oaktown wrote:DiM wrote:the foundry is hidden
Actually the foundry there hasn't launched yet, as the site is still in BETA.
i joined MC yesterday with the sole purpose of checking out the foundry. rj showed me some maps, he told me about the flash and i was really really impressed. that is until i actually joined and found out that the map making is reserved for only a select few (mibi, rj, widowmakers). if you want to make your own map then you can forget about it. you can design it, promote it improve it get feedback for it but in the end one of the 3 cartographers will make the image not you.
so .... ummm... yeah... it's like a bad joke
you see, there are 2 extremes when it comes to map making.
1. the landgrab/luxdelux method. where anybody can make any map with no graphic standards. this usually churns out tons of crappy maps and few good ones.
2. the majorcommand method. where everything is so tightly regulated that nobody can even fart without consent from a higher power. this churns out a few great maps but severely lacks in variety and because there are just 3 mapmakers everything they create revolves around the same stylistic choices. if you happen to like that style then it's great. if you don't then there's no chance you'll find anything nice.
and then there's the CC method where anybody can come make a map but under some strict regulations. this takes the best of each method above and creates the perfect hybrid. theoretically this is the best method if you want a decent amount of map, variety in style and theme and all wrapped up in quality.
yes, for various reasons the CC foundry isn't as perfect as it should be but this only shows that if a perfect method can sometimes fail then surely 2 imperfect methods (landgrab/majorcommand) will almost always fail.
“In the beginning God said, the four-dimensional divergence of an antisymmetric, second rank tensor equals zero, and there was light, and it was good. And on the seventh day he rested.”- Michio Kaku