U-Naught

Congratulations CR! (big thumbsup)

and to ALL the other contestants, too! Great job all!

It was fun participating, I enjoyed it!

I am hoping to get around to finishing my piece (but I'm also hoping to finish LAST month's piece, and I aint got to it yet, either! ). As I said - I may not be as active & around as I was, but who knows what the future holds?

Thanks again for the support and the votes! I appreciate it!

You all hang in there - and knock one outta th' park for me next month!

*ahem* would be funny to show a recognizable COH or COV Sig character go in to update their look, and come out wearing WOW outfit.

What AngelWing and Sapphic_Neko said RE: Closed Beta and Non-Disclosure Agreements

However - There IS the Official "Going Rogue" website, which has various media (Screen shots, videos, etc.) of a lot of the stuff

http://goingrogue.na.cityofheroes.com/en/

Tough Month to pick! (have I said that for all of em?)

1) Toxic_Shia - simple, fun, right to the point + thought-provoking about the "vote" thing
2) Juggertha - another simple, right to the point image
3) ChristopherRobin - the magnum opus!

and all the rest are great, too!!!! (well, except for that last one )

Well - here's my FAIL!



If I'd completed it, it would have had a title like: "Issue # 32 - The TRUTH Finally Revealed!" (Subtitle: They've Been Here All Along)

(There'd be more NPC's - and I'd probably zoom in more - the NPC's are supposed to all have just pulled off rubber masks, revealing they've been Rikti all along. But, hadda give priority to some r-l stuff (good stuff) and so none of the great, wonderous-ness of the concept will have to wait.)

Real Life has been - well, interesting (in a mostly good way!). And I just let this one go. Sorry folks, I guess I'm out. I wish all the best of luck - honestly, everybody! (I *think* I'll be around - but much less than before)

Sorry.

First, just to be clear - it wasn't my intention, Caemgen, to call you cheap - rather I was addressing the general idea of running a contest for the sole purpose of getting lots of essentially free art. (which you did mention on the initial post). Just to be clear.

Not sure I'm adding anything new here (lots of good discussion already), but I did want to chime in.

I think, for one thing, its easy to forget that the world's big with gobs and gobs of different people and different viewpoints - by which I mean that you can go out and ask these questions of people and get gobs and gobs of different answers and opinions. And, really, they're all valid - for the individuals that give them. (not tryin' to be "wishy-washy" there - just trying to remind myself that *my* opinion aint everyone's)

that said:

Competition is often a good motivator for people to try and stretch beyond their norm. I've actually had instructors that made competitions out of every class assignment. (I will admit, it made *me* uncomfortable - but it fired-up many of the other students) It *does* have its downsides, in that someone "loses" - and that don't feel good.

Sometimes the motivation isn't as important - for some, whether or not there's money involved, they're just in it to be competitive. Granted, for others, it *is* the money - but, thats kinda to be expected.

If the person running the contest is *really* just trying to get lots of art for cheap or free (and I agree that thats what some of them are doing) - I think thats pretty crummy and slimy and they should be smacked. But, I know not everyone running contests are that self-serving - for some its just an inventive way of generating some interest and activity.

As artists (and, really, people in general), we're going to run into both types - those who *will* take advantage of us and those who won't. Its crummy, but yer gonna get burned sometimes in life - ya just gotta hope you can learn from the experience, learn to spot the bad ones and avoid em.

I do think there's some value to the "getting exposure" part of contests, tho - very much so in the Thor's Assassin contest, but also in many others. With the way DeviantArt is set up, the more places your art appears, the better (well, if you *want* the exposure). If I were to do a contest like that - I'd try to make every effort to showcase ALL the entries that I could, so even those who "lost" would be getting something out of it. (not sure how I'd accomplish that - but if I was gonna do it, I put some MAJOR thought into it)

and, yeah - I've also heard of those who offer "exposure for struggling young artists" in exchange for doing FREE work for their "project". I hear that happens in Hollywood a lot.

There is one sort-of related tangential thought that this discussion brings to my mind: I've read in various threads, blogs, journals - and I've heard it in person from a few people - not just artists, but some other professions as well. There's the concern that all those DA artists offering to do commissions for really very little money (like single figure dollars for a character portrait) make it tougher for others who charge significantly more to get business. I've heard "I just can't afford to sell my work that cheaply! You're killing me here!" and I can kinda understand that, to some degree.

As an artist, we're putting time and effort, skill, and (hopefully) heart into our work - and that should be worth something. Something of equal worth to to what we put in. So, I can understand when a guy (or girl) - who is trying to make a living from doing the art that they love - gets frustrated when someone turns away saying "Dude! That's too much! Why should I pay you that much, when I can just go to this other guy on DA and get my character done for five bucks??!?" (understanding that to some, the difference in "quality" of said art may or may not be a determining factor)

But, that's reality for ya, isn't it? That's always going to be there in the world and we've just gotta deal with it. There's always someone doing it for less. (well, and there's also a big difference between doing sketches for fun and "working as a professional in the industry")

Where was I again?

How about this: What if Marcus Cole had a motorcycle with him on that fateful day - instead of drinking from that fountain himself, what if Marcus had poured the "special" water from that "special" fountain INTO the gas tank on his motorcycle!

StatesCycle was born!

...and, and its nemesis: the Arachno-Bike!

Here ya go:

Yo! Caemgen,

Happy To the Bee-Box Birthity Dee-Ay-Ee-Ay-Ee-Ay-Yo!

Happy Birthday (if, perhaps, a little late )

Thats a GREAT piece! Very nice, very Evocative!