Question - would you pay for editing?

The subject of editing services came up the other day in the MA Arc Finder channel, and I wanted to throw this question out for the MA community at large. I know for a lot of players, MA arcs are just for fun, nothing to be taken too seriously (or worse, are just farms).

But for those players who are serious about writing and producing content, but who might not be the best at spelling, grammar, and so on, would you actually pay someone to go through your arc and find the mistakes?

And if so, how would you pay? Inf? Recipes? Or would you actually pay money if you were serious about including the content you write in a portfolio for consideration for a position in the gaming industry?

What are your thoughts?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

I would be willing to provide this service also. I have worked in various capacities in the field of written technical communications and currently teach writing classes.

Of course, this would not be for actual money. Rather, I'd be willing to help out in exchange for some other service or ingame commodities.

Dunno, would you pay for writing?

Really, it's more for a sideline thing than anything else. I'd never make a living off doing this here. And like I said, it stemmed a lot from the discussion of whether folks would actually 'pay' (be it inf, salvage, recipes, money, whatever) for someone to proof their arcs.

As for making any sort of monetary gain, considering how many fan artists are making money off this game... 'nuff said there. Against the TOS? Maybe. But no one's stopping them.

As for making a lot of money and being happy, that's not going to happen for me in this game - I can be happy, and do something I'm good at, and that a lot of people enjoy, but I'll never make $$ off it (namely, my videos).

Still, I appreciate the reply, and hope this clarifies a couple things.

Cheers,
Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

i could possibly see this as good thing (as im a horrible writer, always hated english classes)

i would gladly pay inf, depending on the rate you would be asking

If anyone in this game charges you any form of currency, be it in-game currency or real, your doing something wrong.

Point in hand, never pay for something. There's far too many people in this game that are very friendly and helpful, at least this side of the pond anyway.

Fury

So it depends on the person - one person might go, "Hey, I know there's a bunch of mistakes in my arc, I'll throw you some inf if you wouldn't mind helping me," while another will say, "Nah, I'll do it myself or get a friend to do it for free."

About what I thought.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

It seems that we are pretty much in agreement about the whole argument in general. I have no real qualms with your opinion on anything you've responded with.

For the mere sake of further dialogue on the subject, though, there are a few things I would like to say in response:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan_Mercury there are programs out there that can do some amazing things. I've seen them first hand,

agreed, machines do great things. But I have yet to see one write a great story.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan_Mercury Again, ambiguity.. define plenty? I'm not doubting you, but I'm sort of one for facts and figures here. Plenty could be a handful or half the player base.

e.g., Virtue

As a contract composer, I know that clients are willing to pay for something they really want but can't pull off themselves because of skill level or lack of time required.

If a potential client just needs public domain background music for her company's answering machine, I'd send her in the right direction for free. If she wants a completely polished original movie trailer score, it could cost her thousands of dollars. She would have a license to use the music, however I still own the copyright to the music and can do with it as I please.

If it is true that NCsoft retains ownership of whatever MA arc content we submit, I don't know that I'd pay real money for a professional to flesh out and polish up my story arc idea. I would rather see the more passionate MA writers form a collective and run periodical workshops (on a global chat channel or in a MA forum thread) on improving one's own stories.

I know a few people who love to roleplay and run their SG storylines in the AE buildings. They have no purple IOs to trade and little to no marketeering experience for building wealth. They've got 9999 tickets that they don't even intend to spend. I'm sure they'd be happy to donate random rolls or rare invention salvage cashed in by those tickets.

I have it on good authority that SG base designers like to be paid in gum!

I might pay Influence to check my grammar and spelling actually. Guess it wuld really depend upon the going rate.