Dark_Respite

Oh, don't I wish. But if this is an unofficial contest (ie, not sponsored by NCSoft), I'm betting no.

Mostly bragging rights, a mention in the City Scoop, and if really lucky, a mention on the main site.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Yep it does. I should say I RATED all the videos and commented, but only voted on one.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[ QUOTE ]
I was wondering if people who posted their video (like me) can vote for other people's videos. Not in the bad way of sabotaging the vote for them. But like some of their videos, I liked and some I thought needed more work. Am I allowed to vote and comment on theirs for public judging?

[/ QUOTE ]

I did both - I voted on every single one of them, and I posted comments on almost every single one of them. I don't see why we wouldn't be allowed to - it'd be kind of silly to prevent your peers from judging your work...

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[ QUOTE ]
Well, I'm glad I did that, lot's of good entries, I took notes, I don't even have to worry about when it gets to the committee I already know who I'll be picking

Actually, the biggest problem I had was tricking the website to load the videos without having an error.

Also Dark Respite's comments seem to always match what I was thinking, was having trouble trying to make comments without repeating what she said.

[/ QUOTE ]

Gata_ - AGH! You're not supposed to AGREE with me!!! My reputation will be shot!

Jester - glad to see that you're trying to balance all of this to make things fair (while keeping your site from crashing in the meantime). And I appreciate that you're trying to take all this into account.

Severe - if you feel that strongly about it, then by all means, don't take part. But I still think the 'padded votes' argument is nonsense, because it doesn't stop with what people vote - the PERC team still has to do their thing. And it's sad that your apparent stance now is, "If I don't win, it's because they cheated."

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[ QUOTE ]
I love the suggested accusation, really I do and I am flattered you would think I am that devious. Truly I am.

But let's enter back into the realm of reality here. I know many players who are husband and wife, father and son, roommates, etc. Around half of my sg falls into this category. People who also spent time with me setting scenes, offering suggestions, and supporting the project wholly. Am I now to say to them, after their hard work and anticipation that about half of their votes will not count? This wasn't just my video, it was the coordinated effort of a single cause, in unison, making art, creating art! I was only the one who had the materials to compile and edit this into a video format readily available.

That comment was not a slap to me, but my coalition, my super group, my friends, and my family.

Not fair to the rest of the entries? My pigtails!

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree - I AM part of one of those husband/wife teams, our best friends (soon to be married) also play, as do several of our colleages from work, other friends, oh, yeah, and our god-daughter. Problem is, we all live near each other.

And maybe it bespeaks of an almost hideous arrogance or overconfidence, but I don't NEED to pad my votes. For one thing, my work is good enough that I don't need to cheat. For another, it does me no good whatsoever, when trying to improve my work, to pad the results of what others think of it. Do I WANT to win? Sure. Will the world end for me if I don't? Hell, no.

I don't know about the other entrants, but I'm more concerned about the commercial contest being FAIR than I am about WINNING it. I'd rather lose fairly than win unfairly.

So kindly leave the conspiracy thinking at the door of the forum (and the w00tstudios.net site when you go over there to view the entries), and enter instead with an open mind.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Whew! In a wild fit of energy, I just went through and watched (and voted on, and commented on) EVERY SINGLE ENTRY save my own. There's some REALLY good work in there, and a lot of very creative takes on video creation!

(And no, I didn't vote on my own video, either.)

Best of luck to all who entered! I know I'll be waiting on tenterhooks for two weeks to find out who wins!

BTW, DDH_Hamenopi's question is a good one - does the shared IP/cookie thing mean that my husband can't vote?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[ QUOTE ]
I pretty much failed with my entry because I did not spend that much time on it. I think what came out best was re-timing the logos in the beginning using time remapping and then recreating the copyright at the end. Took the one from a I11 video and because I cut something out, I recreated the light effect on a freeze frame of the text before it actually shows up in the video.

The audio, oh man did that come out bad. Recorded it just as I finished it and the sound cut out at times on a few of the clips.

So basically, I am completely ashamed of my video especially considering I have been editing 4 years now and I plan to edit for a living.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't knock yourself - if nothing else, you still had the guts to give it a go in the first place, which is more than a lot of people are doing. Folks go on and on about, "Oh, I wanna do that," "Oh, I wish I could do that," and then never do it.

Just promise yourself that for the next contest (hint, hint, hint, PERC reps), you'll go all out.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Question - how do you guys plan to make sure that no one has all their friends come in and spam the polls in their favor? (I'm NOT saying that anyone who has entered would do such a thing, but it is a legit concern from other contest-type things I've been in.)

Also, how will the finalists judge the notion of 'commercial'? I've seen some brilliant ads that really tell you very little about what they actually represent, they're just meant to completely wow you and get your attention so you'll look more information up on the Internet or whatnot.

Other than that, the best of luck to everyone who's entered!

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

And now there's a new Samuraiko Productions video!

YouTube hosts the low-rez version, while the high-rez version can be found on the Samuraiko Productions website.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Okay, I finally did it!

I made a VERY deliberate choice not to look at ANYONE else's entries (because I'm a coward and I was afraid I'd see someone else do some knockout job and get totally disheartened), but here's the link to Samuraiko's entry on w00tstudios!

Countdown to the Future

(It looks a bit wonky because it seems to be cutting off the right side of the vid, but if you're willing to give it a chance, open it full screen!)

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Greetings, Blue Steel!

