CinnamonStar Posted October 3, 2013 Report Share Posted October 3, 2013 Well good night/day everyone and thanks for tuning in on this Thursday! I'm Sumire and I'm glad to take you on a trip through our own wonderland we call Yugioh Card Maker forum tonight.;3 Phew, it's been a while and time on YCM sure flies. People come and go, interests change and we get updates (like the recent xyz addition). Even our site show (formerly known as the YCM Weekly and YCM Nightly) had its high and lows. Seija Kijin, one of our cast members has been working on a section that covers what's happening on YCM. We will get reports about the past, readings of current trends and perhaps glimpses into the future... Without further ado, I present to you "Attraffic Control"! 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 Weekly. 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. -Several people have been said to know YCMaker IRL, including Frunk and Falling Pizza, the even more inactive admin on the site. 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* Whoops, I pulled out the mic.xD Well thanks for this instructive report based on our ominous creator. Remember that some sections will come up regularly and that we can expect follow-ups! ~*~ Now of course YCM wouldn't be YCM if there wasn't a seizable portion of citizens who dabble in the cardgame. Let's branch over to Thar now who has assembled around the round table with 3 regulars from the TCG section. Welcome with us Koko, Armadilloz and Hyoubu and let's see what they can tell us about a popular archetype! What’s up, YCMers? My name is Lolithar (more colloquially known as Thar), and this is: Each issue, or so it may seem, a certain Archetype for the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG will be brought to the attention of you, the readers, regardless of whether or not you know it already. Some of you may actually learn something new, though, so you never know. “Archetype of the Moment” will consist of a number of things: A brief description of the Archetype and its concept, some example cards, and an interview with a number of members that are familiar with the TCG and play often enough to understand the Archetype in question. Today’s “Archetype of the Moment” is… MERMAILS- Actually no, not Mermails. That was the original idea, but because there weren’t enough people who were that familiar with them, I botched the idea and went with a more loved Archetype. The REAL “Archetype of the Moment” is… Fire Fists! As I said, most TCG players here might already be familiar enough with it that they will find it unnecessary to read about it, but as for the people who have never tried them (or just want to read something): Take a gander. From what I’ve heard about them, this archetype is well respected, and deserves to be tried at least once. Let’s start by describing what they are: Description and concept: “Fire Fists”, also known as “Flame Stars” - (炎えん星せい) Ensei – is an archetype based around FIRE Beast-Warrior type monsters. The main inspiration for this archetype comes from a Chinese novel called “Water Margin”, also translated to “Outlaws of the Marsh.” Set around the Song Dynasty, the novel tells a story of 108 outlaws that gathered at Mount Liang to grow a sizable army, large enough to be granted amnesty by the government. With this, the army developed by these outlaws is sent on campaigns to invade foreign lands and wipe out rebel forces. As for the OCG itself, the main thing that makes this archetype stand out from the crowd is their immense search ability for other cards with “Fire Fist” in the name, making for an impressive synchronization that has worked well with many people who use or used them. Card examples: [spoiler=Monsters] Once per turn, when this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard: You can Set 1 "Fire Formation" Spell Card directly from your Deck. Once per turn: You can send 1 face-up "Fire Formation" Spell/Trap Card you control to the Graveyard to target 1 Spell/Trap Card on the field; destroy that target. During the End Phase, if this card is in the Graveyard because it was destroyed by a card effect and sent there this turn: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 "Fire Fist" monster from your Deck, except "Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Caribou". If this card is sent to the Graveyard for the Synchro Summon of a "Fire Fist" monster: You can Set 1 "Fire Formation" Spell Card directly from your Deck. Once per turn, if you activate a "Fire Formation" Spell/Trap Card (except during the Damage Step): You can Set 1 "Fire Formation" Trap Card directly from your Deck. Once per turn: You can send 2 face-up "Fire Formation" Spell/Trap Cards you control to the Graveyard to target 1 "Fire Fist" monster in your Graveyard, except "Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Dragon"; Special Summon that target. [/spoiler] [spoiler=Spells] When this card is activated: You can add 1 Level 4 or lower Beast-Warrior-Type monster from your Deck to your hand. All Beast-Warrior-Type monsters you control gain 100 ATK. You can only activate 1 "Fire Formation - Tenki" per turn. During your Main Phase, you can Normal Summon 1 Beast-Warrior-Type monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set. (You can only gain this effect once per turn.) All Beast-Warrior-Type monsters you control gain 100 ATK. [/spoiler] [spoiler=Traps] When this card is activated: Target 1 Beast-Warrior-Type monster you control; it gains 700 ATK until the End Phase. (This ATK gain remains even if this card leaves the field.) All Beast-Warrior-Type monsters you control gain 300 ATK. Activate only during Main Phase 1. When this card is activated: Target 1 Beast-Warrior-Type monster you control; during this phase, its effects are negated, also it is unaffected by the effects of cards other than this card. (This applies even if this card leaves the field.) All Beast-Warrior-Type monsters you control gain 300 ATK. [/spoiler] [spoiler=Extra Deck] 1 FIRE Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 3 FIRE monster from your Deck. After you Synchro Summon this card, you cannot Special Summon Level 5 or higher monsters for the rest of this turn. 1 FIRE Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner "Fire Fist" monsters When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can Set 1 "Fire Formation" Spell/Trap Card directly from your Deck. All monsters your opponent controls lose 100 ATK for each face-up Spell/Trap Card you control. Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Tiger King 2 Level 4 Beast-Warrior-Type monsters When this card is Xyz Summoned: You can Set 1 "Fire Formation" Spell/Trap Card directly from your Deck. Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; negate the effects of all face-up Effect Monsters currently on the field, except Beast-Warrior-Type, until the end of your opponent's turn. When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard: You can send 3 face-up "Fire Formation" Spell/Trap Cards you control to the Graveyard; Special Summon 2 Level 4 or lower Beast-Warrior-Type monsters with the same ATK from your Deck, in face-up Defense Position. 2 Level 3 FIRE monsters Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card, then target 1 FIRE monster in your Graveyard; add that target to your hand, but you cannot Normal or Special Summon that monster, or a monster with the same name, for the rest of this turn. [/spoiler] Member interviews: This is where the members from the TCG section are involved. Via a group PM, these three people responded to these questions regarding their opinion on the Archetype in question. Let’s see what they had to say… “When Fire Fists were first introduced, what was your first impression?”: Koko: “Even though I'm actually one of the most renowned Fire Fist players on YCM, I actually didn't used to like them. I used to think they were just really gimmicky and that they weren't actually all that strong until I actually began to play them. That was when I fell in love with them and most importantly, my favorite card Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Bear.” [spoiler=Ah yes, Bear. I forgot about that one…] Once per turn, when this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent: You can Set 1 "Fire Formation" Spell Card directly from your Deck. Once per turn: You can send 1 face-up "Fire Formation" Spell/Trap Card you control to the Graveyard, then target 1 monster on the field; destroy that target. [/spoiler] Armadilloz: “Beast-Warriors finally become a thing, and Spirit/Horse Prince/Lion Emperor are now oddballs (We didn't have Rooster/Leopard yet, shoosh)” Hyoubu: “I fell in love with FFists the moment they were released (I dare say I posted the first FFist deck in YCM, just a few moments before Expel). The play-style, the artwork, everything, and when they were first introduced, they weren't blatantly stupid or OPed at all but rather consistent as a "Tier 2" deck (lol what tiers?). Mermails on the other hand, I thought were stupid. Laughing off costs in order to gain advantage is a stupid design, at least the way Konami made them out to be especially with Atlanteans being released.” “Based on your experience with Fire Fist, how do they treat you? In your opinion, is it just coincidence that they treat you that way? Or is this treatment legitimate?”: Koko: “Fire Fist tend to treat their owners very nicely as they open truly bad hands very rarely if you're playing the deck right. Seeing as how the deck is full of good cards, it is a very rare occasion that you do not open a single good card out of a good majority of them.” Armadilloz: “Due to the crazy-ass toolbox that Bear Fire Fists tend to be, it lead to a lot of shenanigans.” Hyoubu: “FFists treat me generously when I'm playing with them, and provide a challenge when facing the right builds. The fact that FFists have a great amount of consistency and access to several key cards is amazing and I can't complain otherwise. They just have a good amount of good quality cards that give a player that's using the deck options or outs to several decks out there, yet they can be fragile if you hit key points of their combos just right like a well timed veiler, mst, fiendish (pretty much what Koko said).” “If you could, in what ways would you improve Fire Fists? In what ways would you water them down?”: Koko: “I wouldn't. Honestly the deck type is perfectly fine as it is and does not need to be touched again. It's a powerful