gaara invited me to the group... but I also got invited by your
"sister" group vector wallers... Is it a problem if I join both? I
like the nomination system here... and the website looks beautiful too! So I
hope I am allowed to join!
Sinever invited me to this group, so I applied to join!
I hope to make a vectored wallpaper again soon! Thank you very much for the
invitation!
Hello to all the group members!
Hmm... yes I never invited someone to UA before, but I felt that Ivana would
make a perfect new member for our group... and we need some new, refreshing wind
in here, don't we? So I hope Misa will add you soon, Ivana!
Hmm? Yeah, isn't that my wallpaper up there? I thought it was a bug that kept on
reappearing, only realise now that the letters on the right speak about my
wallpaper! Wow... thanks! My zodiac wallpaper...
*blushes*
Still thinking about the one challenge but I cannot promise an entry yet. O_o In
October my diploma work must be finished! I'm so nervous since I am still at the
beginning of writing it...
And sorry I had been away for some time, had problems with my internet, it
didn't work anymore here at the hostel so I always had to go to university,
which is extremely annoying since it is holiday now. It's all empty there, like
a ghost house!
I feel like discussing something... Just don't know what. Where is Misa, queen
of bringing up interesting discussions?
Hmm... hello to all members of the Paint-o-rama group!
I just applied to joining the group and I think I fulfill the group requirements
but I want to say that I am an appreciator of the painted style... that is the
only additional requirement? *lol*
Well I'm looking forward to being a member of this group and again
"Hello" to everybody! ^^
I submitted my entry for
the UA zodiac theme. I chose "Gemini".
Apart from that I don't have much to tell... my life at the moment is nothing
but work work work to finish university as soon as possible. *sigh*
I hope you are all doing well!
Concerning the ripping problem... I really don't understand people who are doing
that. What good does it give them to get credits for a work that is not theirs?
It would leave me with nothing but bad conscience... so I wonder do they
actually feel happy when they get positive feedback on something that they only
stole from somebody else? O_o
*lol* Like many other people here, I'm dropping by to say that "I'm
alive"! Uni and work are keeping me totally busy. However I hope to submit
my zodiac wallpaper within the next week.
At least I hope so... I lack inspiration for my background, as usual...
Where are the UA banners actually, that we add to our submissions?
Well I got to go back to writing... Wishing good luck to everyone who's
experiencing all this uni/work stress!
And... yes, no matter how much work... don't forget to drink water! O_o
Hello!
I had such an exhausting week! The only thing I did was reading and studying!
Tomorrow I must work and sell clothes and then my weekend begins! But after all
the reading I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow. I
started something for the zodiac theme... I hope I'll manage to finish
it!
Hmm... well I am wishing you all a nice weekend!
@Misa: Sounds your week was as exhausting as mine... I hope you're feeling
better by now!
apparently I am the first member to reply in the Annual Discussion 3.
O_o
-Member acceptance criteria: too high or too
low?
In my opinion these criteria are fine. People might be a bit
"confused" about the aspect that they "graduate" if they are
too "successful". But that is another question actually and we already
discussed it in the past: about why people might not wanna be considered as
"Underappreciated".
-What do you want to see to those you feel are
too appreciated?
I'm afraid I don't really understand this question... but it might be due to my
poor English! Or is it "say" instead of "see"... I am not
sure... So I'll leave this question out for now.
-What is your definition of
appreciated?
My English online dictionary tells me (*lol*...) "Appreciate is much used
in cases where something is in danger of being overlooked or undervalued".
Please don't think that I only understand now what "appreciated"
means, but I wanted to check what my dictionary would answer to that
question.
When I joined this group it was mostly because Misa always helped me so much at
the beginning with all her comments on my works. Without these comments the pen
tool would probably still be unknown to me. O_o I was all new in the
Photoshop/Illustrator world so I thought UA would be the perfect place for me to
receive help.
As for the definition of "appreciated"... I find some works at MT too
appreciated when they obviously only get their attention of watchlist friends.
And that is where in my opinion UA is needed... So all members are actually
asked to pay attention to eachothers works.
Are we doing that? Well I can only speak for myself... and I don't do it! I
could bring up excuses now... but I'll leave it out. O_o
I fear I am drifting away a little from the actual questions. But thinking about
it now shouldn't we try to comment each others works a little bit more? But that
brings me to the next question...
-Member mentoring scheme
Would you like to have a wallpaper mentor, so to speak? In other words, every
time you post up something, your mentor must comment- or, every time you are
working on a new piece of artwork, you can ask your mentor to check over it
before you submit.
I personally think that's a good idea... that people who are seeking help get
the possibility to find a "mentor" among UA members. But I guess not
too many people will ask for a mentor, or will they? And would it bring more
attention to the works of members in the group? I don't think so. Some people
post into the UA guestbook when they completed a new work. Maybe we should do
this more regularly. Otherwise the UA group, if we follow the definition of
"appreciated",doesn't make that much sense. People should feel like...
"Oh yeah, my works don't get enough attention, they are overlooked because
my watchlist isn't really crowded with people... joining UA would help me with
that."
Anyways, I know that commenting takes time too. I am really busy finishing my
university but I'd be willing to comment on people's works more often. So I
wouldn't mind if we try to do something like a mentoring system in UA.
