Real question to HT...

[AWCHKRS]

Originally posted by hitech
And exactly how is the "Community" giving them free time?


HiTech

 Jeeze Louise , That's funny !  That's the funnest thing I have read on this BBS in a long time ........


 Vote,
 #1 , Here, skin this .........
#2 , ........( vote #2 thrown out, as it is not cool to post dirty words or funny dirty gestures anymore )  ......? anybody see the bird go up,  from Texas ? ......
#3, " I can just hear it now>>>>  Votes ? We don't Need No Stinkin' Votes "    .......
 #4 Furious's answer, wins hands down !

  Ofcorse  Al Gore will have to call for a recount, before giving the go ahead with the funding .............

 

 
 

 

[midnight Target]

Originally posted by hitech
And exactly how is the "Community" giving them free time?


HiTech

Come on Dale.. we all know you're a gazillionaire! You could spread a bazillion around and hardly feel it!

[MaddogWx]

Zorstorer - Great idea.  I bet HT is giving it some thought.  The new skins are wonderful - and I would love to see new maps.

Problem may be that with 60(?) new skins this month it would be expensive to reward them all at once.

I really enjoy the new skin - thank you to those that put in the time - WELL DONE!


MaddogWx...now DawgWx in game

[eagl]

For a lot of people, it seems like just getting their art out into the world is payback enough.  If HTC wasn't getting many new skin submissions, it might make sense to offer some sort of compensation, but it doesn't seem like the many talented artists contributing skins currently need that kind of incentive.

Sure, it would be neat if the creators of the most popular skins got some sort of recognition, but as it stands now it might make more sense to formally recognize the most popular skin artists at the con or something like that.

I don't know how tough it would be to implement, but there ought to be some way to track what skins are being used and rank-ordering them by popularity.  Recognition might be reward enough.  Sure, everyone likes free stuff but I haven't heard of anyone putting time into making skins in the hope that they'll score a comped account.  Landing a job with HTC as their next apprentice artist... well, I've heard that rumor, but that's a bit different than a comped account.

A bounty system for planes that don't seem to be generating skin submissions might make sense...  Nobody skins a particular plane, so HTC offers a free month to the first 2 accepted skins.  That might make good business sense, but offering comped accounts to everyone making P-51 skins (for example) could run HTC out of money fast

[zorstorer]

Who this is aimed at....

Skinners and sound folks who want nothing more than to get their work submitted and accepted into AH2.(period, end of thought)

I am not saying pay folks to submit, just to let those with the "top" skin or sound pack be recognized.  Kinda like being the 1,000,000th customer in "insert name of establishment here" and getting $150 off your next purchase.  Oh well...

[FT_Animal]

Originally posted by zorstorer
Ok I'll spell it out...

Much like JB73's idea.

The community (read players) votes on a skin or 2 and a sound pack maybe even a map.  HT could then "GIVE" those players who won a month free or something like that.  No one here has ever recieved a award from a group before?  It's the little things like this that really add to a sense of community.  No I am not asking for a 1$ donation from anyone or an increase to the price.  Yes I think that the community getting together to single out a few exeptional skinners and sound guys would be a good (read constuctive) way for the community to get together.

But hey thats just me

(Open season)

Here is another thought....think of it as a collective "Thank you"... something people feel is not needed these days which is sad indeed.

Originally posted by zorstorer
What really astounds me is the resistance to an idea that can only help the player community.  It's not like HT will have to raise his monthly rate from 14.95 a month to 14.96 a month to cover the 29.90 it would cost him.  I suppose amidst all the cries of foul play and general whining a decient constructive idea gets lost in the noise.  


BTW I am now taping the 2990 pennies together to mail in to HT.  

I have to agree with this post, to an extent.

Basically the negative post arise from folks wanting to agree with anything HT says, or what they think he's saying, just to hang tight.

This IS a good idea, to an extent, revised. There's nothing negative in competition and\or a prize in it. This is simply good PR.

1) No one would be paying for it to cover the idea, there just wouldn't be a charge. There is a difference in the wording.

2) Someone could obtain sponsors, like CH for flight pedals or joysticks as a prize. We did this in AW many times. And companies DO sponsor stuff like this all the time.

