A request and an Offer

[Ataridante]

Hi everyone,
This is my first post here.

Well, to start things off I've gotta say I'm loving all the work thats being done litarature wise here. Especialy in the botany department, which is the reason for my posting here. I was planning on putting this in the Botany Topic but this seemed to be too diffrent a post.

Recently I have been working on a Mod for Oblivion that is working to create a new Faction and Quesline based on the skill of Alchemy. I don't mean to blatantly pimp myself here but, a link to the TES Official Forums Topic is in my sig if you want more info (Okay maybe I do mean to pimp it a little ^_^). Anyway, I can't actualy start the mod till mid-may when I get my new computer so the last month or so has been spent researching historical medieval alchemy, botany and general TES lore. Lately I've been doing alot of work with the botanical aspect of Alchemy, that is to say; writing books, creating new plants, trying to get everything to mesh.

So here goes:

Part 1 of this post is a statement that, although many of the plants in my books are made up by me, I would gladly contribute my work with Cyrodiliic plants to your collection (I can, if need be, remove my plants as well). So far i'm working on a guide to the Flowering Plants of Tamriel and a few volumes of a book series known as "Weeds of the West".

Part 2 is a request. Would anyone be willing to contribute their books/Wrightings on plants to me so I may put them in my guilds library? I would love to have as many texts on the subject as possible for a fleshed out feel. Obviously credit would be given to all authors where due as well as a special thanks to the Silgrad Tower Project as a whole in whatever accompyaning readme is with the DL. And rest assured I won't alter your work in any way, shape or form.




Anyone who wants to read/edit my stuff, send some work, or colaborate with me just drop me a line and I'll send you the stuff I have so far.
I can send it in Rich Text format or a basic text document.
My email is thatjessekid@yahoo.com
Thanks in advance.

Regards, Ataridante (aka Jesse)

[Siegfried]

Cool, sounds real interesting Ataridante, I can't speak for the whole team, but I don't see anything wrong with sharing books and all that. It would just help to immerse the player even more into the game if our books start showing up in other mods. Best of luck with your project.

[Ebonyknight]

I dono about our books in other mods that take away our pride as a tean and our uniqueness but this is just how i feel.

[raggidman]

:wave: welcome to Silgrad Tower Ataridante. Seems like you are really into the modding thing, and it is a great thing when we build links with new people.

aaand, you want to swop stuff. And we are rightly proud of the quality of the work our people are doing here. I expect that Ebonyknight would be very happy if you wanted to join up with us in a serious way because when you add in the total area of the Associated mods (one Province each) I think it will be more that 30sq miles and every modder willing to contribute is truly welcome!

I must say that I really want to get my hands on your 'studies,' and maybe even start a new 'Cyrodiil Edition of the Botany Books,' but at the end of the day I feel that each written work is actually the copywrite of the individual author which we have the implied right to reproduce as donated, and with the botany books that will end up being quite a few people, so it would be up to you to approach them - but then what happens with your generous offer?

At the moment there is no Cyrodiil associated project that I know of, so why not pm Razorwing and our favorite skull, Quentin Fortune (he is not really as scaaary as he looks) to see what could be worked out? After all you already joined us when you registered...

There is one aspect that Ebonyknight might consider - that with suitable creds if your project remains separate you would be advertising us and vice-versa.

I won't take a peek at your work as yet, as I want to be able to work out my own ideas freely, but I hope we can come to an amicable agreement and find a way to work together.

All the best with your project, and thank you for your honest and open approach. raggidman- Lit Editor

ps: If you are interested in modding a second Alchemy Quest with us I have something very special up my sleeve that should be a real challenge! But then why not simply join us, make a claim to a suitable property or location and create your own mod in the spacious environs of Silgrad, Blacklight or Reich Parkeep? Then everything connects...?

I have only just started playing the TES3 version of ST (which Harikari tells me will be updated again soon) and it is every bit as impressive as Morrowind, with the added sparkle of unique creatures and quests (not done any of the quests yet), and with just a quick foray by a lower level char I have come to love it, as I did Morrowind itself. Think on't.