-Sharing Techniques and Skills
I think posting tutorials in the guestbook isn't such a good idea because who'll
feel like clicking through all the pages hoping someone might have posted a
tutorial. So I prefer them archived on the UA site.
-What competitions do you want to see in
2007?
I didn't submit anything in the last competitions. Main reason is cause I lack
time to finish my works. I only start... and then I can progress so slowly since
I only find time for it in the late evening that I almost never come to an end.
However I finished something for my gallery... so I could have managed something
for the competition as well. Therefore I must say that I probably wasn't that
motivated. Why is that so? Hmm... the topics are okay, but nothing too
exciting... So I'd maybe take part if I had a lot of freetime.
That means as for myself, the competitions would have to be more exciting, more
motivating... Maybe it's a bit too much of the same from theme to theme. I mean
there are different topics... but still. I was curious about it when I first
joined the group. And I always wanted to take part, now it's just "Ok,
let's see whether I can come up with something..." And then nothing happens
(at least in my case because some members did submit entries...).
I think it's nice that we have no deadline... however a little time pressure can
be helpful too. So maybe bringing deadlines back would also be an idea. Then
nobody will finish it in time since there is no real pressure like at school.
True... Anyways it should be fun to take part in the competitions. But when a
new theme is announced here no one has to say "yes, count me in". So
if we really want more entries something like that would make sense. Also to
make sure that not only one person is interested enough to submit something.
Like in the copy cat theme... we only have an entry by Evo. O_o
Most certainly a reward is also missing. Again I can only speak for myself...
but I can be quite lazy especially when it comes to doing things that won't
change anything. If someone wins in one UA theme... what happens? Nothing! He or
she might even miss it cause it is never really being announced and he or she
might not understand the voting system beneath the thumbs that indicate who is
about to win or who won with how many votes. It's no where explained, is it? I
remember I didn't understand it when I first took part. ^^
Maybe we could do something like collecting points. If you take part in a theme
you get a certain amount of points, if you win or become 2nd, 3rd you get a
certain amount of points. And people who say that they will submit an entry and
then don't... lose points. The person who is leading with the points
"wins" a special position among the members? Like first place in the
UA "class" on our long path to becoming appreciated?
Ah, that's another thing I wanted to say... I don't know whether it is so good
that "being appreciated" almost becomes a negative word in our group.
If someone joins he or she feels like being overlooked... so he or she wants to
improve. Apart from sharing ideas with the UA members I am also here to improve.
Is it really necessary that people who finally get attention and are in the top
favored submissions a couple of times graduate from the group? I don't really
see why because if someone manages that it would be quite an advertisement for
the group... so why should we scare these people away? It would only help us to
get some more movement in here in my point of view. So I am not sure whether
this aspect is really necessary in the acceptance criteria.
Okay... that's what I had to say on the topics. There might be many typos and
English grammar/vocabulary mistakes. I apologize... I must continue with my
university work now. It's snowing here... in March. *sigh* Well at least I don't
feel tempted to leave my desk. *lol*
Thanks for all the people who reached this point and are still reading my
mumble. O_o I got a bit lost... *lol* And most of it was just ideas... hoping
for further discussions...
Take care and good luck to all those of you who suffer from constant uni-stress!
thanks for the reply... Hmm... well I'll really try hard to come up with
something... but at the moment I feel more like joining the Zodiac theme. There
must be more submissions!
sorry haven't really been around. I'm wondering... can I still start a wallpaper
on the zodiac theme? How much time do I have left to finish it if I do so? There
are only two submissions... and one on copycat? O_o
Hmm... an idea for a new contest? I am reading about competitions so often and I
guess the UA competition doesn't really trigger a wave of motivation anymore. I
have started a wallpaper for the "no limit" theme. But I have also
started one for the "trendwhore" and I haven't completed it so far. So
Misa's suggestion to find out what we actually want to do is a good start! I
really enjoyed the "weird" (lol... I mean it in a good way) tasks of
Misa's TREC. When I take part in a competition I think it's fun to get tasks
like this... and not just a sentence. But I must admit that it may also make it
more difficult. I remember the task on that DDR game was quite hard to me... but
it made everything more interesting and more fun.
Also we should think of... do we enjoy making wallpapers on our own or would a
competition where you can also work in small groups or maybe only together with
one person more motivating, fun, etc. As for myself I'd like work together but I
also know that it's sometimes difficult... that was one of my TREC experiences
too.
Evo wrote about something happy... Ephie about cute anime icons and Mokona...
*lol* Maybe we should start a competition on a cute happy mascot design... We
did something like this at university in a small group of 6 people. But it was
actually more difficult than it sounds.
Well I hope we can discuss this some more. ^^ It's good to see some life in the
UA guestbook!
Hello UAs,
I spontaneously decided to not go on holiday with my parents to stay home and be
lazy, sleep long... *lol* So I have time to come here even though I must use my
sister's computer since mine is being repaired. But unfortunately not too much
seems to be going on here. Where are the discussions? *lol* Hmmm... Misa is the
expert on starting discussions and I fear I am not as good in this as she is.