deck with a lot of powerful properties that are easily shut down by commonly played cards like Mystical Space Typhoon, Effect Veiler and Fiendish Chain.” Armadilloz: “Not really sure how I could improve them, but if you want to water them down: Gorilla and Bear swap their destruction effects.” Hyoubu: “Fire Fists need no more improvement. On the contrary, they need Chicken banned and since they already hit Tenki, I'd say hit Panther too. 3-Axis Fire Fists and 4-Axis Fire Fists are consistent decks turned stupid only via the existence of Chicken (ik it's rooster, but chicken is always a chicken), Wolfberk, Onslaught of the Fire Kings and Panther-Tenki-Spirit-Tensu combo. Minimize this, and you have a good solid deck with good solid combos that don't completely overwhelm your opponent but do make them think about how to get around your set ups.” “Overall, yay or nay?": Koko, Armadilloz, and Hyoubu, simultaneously: “Yay.” - Whelp, that about wraps up today’s “Archetype of the moment.” Thanks for reading and y’all have a good night! Readers: “Shut up, Thar.” Yeah, shut up Thar.xD *insider joke for those who know* Well shout-outs to the round table and thanks to Thar for the presentation and to the guests for sharing their thoughts! ~*~ While we're preparing the seats for 2 interviewees and gearing up for a bigger adventure, let's slow down with a song that coincidentally fits well with the Fire Fists... It's the latest single from Ellie Goulding. The singer-songwriter and instrumentalist with the breathy ethereal vocals and electro influence has delivered another dreamy song. I personally like it the best so far so I had to share it with you.:3 [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGyEd0aKWZE[/media] ~*~ You know, every fantasy story needs its own creator. The one who weaves his own world and sends his characters into adventures. +Gray Fullbuster is one of these writers and besides hosting the original show back in 2008, he's also known for his fanfic Yugioh Accel. Pretty good ideas brewing in his head, right? Please applaud with me, wait for it... the YCM Nightly with Broke. N and his guest Gray!! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuhqoZvyntA[/media] YCM Nightly with Broke. N 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. "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." 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? "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." 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? "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." Magic, huh. So, what would you say is your favourite part of Accel? "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." 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? "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." 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. Want to know more about Accel? Follow this path for the current happenings and click here for the first season. ~*~ Phew. After getting a gaze into the world of Accel, shall we move on to another glaring place? How about the Epic Fantasy Battle series? The 4th installment of the free online game features over 120 types of monsters and 130 different skills and spells. But is it worth it? Let's watch Seija's review. [media]http://youtu.be/f_26HSFkeEU[/media] Well it definitely looks like a lovely game and being free adds something too. The characters look huggable.xD ~*~ But let's see... Broke. N who kindly joined us between Heartbreakers and his other YCM activities is back with us for the first riddle of the night! [spoiler=Riddle]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.[/spoiler] Any ideas? If you think you know the answer, please don't post in the thread, but send your guess to one of the cast members. As usual, you can win something if you got the most of our riddles right so look out for them! ~*~ For our second interview of the show, I had the chance to talk with Zextra. He's the new Custom Cards mod and designer of the xyz template. It's safe to say that without him, the cardmaker update would have taken a few more centuries.xD So let's applaud our interview guest who will talk about moderating, designing, Pokémon and a lot of randomness! Interview with Zextra 1) Alright first question. Please introduce yourself to our viewers. Who is Zextra?=o Z: Hmm...that's a difficult one. I can't really say I know who Zextra is. But I think I've come to conclude that he's some guy living on the Earth...so I guess it's safe to say that he's most likely not an alien. Silliness aside, I've been a member here on YCM since early 2009, though my activity wasn't very high until mid-2010 or so. Like many, I started out primarily as just a cardmaker, though since then my activity around here has spread out into other sections of the forum as well. Off the computer, I'm currently a college student, pursuing a degree in something artistic and musical (feel free to take that however you like :3). 2) What sections can you usually be found in on YCM? Is there one (or more) that you would consider your favourite to hang out in? Z: Well, in the past, I'd primarily stick around CC, but when I became around a 3-star member or so, I started hanging out in other parts of the forum as well, such as Role-Playing, TCG, Clubs/Organizations, and occasionally in Video Games. Currently, I can't really say if there's a particular section I would consider my "favorite". 