And here goes my question: What would you have liked to be if you weren't a writer on computer games? @AndrewFoley
Independently wealthy. Actually, now that I think of it, I'd like to be that even though I am a writer of computer games...
Seriously, though, if I could do ANYthing, it'd be painting. Pictures, not houses. I've done both, and painting houses sucks. Unless you get to paint pictures on them, which doesn't happen often (though now that I've got a non-chain link fence that might be changing soon).
I actually have a degree from the Alberta College of Art (now known as the Alberta College of Art and Design, which probably has a much better post-education employment rate but I'm pretty sure is nowhere near as fun as it was when I was there.) It's in drawing. Back when I went there, you went into the drawing program if you wanted to paint. You went into the Painting program if you wanted to apply for government grants. You went into Visual Communications (advertisting/graphic design) if you wanted a job. I'd never have made it past the first week in VC.
After college, I had a painting studio for a few years, but I was never able to make a living as an artist, largely because I never really developed any actual facility for painting things to satisfy anyone but myself and after the fact decided I wouldn't be happy painting things other people wanted anyway. I've known some incredibly talented craftsfolk in my time, people that could paint pictures of fantastic vistas you know couldn't possibly be real but you'd think were photographs: Kenneth Scott, Fiona Staples, Nat Jones... I could never do what they do. I tried, but if the talent/skill were there somewhere (highly doubtful), the focus never was.
One night towards the end of my non-existent painting career I had a local gallery owner up to my studio. He spent an hour or two telling me what I should do with my paintings so that he could sell them. In retrospect, he was doing me a huge favour. At the time, all I could do was resist the overwhelming urge to throw him out a window. Art college had spoiled me. I did what I wanted and was rewarded for it in that setting. That night I realized I'd never be happy making art to someone else's specifications, so I better find something I could do where I could step back a little, take critique in the spirit it was intended, collaborate comfortably when it was called for, and... well, not want to throw people out of windows for having different views than me. That was the night painting became a hobby and I decided to pursue writing as a profession.
I don't have any images of my work, old or new, on-hand, but if you want an idea of the sort of style I had/have as a painter, I've got a self-portrait as my twitter pic: https://twitter.com/TheAndrewFoley
Imagine that on a scale of 4x6 feet and you'll begin to understand why people weren't rushing out to buy my work. Even if they found the style appealing, it's hard to find walls that can comfortably accommodate stuff at the size I prefer to work on.
So yeah, if I could do anything I wanted other than writing games, painting.
Realistically, in the sense of what would I do to try and make a living if I wasn't writing games? Writing comics, writing TV, writing movies, writing animated shows, in that order. I've written comics but never made much money doing it. The comics medium's really my first love, though, it's what got me into art and writing in the first place. I've actually done a couple things in the animation field in the last couple years. Nothing's been produced yet, but in terms of compensation it's pretty stellar and the people at the company I've worked with (Anima Estudios out of Mexico) are pretty amazing. I've come close with a few TV things, not quite as close with a couple films. Someday, someday...
If we move beyond writing and art and fantasy (I could never have been a rock star or an astronaut, no matter what I did), what would I do? Let's take throwing myself off a bridge off the list too, it would be a distinct possibility but it's kind of depressing. What would I do...?
I honestly don't know. I know what I wouldn't do, though, and that's paint houses. I've done quite enough of that for this lifetime.
@AndrewFoley I think I found a couple of your pictures floating around Google images. Painting and art are such a subjective medium. I like the ones I've seen, do other people? Who knows. (You should hear my faincee' taste in music, urghhh.)
I do so love the twitter display picture though, selfies suck, at least for me, I break cameras so painting myself was an idea I never thought of. :P
I have a little question, If you could change any one thing about the world, be it politics, laws, society, anything at all really, what would it be and why?
@meagloth I believe Animate Thread can work for some time as well
That's when someone tries and fails to raise a thread, and so you are only left with the bear bones of a long dead thread, walking around for a short time(8 hours, to be precise) until it once again falls to dust. An animated thread can be very powerful however, if the threacromancer(or cleric of Threalm) is above level 15.
Threadsurrection, while similar to raise thread, is a much more powerful spell that can only be cast by moderators. This spell is capable of raising closed threads, and threads that have been partially destroyed, as well as fully healing them of deleted comments.
Hahah! An enlightening lesson from the resident Internet Explorer. I'm actually surprised he was able to load it in and comment before the thread was closed in 2016. Poor explorer.
I have a little question, If you could change any one thing about the world, be it politics, laws, society, anything at all really, what would it be and why?
Your definition of "little" is quite a bit different than mine...
I've actually given this a lot of thought over the past few days. It's really hard to pin down one thing above all the others I think ought to be changed. At the end of the day, I believe the following things are essential human rights and, as technology advances, something we as a species should be able to supply everyone immediately, with the possible exception of the last one: food, water, shelter, education, health care, and a basic minimum living allowance.
Getting all of that to everyone would obviously require some serious redistribution of wealth, so I guess that would be the thing I'd change, the distribution of wealth.
Or, to put it another way, I'm a filthy pinko commie who hates freedom.
Hahaha! Beautiful! It is a very broad question I know, but one I've enjoyed pondering since I got out of school and into a service and discovered just how cruel the world is. What bothers me most of all is that I can't do the slightest thing about it, and those with the power to do something don't care or are limited by other powerful people who uphold the status quo. Most annoying.
Can we have a female dwarf bard NPC in the Adventure Y ? (With metal hammer and shield?)
I think the train may have sailed on that for Adventure Y, but I'll keep it in mind for Adventure Z if the powers-that-be let us do it. No sarcasm there, either--as it's currently conceived Z will do some interesting things with NPC party members. That said, things can and frequently do change, so take anything I say with a grain, or even better, a pillar of salt.