At the moment I am wondering a lot about how to use vectors. For my latest
wallpaper I very often received the feedback that the lines were not clean
enough. Am I wrong or do we always expect vectors to be clean, straight and
symmetric if there is some sort of symmetry? I tried to simply use it in the way
that I would draw on paper... *lol* And what I was looking for was not the
impression of a "clean" image. Not too long ago we were speaking about
how vectors are becoming "trendwhore" now... so... I think this is not
true because I truely think there are more ways of
"vectoring".
What else? I wish I had my computer because I only see two entries for the
latest UA competition. And I still have an unfinished trendwhore wallpaper. Oh
no! *lol*
Are you actually still checking on the highlights? I discovered that I do not
really do this anymore, whereas some time ago I always checked when I logged in.
Now I rather check my friend's highlights. Well I also have been absent for some
time. Now that I am back I actually think that the quality of highlights
improved again. What do you think?
And then... is anyone of you experimenting the limits? After all the lastest UA
competition is called "Imagination has no boundaries".
*lol* Well these are only my thoughts. I'd be happy if someone has anything to
say about them! *lol* I really think I am no talent to start discussions...
Hello, greetings from rainy Austria... This weather is so depressing!
*sigh*
I tried to read all the last posts...
Maybe my impression is wrong but I think the UA guestbook is still a lot more
active than most of the guestbooks I have seen so far. I actually never found
long discussions anywhere but I guess I could be wrong since I am not looking
around too much.
I also wonder where Omni is. Maybe he is scared to return after Arete. *lol*
About mods... I don't feel scared of them. They are people like you and me. Some
may feel more powerful with their position but I don't really see how they have
power to discriminiate members. o_O But yeah I don't really know the mods. I've
only been exchanging some comments with Revan lately. And I didn't feel scared
at all! ^_^
I've also checked out the WAR site. But it's going to start end of June. I still
have my last exams during the first two weeks of July and I will have to finish
some writing work... so this schedule doesn't work at all for me. I
would have liked to join a collab wall. But because of the date I cannot even
say "count me in" on that, I just couldn't make any promises of really
being a help with all the work that has to be done for university.
How do you people find inspiration? I usually always listen to music or browse
the web, movies... and suddenly an idea comes to my mind. But at the moment I
feel pretty empty. No ideas at all!
And yeah again about the complaints about the UA guestbook. I really don't see
the situation being so bad. I'd rather say that members of UA are not really on
the peak of submitting anything to the galleries. I mean yeah there are a few
entries from time to time... but in my opinion it's not really a lot. I mostly
see entries of Simple-ism members. But again my point of view here is not really
based on research, just on a very subjective impression.
I'd like this place here filled with comments like "I submitted my new
wallpaper" and people commenting and discussing new ideas and plans. So
that's what I miss and that's what I think would be important for UA, not some
spam comments...
I'm just dropping a line to say that I'm currently completely lost between books
and work. I lack time to come online and that is why you probably won't read a
lot of me during the next 2 weeks. Hopefully then the situation will improve a
little, but June here in Austria is the last month of the summer term. So that
brings naturally tons of work. I will try to at least read every once in a while
what you are discussing.
Well I really hope I can be active on MT again soon!
Oh an age discussion? I am 23... what can I say? Luckily I haven't found gray
hair yet.
@Misa
Higlighting process to slow? Hmm...somehow I don't think they are taking their
"job" that serious. But I must admit my appreciation of the
highlighting system at the moment is really low. I just saw too many wallpapers
by now that I would have never highlighted. I get the impression that the mods
are not really browsing the gallery to find the best walls. But we've already
discussed this.
Your question was about them being slow or not? I think it is hard to say. It
could be possible that there are no wallpapers that are worth to be higlighted
for some time. Then there should be no highlights. I rather see the same old
highlights then... than not really good ones. But I think there must be really
good work here, so it's just a lot of work to always find the best.
k1ru also said something about this... but I personally don't like APs system
that only highlights one piece.
It places one wallpaper in the middle of attention.
And no one so far posted one of a members works to propose it as a piece that
should get more attention. Me neither... *sigh* Let's browse each others galleries!
Hello, sorry I haven't been around during the last days. I am a little sick.
I am shocked to read that Misa is sick too. We also had rain
again and it became cold, when it was so warm already. And now the heat is back.
I guess that was too much for my rather stressed body.
However I find this list really interesting and it is giving me a few ideas. But
I must still do this trendwhore thing so I don't think I can try around there
too much. I will in the future.
Okay then I will see you around! Hope all you others are well and healthy! Let's
find our own styles. *lol* Yeah it's tough but I think it's fun too!
Quote by kuroimisaI think the problem
is that we accept people who ARE underappreciated, not because they FEEL
underappreciated. These are two things- and some people thinking "I'm
underappreciated" feel smaller than they are....? Lol it doesn't make sense
to me! If you're underappreciated that means that you have a lot more potential
and are a lot better than what people see you as... right? And that's meant to
be a GOOD thing. Having overappreciation to me is something that's a bad thing,
because you'll never really improve (that is if you get lots of "WONDERFUL
+FAVE")- unless most of the overappreciation was critical (highly doubt
it).
I don't have much time, but I wanted to write something about this. When I
thought of joining UA... I really wondered whether I would actually be accepted
in the group or if I even have the right to apply? Why? Because I saw how much
better the wallpapers of other people were. So I wondered do I have the right to
call myself "underappreciated"... *lol* And when I got accepted I felt
honored! And thought "wow"... So
yes I also think it is a good thing to be underappreciated...
@kuroimisa
Thanks for writing down the history of the Underappreciated. I wish I would have
known MT a little earlier. It does feel a little as if it all was better in the
past.
Quote by kuroimisa
From another point of view, don't think whether or not these discussions are
useful or not- they may or may not be- and that's fine But
I'm sure that this discussion was actually quite successful in the respect that while we haven't learnt anything
from it, look at the number of posts we received since I brought up the topic.
Yes, that's true... but still if you look who is joining the discussion, it's
always the same names.
And some comments ago you wrote that people don't want to be called
"underappreciated" and therefore don't want to join. I just remembered
it now... That's actually shocking! I never felt like that when I was thinking
of joining or not! But we still want to increase the number of members, right?
How can we win the attention back? I got the feeling that with WAR the
Underappreciated got more interest, whereas now... how many peoply at MT
actually know that this group is existing? The groups here seem a bit chaotic to
me. And I never look around how many groups there are... but maybe other people
do that. However if more are like me... then the majority won't know UA at all.
Quote by kuroimisa UA, I think,
shouldn't be just limited to underappreciation of gallery item submissions. I
think it should branch out to underappreciation of ideas and voices. We are more
art based of course, and we are categorised as art- and that's why we rarely
talk about posts or forums or anything of the like- but I think it's still an
essential thing- to have member activity, and whilst it may not benefit us (it
will when we reach a conclusion), it can at least raise some interesting issues
and other people who come by can also read and perhaps find some value in how we
think or feel.
Yes, I totally agree with you!
Quote by kuroimisaI hope now that we
can safely come to a conclusion that even with weird venting "I
OBJEcT!" discussions like these, we actually DID realise that we needed
something else other than vectors as a focus- and it was just in March this year
that we said we'd focus on vectors. So things change.
Suggestions? Grunge? Oil painting? (actually I have yet to learn that...)
Renaissance art? Art Nouveau? Grafitti/ street art? Lineart? Stick figures?
Scenics? Abstract? Psychedelic? (hey I like the sound of that *cough*) or even
bright saturated trendwhores if you want, if you are reminiscent of those once
popular saturated looking things. You name it, you agree on it, we'll work on
it.
Hmm..yes yes I like this... let us suggest... but it is so very difficult!
However I was just looking at the highlights and it was only now that I saw the
"highlight" Evo was talking about! I really don't want to bring up the
discussion again but I don't understand it at all... I think I finally lost all
my great respect of the highlights. I still always felt to have one of my
wallpapers once in the highlights would be "wow"... but now? There
is actually nothing in the highlights that in my point of view is so great that
it should be highlighted.
So even more I hope we can find a new way here in the UA group.
However... if I understand everything correctly when you want to work with scans
you can either extract or vector them, right? I will still stick to the vectors
for the reasons that I have already explained. Yet I was already wondering with
my trendwhore wallpaper how vectors are actually not sufficient. The shadows
always look so "hard"... I would like to find a new technique
vectoring combined with ?, if only I knew.
Grunge? I read that so often already... and wasn't that a bit like a trend too?
And Renaissance art? Hmm... I really can't see how this epoche of art can be
combined with MT, computer arts... Especially here it all still is that Anime
genre or let's say mostly Japanese artists... combine these with Renaissance?
Hmmm? *confused* Renaissance then I think of huge paintings and Michelangelo,
Raffael, etc...
All these are genres that you can find in history of art... Or graffiti etc. may
even exist in some wallpapers already. But if you want to make a graffiti
wallpaper... you still have to vector, right? I don't see how these suggestions
lead us to something new... because you were just saying that vectors are no
longer what we want to focus on.
That is what I don't understand... vectors are just a ... Misa called it...
Medium... how can you avoid them when you use Photoshop or Illustrator? With
extraction? I don't understand that at all! Help, help, help... please!
PS: I hope my English is understandable... sorry about all these "..."
I cannot stop making them... *lol*
*lol* Hmm... maybe it's motivating others to submit more and better items. I
just wrote down my personal opinion... and all these discussions are not going
to help me. I always tend to "over-think" everything. My wallpapers
were something where I didn't really think about them being original,
oldfashioned etc. I just started and finished them because I felt like it. And I
actually can't do more than what I do now... when I make a wall it will usually
take some time because I can only work on it during the evening.
But yes, maybe it is just me who won't feel motivated with this tactic...
If I imagine my teachers though coming into class... and sometimes they were
just complaining that our exams were so bad etc. that also felt quite
frustrating to me. ^_^ But why such comments frustrate me is also because I am
always trying my best. My current walls are the best that I can do. *lol* Well I
am working on it... but at the moment "more" is not possible!
*sigh*
That is why I think that we need to have this discussion in another way. If we
want to find some sort of quality, originality, new techniques even since
vectoring is "trendwhore" now... then why don't we think of that? That
would help me more! Don't know about the others though... I can only speak for
myself.
