The Campaign Builder's Guild

Ralph Waldo Emerson:
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make your something else is the greatest accomplishment.

QuoteI actually have to admit,  Seraphine, you're talking points as you see them, seem clear and concise.   You talk about me being less involved in the  community which as moderator is your right.  I take nothing away from any campaign in this group and community, there are fantastic campaigns all worth reading, and being a part of the cbg for five years I've been a part of this group. If memory serves I did share ideas, about other campaigns monster and such.  Again sue me for working, having a family and, plus dealing with real life in that I can't be as active as I once was or as polished as some other settings.  Or as I was trying to be recently by entering the monthly contests.

QuoteWhen I first joined, The CBG it was a place to share ideas, a few in the group gave great advice and asked great questions about my campaign, and I always welcome the advice and always thought to make the game better.  Never once did I think that I was just writing my campaign for just myself.  What I was trying to do was show a window into the world and game which I had been running as a DM for a long time.  I wanted to showcase this world like so many others do.
     
You think I'm being self indulgent by just writing about my world, then again there is a motto out there that says write what you know.  Sure I can write something for someone else campaign, but I believe many of our peers on this site have a great handle on what they want their world to be, or how they wish to communicate that world to me or you.   I'm along for the ride reading and enjoying what they are creating.   If I felt I had something to add, I would be more than happy to be involved and share.  If they wished me to write something for their campaign, I would be more than happy to add or write something.

Again we see thing differently, I don't begrudge you your opinion but I also didn't join The CBG to be told about spelling, punctuation, or the way the material is being presented for you, this isn't high school, and I finished college ages ago.  If you were an Editor, and I was publishing a piece and getting paid you would have every right to come across and bitch and moan about it.  That why we all have our own sections in the forum to produce our work.  You don't see me coming over and telling you about your layout.

By the way, I have been using some of the tags most recently, again sorry if I'm slow in catching up, and how I place my text make your head explode.  Would it have been murder for you to just give me time as I was getting reacquainted with what you have here.  Perhaps I'm not as fast as some other people when comes to this Interface yet.   

QuoteI told you before the work here is unfiltered, right off the presses.    This is something I do for fun.  Yes I understand sometime it is difficult to sift through because of the formatting, but ask yourself this... not all art is nice and pretty....  Not all writing is nice  pretty, or tidy...  I'm putting my ideas out for our peers to come back with real questions and real advice. 

It not that I can't take criticism, I'm artist as well as a writer, I've been grilled by some who would make you piss in your pants.  What your criticizing, is not about the material, its the format.  It always been the format, and to me that seems like your nit picking.  Your need to run over the way the material looks, shows you don't have the patience to really read the material as presented to make a better Critique.  I would never not have picked up Dracula, Jack Kerouac, or T.H.White just because of their formatting type.  That like saying I can't read macbeth becasue he writes in a stilted medieval style and poetic language.  Not every piece of material will be presented for you and for your taste. You said yourself you just skim over some of it.   

A critique I can get with is if somebody is talking about the crunch of some posted material.  Perhaps a dagger is a little high powered, or this kingdom should be larger, or a question like how many soldiers does this keep have.

Your only critique is that the world is self-indulgent and pretentious, and cliché.  Have you really looked at the games people are playing out there.  RPG in their nature are clichéd due to the length of time fantasy has been around. We are all working under the umbrella of the fantasy writers before us. Tolkien, Howard, Jordan, and Pratchet to name a few.  Elves, dwarves, dark elves, all cliché, It doesn't mean people like them any less.  Is the Forgotten Realms, really any different than Ebberon, or Greyhawk.  Superficial yes but really pretty much the same in terms of how you are going to run your game.
You use a sample of my writing to illustrate that how weird a small paragraph was written.

Quote(I believe I was skimming , I saw a mention of how weird this makes Belfor sound, which is a valid point but for me it is drowned out by the fact that the point he is trying to make to a interplanetary visitor is obviously bullshit from the point of view of anyone who has seen at least one other fantasy setting)
Excuse me!  Pretty presumptuous to assume everybody know what a campaign setting is.  It was an introduction; it might fail between those who know what a campaign is.  But is succeeds in filling in this new traveler who has come to the world about the world.   It was more of an advertisement, when I was selling my D20 book under Legendary Arcanum.   Advertisement does this every time .   That interplanetary person could be a new player who has never seen a fantasy roleplaying game or even played one.  I don't know how young you are, but I remember back in the days, reading Dungeons and Dragons Ads inthe back of marvel comics that were simliar.  So I'm not that off.  Could the copy have been better, of course, but I was letting who to write for a RPG on the spot.   

