*The YCM Channel Headquarters*

[Tormented]

Designing a static/or a classic misconnection screen would be a huge time haul, I would be better off finding a stock of it.

[Northern Sage]

Torm, could you make a logo with this render and the text Attraffic Control? Or just a logo with that text?

[Tormented]

I'll see what I can do, any time you need it by? I finish work in an hour so I will most likely not be designing anything until next monday.

[Northern Sage]

I'll see what I can do, any time you need it by? I finish work in an hour so I will most likely not be designing anything until next monday.

Well, rather by Monday so I can finish this up in time.

[Tormented]

This was a pain because the render provided was obnoxiously big for a Logo as well as the clipping (due to it being card at) also found some rad font anyway here you are.

 

[Northern Sage]

Thanks a lot, sorry for the order being so… whatever. I'll edit in my favored version into the article.

[Tormented]

Annoying? I've dealt with much more annoying orders I can assure you.

[CinnamonStar]

[spoiler='Article: (WIP)']

 

Hello and welcome to the first edition of Attraffic Control here on the YCM Channel, where we bring you the trends and past happenings on YCM! I am your host, Seija Kijin, and with me today is my coho- hold on, I’m getting a message. Uh huh. It seems that for this first edition, I have been left without a cohost. 

   Anyway, the subject of today is our mysterious creator himself, YCMaker. If you don’t really know who he is, that is quite understandable, but I’m getting ahead of myself. YCMaker was the first member of this site, which you can’t really see anymore, but more on that later, the first administrator, and practically the creator. Interesting fact about this is that the second administrator, Falling Pizza, is the fourth member on the site, while Frunk is the second. Anyhow, now you know whose not-so-inactive ass to blame when you cannot concentrate on your schoolwork.

   The important period, between late 2011-2013, that I will be covering, now in fact, all started with a little anime called Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, which premiered April 2011 and will be talked about in greater detail in a later issue. In this anime, which was a part of a series that is the base of this site, a new type of Extra Deck monster appeared called Xyz Monsters. After the show premiered, YCMembers were pretty much expecting the update of the card maker with the new type of monster rather quickly, but waited rather patiently on the update.

   YCMaker started showing less and less activity, and people grew impatient with the lack of updating and general problems the card maker was getting, which eventually culminated in the thread known as ”We need a 3rd Admin”, which is the first pinned thread in Comments and Suggestions.The thread gathered a staggering 75+ supporters, the actual amount being unknown because of the OP not being fully updated, but in general, this is about the estimated average member total on a good day on YCM nowadays. 

   From time to time, YCMaker started showing life signs again, fixing some bugs, but not Xyz Monsters. This lead to Crab Helmet, a moderator most known for her fanfiction review series ”Foe Fiction”, finding and exploiting a bug in the system that allowed her to fuse YCMaker’s admin account with a decidedly less administrating mod account, allegedly to get his attention. YCMaker then came back, created a new admin account (which is the reason for his account no longer appearing as the first), banned Crab Helmet and decided that the inactiveness he had displayed before apparently wasn’t enough. 

   Accompanied by the recent rise of a rival site known as Yugico, which did have Xyz Monsters, this was the start of a major activity decline in YCM and didn’t go anywhere until late 2012, when a group of moderators found out another bug in the system which allowed them to create admin accounts. This lead to the shop being actually useful again, a reorganization of the site including two new sections for Showcase and the promise of a redesign of the card maker with the help of Zextra. 

   Fast forward to late summer where YCMaker returns and makes an update to the card maker with said templates provided by Zextra. This has been the history of Xyz Monsters on YCM, I-guess-it-wasn’t-that-much-about-YCMaker-anyway edition, on Attraffic Control, YCM Channel. Before we go, here are some fun facts about YCMaker:

 

-YCMaker’s inactivity has some infamity attached to it, as we showed in the drinking game in our last version of this program, the YCM Nightly. Generally, people used to attract attention to the fact that YCMaker was online in the status bar. This also lead to a conspiracy theory at some point that Pika had hacked YCMaker’s account and was logging onto it to screw with people.