And discussions of how to do certain things... You know I am asking you quite
often about how to do this or that... You
helped me so much with your answers... always.
Whereas in such a discussion I only learn: quality is low... Minitokyo's quality
became less than it was once. And now?
Hmm... and here in the UA group what are we actually seeking with our
wallpapers? Simple-ism members want simple but yet stylish, original
wallpapers... and UA? Original, non trendwhore... hmm... that is all I know
right now... but how can we do this? No idea... and I am not sure whether
discussing it will lead to anything. Maybe trying and making walls is the only
way. But still I think it is more helpful and motivating to discuss "Where
do we want to go?" instead of "Where don't we want to go" or
"Why is the quality so low"...
So that would be my wish as a humble member of UA... Again
I hope no one felt insulted or bad after my comments... that is not my
intention. I am too direct sometimes. Sorry again...
Ok... it's time for university again, my whole Saturday!.... and I am still so
tired.
Hello I am a new member in this group... so I wanted to say "hello" to everyone!
@MapleRose Thank you for welcoming me to the group!
And
I am glad that it's possible to join both... Vectory and your sister group.
^^
@ all other Vectory members: Just want to say "hello"!
Hmm... you have this shout box... very cool! I am impressed!
Hello...
gaara invited me to the group... but I also got invited by your "sister" group vector wallers... Is it a problem if I join both? I like the nomination system here... and the website looks beautiful too! So I hope I am allowed to join!
Hello Vector wallers...
Sinever invited me to this group, so I applied to join!
I hope to make a vectored wallpaper again soon! Thank you very much for the invitation!
Hello to all the group members!
Hmm? Yeah, isn't that my wallpaper up there? I thought it was a bug that kept on reappearing, only realise now that the letters on the right speak about my wallpaper! Wow... thanks! My zodiac wallpaper...
*blushes*
Still thinking about the one challenge but I cannot promise an entry yet. O_o In October my diploma work must be finished! I'm so nervous since I am still at the beginning of writing it...
And sorry I had been away for some time, had problems with my internet, it didn't work anymore here at the hostel so I always had to go to university, which is extremely annoying since it is holiday now. It's all empty there, like a ghost house!
I feel like discussing something... Just don't know what. Where is Misa, queen of bringing up interesting discussions?
Hmm... hello to all members of the Paint-o-rama group!
I just applied to joining the group and I think I fulfill the group requirements but I want to say that I am an appreciator of the painted style... that is the only additional requirement? *lol*
Well I'm looking forward to being a member of this group and again "Hello" to everybody! ^^
Hmm... does this group still exist actually? O_o
Hello UA members,
I submitted my entry for the UA zodiac theme. I chose "Gemini".
Apart from that I don't have much to tell... my life at the moment is nothing but work work work to finish university as soon as possible. *sigh*
I hope you are all doing well!
Concerning the ripping problem... I really don't understand people who are doing that. What good does it give them to get credits for a work that is not theirs? It would leave me with nothing but bad conscience... so I wonder do they actually feel happy when they get positive feedback on something that they only stole from somebody else? O_o
*lol* Like many other people here, I'm dropping by to say that "I'm alive"! Uni and work are keeping me totally busy. However I hope to submit my zodiac wallpaper within the next week.
At least I hope so... I lack inspiration for my background, as usual...
Where are the UA banners actually, that we add to our submissions?
Well I got to go back to writing... Wishing good luck to everyone who's experiencing all this uni/work stress!
And... yes, no matter how much work... don't forget to drink water! O_o
Hello!
I
started something for the zodiac theme... I hope I'll manage to finish
it!
I had such an exhausting week! The only thing I did was reading and studying! Tomorrow I must work and sell clothes and then my weekend begins! But after all the reading I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow.
Hmm... well I am wishing you all a nice weekend!
@Misa: Sounds your week was as exhausting as mine... I hope you're feeling better by now!
@dementia: Welcome to UA!
Hello dear UA members,
apparently I am the first member to reply in the Annual Discussion 3. O_o
-Member acceptance criteria: too high or too low?
In my opinion these criteria are fine. People might be a bit "confused" about the aspect that they "graduate" if they are too "successful". But that is another question actually and we already discussed it in the past: about why people might not wanna be considered as "Underappreciated".
-What do you want to see to those you feel are too appreciated?
I'm afraid I don't really understand this question... but it might be due to my poor English! Or is it "say" instead of "see"... I am not sure... So I'll leave this question out for now.
-What is your definition of appreciated?
My English online dictionary tells me (*lol*...) "Appreciate is much used in cases where something is in danger of being overlooked or undervalued". Please don't think that I only understand now what "appreciated" means, but I wanted to check what my dictionary would answer to that question.
When I joined this group it was mostly because Misa always helped me so much at the beginning with all her comments on my works. Without these comments the pen tool would probably still be unknown to me. O_o I was all new in the Photoshop/Illustrator world so I thought UA would be the perfect place for me to receive help.
As for the definition of "appreciated"... I find some works at MT too appreciated when they obviously only get their attention of watchlist friends. And that is where in my opinion UA is needed... So all members are actually asked to pay attention to eachothers works.