Just to help you keep things in perspective... if you can handle these forums, then it doesn't matter WHAT the Circle of Thorns, Skulls, Clockwork, Vahz, and randomly invading Rikti throw at you. You'll be able to laugh at it.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Not when DragonCon is the same weekend as Anime Vegas!


Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

I know someone a while back mentioned that the term 'Mastermind' does tend to have certain 'villainous' connotations, so here's a thought.

For a way to have a 'hero' summoning several semi-independent and potentially varying-in-power pets... how about Duplication? Both hubby and I have thought since we started that it would be neat if you could play a duplicator character (with several versions of yourself running around in a group, using less powerful versions of your own attacks).

Just a thought...

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Since my initial inquiry into this got lost in the squeeing, complaining, and rampant speculation...

I've been intrigued by the Midnight Squad storyline since I first came across it, and I can't wait to see what they do with it.

The bulk of the Midnight Squad's work was done in Astoria, correct? (Either before or after the Banished Pantheon messed up the place.) And with BP and the Circle swarming all over the place now, there is much bad magical mojo about the place.

Does this mean... maybe... just maybe... part of the MS content could be the heroside effort to reclaim Dark Astoria?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Issue 12 looks great, don't get me wrong. But letting serious bugs go unfixed for years is a bit shabby. I'd be willing to forgo a new issue for that.

[/ QUOTE ]
Some of the bugs have been around so long that they are now upgraded to the "Undocumented Features" status.

Seriously though, up until NCsoft stepped in, there probably hasn't been enough people around to fix those bugs for the last year+.

[/ QUOTE ]

In which case I'd be happy to join NCSoft's team, bring a bunch of friends with me, and devote myself full-time (for paycheck, benefits, and bragging rights) to fixing said 'undocumented features.'

Tell them to have my desk ready - I'll bring my own chair and the 64-pack of Coke. I'll even bring brownies to smooth things over on my first day of work.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

You know, all this raises a question. And I apologize in advance if I'm misremembering this...

(I just hope someone notices this question in the middle of all the speculation about powers, the squeeing, and the grousing...)

The bulk of the Midnight Squad's work was done in Astoria, correct? (Either before or after the Banished Pantheon messed up the place.) And with BP and the Circle swarming all over the place now, there is much bad magical mojo about the place.

Does this mean... maybe... just maybe... part of the MS content could be the heroside effort to reclaim Dark Astoria?

That would be the height of fricking awesome.

Michelle
aka
Samurai_ko

Two words...

HELL YEAH!

(And I applaud the devs' sense of timing... laughing for my own reasons.)

I've been intrigued by the Midnight Squad storyline since I first came across it, and I can't wait to see what they do with it.

I wonder when this will come out... but what a nice early birthday present for me!

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

*toddles off to start imagining the I-12 trailer*

I sense a "Meet and Greet" being scheduled in Phoenix sometime soon, and you can then test them for yourselves. Otherwise, pick a major 'con somewhere in the Southwest and we'll give it a go.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

PS - I've never shipped food before, I don't know how well that would go over.

You've never had my brownies. These things inspire people to greatness (and the sugar rush will ensure they get there).

Ghirardelli chocolate (much easier to get were I working/living in San Francisco), Godiva liqueur, creme de cacao, at least one other flavor alcohol of choice, and a few other little ingredients that give my brownies their unique magic.

(NO, YOU WILL NOT FIND THAT STUFF IN THERE.)

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Hey Star_Dancer, think of it this way - when the CoX commercials contest is done, I fully intend to go, "See, weren't these awesome? Now imagine what we could have done if ALL THE MAPS AND ALL THE CUSTOM WEAPONS STUFF WORKED RIGHT?!"

I have been badgering the devs about this since before Issue 10 came out, so don't feel too bad.

And I promise that if by some miracle I ever get hired at NCsoft, I will bribe the developer team with brownies to make sure this gets fixed.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

I have only a limited time today to get on and play (and film) because hubby needs the computer, so I am waiting for the servers to come back up! And we're now 40 minutes past the usual time and they're STILL DOWN!

I swear, the devs are doing this DELIBERATELY!

The Rikti are invading! Why are you worrying about updating servers over there? Let us save the world first, THEN you can update the servers!

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

OH YEAH BABY!

I love Rikti invasions... And thank you Devs for choosing the last weekend of my unemployment to schedule them! Now I can beat the snot out of Rikti to my heart's content!

Hmmm. I sense a new video waiting to be made.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Well, I'm narrowing down the music I intend to use, but I've got ideas for the footage I want.

But you're not going to believe this - I've gotten in-game /tells saying that I shouldn't be allowed to enter this contest.

(Not to mention some people ragging on me that I'm automatically disqualified because my opening/closing credits put me over 45 seconds so I shouldn't bother entering.)

Has anyone else gotten this kind of petty behaviour, or is it just me?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[ QUOTE ]
How do you plan to make a 30 second video when all of yours have over a minute of opening and ending credits? =P

[/ QUOTE ]

Easy - get permission from the PERC team (as I already have on the Q&A post for the contest) that identifying logos (mine, NCSoft, and Cryptic) do not count as part of the 25-45 seconds limitation.

As to WHY I put those on, it's because a) I am sick and tired of people on the Internet swiping my stuff and saying it's theirs, and b) NCSoft, Cryptic, Creative Assembly, and the music artists can't say I haven't given them proper credit.

Good enough?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Does this mean that I should forego adding my usual opening/closing credits to my vids? (I always add the Samuraiko Productions credits, as well as the NCsoft and Cryptic logos.)

I use these so that a) people know it's MINE, and b) NCSoft and Cryptic don't get huffy.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite