Mortal Mist
Community Boards => Guild Hall - general Guild discussion => : pj February 10, 2010, 03:06:50 PM
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Now that we have a mission statement settled, it is time to start pulling some of these brainstorming threads together.
Here is our current mission:
Mortal Mist is dedicated to exploring and promoting Lucid Dreaming by providing an encouraging atmosphere where member-owners share and discuss experiences, informally promoting research and knowledge of lucidity and all aspects of dreaming through individual and collective documentation and experimentation.
This mission is not clear about going after and trying to accommodate those new to lucid dreaming, though "promoting research and knowledge" could certainly encompass that goal.
In striving to maintain our encouraging atmosphere - which is encouraging at least in part because of the lack of "static" around here - we need to find a way to draw in those who are open to learning about lucid dreaming and will fit into our unique community. We clearly aren't looking for young children.
A good place to start now, I think, is to begin capitalizing on the traffic that comes through here without ever being drawn into the forum. Here are some current statistics for the past 30 days:
6275 visits, with 947 absolute unique visitors
We have a 27.89% bounce rate, which means that 683 people stuck around and read for a bit - either on the front pages, in the forums or both.
Of those, 17 people registered.
I believe the next steps are redoing the front pages to make the forum activity more prominent and better represented, and getting the look of the forum in sync with the new front end appearance. Once these two things are accomplished, along with the ongoing board content reorganization and cleanup, that it will be time to launch our adwords campaign based on the keyword brainstorming thread.
At that point, a marketing campaign should be ready to go. Now that we have some sense of what we want to do, a marketing campaign can begin to be structured.
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Now that we have a mission statement settled, it is time to start pulling some of these brainstorming threads together.
Here is our current mission:
Mortal Mist is dedicated to exploring and promoting Lucid Dreaming by providing an encouraging atmosphere where member-owners share and discuss experiences, informally promoting research and knowledge of lucidity and all aspects of dreaming through individual and collective documentation and experimentation.
This mission is not clear about going after and trying to accommodate those new to lucid dreaming, though "promoting research and knowledge" could certainly encompass that goal.
In striving to maintain our encouraging atmosphere - which is encouraging at least in part because of the lack of "static" around here - we need to find a way to draw in those who are open to learning about lucid dreaming and will fit into our unique community. We clearly aren't looking for young children.
A good place to start now, I think, is to begin capitalizing on the traffic that comes through here without ever being drawn into the forum. Here are some current statistics for the past 30 days:
6275 visits, with 947 absolute unique visitors
We have a 27.89% bounce rate, which means that 683 people stuck around and read for a bit - either on the front pages, in the forums or both.
Of those, 17 people registered.
I believe the next steps are redoing the front pages to make the forum activity more prominent and better represented, and getting the look of the forum in sync with the new front end appearance. Once these two things are accomplished, along with the ongoing board content reorganization and cleanup, that it will be time to launch our adwords campaign based on the keyword brainstorming thread.
At that point, a marketing campaign should be ready to go. Now that we have some sense of what we want to do, a marketing campaign can begin to be structured.
:clap:
Lets do it.
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HEY! I'm here somehow. So I thought it would be really cool if MM toyed with the "experimentation" aspect. I think it would be cool, but it would be changing all the logos that we have so far. Who does all of our logos and graphics anyways?
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I was thinking a more, clean cut, high tech, smooth, scientific lab type look. The front page could load some sweet graphic of a test tube of multicolored liquid being poured into another tube, or beaker or whatever and then POOF! out sprouts the MM tree and creates some puff of mist then the name, Mortal Mist, slowly forms as condensation. I thought that would be really cool.
I think the science road could not only look darn cool, but put an emphasis on exploration and experimentation on a personal and public level as well as look great in a marketing campaign. It's of course gotta be kinda obscure, but not so much so that before they click on the ad they don't think it's for some experimental..."enhancement" or for some free-to-play online video game.
