The Right Stuffage
"Two mice fell into a bowl of cream. The first mouse gave up and died right away. The second mouse fought and swam until he churned that cream into butter and he crawled his way out. I am that second mouse."
Despite the latest edition of Mission: Impickyable and "Catch Me If You Can" quotes used, this is all about SM.net. About the opportunities around SM.net. About what's done with those opportunities. SM.net's the kind of site with a community so strong you could ditch the main site, leave it on cruise control and the forums, and to a lesser extent, the chat room would keep things running. But there's so much more to SM.net. This ancient SNES game has created thousands of works based on it. It appeals to people of different skills and ambitions. But which of those take advantage of the opportunities and ideas given to them?
For one, the oldbies have always been reliable for a decent spot of advice, humor or just a general feeling of community. Sure, we wouldn't be where we are without them. They're the cheese between the bread, the feet in the sock and are pretty reliable for a decent idea whenever they get a new one. Most importantly, they are the community outside of SM.net. As stated in a previous article by Picky, the age of the smaller Earthbound site is over. Many sites go hitless nowadays and when they do get that precious hit, it's usually from one oldbie to another. Not sure what the deal with that is. The newer guys can seem so hobbitish at times. "We can't go now, Frodo. The shire's all we got!" Still, these guys persevere all in there own unique ways and deserve a round of applause. The oldbies have always seen those opportunities. Taken those opportunities and churned that cream into butter. If only the Sox took a page out of SM.net's books before its yearly copout.
"Do you wanna hear me tell a joke?"
"Yeah, I'd love to hear you tell a joke."
"Knock knock."
With the recent forum regoodization, things have been quite a bit better. People are easier to talk to and no matter how over-caffinated you may be at the time, your opinions are generally accepted better. It's nice to see that niceness around. People are more open now and honestly, it's the newer folk that are keeping the community alive. PappyCat, Arad, and all those dozens of other nice folk, kudos. Sure, it's always nice to hear from good old Mikey The EB Guru, from Picky and the rest of the EB sports guys, but you, you're good. These guys are keeping things fresh, both in the old school and new school slang meanings. Variety is always good, especially when it's all niceish. To wrap up my sappy "the newer folk are keeping the place nice and fun", thing, we wouldn't be where we are without them.
"It's like Vegas. The house always wins."
The funfest. Win or lose, it's nice to see what comes out. One of the biggest events at the site keeps getting bigger both in quality and probably quantity too. We still have all those misunderstood (or if you want to go less PC, stupid) flukes and entries that just show no effort, but we have so much more now. The EB art has reached a new level and well, it's nice to see that kind of stuff during the holidays. The Halloween funfest was a blast too. I had some fun myself writing what I still consider my best fanfic of my Earthbound community "career" and we had lots of new guys stepping up to the plate. Arad, Hawaian Shirts, I'm not your biggest fan, but it's nice to see so much enthusiasm about the funfest.
"Dr. Harris?"
"Yes?"
"Do you concur?"
"Concur with...what, sir?"
Sure, these new guys are stepping up to the plate and everything, but it seems us oldbies will always dominate the Earthbound writing sections. Although the Articles scene has taken a bit of a hit due to the lack of former staffer EBFan2000, but SimonBob's having his fun with fanfics. So will Picky around the Summer (hint hint). In the funfest, in solo projects, authors are really getting more done. They're not as recognized, although it's perfectly reasonable since some of these guys are capable of writing quite a bit, but they get as much as they deserve. I haven't read many fanfics myself, but I've seen plenty of articles written on basically every relevant topic out there. And look at me, I'm still pumping out some new articular ideas. This bucket of cream - it ain't empty.
Even poems and songs is getting some nice stuff. I'm no poet, but anyone can enjoy some nice limericks. It doesn't take much to enjoy the…fresh representation put out by Arad, but if you're into that kind of stuff, his stuff ain't too shabby. Although it doesn't seem as fun or silly as it was when it started out with Frodis, Eggy took this section and turned it into a nice part of the site again.
"You didn't call to apologize, did you? Haha, you have nobody else to call!"
Ok, so I'm running out of quotes. Outside of writing, the biggest (especially now) section of the community is the artsy section. This is where the newer guys come into place. Yeah, Meeellla, Jonk and the old school artists are great, but art basically comes down to one person now. Pancake. Her stuff is priceless. It's incredible how great and prolific she has gotten after a relatively short time with the site. Pancake worship is unhealthy? Yeah, but necessary. There's plenty of other stuff worth checking out in the sm.net fan forum, but be ready for pure amazement.
"You're going to have to catch me."
To wrap things up, the site's going through one of its better periods now. Just about every section of the site and as shown by PEB, outside the site, is thriving. Why is it doing so well? The newer members. These guys have the right stuff. They seem to have more enthusiasm for the game, for the site and just have more fun in general. So am I beating down the old regulars by letting them know they don't have it? That they don't have what it takes to get that respect around the site? Of course not. It's just that this renewed vigor is mainly due to newbies stepping up to the plate. You've got opportunities. Write up that article before the next staffer dies or does whatever happens to those guys. Wrap up that great fanfic in your head. Submit some art, do whatever you can with whatever skills you have. If you want to get ambitious, I'm sure fan games is begging for some new games. Me? I'm overly optimistic, kick that complimenting up a notch or two too high and have a knack for writing. I took that and turned out this. So where are you going tonight? Writing up someplace exotic. Turn some heads, kid.
