Meyhovic House - Because Everyone Needs a Haunted House Now or Then

[Steel General]

Stunning!

I dub thee newly 'repped' *bonk*

[zelig]

Amazing work. I especially like the lighting of the various rooms.

I'm curious to how all those people died and what exactly happened at Meyhovic House.

[Ashenvale]

I'm curious to how all those people died and what exactly happened at Meyhovic House.

I'd love to tell you! It's so cool!

But I'm new here. I don't know the rules.

I belong to an RPG writers' guild, the WereCabbages, in which we have strict rules on idea sharing and usage. We don't make personal use of, or share beyond the membership, any other member's ideas that could lead to publication. If someone shares or seeks advice on a idea, no one else can run with that idea. Ever. No piracy. Period. Violation of this mandate get's you expelled from the guild. Obviously, a writers' guild cannot survive without such a restriction. Without such a security measure, guild member writers wouldn't share their ideas, and, without sharing, wouldn't benefit from the collective insights and wisdom of the writers' guild through comments on those ideas.

It strikes me, however, that a cartographer's guild is somewhat different. A cartographer's work product is, by its nature, stylistically unique. The focus is also graphic imagery, not the protection of narrative ideas underlying the imagery. Carefully thought out limitations on narrative idea dissemination seem less necessary in a map-maker's forum.

Does the Cartographer's Guild employ a confidentiality mandate of this nature? I'd love to tell you what this haunted house is all about. But I haven't hooked a publisher yet. So I have to be somewhat cautious.

[Ascension]

I don't think confidentiality would even be possible for us with 12,000 members...88% of which are lurkers. Lots of people put our maps in their own Flikr accounts and whatnot...thus the CC licensing things all over, but that doesn't really stop anyone. Guess we'll have to wait

[Gandwarf]

And even unregistered guests can read all the text on our forum Try Googling some of the text you posted on this forum.
So don't share if you don't want the stories to be read by the masses.

[Ashenvale]

Gotcha!

Thanks for the head's up, Gandwarf & Ascension!

Forgive my babe-in-the-woods naiveté. I'm accustomed to posting on a closed set of boards for 41 writers. 12,000 members! That's mind-boggling! The potential for objective feedback in a group this size surpasses my wildest dreams. But, like a squirrel that suddenly realizes it's wandered too far from any friendly trees, I feel strangely exposed as well.

[Ashenvale]

I'm only a day old here, honored to be welcomed into this great forum, and afraid of making a social gaff. Please give me some guidance.

I see many threads in which cartographers share their work as it develops, soliciting and receiving meaningful feedback along the way. In these threads, we all benefit from the chance to watch the creative process in action.

Would folks be interested in an after-the-fact version of this evolution? I could post images of the stages through which I developed the Mehovic House map. I saved dozens of these stages, from initial drawings to final polish. I think I can present a clear sequence revealing my objectives, successes, and failures at each stage, if such a presentation seems desirable. It would, however, lack the real-time feel that makes the other threads I'm reviewing so exciting.

What do you think?

[Alfar]

Definately! Always worth a poke through someone's mind. Especially with a nice map such as this.

Thanks for the offer!

[Gandwarf]

WIP's (work in progress) are always nice as they give insight in the mapmaking process.

[Ascension]

The creative process involves a lot of thinking and a lot of labor. It's always nice to see, or in this case read as well, the evolution and the process and the thinking behind the work as it develops and changes.