3) You were promoted recently. What do you plan to do as a mod and where do you think do your strength lie for the job? What about strengths irl? Z: I haven't actually had any particular plans since becoming a mod aside from doing my job and keeping things in order (and listen to Koko ^^). As for my strengths regarding the job - and in real life, for that matter - I like to think of one of my strengths being that I'm pretty organized, so hopefully those organizational skills can be put to good use here while I'm on duty. 4) What are your views on the current Custom Cards sections (not just RL, but also Any Other Cards, Contests and such)? Is there anything you feel needs improvement or something you have planned to do? Z: The only section of Custom Cards that I really have any qualms with would be Any Other Cards. I personally feel that it gives off a negative vibe due to being the place that all joke cards and "RC reject" cards are thrown. I know that such a section has to exist somehow, but I can't help but feel that there has to be a better way to execute it. 5) You contributed a good deal to the recent cardmaker update by designing the xyz template. Can you reveal a bit of the process to our readers? What do you have to pay attention to while designing card templates, where there any difficulties you faced or something that was pretty straight-forward? Z: Well, the main thing that took time with updating the cardmaker was getting the coding in, and finding someone with both access and knowledge to that proved to be quite a task, which is why our initial update plans were postponed for several months. However, YCMaker was able to get everything worked out in the end, and now we have our updated cardmaker. As for designing the template, it's a very delicate process of modeling a card frame off an official proxy; choosing a high-quality proxy is the key for a successful, realistic-looking template. Using the card frame from this template, all text and such must be removed - this is where the hard part is: As accurately as possible, you must recreate all the parts that were stripped off of the proxy due to text obstruction. The process of creating the template itself was very straightforward to me, but the execution took quite a bit of time and effort to get right (and to be honest, even now, it's not quite 100% there yet), or at least close enough to an actual card. 6) Ouch, that definitely sounds like a task. Most of the time, the rest of us folks will see the end result, but we'll barely know the efforts behind it. From what I've seen so far, the cardmaker update has been gladly used by members and most people are happy about the much-needed update.:3 But here's the thing: Many people claim that the site isn't as active as it used to be before and blamed it on the stone-age cardmaker. Well *wipes dust off*, it wasn't too...up-to-date until recently.xD Would you agree with this statement or do you see something else that may cause the activity drops (if you see any)? Z: I would agree to an extent that the cardmaker's outdated template did chase off some activity, especially among the newer members. I mean, I think it's safe to say that many members find their way to the forums as cardmakers before making their ways to other places in the forums. I've also noticed that many of the older members dropped off the site after we changed from MyBB to IPBoard, but I guess that's aside from the point. xD 7) Since we're here, what do you particularly like about our resident place YCM and is there something you like the least? Z: Honestly, Role-playing and Graphic Showcase (specifically Graphic Tutorials & Resources) are special to me, since this site is where I began my first experiences for both. For graphics in particular, I have basically learned everything I know from here. Before joining YCM, I could barely operate the very basics of Paint, yet alone GIMP and Photoshop. As for what I like the least, I honestly cannot say; it's actually pretty hard to pick out something not to like, really! 8 ) You're well-known for liking the Pokémon Milotic. Can you perhaps expose to our readers where the fondness came from? And let's imagine you were a Gym Leader. Gym Leader Zextra from...a city that people just started hearing about. What Pokémon type would you use and what kind of badge would you give away? And if we're getting there...any trainer classes that would face the challenger before you'd show up (like Youngsters, Blackbelts, Aroma Ladies, etc)? Perhaps any twists in the gym like quizzes? Z: Oh, is that what people believe? I wonder how that belief made its way around... Anyways, my fondness for Milotic came about when I first learned of Hoenn Pokemon; I found its design to be quite intriguing - a sea serpent-like creature that did not have the stereotypical "scary" or dragonic traits, instead having a very soft and tender look to it; in regards to that, its evolution method (at least up to Generation IV) is so fitting and unique. Also, the fact that I was able to catch a Feebas legitimately during my first