Also, we have to be able to offer people something other than hard hard work. That is after all what lucid dreaming is. Hard work to achieve something fantastic. Still, it's really difficult to show people, who often want instant gratification why they want to join our community. The thing that got me into lucid dreaming was a fantastic description on a website. It described walking through a park with fluffy pink trees and a vibrant colored sky and flying, all as realistic and lucid as in real life. I think that in order to truly demonstrate the magic of lucid dreaming, Mortal Mist should embark on a short film project. A series of viral short films created for marketing purposes. Something decently high budget (for us that is), perhaps from a film major in college somewhere with some decent special effects. Through a film we could aptly show the black fog that is our unconsciousness, the way it scrambles from our vision once we realize the dream. We could show all sorts of strange dream happenings and with a proper team and budget we could show lucidity with an amazing, appealing, even sleek style.
Since we don't have any real "product" as our main focus, I think we should start making some. I remember there being some shirts or mugs or dream journals somewhere, but I can't remember where to find those. Where's the "shop" tab? I think that to get a larger community we're going to have to commercialize to some extent. Start selling dream journals again, start selling T-shirts with snazzy obscure logos of test tubes with trees sprouting from them. Since we don't have advertisements (not something we should change) we should take some sort of small donations. Often I hear the commercial free radio stations having their "pledge week." An annual pledge drive in which they take donations to keep the station running. I think we should devise something similar to a pledge drive, or donation, and with some sort of incentive other than "the website can stay up."
That's all I got for now. Maybe sometime I'll make a sketch of the logo I had in my head or the front page I imagined.
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I like what you're thinking! Hopefully others will chime in. Thank you!
Just so you know, I am rather fond of that tree. . . so as you re-imagine this, it would be pretty awesome to keep that involved somehow. That's just my personal thing though - what the owners want, the owners will get.
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Just so you know, I am rather fond of that tree. . . so as you re-imagine this, it would be pretty awesome to keep that involved somehow. That's just my personal thing though - what the owners want, the owners will get.
I also like that tree. It's a bit of what defines us... a small bit, but a bit nonetheless.
As for the scientific lab theme... :uhm: some people here don't look at lucid dreaming scientifically.
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Watch for an announcement in the Guilds by mu - he's about ready to cut the new front end loose.
I'm thinking that the best bet might be to build it in an alternate (but publicly accessible location) and then move it into place when people feel it is ready.
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Watch for an announcement in the Guilds by mu - he's about ready to cut the new front end loose.
I'm thinking that the best bet might be to build it in an alternate (but publicly accessible location) and then move it into place when people feel it is ready.
Good idea. Stay tuned--most like today or tomorrow.
I like the tree a lot too, BTW.
Who does all of our logos and graphics anyways?
All two? :chuckle:
Seriously, the only graphics on the front pages now are the banner and the tree, that I can think of. (Besides background gifs and stuff.) I've seen some of your DreamSketcher entries; your contributions would be most welcome.
I like the science idea, but there will be (eventually) a research section of the front pages. Perhaps we can have each section themed slightly differently, to make things interesting and give it some variety. I don't know if the first page people see should be so scientific; as StarSeeker said, not everyone is drawn by the scientific side of lucidity.
If you have any more suggestions and/or graphics, I'd love to see them in the thread when I make the announcement.
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As to who did the various graphics - the original tree images are by Aquanina, the current banners are by Raklet's brother, and the cats were modified by me to fit the bill, though they are not my original drawings.
That about covers it.
Oh - Josh did the icons up front.
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Just so you know, I am rather fond of that tree. . . so as you re-imagine this, it would be pretty awesome to keep that involved somehow. That's just my personal thing though - what the owners want, the owners will get.
I also like that tree. It's a bit of what defines us... a small bit, but a bit nonetheless.
As for the scientific lab theme... :uhm: some people here don't look at lucid dreaming scientifically.
I also like the tree, which is why I thought it'd be cool to have it sprouting from a test tube.
My point isn't that everyone looks at lucid dreaming "scientifically." I think that there's a large element of experimentation of sorts on this site and I think that should be represented.