-Besides the above mentioned fad, there was also a fad hailing YCMaker as a god, which lead to an incident we will cover in another issue, along with the Status Bar in general.

-Frunk is allegedly YCMaker’s brother. Seeing as he is the second member on the forum, this isn’t particularly hard to believe.

 

Join us next time, when we will talk about… the shoe sizes of the current mods here? Who wrote these cue card?! Wait, who am I talking t-

*static*[/spoiler]

Holy crap, nervousness.

Also, I kind of want to make an intro of sorts for the video review, for which I'd need both logos.

 

This is good, looking forward to the next installment.

Just one little correction, we went by the name 'YCM Weekly' last year, the Nightly was the old version. (I'll fix it anyway when I'll post it.)

Also I only heard that Falling Pizza was YCMaker's brother? Is Frunk part of the family too?xD

 

Don't worry about transitions, intros, outros and such. I'll try to add some presentation stuff inbetween.

 

Also my shoe size is 38/39.^_^

 

Version Alpha of YCM Channel Logo subject to change based on feedback.

 

 

I like the writing and the overall logo. If you have time, could you maybe show us what it would look like with a black screen (just black as it seems less of a hassle) or with a blue writing instead of the yellow?

Just to see what it looks like.

 

Also the Attraffic Control one is love.<3

 

Anyone needing help with his contribution?=o

[Northern Sage]

This is good, looking forward to the next installment.

Just one little correction, we went by the name 'YCM Weekly' last year, the Nightly was the old version. (I'll fix it anyway when I'll post it.)

Also I only heard that Falling Pizza was YCMaker's brother? Is Frunk part of the family too?xD

 

Don't worry about transitions, intros, outros and such. I'll try to add some presentation stuff inbetween.

 

Also my shoe size is 38/39. ^_^

 

 

I like the writing and the overall logo. If you have time, could you maybe show us what it would look like with a black screen (just black as it seems less of a hassle) or with a blue writing instead of the yellow?

Just to see what it looks like.

 

Also the Attraffic Control one is love.<3

 

Anyone needing help with his contribution?=o

Damn, why didn't I check that? The old one was a click away…

Frunk posted a thread at some point claiming to at least know YCMaker or something. I'll go ahead and word that a bit differently.

[CinnamonStar]

Oh I don't want to deny it (I don't even know this kind of stuff, lol). Just something I heard for the first time. But it would make sense that they knew each other irl... dang based mystery god ycmaker ;-;

 

And another thing, I'd suggest that we keep the Ojama Country theme aside for another issue. Because so far nothing we're doing is very...Ojama-ish.xD (even though I like the logo) I'd say the first issue is simply the first issue, not much of a theme going on yet.

[Northern Sage]

Oh I don't want to deny it (I don't even know this kind of stuff, lol). Just something I heard for the first time. But it would make sense that they knew each other irl... dang based mystery god ycmaker ;-;

 

And another thing, I'd suggest that we keep the Ojama Country theme aside for another issue. Because so far nothing we're doing is very...Ojama-ish.xD (even though I like the logo) I'd say the first issue is simply the first issue, not much of a theme going on yet.

Yes, that's probably a good idea. What about Torm's earlier suggestion?

[Tormented]

What suggestion might that be? (stupid Tormy not knowing his own thoughts)

[Northern Sage]

Well yes, changing it would hardly be a hassle. And ello my bro Opello.

 

Name Idea

SUPERU YCMU SHOWDOWNU!

This one.

[Tormented]

This one.

 

Best name I've ever seen.

 

V2 of YCM Channel Logo 

[URL=http://s786.photobucket.com/user/Katowned/media/YCMChannel_zps3b204247.png.html][/URL]

[CinnamonStar]

Name Idea

SUPERU YCMU SHOWDOWNU!

 

Yeah one day we'll need our own chingu weeb edition. :D With "Dear Leader Kim" as the mascot.

 

Best name I've ever seen.