run-through of Sapphire really made me enjoy using it in-game. If I were a gym leader, it would be pretty difficult for me to choose a type of Pokemon to focus on, but in the end, I would have to go with the Water-type (with Psychic and Ice being close seconds). Thus, a badge I would give out would be something water-related; perhaps being named the Tidal Badge. As for trainer classes, I'm not much into swimmers; I guess Ace Trainers would make the cut. Now, for a trainer challenge, it would be pretty cool to implement something along the lines of a water labyrinth/maze, perhaps with the use of hidden traps/warp panels just to piss people off. :3 9) Water labyrinth with hidden traps. Sounds pretty tricky, would anyone get to the Tidal Badge?xD But let's go back on the designing road for a bit. What inspires you and puts your creativity into motion? Z: I sometimes have sudden bursts of inspiration, usually caused by something completely random (and sometimes even insignificant). Unfortunately, other than that, there doesn't seem to be much else that I could really say about it... 10) last movie you watched and last book you read, gogogo Z: Last Movie: Tron Legacy (though it wasn't my first time watching it); Last Book: "The Art of Interpretation" by Pablo Casals 11) Favourite colour, anime and pizza topping? Z: Favorite Color: Turquoise; Favorite Anime: Hard to say, but I'd probably go with either Mirai Nikki or Death Note; Pizza Topping: Pineapple 12) Singing in the shower, yes or no? Z: Not usually... 13) Do you sleep with your bed sheets tucked in or out? Z: Tucked in. 14) Biggest pet peeve? Z: A roommate whose side of the room literally looks like a tornado just passed through. 15) Well we're done by now, thanks for your time.:3 It was fun to do this interview and I'm sure the members will enjoy reading it on Thursday. Is there anything else you want to tell our readers? Shout-outs to members? Random advertisment? Z: Haha, not really; I would do some shout-outs, but there would just be too many members who I think deserve them. It's been my pleasure; thanks for interviewing me. :3 Well I know whose sheets I can go pull out at night now.xD Thanks to you as well, hopefully this will help us to get to know people better.:3 ...but really. DO you know your peers here? Let's check it out with 2 more riddles! [spoiler=First YCM member riddle - solved by Infinite Rainbow]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? The answer was TehTeaKing. [/spoiler] [spoiler=Second YCM member riddle - solved by British Soul]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: The answer was I Hate Snatch Steal. [/spoiler] Can you guess who these members are? Both live within the frontiers of YCM, but the first riddle is harder and will be awarded more...generously.:3 It's a new member, I can tell you that much. The second one is a veteran. Once again don't post here, please PM us your guesses! ...wait, someone's shouting from behind the curtains? Yeah shut up Thar, I know my time is up.xD Alright, it's been a pleasure to host the show tonight. As usual we will switch hosts from time to time and come back every second week (which is why we changed the name xD). Did you enjoy the trip through our site? We're always open for input, so do share your thoughts with us and don't forget to send guesses for the riddles! Only the first person to guess something right will get a chance to win something later so the sooner, the better.;3 Until then, thanks for watching and to everyone who participated! Shout-outs to the redaction (Seija Kijin, Broke.N, Thar, Aura, Enrise), Tormented who designed the logo as well as several section logos and Junichirou who signed up later, but still helped out with the planning. See you in 2 weeks then (hopefully) ;3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tourmaline Posted October 3, 2013 Report Share Posted October 3, 2013 I love how "fuq dat sit" Armz is when he wants to be. A true masterpiece on his part. That interview with Bork'n like halfway through was initially a mess, but you fixed it. It certainly is a good way of adding depth to the community. I never personally knew anything about Sextra. He was more of a side-character, and still is, in this protagonist's view, but at least he is not a faceless NPC anymore! Also don't know enough about the others to even attempt that riddle. All I know about British things is that Canada is also part of the commonwealth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CinnamonStar Posted October 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2013 Thought I had fixed all the formatting stuff, but some parts still turned out weird.xD Thanks for the feedback. SPEAKING ABOUT IT, I see many people reading this. This would be nothing without anyone watching us so comments please? :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tourmaline Posted October 3, 2013 Report Share Posted October 3, 2013 Are you and your ragtag party of coordinated bloggers going to keep doing the same things for these or will next time not be an interview with Ecstra? Also, can you and Armz share a part called "Fashion Police" where you look for fashion crimes, reveal them to us and judge them while we scorn them in our minds? He