Board Thread:News and Announcements/@comment-27856359-20160906171105/@comment-27950523-20160906180553

There are...a lot of characters on this Wiki. Quite a lot. Some whose owners who have been long gone. There are the gems that I read who don't have any comments and it genuinely surprises me. I don't always leave comments though.

Here's why. I leave comments for OCs who I genuinely like. Who stand out to me in some way and when I do I like quoting an excerpt from their page so that they know that I did in fact read their page. I learned, for myself personally, not to leave comments unless I actually mean them. And when I do it is because the OC has stood out to me. Not just in good artwork. Artwork for an OC can be nice and the ones I have seen on here are phenomenal. I don't always comment them however. Despite past arguements and cynical, bitter, angry little views artwork isn't the only thing I pay attention to, believe it or not nor is it the thing I rely on to ensure my OCs are "lifed up" or, to my impossible standards, of what makes them good or if they are up to par with the original vision I've always had for them. I pay attention most of all to personality. How well they were written and the details disclosed that gauges if I truly do care abou this character if they were canon. This comes down to another thing.

Aesthetic.

I wish people would understand this more and others personal point of views, but hey, that's asking for a perfect world. I have my own personal tastes of what I like to see in my characters. That includes characters who aren't conventionally good. Characters who are amoral. Characters you can oppose. How boring the Wiki would be if we didn't have characters we could oppose and instead characters we always have to root for! There are OCs on here who made me want to join this website and the inspired me to want to make OCs who had the same effect on people. To have that kind of power. Axel Wolf and Jane Hook are one of the first OCs on here that I saw and I felt so inspired by them, they had such power. Yeah, they have great artwork, but their personalities really hooked me in to who they were as characters.

Yes there are characters on here who have no comments. And excuse me if I sound harsh on this, there are times where it's quite easy to see why.

My driver page doesn't have any.

Does it bother me? Nope. I didn't make that page for the sole purpose of people leaving me feedback over a page that's all about me. I wouldn't mind it. But I don't crave it. It's there so people can understand me a bit better and so I could tell the information I wanted to reveal about myself.

I didn't make it for attention. I made it because I want users to know the person across the keyboard a bit better.

Getting attention for our OCs is nice. I won't deny that. It's a nice ego boost. But if that is all you are relying on to make you feel happy about an OC you put hardwork into, then the creative process is going to become very miserable for you.

I've seen this argument way too many tmes than I really care to. And it makes me pretty sad. I hope people aren't just making characters for the sake of popularity, and "much deserved attention". Is the attention nice? It sure is. Any attention you get for any form of creativity is really great. Artists struggle with this all the time, except for the revenue it's understandable because there are people out there who are literally living off of their art. Attention is very important to them because the actually need it. You should do something though because it makes you happy. Because in some way or another it relieves stress. In my case it is a nice vent method for me to air out inner turmoil, thoughts, frustrations and the like because I live vicariously through my OCs.

If you crave that attention, maybe it wouldn't hurt to start a few RPs. The better people know your OCs, the more likely they are going to get noticed. It is the best way for other to get a good feel for their personality.

But what about people who aren't out going and don't want to put themselves out there??

Well then you contradict yourself. Because anyone who wants an OC, a piece of literature, artwork, some type of buisness? Let me tell you. Putting yourself out there is key then. And if you don't feel like you want to do that, to interact with a community then I'm sorry. But that remains your problem. People are here to fret over their own characters, writing, and art, not cater to you and personally aren't here to feed into your ego because of your sense of entitlement. Imagine being at a party where everyone is talking, having a great time, laughing and whatever else. Then there's the one person sitting there, with their arms crossed over their chest looking bitter and angry because they aren't getting the attention they are entitled to yet are not making any efforts to engage or appear engaging. I don't imagine a lot of people wanting to approach that person. I know I wouldn't. Then again I don't approach a lot of people to begin with.

It's great though, that you put forth effort to make sure people know that you care about their characters. And maybe the reason you haven't had a comment back is because maybe those people just simply don't come on here anymore. I get comments that I don't always see. Not because I'm ignoring them. My email doesn't cue me off that someone is talking about my OC or it is simply pushed down by a flood of activity.

Who knows?

Sometimes I do get comments that I take a long time to respond to.

That is simply because I am thinking of what to say back instead of a just a stale "thank you!" because I would be lying if people who took the time to comment on my characters, didn't mean the world to me.

People have said this before. If you think, there are OCs on here who are truly deserving of attention. Well nothing is stopping you from making a community spotlight page.

Nothing.

Other than your own, personal obstacles and don't say "Well I won't get noticed because I'm not popular on here! :)"

Well then. I've made blog posts that haven't gotten any form of attention, or let me know they got attention.

This is fine with me. This website is for a fandom not a popularity contest dammit.

If this happens to you keep trying. It never, ever hurts to keep trying and if you do decide to make such a post I will try my best then to engage you and encourage you along the way.

Good luck. <3