Are we doing that? Well I can only speak for myself... and I don't do it! I could bring up excuses now... but I'll leave it out. O_o
I fear I am drifting away a little from the actual questions. But thinking about it now shouldn't we try to comment each others works a little bit more? But that brings me to the next question...
-Member mentoring scheme
Would you like to have a wallpaper mentor, so to speak? In other words, every time you post up something, your mentor must comment- or, every time you are working on a new piece of artwork, you can ask your mentor to check over it before you submit.
I personally think that's a good idea... that people who are seeking help get the possibility to find a "mentor" among UA members. But I guess not too many people will ask for a mentor, or will they? And would it bring more attention to the works of members in the group? I don't think so. Some people post into the UA guestbook when they completed a new work. Maybe we should do this more regularly. Otherwise the UA group, if we follow the definition of "appreciated",doesn't make that much sense. People should feel like... "Oh yeah, my works don't get enough attention, they are overlooked because my watchlist isn't really crowded with people... joining UA would help me with that."
Anyways, I know that commenting takes time too. I am really busy finishing my university but I'd be willing to comment on people's works more often.
So I
wouldn't mind if we try to do something like a mentoring system in UA.
-Sharing Techniques and Skills
I think posting tutorials in the guestbook isn't such a good idea because who'll feel like clicking through all the pages hoping someone might have posted a tutorial. So I prefer them archived on the UA site.
-What competitions do you want to see in 2007?
I didn't submit anything in the last competitions. Main reason is cause I lack time to finish my works. I only start... and then I can progress so slowly since I only find time for it in the late evening that I almost never come to an end. However I finished something for my gallery... so I could have managed something for the competition as well. Therefore I must say that I probably wasn't that motivated. Why is that so? Hmm... the topics are okay, but nothing too exciting... So I'd maybe take part if I had a lot of freetime.
That means as for myself, the competitions would have to be more exciting, more motivating... Maybe it's a bit too much of the same from theme to theme. I mean there are different topics... but still. I was curious about it when I first joined the group. And I always wanted to take part, now it's just "Ok, let's see whether I can come up with something..." And then nothing happens (at least in my case because some members did submit entries...).
I think it's nice that we have no deadline... however a little time pressure can be helpful too. So maybe bringing deadlines back would also be an idea. Then nobody will finish it in time since there is no real pressure like at school. True... Anyways it should be fun to take part in the competitions. But when a new theme is announced here no one has to say "yes, count me in". So if we really want more entries something like that would make sense. Also to make sure that not only one person is interested enough to submit something. Like in the copy cat theme... we only have an entry by Evo. O_o
Most certainly a reward is also missing. Again I can only speak for myself... but I can be quite lazy especially when it comes to doing things that won't change anything. If someone wins in one UA theme... what happens? Nothing! He or she might even miss it cause it is never really being announced and he or she might not understand the voting system beneath the thumbs that indicate who is about to win or who won with how many votes. It's no where explained, is it? I remember I didn't understand it when I first took part. ^^
Maybe we could do something like collecting points. If you take part in a theme you get a certain amount of points, if you win or become 2nd, 3rd you get a certain amount of points. And people who say that they will submit an entry and then don't... lose points. The person who is leading with the points "wins" a special position among the members? Like first place in the UA "class" on our long path to becoming appreciated?
Ah, that's another thing I wanted to say... I don't know whether it is so good that "being appreciated" almost becomes a negative word in our group. If someone joins he or she feels like being overlooked... so he or she wants to improve. Apart from sharing ideas with the UA members I am also here to improve. Is it really necessary that people who finally get attention and are in the top favored submissions a couple of times graduate from the group? I don't really see why because if someone manages that it would be quite an advertisement for the group... so why should we scare these people away? It would only help us to get some more movement in here in my point of view. So I am not sure whether this aspect is really necessary in the acceptance criteria.
Okay... that's what I had to say on the topics. There might be many typos and English grammar/vocabulary mistakes. I apologize... I must continue with my university work now. It's snowing here... in March. *sigh* Well at least I don't feel tempted to leave my desk. *lol*
Thanks for all the people who reached this point and are still reading my mumble. O_o I got a bit lost... *lol* And most of it was just ideas... hoping for further discussions...
Take care and good luck to all those of you who suffer from constant uni-stress!
Hello Evo,
thanks for the reply... Hmm... well I'll really try hard to come up with something... but at the moment I feel more like joining the Zodiac theme. There must be more submissions!
Hello UA members,
sorry haven't really been around. I'm wondering... can I still start a wallpaper on the zodiac theme? How much time do I have left to finish it if I do so? There are only two submissions... and one on copycat? O_o
Hello UA members! I want to wish a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you. Sorry I haven't really been around lately...
Still I'd like to vote. The aspect that's most important for the theme is the cute factor. So that was the first aspect I looked at.
1. Your Very Own Laptop Model by Ephemeral-Garden
2. Fly To The Sky by inREVERIEforever
3. Moogle Christmas by Spidey-Matt
Most improved: Spidey-Matt
Hmm... an idea for a new contest? I am reading about competitions so often and I guess the UA competition doesn't really trigger a wave of motivation anymore. I have started a wallpaper for the "no limit" theme. But I have also started one for the "trendwhore" and I haven't completed it so far. So Misa's suggestion to find out what we actually want to do is a good start! I really enjoyed the "weird" (lol... I mean it in a good way) tasks of Misa's TREC. When I take part in a competition I think it's fun to get tasks like this... and not just a sentence. But I must admit that it may also make it more difficult. I remember the task on that DDR game was quite hard to me... but it made everything more interesting and more fun.
