BoM/TWS Message Forum

Masktrix, I'm gonna speak from my point of view, but there's one thing I can agree with Seuzz. You've added a lot of stuff. Just St. X is HUGE. And now he mentions that you also worked Fane. That's essentially one of the big players in the BoMverse. It'd be unfair not to be recognized by that, but as you've mentioned, you changed accounts. If avid readers might not recognize you by your new handle, think of those like me who are relatively new to this mammoth interactive.

Here's where my point of view kicks in. As I said, it's kind of an odd ego boner that I got recognized, because if anything, I'm the noob. I only got one BoM branch, one TWS branch and one Round Robin to my name, instead of the tons of branches everyone else has. I've only added a minuscule fraction to the lore, and the only thing I can say I'm proud of is that I've pushed Seuzz to unravel the Libra (unless he claims he did it on purpose, in which case that's a powerful counterclaim). I don't want to feel that I'm the reason you feel so glum - I just posted on a fortuitous moment, so I'm kinda fresh in people's minds, but I also feel a bit of imposter syndrome. Basically, I'm walking on your shoes, and on rugal's shoes, and on Wordsmitty's shoes, and on imaj's shoes, and especially on Seuzz's shoes. I don't feel like I'm getting a lot of attention, but I know I do sometimes. The big difference is that I recognize it because, as the newbie, I still have a lot to work with. I'm not exactly a "regular" contributor (again, very little content compared to you guys) and I haven't added that many things to the lore so far (but don't worry - it's on its way!). Heck, I don't have ancillary content like rugal or smitch does! (Or anything else on my portfolio, though I'm seriously considering adding something that's stopped only due to lack of motivation and because it's related to something I'm seriously considering publishing - as in actual publishing.) And sure as heck I haven't had anyone say "hey, I want to commission something".

The one thing I know, though, is if that if I want to be known, I have to make myself known, and that involves writing a lot more. I'm definitely aiming for several branches to work with, for one, but like rugal said, every author has its motivations for writing on BoM, and not all of those are specifically dealing with high-school drama. (Personally, that's rugal's thing IMO, but everyone has to write high-school drama at least once.) I definitely don't count as someone with "superior" merit or longevity because I'm sure as fuck I'm not as old in WdC as all of you (heck, even Prussian!), which is why I really got surprised I got name-called. If anyone should suffer from imposter syndrome, it's me, but I decided to just ignore it and move on. I could be the one that can say "you shouldn't care", since I'm basically also on welfare, but I'd say instead "write what you want to write". It's the best advice I can give.

I'd sure as heck love that you kept contributing. Everyone, really. Part of why I pushed on to do stuff during Seuzz's absence is because I hate to see this little project die. I don't think I'll probably do an interactive of this magnitude, and I can only hope and pray that I can get some recognition for the work I do beyond BoM. And there's no shame in self-promoting, either. You can't expect your stuff, or BoM/TWS in general, to be better known if you don't promote it. (And, particularly, if you reveal you're the one that did a ton of the stuff that's built BoM and TWS beyond its humble origins!) Post the stuff I know you had on hold - that'll remind people that you still have a lot to contribute.