guild. (I could be mistaken, but you're certainly coming across that way to me. Just a thought.)

[PyTom]

Moved to the writing forum. Also, the writer's guild is already a thing.

[Saltome]

You know, you'll be a lot more likely to find willing participants if you don't try to intimidate people into joining your guild. (I could be mistaken, but you're certainly coming across that way to me. Just a thought.)

Well I got your attention, didn't I? *chuckle*
And who said I'm trying to intimidate anyone.
Besides, if you were that easy to scare away you wouldn't get very far in life, now would you?

Moved to the writing forum. Also, the writer's guild is already a thing.

Oh? And what exactly is the WGA doing for the writers of LS, OR the developers, OR the readers?
What good are they to us if we aren't important enough for them to take care of us?

I sat around here for the past year, with nothing to do. And obviously no one else is gonna do what needs to be done to organize this chaos. So I will.
There are projects without enough writers, there are writers laying around without projects.
I don't know about the other members, but this stalemate pisses me off.

Sorry for making you move the topic tho. x)

[Laiska]

I sat around here for the past year, with nothing to do.

That doesn't sound like anyone's fault but your own, man. If you want to write a game, write a game. There is literally no one stopping you but yourself. Find projects looking for writers and contact them, or else make your own thing, but this isn't a matter of lack organization.

In any case I recommend you look into the IGDA Game Writing SIG. It's not like there's no help out there, you just need to find it.

[Saltome]

There is literally no one stopping you but yourself.

Yeah I'll remember that next time someone shuts their door on me when I go trough the effort of knocking to do them a favor.
That's a metaphor by the way.

You know... It's funny, I'm offering my time and effort to make life easier for other people. And all I get are patronized retorts.

[Laiska]

You know... It's funny, I'm offering my time and effort to make life easier for other people. And all I get are patronized retorts.

All you're doing is making yourself come off as entitled. No one asked you to do these things for them, so you can't automatically expect gratitude, especially when you seem to think you're implicitly owed it.

If you want to do something good for a community you have to accept feedback from that community, and that includes criticism.

[Saltome]

Yeah, if it was constructive criticism, I wouldn't mind.
But comments along the lines of:
"It's been done before."
And:
"You're doing it wrong."
Don't solve anything.
And don't get us anywhere.

No one asked you to do these things for them, so you can't automatically expect gratitude,

So if I push you out of the way of a speeding vehicle you are gonna pick a fight with me for shoving you?

Then again I don't remember asking for anything in return, so maybe you should help instead of shooting me down.

[Rinima]

So if I push you out of the way of a speeding vehicle you are gonna pick a fight with me for shoving you?

I would do if you then started going on about it and going on about how much I owe you.

And obviously no one else is gonna do what needs to be done to organize this chaos. So I will.

And that's actually really rude to the admins, who do a fantastic job. Lemmasoft is no where near in 'chaos', it's on of the most productive forums I've come across as well as organised.

[blankd]

Yeah, if it was constructive criticism, I wouldn't mind.
But comments along the lines of:
"It's been done before."
And:
"You're doing it wrong."
Don't solve anything.
And don't get us anywhere.

No one asked you to do these things for them, so you can't automatically expect gratitude,

So if I push you out of the way of a speeding vehicle you are gonna pick a fight with me for shoving you?

Then again I don't remember asking for anything in return, so maybe you should help instead of shooting me down.

You need to work on your tone, you're being hyper aggressive.

"It's been done before" -> Consider that it's a redundant feature, what is your organizing of a guild doing that the other one didn't do? Maybe it failed for a reason. Maybe it simply doesn't work like you think it would. Did you try restructuring or giving helpful criticism of the one already in place?

If you feel the networking was lacking in the other one, perhaps take to heart that more than one person is commenting on your reactions, you can't network if you're driving people off. Nip that it in the bud. And while we're at it, consider the value of PR.

Also I recommend not going to the hyperbolic extreme of "saving you from an oncoming car" (this guild is NOT a life or death situation) when talking about an unofficial and duplicate way of networking writers. Also consider how you are conducting your words, they aren't inviting and each post seems escalate. If you need help seeing how your posts are being unnecessarily aggressive I'm sure someone will be more than happy to go in further detail.

[Laiska]

I sat around here for the past year, with nothing to do.

Yeah I'll remember that next time someone shuts their door on me when I go trough the effort of knocking to do them a favor.

Reading this thread reminded me of that one we had some months ago, where someone who was brand new to the forum showed up and immediately started complaining that the forum wasn't catering to them... I checked, and, lo and behold, it was you. You have been on this forum for scarcely six months, and a fair portion of the threads you've commented in, you've been sniping at or antagonizing other creators, questioning people's knowledge, and attacking people for criticizing you.

And yet... it is somehow the world's fault that you no one wishes to work with you, yes?

