The Death of Hewdamia

#1

I apologize for the dramatic title but it seems to fit.

At first not really caring to make myself explain my recent choice of action, and since I frequent the site on irregular basis I didn't think my comment of removing my work from the site would have bothered as many people as it did. Of course, always a fan of my own work I had hoped it would have bothered more. To put it into perspective I am posting a conversation I had with Strolen earlier about my reasons behind my actions. I hope it makes sense to those who understand. Strolen was nice enough to give me access to these secret and dank hiding place although I didn't request it. That being said after I post this I probably will not return to comment, only read as I have always done.

Mike'

This has nothing to do with the site itself and I have only moved the ones I could to the private section. As there are a few that will not let me force them into Hidden. I'm thinking that the five that use the ( ' ) are causing some issues. Comes up with an error stating that a sub of the same name already exists. (May need to look into that as a bug Strolen.) Oh well.

I have not removed them completely only put them in hidden, although I think the ones that are linked to outside authored subs may still be able to connect through. I'll have to check that. And I left the compilation sub up as I put forth no real effort into doing it as it is 90% other peoples subs.

I love Strolen's. I have been here since before it was the site, since it was forums only. I have been an avid author at times, taking breaks when real life (or WoW) got in the way, but I always returned. Unfortunately this time when I returned its different. Feels different. When Moon was here and AG was active it was a community, everyone got involved with everyone's ideas regardless of who they were. Now it is far to clique'y. (Is that a real word?) Far to much "You don't comment good votes on my subs so I'm going to do the same to your work until you do." type of remarks.

I don't know it seems nit picky now when I read what I have put here but again it is a feeling that just doesn't belong with the Strolen I remember. Perhaps I've been gone far to long and things have changed that much since I was last here. But regardless, I don't feel like my work should be put up only to get ignored, or treated like some moron that doesn't know how to write just because I'm not in the clique.

Just my 2 cents I guess. I'll still wander around I'm sure and maybe when boredom hits me hard I'll come back and attempt another sub. Who knows.

- Kevin

Now take this as you wish, I can not force anyway to see my view of things or to tell them that I am right or wrong. However, it is how I feel. I think the collaborative feel of the site is gone and the core and oneness of the original Strolen's Citadel has died. It seems people are more focused on getting their subs HoH'd and Golden and better than someone else's than they are on creativity. I am not a winner of the 109+ different types of writing awards. I am not a Professor at Harvard or even an English teacher at some minor Grammar school. And I would wager few, if any, of the Strolenties here are either.

I peruse sub after sub and constantly see issues with grammar and spelling being bashed openly for the entire site to see. And in the nine (or maybe ten I forget now) years I have been here I had always thought that while spelling and grammar are important its the body and soul of the material worth reading and voting on. Not once did the old school Citadel have issues with people slamming others on these issues. It was politely said or done in a PM and was fixed.

Who cares if a word that is spelled correctly yet improperly placed is done so? Does the word read and red change the meaning of the sub because a word check didn't find that red was spelled right but it was supposed to be read? I don't think so.

When I write it is impulsive. Spur of the moment. I am laying in bed, driving in a car, sitting on the pot. Whatever. And I get an idea and I run with it. I don't care about small things until I get it out of my dust beaten head. Then I let my software fix my spelling. That shouldn't take away from the sub itself, unless you simply can't read it. I have read plenty of subs that were amass of issues but I still read it and enjoyed them or didn't.

Personally I think the voting system has gone way beyond what it was intended. It is holding back good material. It's not about grammar and spelling, its about an idea and whether or not it is a good one and if I can use it in my own game or not. That's what Strolen's was originally. A collaborative forum site where people came put their ideas up and willing allowed the other Strolenites to help fix what was wrong, not fear of being ridiculed for a spell checker not finding a word that was spelled correctly just the wrong one intended.

I apologize for the pure length of this as I was only intending it to be a simple short here is my reason adios, but those that know me know I am not one to put things in simple tight small boxes. So again, walk away from this in any manner you see fit. But remember, Authentic Strolenite as I am, I am a product of the way it originally was. Not part of a free form grammar nazi squad.

Re: The Death of Hewdamia

#2

You are right, Mourn. I completely agree with you, and understand you now.
I would also like to add that the site would be better off if you kept your subs around.