 

V2 of YCM Channel Logo 

 

Thanks for trying the other colour scheme, I wanted to see how it'd turn out.

So what does everyone think?

 

Also it's the 30th and I'm still missing Enrise & Aura's music contribution, Seija's video game review and Broken's parts (though we know about his Internet connection issues). However since I'm not a hypocrite (or at least try to avoid looking like one) and there has been a little...issue with Zextra's interview, you can send me or post the missing parts until tomorrow. Zextra will be busy this week and hasn't replied to the latest questions yet, but we're almost done.

 

So yeah...if you haven't submitted your stuff, please get your gears on and submit it tomorrow (aka the 1st October). I PMed the people in question, just let me know what we have and don't have so I can post the preview.=S

[Northern Sage]

I like it better, no background gets screwed up by my video editor.

And yes, I am getting to that, starting editing now.

[CinnamonStar]

Little update: I got the video game review (which turned out great btw, good job :3). We may not be able to get Broken's (full) Creative Commons coverage this time because of response issues, but Aura will give us a song review. The concert report fell out.

 

Also I decided to do 2 member riddles because the first one...was kind of hard.xD I know it's tradition that the riddles are hard here but you know... Someone needs to figure them out.:'3

 

[spoiler=First riddle]

Would you care to sit with this member
For a cup of English tea
Cinnamon? Aniseed?
Or ride a dragon's back?

What a pleasure it would be
Getting noble tea for free
Earl Gray and Darjeeling

On a sunny morning

Only this year signed up the one we look for in these lines

Mythical creatures and royalty, listen most attentively

Do you post in Custom Cards

Clubs and roleplays he may join
Though rather sparce, we’ll admit
But let's see - who is it?

[/spoiler]

 

[spoiler=Second riddle]This member famously hates a certain banned card.

As expected, he spends a lot of time card-related sections like Your Deck, TCG or Custom Cards.

One of his most recent creations is an archetype based on spellcasters that work well with Traps.

But you should also know: This person has been around since 2007 and has been fairly active all this time so there’s a fair chance that you’ve bumped into him at least once…unless you stole his stuff and gained 1000 points during certain game phases.D:

[/spoiler]

 

The first member is new and not so well-known, the other is a veteran.

If you know the answer, please don't post it here.o.o' Let people figure it out.xD

 

So any thoughts on the difficulty? Easy enough or impossibru?

[The Warden]

Okay, I cut off my interview, so here it is (btw, I was thinking that we should have different names for our parts, since we have a channel. Hence why I've dibsed YCM Nightly):
 
[spoiler=Le Interview]

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuhqoZvyntA]YCM Nightly with Broke. N [/url]

Helllloooooo YCM, Broke. N, shamelessly whoring himself out in yet another way by joining the YCM Nightly, I really have no shame do I? No I don't, though, if you came here to see me rip fics apart, don't bother, that's what I have HEART BREAKERS! for. Today I'm interviewing the YCM member with the most current long-running fic, Yugioh Accel. It's a fic I have absolutely no idea about, so that's why I have its author here to talk about it. Please introduce PlusGray Fullbuster. Clap clap clap.

So Gray, good to have you here and all. So, tell us all a little bit about you.


[font=courier new,courier,monospace]"Been a while since I've done an interview of sorts, so forgive me if I seem out of touch.  Entering my sixth year as a YCMember, though my activity has significantly decreased due to life, college, and everything in-between.  Aside from school, pretty much make a livin' delivering pizza's so that's my life, haha.  Still, I'm an avid writer and I've been doing it for quite some time, so it makes for a neat place to hone my skills and have a 'guaranteed' fanbase of sorts (though a lot of my readers vanished for unknown reasons :'().  That being said, it's cool to see the site's starting to turn around a bit after a lull.  But yeah, that's me."[/font]


Well, that's just candy dandy ain't it? Six years though, christ. Time flies a lot, kinda scary in retrospect.

Well whatevs really, lack of life later. Anywho, you are the author of Accel 1 and Accel 2, little known relatives of Thing 1 and Thing 2. Now, do you a feel a sense of accomplishment in being one of the few YCMers to actually finish a fic with 50+ chapters?


