Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Mr_Miscellany 08-22-07, 11:26 PM	With all the hubbub about 4E I almost forgot about D&D Insider. At the Saturday GenCon seminar(s) for 4E and for the Forgotten Realms, the design lead (blond haired guy, young-looking with glasses; name escapes me yet again) for D&D Insider was in attendance and was invited to speak. He said that the D&D Insider program would be reviewed regularly for top-rated fan content produced by us fans and rated by other fans. Such top-tier content by fans (including FR-specific content) can and will find its way to the top through WotC's efforts, where it will be highlighted and featured by WotC for other D&D Insider subscribers to view. He said this is one means by which we can generate information about out-of-the-way places in the Realms that WotC might not otherwise cover. This is also how certain of us (again, per WotC) will be picked out of the masses and possibly asked to publish actual content as freelancers. So a heads-up to one and all! If you’ve a hankering to share with us your home lore and/or your ideas about the Realms (such is how Eric Boyd and George Krashos got on the map, lest we forget!) then get ready to subscribe and write! I’m looking forward to what you all have to offer. :) EDIT: This is also how we can support those of us that post here regularly and put out good work that everyone else appreciates and/or uses in their own games. I vote Lord Karsus! ;)
MarkusTay63 08-22-07, 11:37 PM	Way ahead of you.... ;) I'm eagerly awaiting the part where we can build our own Gamesites on this server. I have four alreay planned out. :dancin:
Dark Wizard 08-23-07, 09:27 PM	While the opportunity to get involved in the setting is unprecedented, I do hope there will be a rigorous selection and editing process to maintain setting consistency. This fan content idea bit isn't too bad, considering Dragon and Dungeon offered similar opportunities. On the other hand the Living Realms campaign would be difficult to adjudicate if the campaign is considered official. Hopefully as time comes we will find out more. Just like everyone else's home campaign (including Ed's), I prefer if the Living Realms wasn't canon. People can ask for non-canon novels, I will ask for a non-canon LR.
MarkusTay63 08-24-07, 01:59 AM	But DW, this will give us a chance to get some of the work we have done with the Ue into an official book. That just blows me away.... :cloud9: I have to agree that we can't just have any Tom, Dick, and Harry running around, screaming "I killed Elmisnster, I am R0xx0rz!!!" I'm sure the screening process will weed out all the 'badness'.
Mr_Miscellany 08-25-07, 03:40 AM	I'm sure the screening process will weed out all the 'badness'. Despite the downturn with the advent of 3E, there is still a tradition of fan content finding its way to other fans to use in their games. This was the case with the Realms-L list (during the rise of the internet, when 2E was at its prime) and I hope it comes back alive with D&D Insider. I think we should all be able to step back and recognize that Realms material posted for other DMs to use is just that: DM material for running Realms games. By deffinition this means the material will be made to suit actual games, and not for the purpose of simply/only giving us more lore. Of course there will be lore-only material, which ought to be vetted a little more closely (and can still be useful in play). :D
Dark Wizard 08-25-07, 04:18 AM	But DW, this will give us a chance to get some of the work we have done with the Ue into an official book. That just blows me away.... :cloud9: I have to agree that we can't just have any Tom, Dick, and Harry running around, screaming "I killed Elmisnster, I am R0xx0rz!!!" I'm sure the screening process will weed out all the 'badness'. That is true. I've said it before on other threads and sites where this was mentioned, some good editors well versed in the Realms are required for something as big as expanding the Realms into D&DI and LR along with the regular books.
Shemeska the Marauder 08-25-07, 09:53 AM	Despite the downturn with the advent of 3E, there is still a tradition of fan content finding its way to other fans to use in their games. Absolutely. If you're a talented enough writer, people can and will notice your material eventually, and some of your ideas will end up working their way into published stuff either as an open insertion of your stuff, or your material having influenced ideas already in the works by another author. I can think of a number of instances of this in the past year or two actually. It's really cool. The only downside of this however with DDi is that there's a fine line between an author liking your ideas and doing you an honor of using it, or taking a nice riff off of something of yours they liked, and you producing material for free with no input in its later use. In practice I doubt that last idea will happen, because the instances I mentioned above have always been really classy, or the authors have actually asked permission to use a name or an idea from the other author's work, etc. It's just a vague (probably unreasonable) worry I have based on the gleemax terms of use w/ regards to ownership of material posted on the forums, etc.
Lord Karsus 08-27-07, 03:36 PM	EDIT: This is also how we can support those of us that post here regularly and put out good work that everyone else appreciates and/or uses in their own games. I vote Lord Karsus! ;) -I demand a recount! This is an outrage! No, wait...Nevermind...:shifty: :P -Seriously, though, that's pretty good news, I guess. What is D&D Insider, though?
MarkusTay63 08-27-07, 04:41 PM	Its the new version of both Dungeon and Dragon magazines, and is part of the promised DI (Digital Incentive). As part of that, Good fan-created content may become part of the world. They have promised us FREE webpages to host content, much like Myspace, Aol, or Geosites. Bear in mind, that in this way Wizards now gets to somewhat control fan-generated content, and anything posted on the Gleemax server becomes their property. I personally have no problem with that, but I mention it because some folks might. The way I look at it, it would be a hoot to see something I made up in print - that alone would be payment enough for me. (although cash never hurts) :P
Dark Wizard 08-28-07, 12:13 AM	Cash to buy more sourcebooks to feed our addiction to lore?
True_Atlantean 08-28-07, 07:40 AM	Out of curiousity, this fan-based material that is produced initially - are you speaking about the type of article-worthy information that ends up on these forums, or in another location? I see a lot of material produced here on the forums that I incorporate into my own world view (admittedly though, just as much that I discard) and I can't think of a tiume where I've had a more useful resource at my disposal. I think it only fitting that some of the people here are officially recognised for their efforts, and as it has been stated cash is always nice too. Although I'd have to agree with Markus that the in-print recognition would be excellent. It is a goal of mine to have at least one article published. The only challenge is finding a suitable niche or exploring an original idea in a sensible fashion. Back to the notebook....