LSF is a wonderfully organized forum, which the mods are always working to improve to make things better for the creators who congregate here. The recruitment forum has been divided into easy to access sections, for people to offer and find work, and there are many creators here who will assist and encourage anyone who puts in a real effort. Many games start and fail, and that's just the nature of a hobby. If aspiring creators don't succeed it has much less to do with other people than their own efforts, given how very many projects are launched here, with new ones every day.

Talk to people, be kind, be polite, be ambitious, be ready to show your best work and take heart when that work needs improvement. That is how you succeed.

[RotGtIE]

nnnooope.gif (472.67 KiB) Viewed 2343 times

[Saltome]

I would do if you then started going on about it and going on about how much I owe you.

In that situation a thank you would be nice. But then I'll repeat myself again, I didn't ask for anything in return, so why the finger pointing?

Lemmasoft is no where near in 'chaos', it's on of the most productive forums I've come across as well as organized.

Well chaos might be an overstatement, and yes Lemma is one of the better forums out there. But it doesn't measure to the organization in companies.

"It's been done before" -> Consider that it's a redundant feature, what is your organizing of a guild doing that the other one didn't do? Maybe it failed for a reason. Maybe it simply doesn't work like you think it would. Did you try restructuring or giving helpful criticism of the one already in place?

Considering there are still employers without employees an employees without employers, I'd say it's not a redundant feature.
I don't know what other guilds, associations and various relevant organizations did or didn't do. But I know that it is either wrong or not enough. And I know what I will do, I will create a group that will handle traffic from the registration, trough the training, trough the free work to the paid work.
Maybe other organizations have their reasons, money, power, or simply bad decisions. But I'm an unique human being, with my own views, morals and goals. And the only way I can be sure if I can or can't do better than them is by trying, from the ground up.
I'm sure you know just how hard it is to get in touch let alone steer the direction of large organizations. Actually I tried that, the moment I came to the forum, now it's been a year and things haven't changed.

If you feel the networking was lacking in the other one, perhaps take to heart that more than one person is commenting on your reactions, you can't network if you're driving people off. Nip that it in the bud. And while we're at it, consider the value of PR.

Of course, but I somehow doubt I'm missing networking opportunities with people who came here simply to tell me that they are not interested, by driving them off. Perhaps eventually I will change the minds of those people, but they have already shown their stance on the matter.

Also I recommend not going to the hyperbolic extreme of "saving you from an oncoming car" (this guild is NOT a life or death situation) when talking about an unofficial and duplicate way of networking writers. Also consider how you are conducting your words, they aren't inviting and each post seems escalate. If you need help seeing how your posts are being unnecessarily aggressive I'm sure someone will be more than happy to go in further detail.

Who said this isn't a life or death situation? It might not be an immediate threat, but succeeding in life is every bit a life or death situation. All my life I've seen people throw away opportunities that others would kill for, that could have saved someone's life.
But hey, there's this quote. "I guess you know we're gonna crash into the sun, but that's no reason why we shouldn't have a little fun"
Earlier I asked, what does WGA do for LS. Considering their almighty influence doesn't really reach here, I would hardly call it duplicate.
Besides I don't know if you've noticed but society is built around competition, just because someone else is already doing something doesn't mean that you shouldn't do it too.
I won't say I wasn't aggressive, but there's this thing about psychology. That at some point you get tired of playing nice and not getting any results, then you vent that pent up anger, by doing something good, or bad. I am at that point, I begged and waited long enough, it's time I get it done.
You know, I really didn't expect much from this topic, to begin with. It was just a way to see if anything has changed since the last time I tried to address the community as that, a community that is dedicated to helping each of it's members, and it hasn't improved much. I guess it's time to take the more personal, individual approach.

Reading this thread reminded me of that one we had some months ago

That topic is long gone. And as I remember a handful of people did agree that there are things that can be done.
And guess what... Those things still haven't been done.
So why are you talking to me about effort, when nobody on this forum bothered to take the ready solution and make it into a reality?

questioning people's knowledge

And I assume I should take everything I'm told at face value? Not very smart.

Many games start and fail, and that's just the nature of a hobby.

You know, usually when something bad happens, there's a cause and reason for it.

RotGtIE, witty... But I call spam.

[Laiska]

nnnooope.gif

Gonna follow you out, here xD

[RotGtIE]

I'll feel guilty about leaving with only a dismissive gesture, so here's my take.

I don't have a dog in this fight. As far as writing is concerned, my observation has consistently been that progress is inversely proportional to the amount of time spent collaborating. The more chatting people do in IRC and on message boards, the less writing they get done. Nothing spurs on productivity like seclusion. Collaboration and discussion are only really effective after writing has been done, when it is time to edit and make corrections. Before the writing is done, all you're really doing is shooting the shit and flushing time down the drain. I'm flushing time down the drain by replying here instead of continuing to write my own script.

So I don't recommend things like guilds or groups for people to chat with each other so that they can "help each other write." The best writing help someone can give you is to lock you alone in your room and throw away the key.

Maybe slide some snacks in under the door every now and then.

But only if you've been pushing up your word count.

So, I like your gusto, but I think you're barking up the wrong tree. Your energy could be better spent.