Can we have a female dwarf bard NPC in the Adventure Y ? (With metal hammer and shield?)
I think the train may have sailed on that for Adventure Y, but I'll keep it in mind for Adventure Z if the powers-that-be let us do it. No sarcasm there, either--as it's currently conceived Z will do some interesting things with NPC party members. That said, things can and frequently do change, so take anything I say with a grain, or even better, a pillar of salt.
O_o
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I suppose you've been involved with adventure Y, then?
You will definitely sell one copy of the game if this happens...
Wait...
Changes how NPCs are used? What! MORE THAN 6 TEAM MEMBERS!
*Does extra big jump of conclusion into wall and is knocked unconscious removing him to a parrelel universe where marking childrens work needs to be done... like yesterday*
Comments
Seriously, though, if I could do ANYthing, it'd be painting. Pictures, not houses. I've done both, and painting houses sucks. Unless you get to paint pictures on them, which doesn't happen often (though now that I've got a non-chain link fence that might be changing soon).
I actually have a degree from the Alberta College of Art (now known as the Alberta College of Art and Design, which probably has a much better post-education employment rate but I'm pretty sure is nowhere near as fun as it was when I was there.) It's in drawing. Back when I went there, you went into the drawing program if you wanted to paint. You went into the Painting program if you wanted to apply for government grants. You went into Visual Communications (advertisting/graphic design) if you wanted a job. I'd never have made it past the first week in VC.
After college, I had a painting studio for a few years, but I was never able to make a living as an artist, largely because I never really developed any actual facility for painting things to satisfy anyone but myself and after the fact decided I wouldn't be happy painting things other people wanted anyway. I've known some incredibly talented craftsfolk in my time, people that could paint pictures of fantastic vistas you know couldn't possibly be real but you'd think were photographs: Kenneth Scott, Fiona Staples, Nat Jones... I could never do what they do. I tried, but if the talent/skill were there somewhere (highly doubtful), the focus never was.
One night towards the end of my non-existent painting career I had a local gallery owner up to my studio. He spent an hour or two telling me what I should do with my paintings so that he could sell them. In retrospect, he was doing me a huge favour. At the time, all I could do was resist the overwhelming urge to throw him out a window. Art college had spoiled me. I did what I wanted and was rewarded for it in that setting. That night I realized I'd never be happy making art to someone else's specifications, so I better find something I could do where I could step back a little, take critique in the spirit it was intended, collaborate comfortably when it was called for, and... well, not want to throw people out of windows for having different views than me. That was the night painting became a hobby and I decided to pursue writing as a profession.
I don't have any images of my work, old or new, on-hand, but if you want an idea of the sort of style I had/have as a painter, I've got a self-portrait as my twitter pic: https://twitter.com/TheAndrewFoley
Imagine that on a scale of 4x6 feet and you'll begin to understand why people weren't rushing out to buy my work. Even if they found the style appealing, it's hard to find walls that can comfortably accommodate stuff at the size I prefer to work on.
So yeah, if I could do anything I wanted other than writing games, painting.
Realistically, in the sense of what would I do to try and make a living if I wasn't writing games? Writing comics, writing TV, writing movies, writing animated shows, in that order. I've written comics but never made much money doing it. The comics medium's really my first love, though, it's what got me into art and writing in the first place. I've actually done a couple things in the animation field in the last couple years. Nothing's been produced yet, but in terms of compensation it's pretty stellar and the people at the company I've worked with (Anima Estudios out of Mexico) are pretty amazing. I've come close with a few TV things, not quite as close with a couple films. Someday, someday...
If we move beyond writing and art and fantasy (I could never have been a rock star or an astronaut, no matter what I did), what would I do? Let's take throwing myself off a bridge off the list too, it would be a distinct possibility but it's kind of depressing. What would I do...?
I honestly don't know. I know what I wouldn't do, though, and that's paint houses. I've done quite enough of that for this lifetime.
I do so love the twitter display picture though, selfies suck, at least for me, I break cameras so painting myself was an idea I never thought of. :P
I have a little question, If you could change any one thing about the world, be it politics, laws, society, anything at all really, what would it be and why?
As for me. . . well . . . I-I have no excuse.
Threadsurrection, while similar to raise thread, is a much more powerful spell that can only be cast by moderators. This spell is capable of raising closed threads, and threads that have been partially destroyed, as well as fully healing them of deleted comments.
Poor explorer.
I've actually given this a lot of thought over the past few days. It's really hard to pin down one thing above all the others I think ought to be changed. At the end of the day, I believe the following things are essential human rights and, as technology advances, something we as a species should be able to supply everyone immediately, with the possible exception of the last one: food, water, shelter, education, health care, and a basic minimum living allowance.
Getting all of that to everyone would obviously require some serious redistribution of wealth, so I guess that would be the thing I'd change, the distribution of wealth.
Or, to put it another way, I'm a filthy pinko commie who hates freedom.
Or, to put it another way, I'm a filthy pinko commie who hates freedom.
Oh, come on now. I bet you shower almost every day...
I kid!
Is money where the human race went wrong?
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I suppose you've been involved with adventure Y, then?
ADVENTURE Z IS IN THE PIPELINE OF JUICY STUFF TO BE!
*faints*
*Awakes and runs around bumping into walls*
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
*faints*
*Mad panting*
Can we...
*Wheeeeeze*
Can we have a mummified Gnome pleeeeeease!
Wait...
Changes how NPCs are used? What! MORE THAN 6 TEAM MEMBERS!
*Does extra big jump of conclusion into wall and is knocked unconscious removing him to a parrelel universe where marking childrens work needs to be done... like yesterday*
"What is Adventure Z"
and is it pronounced Adventure "Zee" or "Zed"?
I'm just glad to see this thread is back.