Category Archives: Open threads

META: Winning

I'm considering changing contests up around here so that there is no one "winner". I'll still pick out a handful of what I consider to be my favorites, but I won't single out one to receive a prize.

I think people are getting too hung up on that one thing, when in reality anyone who enters is a winner. And once there's just a handful of Finalists left, the selection of one person is pretty arbitrary. I mean, it's just my subjective opinion.

Thoughts?

META: Traveling and Open Thread

I'm winging my way to New York City today for a conference, so the Pop Quiz will remain open until this evening when I am safely ensconced in my hotel room and can get to judging. Behave yourselves!

Feel free to treat this as an open thread to discuss whatever you like.

META: Traveling Day

I'm flying back to Durango today, so I'll be scarce 'round these parts.

I don't think the story telling thing is going to work after all, so let me know if you have any ideas for features you'd like to see regularly run here on the blog and maybe we can come up with some replacements.

Otherwise, this is an open thread, talk about whatever you like!

META: Open Thread

Today's shaping up to be pretty busy on the Main Job, so I wanted to open this up for you all to talk about whatever you like.

Have you seen the new Avengers and Spider-Man movie trailers? They look pretty awesome!

But hey, whatever you all want to discuss, go for it.

Happy New Year's Eve!

Consider this an open thread, to discuss anything you like -- memories of 2011, hopes for 2012, which upcoming super-hero related movie has you most excited, requests for the blog, etc. Whatever you like!

As for me, I just want to express once again my sincere gratitude for your ongoing participation in the HeroMachine project, and my intense appreciation for your humor, talent, creativity, and imagination. I am awed by how gracious so many of you are to your fellow creators, how generous with your time, and how willing you are to give your feedback. It humbles me, and I thank you for it, one and all.

And, of course, Happy New Year!

META: Slowsnow

We're in the middle of a pretty big snowstorm here in SW Colorado, which is wreaking havoc with my internet connection. Thus, posting today will be a bit slow, including (unfortunately) the contest results. I'll be checking it frequently and posting during open weather windows as possible, but I wanted to warn you.

In the meantime, consider this an open thread and post away! If you have contest ideas you want to see, or Power Users you want profiled, or if you want to talk about the upcoming superhero movies, or anything else that's on your mind, go for it!

META: Apologies for Friday

I apologize for the lack of posts yesterday -- Black Friday got the best of me. We were out of the house early, and it was meeting friends and family the whole rest of the day. By the time we got back, I just didn't get to posting. Consider it a vacation day!

Also, consider this an open thread for whatever you'd like to talk about since we didn't do a Sharing Day yesterday.

META: No PUP today

I dropped the ball on the Power User Profiles and thought I had one ready, when in fact I don't. My apologies, but we'll have no PUP today.

So if you all want to treat this as an open thread, go for it! Discuss anything you like within the bounds of appropriateness. If you have another community member you'd like to see profiled, definitely let me know. Or you could discuss the weather, the "DC52" relaunch, what upcoming super-hero movies you are excited about, college football, or whatever you like.

Open Bragging Day

As I mentioned, I am currently out of town at my niece's wedding and thus, can't participate in an Open Critique Day today. We'll pick that up again next week.

In the meantime, though, I thought I'd instead make this an "Open Bragging Day", a chance for you to share one piece of art of which you are particularly proud. Show everyone your one "wow" piece that you think is a great example of what you try to do as a creator. Obviously (given the venue) it could be a HeroMachine character design, or you could scan/photograph a completely different piece and post it.

I'd like this to be a purely positive day for those willing to post. It's "Attaboy Friday", not a critique day, so try to think of something nice if you feel the urge to post a response.

Otherwise, put your artwork up and tell us why you're proud of it!

(Apologies to the WWE for using their logo. It's awesome, though.)

Open Critique Day

Someone mentioned that we haven't had an "Open Critique Day" in quite a while, so here you go.

Feel free to post a link to a HeroMachine character (or even just a drawing you've done) that you would like to get a constructive critique about in the comments to this post. Please limit it to one such image per person. I'll do my best to make remarks about each one regarding where it works and where it maybe falls a little short.

The other commenters here should feel free to make their own observations on each one as well, but I do ask that you make your critiques constructive -- don't just say "This sucks", say why specifically you think it isn't working, and if possible how it might be improved. At the end of the day it's not the critic's job to actually figure out how to fix something, but it is the critic's job to make coherent, specific, and constructive observations about a piece's strengths and weaknesses.

I look forward to hopefully helping you out with any illustration you're having trouble getting to the place where you would like it to be.