[font=courier new,courier,monospace]"Quite crazy.  Granted, that was before College and life took precedence and I was younger and bored, now I barely have time for anything anymore.  Onto your question, it's honestly really cool, and that's not even from a YCM-perspective.  Anyone who enjoys writing will tell you that finishing a story is one of the biggest things you can achieve, and to have completed the first one (with 75 chapters at that) and now be hard at work on the second one at 23+ chapters and going strong, it's just really cool.  The context doesn't really matter as much because that kind of experience is gonna help later in life regardless. So yeah, it's awesome.  Though I dunno where all my readers went."[/font]


Yes, I too do know the feeling well, so well. *Sighs*

So, I haven't honestly read much about Accel, mind telling the readers about it?


[font=courier new,courier,monospace]"Well, I could sit here all day trying to lay it out for you, considering we're almost at 100 episodes, but I don't have the time nor the patience to do such a thing.  Plus, I'm sure the readers don't want to spend hours trecking through paragraphs.  So, to put it simply, Accel is a (more or less) present-time story set in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Universe, but aside from actually being in that universe, there's not much else.  In fact, though New Domino City and a few 5D's references were there very early on (we're talking the first five chapters, if that), it's gone on to become its own world with really no reliance on the pre-constructed Yu-Gi-Oh! universe.

While the story does feature dueling for some reasons or others, it's not always the centerpiece.  I think that despite being a story somewhat set in that universe, relying on duels solely for the purpose of "Well, it's Yugioh, so that's what we've got" is a really narrow-minded way to write and doesn't make for a great story, especially because it can often times come across as generic.  Granted, there are times duels are used and (continuing forward) we will see them again, as well.  What intertwines with this story is Rakurai, a magic of sorts that belongs to a very small percentage of the population.  Those who were born with these powers are capable of all sorts of wondrous things (divided into stages and magic abilities) and use such for the purpose of combat.  The connection between that and the Duel Monsters universe itself is actually an important plot point that has still yet to be answered, but we've got fight scenes, tournaments, and everything in-between.  Really, it's become its own world, I mean I'd recommend anyone interested to give it a read, there's so much world there that sitting here typing it wouldn't really begin to touch upon the boundaries of it.

Always looking for new readers and genuinely appreciate any and all feedback."[/font]


Magic, huh. So, what would you say is your favourite part of Accel?


[font=courier new,courier,monospace]"I'd say above all else is our serious diversity among characters and the ability to tell a gripping story.  While it's far from being without its faults, including the tendency to sometimes draw things out a little too much, everyone makes mistakes and I'm far from perfect.  One of the things that readers tend to almost unanimously agree upon is the quality of the fights that more or less end up being the centerfold of the story.  There's been tons of them and very, very few of them have received negative feedback.  So I guess I pride myself in being able to keep people engaged even if there are some kinks to work out.

I think the thing is I have a story in mind and sometimes it can be challenging to translate that to paper while also keeping in mind that the readers don't have the knowledge I do as far as what's going to happen; I almost expect things to be obvious to them that are obvious to me and clearly that's not going to be the case - it doesn't even make sense to think it would.  Regardless, I love the fact that we've established our own universe with what seems like limitless stories in mind.  While Accel II definitely has an end-game, I don't think it's any time soon and I also don't think it's going to be the end of the Accel Universe as a whole.  There's still so much more to do; we've barely scratched the surface."[/font]


Hmmm, but do you ever fear that your readers might just be a bunch of yes men? People just telling you with what you want to hear? And further, what do you define as 'diversity' amongst characters?


