I'm thinking maybe SEN could publish a biweekly (that's every other week for you Brits) collection of articles relevant to StarCraft and StarCraft 2. I think doing this would be a showcase of your knowledge and talents worthy of beta keys. At the same time, I think it would prove to be enjoyable and give the same personal satisfaction as a completed SC custom map. If nothing else it would give us something to put in our empty Projects tab.
Here are my ideas for it:
Biweekly - We put something out every other week. It gives us enough time to work at our leisure, but not long enough that we would just forget about it.
Categories - We have 5 different sections to it that we would give 1-2 articles a piece for. Map of the Week, Tips & Tricks, SC2, History, Site Announcements. Other possibilities could be Trends, Humor, Modding etc. More on all of this below.
Editor - I recommend we reach out to Drant. Reading over his topic http://www.staredit.net/topic/7335/ and the respective site http://renaka.com/category/SCMOTD , you might just find him over qualified. The real question would be if he fancies this, which I believe he would. His job would not to be doing all the writing, or even most of the writing, but to supervise and coordinate. Most articles would be done by senners on a request basis.
Publishing - This would be representative of startedit.net. I don't know much about making your own digital e-zine, but I think google might.
Distribution - Email with the same thing being mirrored on the site under the projects tab. We would have advertise on B.net and other websites about it. We'd have to make sure we don't cross any lines though because we are especially guilty of coming down really fucking hard on people trying to advertise their site here.
Naming - Just off the top of my head I think it could be called - SEN weekly, Mapper's Digest, Map of the Week... suggest suggest suggest
Explanation of categories:
Maps of the Week - Basically what people like Drant and UnholyUrine have already been doing, except it's 3 maps at once - 1 Gem, 1 Classic, 1 Map of the Week. This part would really be the meat and potatoes of the zine. The Gem is an original map that is relatively new, but under the radar deserving more attention. Examples would be Tetris, The Antz. The Classic is self explanatory. A map that you need to play before you die, or have had to had played if you want to call yourself a die-hard UMS player. Examples would be Rush, Lazer Tag, Golems, etc. The Map of the Week really is just whatever seems to be 'hot' hosted the most recently. Example would be Desert Strike and Temple Siege. The difference would be that since they are already known, the writing would be concerned with strategies.
Another possible sub section could be Up and Coming, where a mapper who has been seriously working on a map and showing progress gets a mini-interview and spotlight.
Tips & Tricks - Useful tips and tricks on map making from things as abstract as rock-paper-scissors balance mechanics, to things as specific as how to use EUDs. There is no denying that there won't be anything in the latter that couldn't be found in the wiki, but publishing through a different medium could be insightful for curious non-mappers.
StarCraft 2 - Not our specialty, but even just a re-hashing or fresh interpretation of old news would be an honest start.
History - A history lesson of a major milestone in SC development like the patching of EUD actions, or the documentation of something minor that snowballed into something major, like how DW3 for ps2 which inspired for AoS, which inspired DOTA for WC3, which actually traveled back to SC in various other interpretations. I think this category would be the most fun for the veterans.
Humor - Self explanatory. Could be something previously made that we source like a web comic, or actual Original Content.
Modding - Completely self explanatory.
Site Announcements - Basic updates on what IP may have coded, change in rules, contest updates/reminders. Even small things like who recently won mafia.
Trends/Rumor Mill - For the really die-hard StarCraft players who like to be in the know. Like an uptick in certain maps, who has beef with who, blah blah blah. Enquirer stuff, stuff that no one should care about, but lulzy to write and pay attention to.
Other - Anything like this http://www.wegame.com/watch/Starcraft_7_years_in_7_minutes_a_history_of_patches/. Really, if anyone can create some OC or quip something witty, it will have a place.
You should be aware that this idea came to me after watching The Devil Wears Prada. And personally, I think I'd prefer getting a summary of things I may have missed if I went without the StarCrack for a week, than scanning through forums and lurking on b.net.
Post has been edited 3 time(s), last time on Jun 24 2009, 5:50 am by ClansAreForGays. Reason: added 'Publishing' & 'Distribution'
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"We're being taught to hate downwards"