Watch for an announcement in the Guilds by mu - he's about ready to cut the new front end loose.
I'm thinking that the best bet might be to build it in an alternate (but publicly accessible location) and then move it into place when people feel it is ready.
Good idea. Stay tuned--most like today or tomorrow.
I like the tree a lot too, BTW.
Who does all of our logos and graphics anyways?
All two? :chuckle:
Seriously, the only graphics on the front pages now are the banner and the tree, that I can think of. (Besides background gifs and stuff.) I've seen some of your DreamSketcher entries; your contributions would be most welcome.
I like the science idea, but there will be (eventually) a research section of the front pages. Perhaps we can have each section themed slightly differently, to make things interesting and give it some variety. I don't know if the first page people see should be so scientific; as StarSeeker said, not everyone is drawn by the scientific side of lucidity.
If you have any more suggestions and/or graphics, I'd love to see them in the thread when I make the announcement.
Well I mean all this other...stuff. Is the other 90% of MM that we look at just some precooked forum stuff? Like that thing in the upper right corner with the italics and the pink stuff.
Well, I think we should think about giving things some freshness if we're going to start expanding. I think that using the scientific side of lucidity can give us the look. I of course don't want to lose the incredible fantasy aspect of our dreams, which is why I think we should mix a new, clean cut science look with some rougher elements, such as that tree, such as a different kind of font. I'm thinking we retool to the point that the way the forums themselves look is different. Now, the reason for that short movie is to curb that feeling of it being science, and work and boring. It's to show them how fun a lucid dream really is. It's to show them how amazing it is to fly. It's to show people how mind blowing it is that your dreams aren't just some slideshows, but your own world.
Right now I can't really draw you up any examples. I have to get ready to go to school.
Also, what cats pj?
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The italics and pink stuff are mine.
The cats - if you are using the default skin, go to the main forum page and look to the left of each board description for the dreaming cats!
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I also like the tree, which is why I thought it'd be cool to have it sprouting from a test tube.
My point isn't that everyone looks at lucid dreaming "scientifically." I think that there's a large element of experimentation of sorts on this site and I think that should be represented.
Absolutely; I think it should too. But the "look and feel" will be something everyone agrees on. Well, hopefully everyone. We'll see how many people get involved..
Well I mean all this other...stuff. Is the other 90% of MM that we look at just some precooked forum stuff? Like that thing in the upper right corner with the italics and the pink stuff.
I was primarily talking about the front pages, but the ultimate goal is to have a common appearance for both them and the forum. I don't know if we'll be waiting until the new version of the forum is in place for that--it may be some time.
Well, I think we should think about giving things some freshness if we're going to start expanding. I think that using the scientific side of lucidity can give us the look. I of course don't want to lose the incredible fantasy aspect of our dreams, which is why I think we should mix a new, clean cut science look with some rougher elements, such as that tree, such as a different kind of font. I'm thinking we retool to the point that the way the forums themselves look is different. Now, the reason for that short movie is to curb that feeling of it being science, and work and boring. It's to show them how fun a lucid dream really is. It's to show them how amazing it is to fly. It's to show people how mind blowing it is that your dreams aren't just some slideshows, but your own world.
Just to be clear, the systems for the front pages and forum are different. I'm installing a modern content management system for the front pages, so that anyone interested can login and edit the pages or add new ones. What we need is a theme for that--right now I'm just going to leave it with the generic default theme. I believe that should go a long way to providing a fresh look, and more, better organized content.
The forum is a separate thing entirely, but of course we should give it a similar appearance and integrate it as tightly as possible with the front pages. It has it's own theming system.. Like I said, we might wait for the next major version of the forum, because of the work involved.. Not much point in doing it twice.
I'm trying to make everything work good; it will take some talented artists and web designers to make everything look good.
Right now I can't really draw you up any examples. I have to get ready to go to school.
No pressure! If and when you feel like submitting anything.