Also we should think of... do we enjoy making wallpapers on our own or would a competition where you can also work in small groups or maybe only together with one person more motivating, fun, etc. As for myself I'd like work together but I also know that it's sometimes difficult... that was one of my TREC experiences too.
Evo wrote about something happy... Ephie about cute anime icons and Mokona... *lol* Maybe we should start a competition on a cute happy mascot design... We did something like this at university in a small group of 6 people. But it was actually more difficult than it sounds.
Well I hope we can discuss this some more. ^^ It's good to see some life in the UA guestbook!
Hello UAs,
I spontaneously decided to not go on holiday with my parents to stay home and be lazy, sleep long... *lol* So I have time to come here even though I must use my sister's computer since mine is being repaired. But unfortunately not too much seems to be going on here. Where are the discussions? *lol* Hmmm... Misa is the expert on starting discussions and I fear I am not as good in this as she is.
At the moment I am wondering a lot about how to use vectors. For my latest wallpaper I very often received the feedback that the lines were not clean enough. Am I wrong or do we always expect vectors to be clean, straight and symmetric if there is some sort of symmetry? I tried to simply use it in the way that I would draw on paper... *lol* And what I was looking for was not the impression of a "clean" image. Not too long ago we were speaking about how vectors are becoming "trendwhore" now... so... I think this is not true because I truely think there are more ways of "vectoring".
What else? I wish I had my computer because I only see two entries for the latest UA competition. And I still have an unfinished trendwhore wallpaper. Oh no! *lol*
Are you actually still checking on the highlights? I discovered that I do not really do this anymore, whereas some time ago I always checked when I logged in. Now I rather check my friend's highlights. Well I also have been absent for some time. Now that I am back I actually think that the quality of highlights improved again. What do you think?
And then... is anyone of you experimenting the limits? After all the lastest UA competition is called "Imagination has no boundaries".
*lol* Well these are only my thoughts. I'd be happy if someone has anything to say about them! *lol* I really think I am no talent to start discussions...
(^_^)/~~ *waves*
Hello, greetings from rainy Austria... This weather is so depressing! *sigh*
I tried to read all the last posts...
Maybe my impression is wrong but I think the UA guestbook is still a lot more active than most of the guestbooks I have seen so far. I actually never found long discussions anywhere but I guess I could be wrong since I am not looking around too much.
I also wonder where Omni is. Maybe he is scared to return after Arete. *lol*
About mods... I don't feel scared of them. They are people like you and me.
Some
may feel more powerful with their position but I don't really see how they have
power to discriminiate members. o_O But yeah I don't really know the mods. I've
only been exchanging some comments with Revan lately. And I didn't feel scared
at all! ^_^
I've also checked out the WAR site. But it's going to start end of June. I still have my last exams during the first two weeks of July and I will have to finish some writing work... so this schedule doesn't work at all for me.
I
would have liked to join a collab wall. But because of the date I cannot even
say "count me in" on that, I just couldn't make any promises of really
being a help with all the work that has to be done for university.
How do you people find inspiration? I usually always listen to music or browse the web, movies... and suddenly an idea comes to my mind. But at the moment I feel pretty empty. No ideas at all!
And yeah again about the complaints about the UA guestbook. I really don't see the situation being so bad. I'd rather say that members of UA are not really on the peak of submitting anything to the galleries. I mean yeah there are a few entries from time to time... but in my opinion it's not really a lot. I mostly see entries of Simple-ism members. But again my point of view here is not really based on research, just on a very subjective impression.
I'd like this place here filled with comments like "I submitted my new wallpaper" and people commenting and discussing new ideas and plans. So that's what I miss and that's what I think would be important for UA, not some spam comments...
I'm just dropping a line to say that I'm currently completely lost between books and work. I lack time to come online and that is why you probably won't read a lot of me during the next 2 weeks. Hopefully then the situation will improve a little, but June here in Austria is the last month of the summer term. So that brings naturally tons of work. I will try to at least read every once in a while what you are discussing.
Well I really hope I can be active on MT again soon!
Oh an age discussion? I am 23... what can I say? Luckily I haven't found gray hair yet.
@Misa
Higlighting process to slow? Hmm...somehow I don't think they are taking their "job" that serious. But I must admit my appreciation of the highlighting system at the moment is really low. I just saw too many wallpapers by now that I would have never highlighted. I get the impression that the mods are not really browsing the gallery to find the best walls. But we've already discussed this.
Your question was about them being slow or not? I think it is hard to say. It could be possible that there are no wallpapers that are worth to be higlighted for some time. Then there should be no highlights. I rather see the same old highlights then... than not really good ones. But I think there must be really good work here, so it's just a lot of work to always find the best.
k1ru also said something about this... but I personally don't like APs system that only highlights one piece.
It places one wallpaper in the middle of attention.
And no one so far posted one of a members works to propose it as a piece that should get more attention. Me neither... *sigh* Let's browse each others galleries!