Lookin forward to your response :jump:

pps I must learn how to speak w/out droolin when something tasty comes along.

[Ataridante]

Just sent a PM to Razor.
I'm not a hugely accomplished modder and would like to undergo a few personal projects before I commit to something as big as what you guys are doing here (ak I dont think I'm ready to promise anything as big as a guild untill I know I can make quality work) but as far as writing and thinking up ideas, I'll gladly join up with you guys.
As far as actually modding? Down the road. Yes.

So if and when you want to read anything I've already made. I give you free-reign to read it, even use it. Either way I think that might help build a stronger tighter modding community as a whole. aswell as, like you said, advertise me as a modder/writer. XD

I would love to see a library devoted entirely to Botany, Biology, Herbalism, and Alchemy, wether it is in your mod, mine or whatever.
^_^

P.s.
hope that isn't confusing. hahaha. I've been sick lately so I don't know if my ideas are clear to anyone but me.

[raggidman]

What Rw will say to you I cannot guess, other than welcome, but I know that there is a place for rich sources of ideas in big mods - they are really needed, and I could not resist looking up your thread on the ESF about the Alchemy, so I think you are onto something and have a good way of working.

As you are an independant modder there is no reason why you should not do two different versions of your alchemy mod, one for Ob on ESF and one for ST, that way you could experiment more (always a must with alchemists I gather!) and that produces results.

As for your level here, as on the ESF everyone is learning. Some of our claims have been grabbed by people who are attempting this for the very first time, and we back each other up, so don't be shy...get stuck in and enjoy yourself. :explained: :cheers: :goodjob:

[Razorwing]

Hi there Ataridante, welcome to our little neck of the woods.

Books are a tricky subject. Are they assets or are they creative content? Personally I don't see many problems in our team sharing certain assets we created with outside modders; for instance I make a point of also modelling stuff which can be used by others instead of just ourselves. The proria mushrooms was a case like that, where I just felt like giving something to the community, though of course the mushrooms can also be seen dotting Reich Parkeep.

The difference between assets and creative content is, does it help an outside modder's own creativity? Modding environments with a new kind of mushroom sure does (not that I want to make my shroom more than it is, but still).

Copying books on the other hand doesn't help anyone's creativity and if we open up for that possibility, it's not a stretch of the imagination to see a future scenario where folks want to copy our interiors or dialogue or other manifestations of our creativity and, before we know it, we're eviscerated and all our content copied into other mods and we're left with nothing unique.

That's a worst-case scenario, sure, but the path towards that scenario always starts with a first step, and that is a step I'm personally cautious to take. I know that might make me look bad in some folks' eyes, and I might run the risk of offending you - if so I'm sorry, I'm sure your intentions were perfectly honest - but I'll gladly take those effects if it also signals to other folks that I value and deeply respect the contributions they make to our team, and I for one am not the one to hand out their work to others. If they themselves want to share their writings, that's up to them - it's not my call to make.

[Ataridante]

makes sence to me. :yes:

I admit I'm a bit bummed. But I can't argue with your points and I'd hate to see a mod project as great as Silgrad have its creativity and uniqueness co-opted. After all thats one of the things that drew me here.

If you'd like my help I'd be glad to make some contributions especialy for you guys regardless.


P.s. In regards to your post raggidman, I'd be glad to do a reworking of my guild for Silgrad Tower as a parallel to my version of the TES forums. Heh, I expect that it will be quite interesting if I can pull off some of the things I want to.

[raggidman]

That sounds wonderful to me. I can't argue with Razor's position either, and for actual modding, beyond literary content he is the go-to man.

Now I will say that if you are far advanced with your creations then he will know if there is a posible location in RPK, or might even recommend that your mod would suit Blacklight or ST itself. About that side of things as you see he is the master!

However, once you are set with all that, (and you are welcome to whatever literary assistance I can provide along the way) come back to me and we can chat about that other 'little project' that I have been working on - see if you want to have a bash.

[Ataridante]

well, like I said before, I wont even have the capacity to begin modding till may.
untill then all I can do is offer my thoughts.