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I believe the next steps are redoing the front pages to make the forum activity more prominent and better represented, and getting the look of the forum in sync with the new front end appearance. Once these two things are accomplished, along with the ongoing board content reorganization and cleanup, that it will be time to launch our adwords campaign based on the keyword brainstorming thread.
We could add feeds and stuff with forum activity here and there. We could even embed the forum into the front pages, so for example, clicking a forum link will fill nearly the whole screen with the forum, but still leave the front pages menus, or sidebars, etc. visible.
I haven't looked into the way the forum's themed at all.. But it looks like changing anything besides CSS would affect mods and stuff, right?
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HEY! I'm here somehow. So I thought it would be really cool if MM toyed with the "experimentation" aspect. I think it would be cool, but it would be changing all the logos that we have so far. Who does all of our logos and graphics anyways?
We could you use your skills.
I don't really have a whole lot of skill in web design or animation. I don't even have a whole lot of experience with electronic media. The best I think I can do is offer up roughs and concepts for an expert to expand on, flesh out and finalize. If you think my creativity is worth anything then consider my ideas that I posted above.
Also HI MOONBEAM!!! =D
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Okay so I went into paint and I sketched out this thing. My photoshop hasn't been working, so it's the best I could do. There would be a lot better about this thing if I had Photoshop.
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk241/pancaka/MortalMistLogo.png)
Now the tube would look a lot more stylized and less sloppy than this. Thicker lines. More like the art they use for public signs and warnings and things. The different colors would kinda dissolve or gradient into each other. I just used hatching to demonstrate it in this case. At the top a rainbow colored mist would spill out. The mist wouldn't be so vibrant. A little more faded out and wouldn't look like a bunch of hatching, but a cloudy gradient. The tree isn't perfect, but you get the point. It sprouts out from the test tube. As for the title I thought it could go at the bottom, under the tube completely, the top of the tube at the base of the tree like they are now with that white misty aura around the letters, or straight through the middle. Depending on how that's done it could look nice. Maybe slap an "MM" on the tube somewhere... Anyways there's my basic idea and motif.
I think user maniakalBycikle is pretty good with design/illustration-ish stuff. I'm also pretty sure he's got photoshop running on his computer. I'mma see if I can't get him in on this. He might be busy with college though.
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The image is great, I must admit.
But again, I would choose it for the research page. I think it fits better there - we make many experiments and work a lot with LDS.
As for the front page, I know that I am repeating myself, but I can't stop thinking that it gives a somewhat wrong idea of MortalMist. For some people here, the scientific view of lucid dreaming is not only unimportant, but wrong. Some people look at lucid dreaming in a more spiritual way.
And, the fact that the tree is sprouting from a test tube, is as if saying that our community is built on science and experimentation. While part of our work here is just that, our main focus are the dream journals.
Just my two cents.
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Pancaka, ideas like this are exactly what we need. Any kind of thing related to appearance, layout, and functionality is welcome; absolutely no technical skill is required at all. If you want to contribute graphics, a scanned hand-drawn image is fine!
I like your idea. There's no research section yet, but I'm thinking we could use different kinds of images like this in each section; for example, have a more fantasy-type one in the featured dreams, or an "infinite possibilities" horizon type thing for the introductory material, etc..
StarSeeker, that's how I feel about it too, but I think Pancaka is trying to think of a unifying type of theme for all the pages. We need that too; I think we should try to come up with something based on the mission pj gave in the first post here.
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Here is our current mission:
Mortal Mist is dedicated to exploring and promoting Lucid Dreaming by providing an encouraging atmosphere where member-owners share and discuss experiences, informally promoting research and knowledge of lucidity and all aspects of dreaming through individual and collective documentation and experimentation.
The mission is EXACTLY where I got my idea StarSeeker...
The image is great, I must admit.
But again, I would choose it for the research page. I think it fits better there - we make many experiments and work a lot with LDS.