"Two mice fell into a bowl of cream. The first mouse gave up and died right away. The second mouse fought and swam until he churned that cream into butter and he crawled his way out. I am that second mouse."
Despite the latest edition of Mission: Impickyable and "Catch Me If You Can" quotes used, this is all about SM.net. About the opportunities around SM.net. About what's done with those opportunities. SM.net's the kind of site with a community so strong you could ditch the main site, leave it on cruise control and the forums, and to a lesser extent, the chat room would keep things running. But there's so much more to SM.net. This ancient SNES game has created thousands of works based on it. It appeals to people of different skills and ambitions. But which of those take advantage of the opportunities and ideas given to them?
For one, the oldbies have always been reliable for a decent spot of advice, humor or just a general feeling of community. Sure, we wouldn't be where we are without them. They're the cheese between the bread, the feet in the sock and are pretty reliable for a decent idea whenever they get a new one. Most importantly, they are the community outside of SM.net. As stated in a previous article by Picky, the age of the smaller Earthbound site is over. Many sites go hitless nowadays and when they do get that precious hit, it's usually from one oldbie to another. Not sure what the deal with that is. The newer guys can seem so hobbitish at times. "We can't go now, Frodo. The shire's all we got!" Still, these guys persevere all in there own unique ways and deserve a round of applause. The oldbies have always seen those opportunities. Taken those opportunities and churned that cream into butter. If only the Sox took a page out of SM.net's books before its yearly copout.
"Do you wanna hear me tell a joke?"
"Yeah, I'd love to hear you tell a joke."
"Knock knock."
With the recent forum regoodization, things have been quite a bit better. People are easier to talk to and no matter how over-caffinated you may be at the time, your opinions are generally accepted better. It's nice to see that niceness around. People are more open now and honestly, it's the newer folk that are keeping the community alive. PappyCat, Arad, and all those dozens of other nice folk, kudos. Sure, it's always nice to hear from good old Mikey The EB Guru, from Picky and the rest of the EB sports guys, but you, you're good. These guys are keeping things fresh, both in the old school and new school slang meanings. Variety is always good, especially when it's all niceish. To wrap up my sappy "the newer folk are keeping the place nice and fun", thing, we wouldn't be where we are without them.
"It's like Vegas. The house always wins."
The funfest. Win or lose, it's nice to see what comes out. One of the biggest events at the site keeps getting bigger both in quality and probably quantity too. We still have all those misunderstood (or if you want to go less PC, stupid) flukes and entries that just show no effort, but we have so much more now. The EB art has reached a new level and well, it's nice to see that kind of stuff during the holidays. The Halloween funfest was a blast too. I had some fun myself writing what I still consider my best fanfic of my Earthbound community "career" and we had lots of new guys stepping up to the plate. Arad, Hawaian Shirts, I'm not your biggest fan, but it's nice to see so much enthusiasm about the funfest.
"Dr. Harris?"
"Yes?"
"Do you concur?"
"Concur with...what, sir?"
Sure, these new guys are stepping up to the plate and everything, but it seems us oldbies will always dominate the Earthbound writing sections. Although the Articles scene has taken a bit of a hit due to the lack of former staffer EBFan2000, but SimonBob's having his fun with fanfics. So will Picky around the Summer (hint hint). In the funfest, in solo projects, authors are really getting more done. They're not as recognized, although it's perfectly reasonable since some of these guys are capable of writing quite a bit, but they get as much as they deserve. I haven't read many fanfics myself, but I've seen plenty of articles written on basically every relevant topic out there. And look at me, I'm still pumping out some new articular ideas. This bucket of cream - it ain't empty.
Even poems and songs is getting some nice stuff. I'm no poet, but anyone can enjoy some nice limericks. It doesn't take much to enjoy the…fresh representation put out by Arad, but if you're into that kind of stuff, his stuff ain't too shabby. Although it doesn't seem as fun or silly as it was when it started out with Frodis, Eggy took this section and turned it into a nice part of the site again.
"You didn't call to apologize, did you? Haha, you have nobody else to call!"
Ok, so I'm running out of quotes. Outside of writing, the biggest (especially now) section of the community is the artsy section. This is where the newer guys come into place. Yeah, Meeellla, Jonk and the old school artists are great, but art basically comes down to one person now. Pancake. Her stuff is priceless. It's incredible how great and prolific she has gotten after a relatively short time with the site. Pancake worship is unhealthy? Yeah, but necessary. There's plenty of other stuff worth checking out in the sm.net fan forum, but be ready for pure amazement.
"You're going to have to catch me."
To wrap things up, the site's going through one of its better periods now. Just about every section of the site and as shown by PEB, outside the site, is thriving. Why is it doing so well? The newer members. These guys have the right stuff. They seem to have more enthusiasm for the game, for the site and just have more fun in general. So am I beating down the old regulars by letting them know they don't have it? That they don't have what it takes to get that respect around the site? Of course not. It's just that this renewed vigor is mainly due to newbies stepping up to the plate. You've got opportunities. Write up that article before the next staffer dies or does whatever happens to those guys. Wrap up that great fanfic in your head. Submit some art, do whatever you can with whatever skills you have. If you want to get ambitious, I'm sure fan games is begging for some new games. Me? I'm overly optimistic, kick that complimenting up a notch or two too high and have a knack for writing. I took that and turned out this. So where are you going tonight? Writing up someplace exotic. Turn some heads, kid.