[font=courier new,courier,monospace]"Absolutely not.  While the amount of readers we've got right now compared to say, a month ago, has dropped off, it's completely understandable as people are getting back to school (especially those in College) and I would hope they have the common sense to have that take precedence over something online.  In addition, the readers we do have, I got lucky because when they do leave feedback, it's often lengthy and detailed - they go to great lengths to provide all sorts of feedback no matter how critical it might be, and it's actually really appreciated.  Especially given the environment (no disrespect to YCM intended, but it's not an ideal writing environment), to have readers like that who knows what a good story is and is unafraid to pick you apart when you make those mistakes, is something really cool.  With almost every chapter, the first thing they'll point out is negatives and then go on to mention positives.  There's always something to complain about and I actually think that's such a hugely important aspect to any writer - you'll never be perfect so the best thing to do is make mistakes and learn from them!

As far as the diversity question, it's hard to explain but it's such a huge universe and no two characters are the same.  A few have generic tendencies, and some are unlike any you'd see elsewhere.  We've got an entire alternate planet full of all sorts of creatures with their own lore and mythology, and that's just the beginning of it.  It's a really cool world, and I think that's part of the reason I love writing so much regardless of the feedback because it's just fun; bringing this characters to life and seeing where we can take them is just one of the awesome parts of writing as a whole.  Just seeing what things we can come up with and not having to worry about whether or not they'll fit because there's always somewhere to fit them."[/font]


Don't I know about poor writing environment, something it seems i've had some personnal hand in, ha ha ha.

Well, as engaging as our little chat has been, I'm afraid due to time constraints I'm going to have to end them game here. Thanks so much for joining me for a little chat about what might end up being a legend; not as legendary as something like Trio of DEF mind, but maybe something up there.

Anywho, I'm Broke. N, signing off for now.

[/spoiler]

[CinnamonStar]

Phew, thanks for that. :) Yeah it's quite unfortunate when an interviewee isn't that active and/or takes a while to respond, but we can't do much about it. I guess this will garner some interest into his fanfic though.=o

 

Do you also have a riddle ready? We have 2 member riddles atm, if we get another one, sure.:3 But we can also keep it for the next issue.

 

The preview is up btw.

[The Warden]

Oh, a riddle. Okay, how about this:

 

A shining star, an emerald sky;

Such beauty makes Cecil cry.

Seek the place where creatives play;

My sweet words do guide your way.

Your role is to plot the course,

And then find this riddle's source.

[CinnamonStar]

Sweet, using it.:3 (The answer is a YCM section or thread, right?)

 

As for the different parl names, yeah people can do that, but I'm leaving it out for mine. Not sure if I'll stick with the same section.

[CinnamonStar]

Update time!

 

Hee's tonight's line-up:

1) intro + song of the night (Macklemore - Can't Hold us)

2) Attraffic Control

3) Archetype of the Moment

4) song intermezzo

5) YCM Nightly interview with Gray

6) Epic Battle Fantasy video

7) riddle

8 ) song intermezzo

9) interview with Zextra

10) member riddles

11) outro (Madolce Tiaramisu) and announcing of the next episode

 

The theme will be fantasy-ish since we have the game review and it seems to be a running thread through what we did. :P

[Thar]

I think we should have someone who's experienced with the meta to do the Archetype of the Moment, cause Black mentioned pretty much every detail that I feared would be pointed out by one.

[The Warden]

Yeah, you weren't the best fit for the job honestly.

Has anyone answered my riddle yet?

[CinnamonStar]

I think we should have someone who's experienced with the meta to do the Archetype of the Moment, cause Black mentioned pretty much every detail that I feared would be pointed out by one.

 

This would have been ideal, yes. But I don't know who else we could have taken because honestly, we have about...2 people who kind of keep up with the game?

 

I'm hoping that someone from the TCG section actually shows up here. Until then, we'll have to think of another way to cover that part (or focus on something else like the Custom Cards section if more people here follow it).

 

Yeah, you weren't the best fit for the job honestly.

Has anyone answered my riddle yet?

 

No, only the other 2.

 

Also there's a second issue coming up on the 17th.

So who wants to stay, who wants to leave?

 

Just as a pointer though: It's alright if you just want to help with the planning, but it kind of messes the rest up if someone promises to submit something until the last minute, but you have to chase them to find out that they finally can't do it.=S I mean, discussion is good and something we probably need a bit more of.*nods*