As for the front page, I know that I am repeating myself, but I can't stop thinking that it gives a somewhat wrong idea of MortalMist. For some people here, the scientific view of lucid dreaming is not only unimportant, but wrong. Some people look at lucid dreaming in a more spiritual way.
And, the fact that the tree is sprouting from a test tube, is as if saying that our community is built on science and experimentation. While part of our work here is just that, our main focus are the dream journals.
Just my two cents.
Yes there are probably people who look at it more spiritually, but I don't know if there are THAT many who think the scientific aspect is explicitly wrong (except maybe that "Arnie" guy lol)
Ah! You've given me another idea!
our main focus are the dream journals.
Going back to that animation thing. A book flipping open. Slowly at first and then rapidly. Suddenly a rainbow and a tree shoot out! Seems alright.
Still. As far as making our own "brand" so to speak, I think the science thingy would work very well. I think the whole clean cut, white lab coat look would really pop. Still my favorite idea. I'll draw a book one up later. Right now I have to write an essay for school.
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Ah! You've given me another idea!
our main focus are the dream journals.
Going back to that animation thing. A book flipping open. Slowly at first and then rapidly. Suddenly a rainbow and a tree shoot out! Seems alright.
IMO, that seems more adequate. :goodjob:
Still. As far as making our own "brand" so to speak, I think the science thingy would work very well. I think the whole clean cut, white lab coat look would really pop. Still my favorite idea. I'll draw a book one up later. Right now I have to write an essay for school.
I'll wait for your drawing, then. Good luck with your essay!
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I like the logo the way it is right now... but having different logos for different sections of the site is a cool idea! It's just I don't see Mortal Mist as a lab. To me, the tree and the mist and the floating island represent a mysterious and intriguing place, a place to be explored. However, I do agree that this place could benefit from a slightly more modern look.
As for the front page, I think some sort of RSS feed could advertise new posts and threads in the forums, and if people want, they could subscribe! Maybe the dream journals could have their own, too.
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I like the lab/experiment idea a lot, but I think someone mentioned there would be a research page so it would probably fit best there. Having said that I think that a lot of people will decide whether or not to register based on how the forums look and how easy they are to navigate. So I also think we could use some shiny new graphics or a new layout. :D
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Going back to that animation thing. A book flipping open. Slowly at first and then rapidly. Suddenly a rainbow and a tree shoot out! Seems alright.
:goodjob: Excellent. We could use the tree as a unifying element--try to incorporate it in all the artwork somehow. What you suggest with science and the book are a great start.
I like the logo the way it is right now... but having different logos for different sections of the site is a cool idea! It's just I don't see Mortal Mist as a lab. To me, the tree and the mist and the floating island represent a mysterious and intriguing place, a place to be explored. However, I do agree that this place could benefit from a slightly more modern look.
Yes.. I'm really liking the ideas with the tree..
As for the front page, I think some sort of RSS feed could advertise new posts and threads in the forums, and if people want, they could subscribe! Maybe the dream journals could have their own, too.
*cough* http://mortalmist.com/forum/index.php/topic,2764.0.html (http://mortalmist.com/forum/index.php/topic,2764.0.html) :)
I like the lab/experiment idea a lot, but I think someone mentioned there would be a research page so it would probably fit best there. Having said that I think that a lot of people will decide whether or not to register based on how the forums look and how easy they are to navigate. So I also think we could use some shiny new graphics or a new layout. :D
Exactly. A lot of people might never take a second look, based solely on appearance and layout. They'd never even know what they're missing.
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Well I think that the animations, the flashy visuals and the style would pull people in. Who would really be off-put by a vial of strange liquid colorizing, releasing a cloud of rainbow mist and sprouting a tree? That's awesome! Also, the short movie idea would really get things going I think. To show a high quality short movie of a lucid dream would really show people what it's like. Those without the most vivid imaginations might want to see that. We could have it on the front page. Look at any movie trailer website. We could put it all over youtube, advertise on facebook, spread awareness to high profile internet personalities like popular vloggers. That might get the word out.