I know the feeling of giving it your all, putting your heart and soul into something, only to have it bashed upon by other people for no apparent reason. I remember well when my Crawlers of the Dark was voted low just to keep it from the Quest. I dare say that the people doing so did so because they disliked me as a person. I know they did.

But... You know... People are people. Some are nice and others are jerks. Your jerks may be those I consider nice, even.

If I learnt one thing from Strolens it was this: Beer tastes good! Staying the hell away from the computer when I get emotional tastes even better. ;)

Take care, friend! In my book, you were one of the nice people around here!

Re: The Death of Hewdamia

#3

They are still here just Hidden for my own personal use as of right now.

And thanks AG... you've always been a fav of mine.

Re: The Death of Hewdamia

#4

REQUIESCAT IN PACE
Hewdamia/Mourn, you will be missed. :(

Re: The Death of Hewdamia

#5

I can understand and sympathize with you Mourn. You've hit a nail on the head there. I think this is a real reason that I havent posted anything recently

Re: The Death of Hewdamia

#6

I think the impact of negative comments could be greatly mitigated by the presence of good supporting comments as well. The dearth of comments combined with the presence of negative ones is not a good situation. One really should have balance.

To this end, I personally will increase my level of commenting, though I will call out where I can see improvements.

Re: The Death of Hewdamia

#7

C'mon Mourn. Okay, you've gotten some s**tty, undeserved comments on your subs. Granted. And yes, there are all kinds of new members around all the time and less old timers, and yes, it seems more about stupid HoH's and Goldens now for some reason than before, and less about the sharing (though i'll disagree with you on the collaborative part. There has been plenty of that around here lately!). And yes, lastly, annoying spelling/grammar nazis are, well annoying.

You make some great and articulate points!

But you and your submissions "leaving" stinks. So don't do it. You are respected around here and many of your submissions are Citadel classics. As are many of your comments.

Having you and Hewdamia around is immeasurably better than not having you and Hewdamia around. You must reconsider.

Re: The Death of Hewdamia

#8

Hey. I've gotten a bucket-load of undeservedly bad comments too, it sure ticks me off, but in general, storming off and hiding stuff is not the solution.

The basic problem is that the old guard of Strolen's is all grown up and busy, hence the presence of the original crew is diluted. Still, if you occasionally drop by, you might positively influence some newcomer to be as the old crew.

Re: The Death of Hewdamia

#9

(A little late to the party but I'll contribute none the less given I feel strongly about the matter)

In general, storming off and hiding stuff is not the solution.

I'd have to agree with Eco on that part, removing stuff doesn't help, and if anything can seriously upset those who truly did love your work. I use tons of stuff from here in my games, and often toss stuff in my favorites lists/categories for later reference rather then copy/pasting it into word or whatever. This lets me come back to it later here and grab not only the original idea, but be reminded of a few others I've Favorited in that category which may also work well.

The idea of having stuff just suddenly "gone" from that list annoys me to no end, since I would like assume I didn't favorite it correctly and then spend the next couple days or more trying to find it again, becoming even more ticked off at not being able to locate it.

While I can sympathize with your feelings on people being so overly critical these days tearing apart subs based on how "real/plausible" it sounds and the whole grammar Nazi business, but denying all of those people who haven't done such the enjoyment of your subs feels a little like betraying your fans and somewhat undermining the foundation of Strolen's even further. (Especially if this catches on among others.)

(That aside Is there a huge chance the majority of people would remember what was even removed 6 months to a year down the road and why? Would any new comers even realize the loss of these excellent submissions or the reasons for the loss?)

It could also open the door to another issue, that of the unintentional duplicate/plagiarized sub. If a member later recalls an excellent concept/idea that they were sure they'd read on the citadel but a search doesn't turn it up, they may well try to recreate the sub themselves based on what they remember, which would no doubt annoy the original author and confuse fans of the missing original piece.

(Perhaps a small solution to keep from annoying those with subs in their favorites list, is to allow those subs that have been "hidden" to still be viewed by those who have them in their favorites? Or at the very least a notation in appropriate members favorite lists saying "sub ____ has been hidden by their author" so we know it's gone and won't waste time trying to locate it again.)

So aye, to anyone thinking of doing this, please reconsider ever hiding all your stuff, it would be a sad loss to the Citadel, and could prompt others to follow suit. The end result would be an empty and lonely home that could easily become a ghost town, haunted by faint memories of ideas and echoes of greatness.