Hello, sorry I haven't been around during the last days. I am a little sick.
I am shocked to read that Misa is sick too. We also had rain
again and it became cold, when it was so warm already. And now the heat is back.
I guess that was too much for my rather stressed body.
However I find this list really interesting and it is giving me a few ideas. But I must still do this trendwhore thing so I don't think I can try around there too much. I will in the future.
Okay then I will see you around! Hope all you others are well and healthy! Let's find our own styles. *lol* Yeah it's tough but I think it's fun too!
I don't have much time, but I wanted to write something about this. When I thought of joining UA... I really wondered whether I would actually be accepted in the group or if I even have the right to apply? Why? Because I saw how much better the wallpapers of other people were. So I wondered do I have the right to call myself "underappreciated"... *lol* And when I got accepted I felt honored! And thought "wow"...
So
yes I also think it is a good thing to be underappreciated... 
@kuroimisa
Thanks for writing down the history of the Underappreciated. I wish I would have known MT a little earlier. It does feel a little as if it all was better in the past.
Yes, that's true... but still if you look who is joining the discussion, it's always the same names.
And some comments ago you wrote that people don't want to be called
"underappreciated" and therefore don't want to join. I just remembered
it now... That's actually shocking! I never felt like that when I was thinking
of joining or not! But we still want to increase the number of members, right?
How can we win the attention back? I got the feeling that with WAR the
Underappreciated got more interest, whereas now... how many peoply at MT
actually know that this group is existing? The groups here seem a bit chaotic to
me. And I never look around how many groups there are... but maybe other people
do that. However if more are like me... then the majority won't know UA at all.
Yes, I totally agree with you!
Hmm..yes yes I like this... let us suggest... but it is so very difficult! However I was just looking at the highlights and it was only now that I saw the "highlight" Evo was talking about! I really don't want to bring up the discussion again but I don't understand it at all... I think I finally lost all my great respect of the highlights. I still always felt to have one of my wallpapers once in the highlights would be "wow"... but now?
There
is actually nothing in the highlights that in my point of view is so great that
it should be highlighted.
So even more I hope we can find a new way here in the UA group.
However... if I understand everything correctly when you want to work with scans you can either extract or vector them, right? I will still stick to the vectors for the reasons that I have already explained. Yet I was already wondering with my trendwhore wallpaper how vectors are actually not sufficient. The shadows always look so "hard"... I would like to find a new technique vectoring combined with ?, if only I knew.
Grunge? I read that so often already... and wasn't that a bit like a trend too? And Renaissance art? Hmm... I really can't see how this epoche of art can be combined with MT, computer arts... Especially here it all still is that Anime genre or let's say mostly Japanese artists... combine these with Renaissance? Hmmm? *confused* Renaissance then I think of huge paintings and Michelangelo, Raffael, etc...
All these are genres that you can find in history of art... Or graffiti etc. may even exist in some wallpapers already. But if you want to make a graffiti wallpaper... you still have to vector, right? I don't see how these suggestions lead us to something new... because you were just saying that vectors are no longer what we want to focus on.
That is what I don't understand... vectors are just a ... Misa called it... Medium... how can you avoid them when you use Photoshop or Illustrator? With extraction? I don't understand that at all! Help, help, help... please!
PS: I hope my English is understandable... sorry about all these "..." I cannot stop making them... *lol*
@kuroimisa...
*lol* Hmm... maybe it's motivating others to submit more and better items. I just wrote down my personal opinion... and all these discussions are not going to help me. I always tend to "over-think" everything. My wallpapers were something where I didn't really think about them being original, oldfashioned etc. I just started and finished them because I felt like it.
And I
actually can't do more than what I do now... when I make a wall it will usually
take some time because I can only work on it during the evening. 
But yes, maybe it is just me who won't feel motivated with this tactic...
If I imagine my teachers though coming into class... and sometimes they were just complaining that our exams were so bad etc. that also felt quite frustrating to me. ^_^ But why such comments frustrate me is also because I am always trying my best. My current walls are the best that I can do. *lol* Well I am working on it... but at the moment "more" is not possible! *sigh*
That is why I think that we need to have this discussion in another way. If we want to find some sort of quality, originality, new techniques even since vectoring is "trendwhore" now... then why don't we think of that? That would help me more! Don't know about the others though... I can only speak for myself.
You
helped me so much with your answers... always. 
And discussions of how to do certain things... You know I am asking you quite often about how to do this or that...
Whereas in such a discussion I only learn: quality is low... Minitokyo's quality became less than it was once. And now?
Hmm... and here in the UA group what are we actually seeking with our wallpapers? Simple-ism members want simple but yet stylish, original wallpapers... and UA? Original, non trendwhore... hmm... that is all I know right now... but how can we do this? No idea... and I am not sure whether discussing it will lead to anything. Maybe trying and making walls is the only way. But still I think it is more helpful and motivating to discuss "Where do we want to go?" instead of "Where don't we want to go" or "Why is the quality so low"...
Again
I hope no one felt insulted or bad after my comments... that is not my
intention. I am too direct sometimes. Sorry again... 
So that would be my wish as a humble member of UA...
Ok... it's time for university again, my whole Saturday!.... and I am still so tired.