I've been taking a writing class from a teacher who used to be in advertising and marketing. I'm trying to figure out ways to make lucid dreaming more interesting, more involving and give it an allure that seems fun, "cool" bad ass even. I think that look I've been advocating would accomplish that. I think it could bring about more awareness about lucid dreaming. It's something people should know about.
The most fantastic realm in this universe isn't out there. It's inside. Our own minds! Think about it! A world where anything is possible if only for a short time. Lucid dreaming is something that a lot of people don't even know about. It's actually somewhat depressing to think that there are people out there who don't have some "magic" in their life. Lucid dreaming is that magic...
I just got another idea! A tree sprouting from a hat! We're all in agreement about the tree being the unifying symbol, right?
Maybe we can use ALL of these. The book, the vial, the magic hat. Create a series of animations that could play when the front page starts.
Still. I think we should have one unifying logo. Imagine we have a tv station. What's going to show in the corner of the screen? I think my first idea. At the moment I'm just kinda brainstorming and throwing out ideas.
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Oh and while we're doing renovations, who created the dreamsketcher again? I think we should give it some cool new functions. I don't want to say I'm THE artist here or something, but I did win the dreamsketcher contest (/gloating) and I thought it could use some other functions. Whether or not it's been updated since the contest I can't tell...because it won't open up for me. Any idea as to what could be stopping it from working?
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First off, I love the movie idea.. a lot. It's just I don't know who amongst us could do that. To have a movie of a lucid--surely that would be one of the coolest things ever--but also extremely difficult.
Coming from someone who often drinks strange liquids in dreams, I also agree that that too is awesome. But so are other things about lucids.. We'll see what everyone seems to agree on.
I don't think lucidity could possibly be more interesting than it already is. It's just that, in my opinion, I don't think a lot of people have any idea what is even possible. They might even think it's BS, or that we're all exaggerating, or something. It's to that end that we should try to be interesting to anyone, even those who couldn't care less about science. Personally, I care a great deal about the science of it. And we should do everything possible to be taken seriously in that respect. But it can't just be science; after all, it would be sort of lying--a lot of what we do has little to do with serious research. The DJs, for example. A lot of it really is just for fun.
I couldn't agree more about the most fantastic realm in the universe. I think that's the type of thinking that appeals to those scientifically and otherwise minded. Some fine words there..
Keep those ideas coming..
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I believe Dodobird created the DreamSketcher. It's been broken for a while.. I'm not sure what's wrong with it.
I'll ask pj if he ever found the source, although I'm not a Java programmer.
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My sister takes film classes at our college. Maybe she has connections.
Maybe there should be some elements to downplay the science. I think that the sciency aspect would look very appealing. Maybe we should have some other elements there to downplay it and balance it out. Blend the two together somehow. I know it shouldn't be solely about science, but a look is important.
As for being interesting to everyone, that's what the movie is for. That's what the flashy stuff is for. That the animation has a vial in it and that it looks like I described it would be an afterthought. Still, you're right. The other aspects of the site should also be brought fourth. A more fantasy like look and maybe a more dream journal focused look could also do very well.
I don't think that because two people disagree with me on some points that my ideas should be ignored (not that that's what's happening) likewise, just because I have my own visions, I can't ignore the great ideas that everyone else is presenting. I don't think the decision comes down to me or to you, nor does it come to both of us, but to ALL of us here on MM. I think once we really Iron out ideas, really get some options solidified, we should have the members take a vote. I remember the turnout during the Dreamsketcher contest though. Wasn't exciting. So I think that there should be some sort of mandatory vote for all members after they log in. Now I don't want people to vote without thinking or knowing, just because they want to get it out of the way and pass. I think they should have a preview of both options maybe in the form of video. Sean999 does music right? We could have some screen shots and screen captures of the options with some fitting music to go with it! :P
This is all getting really cool.
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Yeah, it is exciting. I just wish more people thought so. You're right about both the necessity and probable lack of participation for a vote. But MM belongs to all of us regardless, and I wouldn't think of trying to enforce my own ideas, or any particular other one person's, without something like an agreement or compromise.