3) Someone else had a good idea, because HTC only accepts checks, cash, or credit cards to get an account. In AW, people who didn't have a credit card, to hook up NOW, could go through a system like PayPal via E-Check, only it was something different in AW, I can't remember what it was called. But it worked out great. They just got charged an extra 3-4 dollars to use that e-check pay system. As it is, if you don't have these items, you have to wait about a week for your check to get to Texas, this is an inconvience, and a deterant to those without. Hell one time I paid $13 to ship $28 payment to HTC via federal express, just to avoid waiting a week. That was stupid on my part.

There are some good promo ideas that are not just stupid ideas. Not everyone is a spoiled rotten brat, and those that are not appreciate things like this much more then others, who basically are.

Basically I hear, "I have what I need,... screw you".


2 cents ;-)
Anim

[Jackal1]

Hmmmmm...... wonder if the folks at Ratbag Games has me a check in the mail for the 300+ DTRSC skins I did.

[hitech]

zorstorer: It wasn't the basic idea I took acception to. Pyro and I have discussed these type of things before we even released the 2.0 .

But it is sorta rude to ask us to give somthing away, and then say it was the "Community" that did the giving.


HiTech

[Wotan]

Some of the skins submitted atleast imho arent worth 15 bucks

Who decides who gets what?

[TDeacon]

Zorstorer, etc.,

The idea of rewarding people who contribute to the "community" is praiseworthy.  I was just disagreeing with the proposed method.  Perhaps my phraseology was too negative; sorry about that.  

Still, considering the amount of time it takes to do something like a skin/map, I doubt if the small amounts of money you suggest are likely to have any useful effect on the contributors.  (Consider it in terms of dollars per hour).  

I think that what motivates people to do this kind of thing is more the desire to contribute, and get positive feedback from the community about it.  This can perhaps be achieved by posting appreciative comments on the boards, and other similar non-monetary means.

[AWCHKRS]

Originally posted by TDeacon
Zorstorer, etc.,

The idea of rewarding people who contribute to the "community" is praiseworthy.  I was just disagreeing with the proposed method.  Perhaps my phraseology was too negative; sorry about that.  

Still, considering the amount of time it takes to do something like a skin/map, I doubt if the small amounts of money you suggest are likely to have any useful effect on the contributors.  (Consider it in terms of dollars per hour).  

I think that what motivates people to do this kind of thing is more the desire to contribute, and get positive feedback from the community about it.  This can perhaps be achieved by posting appreciative comments on the boards, and other similar non-monetary means.

 I agree ,.
 Anybody using Mitsu sound pack (for example) like to try to put a price on it ? ......
 If these talented people that produce these skins and sound packs and the map makers were motovated by money , belive me they would have no problem selling the addons .
 
  IMHO, the very best thing I we can do for these talented people is tell them "how*****in'" their product is and how pleasing the game has become for me with the addition of the hard work and skills they have to produce a truly amazing sight or sound .

  If  someone in the community feels compelled to start a compition for cash or awards based on vote or poll of the community , then I also think it should be run by the community and that the awards or cash or whatever , should be generated by the community , and winners be presented and receive the awards or prizes by the community,  not HTC,  the parent company game server and developer.
 
  I just don't think it's cool to bend HTC over a barrell on a deal like that .......

   OK enough serious stuff, I now return to my typical mode of BS on this AH Community messege board,  and rebait my hook ......
 "anybody need another beer yet ?"

  CHECKERS  

 

[nopoop]

What Nuttz said.

Ask a skinner. I have many many hours into creating skins. I don't want to be compensated. This isn't a job. It's a passion.

I do them because I love doing them.

I want to see my skins flown. I want them to be enjoyed. If it's adds to the game, makes it more fun that's wonderful.

"Nice skin poop !!" is all the payment I will ever need. A comment of appreciation is worth far more to me than being compensated. A complement means I connnected. No amount of compensation would mean more than those few words.

A competition ?? No.

Everyone doing skins is doing it for the passion of it. Each and every person submitting a skin put a labor of love into it.

Your going to grade them now ??? Then we could create a small mens club to review submitted skins. Get out their magnifiing glasses and send letters back to the skinner explaining that there were 13 rivits on the front of the vertical sabilizer on the real aircraft had 10. The color isn't "quite" right on the band behind the insignia. Please revise the skin and resubmit.

Been there, done that.

I'll pass. In fact I'll just find something else to do with my spare time.

If you like the skin, tell the skinner so. That's all the compensation needed. If you like it, fly it. Enjoy it for what it is.

HT gave us the opportunity to do some great things. Let us have the fun of it.