has that Team Flare thing going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathanael D. Striker Posted October 3, 2013 Report Share Posted October 3, 2013 This is quite nice tbh. I did enjoy Zextra's interview a lot, and I liked the random questions near the end. Some of it didn't pertain to me, but that'll happen with things like this for everyone. Overall, good job everybody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CinnamonStar Posted October 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2013 Nah some parts might stay (like Attraffic Control and the Archetype of the Moment), but we keep things like last year. With Changing hosts and cast members we'll probably cover different topics anyway. As for interview guests, people can post suggestions in the other thread (previews and suggestions). And thanks. The guests usually have the choice between more serious and random questions (at least when I do the interviews) and he picked random ones.x) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~British Soul~ Posted October 3, 2013 Report Share Posted October 3, 2013 Thoroughly enjoyed the first issue, the interviews, the music and Archetype of the moment was the parts I liked the best, and I have to admit the logos were nicely done. Good job on the first issue guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vla1ne Posted October 3, 2013 Report Share Posted October 3, 2013 I don't like the firefists bear all that much, but I do feel less animosity towards them except bear now and I might have to test them out in a deck or two one day. As much as it's said, I have to say thanks again to Zextra for the cardmaker update, and congrats to grey for the longest running RP! although I've never actually joined one. I will eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted October 3, 2013 Report Share Posted October 3, 2013 The Yugioh Review's pretty bad. You got someone with minimal knowledge of the current gamestate to do it. He got his info from one good player, one decent player, and one awful player, and the fact that the awful player was involved just kills the credibility of the report, as it shows the interviewer doesn't actually know who he should be talking to about things like this. I did like that Arm actually hit the nail on the head of what should have been the design with Bear and Gorilla, but that doesn't change that the reviewer himself and one of the interviewees were not good choices. I mean, he listed sample cards without covering Bear (who was admittedly shown, though not covered), Rooster, Leopard, Cardinal Commander, Gyokko, Wolfberk (Who is not a Fist, but might as well be when covering them), and other such things very valid to the deck. It takes away from the legitimacy of the post if the most important components aren't even mentioned, for the most part. The ideas Chance offered on how to hit Fire Fists further are also dumb, because while cards like Rooster are badly designed, that doesn't mean you go batshit and kill them all. Fire Fists are not a detriment to the gamestate as they are, so there's no need to water them down. It's not like they have a 1-card win button, or are confirmed to kill you. They can overrun a lot of decks, sure, but they aren't harming the gamestate in any way. I just... it would be much better if someone who actively played the game, and especially the metagame if possible, would do that segment, and if they would ask people who are actually going to know what good game design/card design/the gamestate/etc. are, not just someone who's respected by parts of the community whether they deserve it or not. I didn't learn anything, I didn't get any insight into the deck, I just had a few pictures flashed and a few comments posted. It feels really lackluster and lazy, and riding on other peoples' merits. Asking for help is fine and all, but you should know enough about something to tell people the general idea of it. You gave a lore lesson, though not even a complete one because in-universe lore is a thing, but you told us nothing about the cards, why they're good or, hell, anything. Just "here look at dis". If you don't know about a deck/the cards in it, don't cover it in the first place, as it's just sloppy, incomplete, and ill thought-out work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thar Posted October 3, 2013 Report Share Posted October 3, 2013 Black, in all honesty, I only did that article because I had no other choice. I agree that it would've been better if an experienced player and meta-whizz wrote it, which is why I asked others for their insight. While vague and lackluster to people who know the game better, I did learn something new from it. But I totally agree. Next time, an actual player should do it, though there aren't that many in the staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synchronized Posted October 4, 2013 Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 Think it came out quite well. The graphics were awesome and I think once you guys get more accustomed to it, it'll just come naturally. Awesome job though, reminds me of the YCM Nightly a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CinnamonStar Posted October 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 