Ahh.. the movie. I don't want to say too much about it, so you don't feel like anyone's pressuring you about anything. You seem to be very busy with school, and this stuff is all still a ways out, so take your time, and talk to your sister when you feel like it.
I can only speak for myself, that I'm certainly not ignoring your or anyone else's ideas. But like you said, it's not my (or our) decision.
Oh yeah--there are some *very* talented artists and musicians around here, but a lot of them might not be aware of or interested in what's happening here.
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This community needs to be more involved man. I was very disappointed at the turnout for voting in the contest, but even worse I was expecting a lot more entrants! I had absolutely no confidence in winning. I was SURE that some amazing artist would smoke me.
Once the things working again we should tinker with it, improve it and have another drawing contest. Advertise it on the front page and in PM's with some example works and instructions in it. That would be awesome.
When you know for sure who's in charge of the dream sketcher, have him PM me.
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I know.. In fact, the front page thing is a small part of larger picture concerning this; making everyone realize this is their site/forum and that it's not owned, nor its destiny determined by the admins.
I'll find out about the DreamSketcher, and do that. No promises, but one of these days I might try to learn Java and fix it myself, if we can find the source code. I think someone else might be (sort of) working on it; not sure about that either.
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Dodobird wrote the Java, and Raklet created the secure socket. I have no idea why it quit working and don't even remember the circumstances anymore. The code is still here and surely can be muddled through somehow. Dodo is not able to help us out right now.
wolvendeer agreed to take a look at it, but that didn't get very far - probably because of me.
I'll show mu where the pieces are. . . maybe we can figure out how to put Humpty Dumpty back together. I sure miss that feature!
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If you have the code then maybe it might be easier just to take it out and put it back in.
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I'm giving you access to the Locker Room - there is a thread there with some of the code in it. I'm really lost as to where to go from here.
Look for a new board for you in just a few minutes
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WEE! It works sorta!
Of the things I wanted to see added were an opacity meter (instead of the coffee cup which only has one opacity setting) and some cosmetic stuff that would let you know what color you're using. Also I think it would be cool to use that...big....rainbow square (I can't remember what it's called) to pick colors instead of swatches. Simple electronic drawing stuff. I gotta go to school now.
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They're working on it right now. . . and some other ideas are being floated.
I'm not sure we have the source for this - the core of it is Dodo's creation. mu has some other alternative ideas - we'll see where this leads.
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Pancaka--it already has a "rainbow square" :chuckle: I think. Try double-clicking on one of the colors in the color.. swatch thing. (I have no idea what any of this stuff is called.) You have to click really fast.
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ah yes. I remember doing that now. I'd say it might be nicer to have the color square up front, but hey, it's fine the way it is, in that respect anyhow.
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Oh yeah. Another thing I thought of was maybe revamping the stars system somehow. Also I think it would be cool to give people custom stars for achieving things somehow.
I want eggs for stars since I won the dream sketcher contest =P. Lol JK
Okay seriously that would be awesome. I want that. I don't want to put pressure on anybody to make me some stars though. :P
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Alright Pancaka. You got me. I can't resist design shenanigans. :P
Maybe we can use ALL of these. The book, the vial, the magic hat. Create a series of animations that could play when the front page starts.
Exactly what I was thinking. I think it was reading rainbow that had a book flipping open and revealing all kinds of crazy stuff. We could combine images from all the major aspects of MM into a flipping dream journal, and eventually fade into the MM Tree. ...or something like that.
As far as drawing people here and sparking interest, what got me hooked was relating my own dream experiences to others. I wanted to know what happened and why (scientific), and what other people do/have done (social aspect, dream journaling). Everybody has had a ridiculous dream, a re-occuring nightmare, or some strange sleep experience, and trying to show this in the logo/main page may help bring in newcomers.
I'd be glad to help with any graphics or design, though I have no web building experience at all.