QuoteAgain you took this small passage was from very early in the campaign in 2005 when I was just getting my legs under the writing and feeling out writing the text.  I don't write text books which campaigns books are very much akin to.  Now it 2012, and I've listened to the advise that was given in 07, and I have dialed it back from writing exposition of this type of nature.  If you ever read a caption block from a comic, the writing from 2005 was very similar to it.

QuoteI also don't write this world just as a written down set of information.  The Grand Realm, is a living Campaign, one that is constantly being played and is in constants change.  The writing material, the lore, definitely heads toward epic fantasy, but the game itself is classic Dungeons and Dragons, and the short stories and finished novel are sword and sorcery, so its a mix of several genres in it's different presentation.

QuoteI could go on all day about this, but I won't.  We are simply at different spectrum of this argument.   You are welcome to your opinion, and as a moderator I would hope you had greater flexibility.  I will say this, you lit a fire under my ass lol.  You got the blood up.  I was going to leave, but you know what that would be the easy way out.  I'm not in this for you.  I will find my own way or presenting this campaign in my own way here.  I will keep writing in the hopes people enjoy it, and also, my door is open to anyone on the site, that has questions about my campaign, or would like me to write something about their own world.  If you have valid opinions and advice, just let me know.

Quote
PS to answer you question about the Color of the Blue Jinn.  When she appears on Chalice being a elemental from the pocket of air, she took on a blue color, thus she was known as Blue JInn by the people of Alhakazan.  her daughter the Cerulean queen was born blue, and Alhakazan is slightly placed within the elemental pocket of air, which composed of the color blue in my world.  Adventurers that travel to the elemental pocket of air, see almost everything in blue.  This is why the motif, just doesn't relate to just a theme, Alhakazan is a bridge to the elemental pocket of air.  My group actually played this.   

QuoteAs for the Imortalis Gods are not Omnipotent and can be killed off, besides helping give rise to the races, creatures, and various other life on the planet, they are the guardians against threats that would destroy the world of Chalice.  The Gods have their own enemies, that seek a strangle hold upon the world.  Their are other beings from other dimensions, multiple parallel worlds, and their on world that constantly stretch them to their limits.

Bill Cosby
"I don't know the Key to success but the key to failure is trying to please everyone."

I'm just gonna pop in here real quick to make a few things clear Spirit because I think they need to be said. Firstly Seraphine isn't a mod so anything he is saying to you he is saying uniquely from his own perspective and he doesn't represent the site. If you want to talk moderators the only person here that comes close to that is me, and I have been blessed with a generally mature and calm group of members so that it isn't often that I have to undertake the duties of that title. Right now I feel is one of those times. Not because you are being unruly (indeed you both are being quite civil) but because I think perhaps there is a misunderstanding of what the nature and atmosphere of The CBG is.

The CBG from the start was more than just a showcase for settings, it has functioned as a collaborative community where the creators of these settings could get feedback on their creations. The CBG was and still is focused on RPG improvement of both the setting and the creators world builder skill set. With this in mind it has always been vital that members not only receive feedback but give it (indeed if everyone only got and never gave there would never be anyone to give in the first place). This is why we always tell people that they shouldn't expect to receive feedback if they don't give it. In your case I have not seen much of any feedback for other people. It also seems that you get defensive to any feedback that is given to you. Having said this you aren't going around demanding feedback (which is good, I'd take much more issue with this if that wasn't the case). The issue though is that you come across as actively avoiding the collaborative feedback process that serves as the core purpose of the community. On a forum where discussion and interaction is paramount it makes you come across as anti-social which in a small tight knit group like this can cause problems.

I would love to have you join the group, interact with other members more when you're on here, critique other stuff, and take advantage of what this site really is. We're here to, through social discussion, improve your skills as a creative thinker and artist in a hobby that we all enjoy. Help us help you so to speak. Obviously I can't make you do this, all I can do is draw your attention to the issue and let you decide what you want to do. However, having made you aware of this if that sort of community isn't what you want for yourself I know there are several others devoted more to what you're trying to do here (showcasing your stuff). You are welcome to showcase like you are now but don't take it the wrong way when others take issue with that as it isn't the focus of the site (and in some cases can run counter to it).

Finally don't take this as an attack, it's not meant to be. What I'm trying to accomplish with this is to help you see something from an outsiders view. I feel that's important as it's hard to get that perspective when you're on the inside. Heck that's the very reason we have critique on here (because a fresh set of eyes might see something you don't). As a fellow member I want to see you (like I want to see everyone else) strive to discuss and critique and step outside your comfort zone. That's how we teach each other and that's how we help each other grow.

Finally I leave you with this, a little quote perhaps to consider.

"It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed."
-Napoleon Hill

This is a map of the Vobream's Berth, The Free Cities and the buccaneer archiplego you can use these map, for you own campaign.  I left it sparse for a reason.
You can add or change names if you wish to use it in your own campaigns.  Enjoy take care.