Black, in all honesty, I only did that article because I had no other choice. I agree that it would've been better if an experienced player and meta-whizz wrote it, which is why I asked others for their insight. While vague and lackluster to people who know the game better, I did learn something new from it. But I totally agree. Next time, an actual player should do it, though there aren't that many in the staff. Actually there isn't anyone in the staff at the moment.:/ Everyone is either a casual player or out of the game. One person we asked declined (understandably) because he didn't feel comfortable with the meta anymore. However, we were left with 'more Yugioh', 'comedy' or 'real-life news' as parts people requested and we ended up with this. I agree that for seasoned players, this doesn't offer anything new and we don't hear much about how the Deck actually works. It's more like an introduction into the archetype for people who just started hearing about it. Perhaps we could have stuck with non-TCG material like the history, ethymology of the cards, potential anime appearances, etc. (while not TCG-related, but more like a general Yugioh trivia article). But thanks for the input, much appreciated. It's the grandchild of the YCM Nightly if you look at it this way. :P Also we start recruiting again after every show so if people complain about the lack of TCG players in the cast, you're welcome to ask for a spot. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maeriberii Haan Posted October 4, 2013 Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 Hmm, this is golden! Magnificent, even if there's some minor problems. Really excited for the next installment of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CinnamonStar Posted October 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 Well 2 riddles have been solved, 1 more to go! [spoiler=Riddle]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.[/spoiler] PMs only please.:3 Also I wouldn't mind doing a 'Fashion Police' segment. There was something similar in the planning, but which ended up being mostly me laughing irl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted October 4, 2013 Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 Thing is, it doesn't even work that well as an intro, as nothing beyond a bit of lore is truly explained, and a few cards are flashed. I understand having casual players in the cast, but I'm sure someone (Like Broken) actually has a better idea of what's going on to do a deck profile, at least enough to cover key components in the deck and/or basic playstyle. But he's occupied, so I can understand why he didn't, and I understand Thar doesn't know much about the game get had to do it. I'm just saying casual =/= incapable of knowing about how a higher tier deck works. Especially when the deck's a popular T2. He could easily just look up assorted Fire Fist decks, given that he has at least a week to do so, then present the most common denominators. He could even ask for deck profiles from the interviewees, if decent to good ones are all chosen, in order to see of that can help him decide what cards seem more essential against others. He could even ask for further help than the questions he did. It just seems very shallow, and it doesn't even work that well as an intro to a deck as it's nothing but pictures, a few comments that tell you nothing really, and a minor lore lesson. I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just saying there's a lot to improve with it that even a casual player could do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CinnamonStar Posted October 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 No one felt comfortable enough to take the part though.:/ Our cast at the moment leans more towards C/O, Multimedia and Creative Commons, with few CC or TCG people who didn't feel quite at ease with doing the article either. And Thar as our taking-what's-left guy took the TCG topic over the other stuff from the poll. I was initially glad that we even found someone and personally I can say I learned something (although as someone who knows almost nothing about the game lel). But we actually post these issues in threads to get feedback and it's good to hear opinions. We'll try to dig deeper and dwelve into actual Decks when it comes to TCG articles (without reaching TCG section analysis level since it's only a part of the show, but more...actual game mechanics, examples, playing style, key cards and such). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not-so-Radiant Arin Posted October 4, 2013 Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 Anything to insult Chance Furlong is golden in my book. You've done well, Black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tormented Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 >Graphics are Good >Personally feels like he made a terrible logo for the whole show. I've got to rework that or something, looking back on it, it makes my eyes want to bleed citric acid. Also just realised the toxicity of some of the sections on this forum, it gets my cynical gears grinding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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