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Oh yeah. Another thing I thought of was maybe revamping the stars system somehow. Also I think it would be cool to give people custom stars for achieving things somehow.
I want eggs for stars since I won the dream sketcher contest =P. Lol JK
Okay seriously that would be awesome. I want that. I don't want to put pressure on anybody to make me some stars though. :P
Lmfao.
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Exactly what I was thinking. I think it was reading rainbow that had a book flipping open and revealing all kinds of crazy stuff. We could combine images from all the major aspects of MM into a flipping dream journal, and eventually fade into the MM Tree. ...or something like that.
As far as drawing people here and sparking interest, what got me hooked was relating my own dream experiences to others. I wanted to know what happened and why (scientific), and what other people do/have done (social aspect, dream journaling). Everybody has had a ridiculous dream, a re-occuring nightmare, or some strange sleep experience, and trying to show this in the logo/main page may help bring in newcomers.
I'd be glad to help with any graphics or design, though I have no web building experience at all.
Take a look, it's in a book.. :whistle:
(I apologize; I'm WBTB.) Thank you, maniakal. That was my case too. I don't talk to anyone about dreams except here. This place is like a *part* of the dreamworld, it's so strongly associated with it. It's amazing.
I'll post here again tomorrow--I'm too tired to think straight right now. But thank you for showing some interest!
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We have a number of very talented artists here, and some good general ideas about how to tie the pages together. Besides looking good, our main goal is to get visitors to the front pages interested enough to come in and spend some time in the forum. And hopefully join. ;)
Please note that I'm purposely not responding to some individual ideas, because the purpose here is to generate as much discussion as possible amongst members. Likewise, I don't think pj or the other admins will, since we don't want it to seem like the matter has been at all settled when we say this or that idea is good (or not.) Everyone's suggestions carry the same weight.
As far as web design goes--it's completely unnecessary to understand the first thing about HTML, CSS, etc. to "design" a site. Those things are used to implement a site, and I have enough knowledge to attempt to implement the ideas that come out here. Think of them as the raw materials artists work with--anyone can learn to use them, but only those who have a vision will be able to create something beautiful. What we need is vision--those with artistic minds to imagine how things should appear. We can handle the actual implementation.
So, artists: besides images, there's the question of the layout of the entire page. It's an entirely visual thing. Where should the menus appear? What should the little things like the boxes containing forum stats look like? Do they have borders, images, etc. around them? What we need, really, is an image of the entire page. That's 90% of web design. (Of course, the design should also be practical and usable.) This is the hardest and most important part; the rest is just code-related details I can handle.
All this will take some time to do right. Hopefully enough people will be involved that a sort of consensus is reached. In the meantime, please don't think your ideas are being ignored because they've not been acted on right away. They're most appreciated. Thank you!
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HOLY SHIT! I HAD EGGS!
...Okay now it's just ***** lol
I was so excited to see eggs! Thanks! Who did it?! THAT WAS AWESOME! =D
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Okay I figured it out lol. When I'm logged out I see eggs (GLORIOUS EGGS!) and when I'm online I see "*****." Anyways THANK YOU whoever did that. That is SO awesome. =D
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What?! They're gone?!
That won't do! :shakehead: Are you using a special theme?
(Uhm, the person who did it might want to know.. :paranoid:)
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I'm using the classic one.
You can still see the eggs right? It's just me right?
Also THANK YOU!!!!! :thankyou: :headbanger: SO AWESOME (I used that smiley cuz I've never seen it before and it's awesome)
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:headbanger: is due to Moonbeam.
Eggs are due to ???. :paranoid:
But something tells me you should see them now..
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HELLZ YESS!!!! EGGS!!!!
Thank you random MM occurrence of eggs!
Oh and thanks to MB for the cool smiley :P :headbanger:
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:lol: That was pretty wild, that that just happened! Crazy, man. Lol..
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HAHAHA!! That's great. ...could we make a breakfast theme??
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Seems we already have one going.
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YAY!
As soon as I find something really really really good I want to update my avi.