It isn't a competition, it's a group effort. I might be going out on a limb but I think that same thought would apply to the terrain and sound guys out there.

They do it because they want to.

[FT_Animal]

Originally posted by AWCHKRS
I agree ,.
 Anybody using Mitsu sound pack (for example) like to try to put a price on it ? ......
 If these talented people that produce these skins and sound packs and the map makers were motovated by money , belive me they would have no problem selling the addons .
 
  IMHO, the very best thing I we can do for these talented people is tell them "how*****in'" their product is and how pleasing the game has become for me with the addition of the hard work and skills they have to produce a truly amazing sight or sound .

  If  someone in the community feels compelled to start a compition for cash or awards based on vote or poll of the community , then I also think it should be run by the community and that the awards or cash or whatever , should be generated by the community , and winners be presented and receive the awards or prizes by the community,  not HTC,  the parent company game server and developer.
 
  I just don't think it's cool to bend HTC over a barrell on a deal like that .......

   OK enough serious stuff, I now return to my typical mode of BS on this AH Community messege board,  and rebait my hook ......
 "anybody need another beer yet ?"

  CHECKERS  

 

I dunno, I don't think awards should be given to people who just make things. But I do back the idea of competition, flight ladders etc... with a sponsor deliveriing the prize. The only time in AW I didn't pay my own way was when I was game staff\Tech. And I made a LOT of things for AW. Hell EA.com requested to use my website for their version of AW, and they never even offered me anything at all. So when you make things it's best to understand you take it on by yourself and do it as a community contribution, not with the idea to get prizes or pay for it.  Making things for pay has nothing to do with community contributions, it focuses on you and thats selfish.

If you start offering people money or free time you'll have 200 peope turning out bogus, if not harmful, products to get that free time and that's really not a good idea.

If you are Staff or win a piloting competition that's different.

Players CAN talk to manufacturers/distributers and some will provide/sponsor the event for advirtising purposes.  As long as it's 100% legit.

They will probably contact HTC to have them award the prize to make sure it's done properly with their products. If someone were to not recieve the prize then that looks bad to the sponsor, and can generate bad PR, in which case they won't do it again.

A lot of time in AW the prize was a CH stick and pedal setup. But those wee for piloting ladders etc..

2 more cents.

Anim

[nopoop]

I'm looking forward to custom skins being able to be seen with the film viewer. Revisions of the film viewer view system and in-plane sounds being recorded.

Than you'll have the film guys diving in with the available skins and doing some great stuff.

Think of a commercial on the Discovery channel with multiple skins using a gun camera ( no cockpit ) type view system.

And let the movie guys like Col Stream at it.

It would be amazing what could be done.

[FT_Animal]

Originally posted by nopoop
I'm looking forward to custom skins being able to be seen with the film viewer. Revisions of the film viewer view system and in-plane sounds being recorded.

Than you'll have the film guys diving in with the available skins and doing some great stuff.

Think of a commercial on the Discovery channel with multiple skins using a gun camera ( no cockpit ) type view system.

And let the movie guys like Col Stream at it.

It would be amazing what could be done.

Are you saying the players who make movies should do a 15-30 second commerical for possible use on Disc Ch, for prize>??

If I understand you correctly...

That IS an AWESOME Idea. I have thought of that myself everytime I see the commercial.

HOWEVER, the player MUST sign a disclaimer, and\or waiver, to never privately pursue or legaly pursue any type of royalties for their work being shown on TV. They would have to do it as a one time prize, or acknowledgment, if any. The winner would definately *have* to sign a waiver or they could take HTC to the cleaners and possibly ruin the future of AH. This is very important. It has to be a signature in black and white. Showing peoples faces, voices or graphics on TV is a very touchy situation, but can be done, if legaly done right. The work would have to become ownership of HTC. All rights would have to belong to HTC.

You will also have to get any required permissions from the artist of any music that may be used for the background. This can also get expensive in law suits, especialy with people like Metalica. This can be done away with by just creating a tiny self made music loop\effect, or just use game sounds or narrations. Sometimes short text clips have a bigger impact.

Remember, these 3-4 minute movies would have to be skillfully condenced in to 15-30 seconds.

Maybe I misunderstood you?

These AH movie makers have proven to be VERY talented in capturing the feeling of the game. But the real part of this type of competition would be who could creativly show all aspects of the game in 15-30 seconds, without being too busy.

Perfect high resolution would be a must, better then the current.

4 cents

Anim