The 7 Custom Sins

With so little going on around the site, it seems the past year has been a real 'who can have the most amazing custom EVAR'. This has caused some changes to the site and how it runs (competitions for such customs and auctions have gone through the roof in popularity, as well as cost). The fact of the matter is that this craze has caused some real beautiful customs to come into play. And of course, a few that make us blink a couple times and question how in the world it was ever accepted.

So where did this whole craze start? Originally, line edits were used to make small changes: a longer tail, collar, etc. Crazes have always had a start though (changing the bone in the prepared emote was all Hlao). As far as I know, the first user to make a fully edited custom, emotes and all, was Tsavo.

Since then, customs have evolved in some crazy ways. The real issue I want to discus is how they are being accepted. As far as I know, the admins do this (though whether Chesh does or not, I'm not 100% sure). Somehow multiple customs have slipped by the system, getting accepted and uploaded despite not following the rules. The problem with this? If someone's custom is accepted which violates a rule, it automatically becomes unfair to those who have been turned down under the same rule. Then staff are stuck between a rock and a hard place, as removing the custom is just as unfair to the owner of said custom. Such issues have been getting better, but it seems that on occasion customs that fall below par are still being uploaded from time to time, despite anatomy issues and the like.

Now, for simple amusments sake, I'm going to go and see if I can't find at least one custom that breaks each rule put in place. Have we uploaded an improper custom for every single rule? Let's see why don't we. Some of these customs may of been uploaded before such rules were in place, but its beyond my knowledge when each rule came around (and none the less, should they not have been replaced?) (DISCLAIMER: I do not claim these customs in any way to be bad, only that they violate rules in place on WH)

1. Line edits must be functional, in other words semi realistic. Correct Anatomy is important.

Well we all know this has been broken numerous times. We've had customs with incorrect anatomy since time began. I won't bother even trying to post them all, but rather just point out two which break this rule differently.

...well if you weren't around for the drama this custom created, don't ask. None the less, the fact that this custom was ever accepted is beyond me, as the anatomy is clearly WAY off. Yes, I know, this is an easy one to pick out.

Hon's custom is great, but the fact of the matter is that it is extremely cartoon like compared to every other custom on the website. It breaks the first part of the rule, to be semi-realistic.

2. Solid Black #000000 is not allowed as a base color. IF it looks black, even though it isn't, it's still not allowed!

A lot of customs are coloured darkly, but none that are the #00000. However, this one here really seems to come too close to the 'looks black', and for the most part has no other markings that make up for it.

3. Customs cannot be based on copyrighted material this includes but is not limited to movies, books, tv shows, games, etc. This also includes items, weapons, markings etc. You wouldn't like it if someone ripped your character, so be more creative! 

This rule seems like it should be the most strictly enforced, as it could come around to bite WH in the rear. We really don't need any more accusations concerning copyright ever again.

Despite how ridiculously sexy this guy is, he is indeed in violation of this rule. Though the actual character may not be a wolf, the design is based of a character from a copyrighted television show. 

Though I know little about the actual show this guy is from, I do know that he's based of a dog character from an anime. I'm more concerned about this fellow, just because it's so similar to the actual character. Look.

4. Customs must have distinguished colored lines, meaning the lines do not have to be black, but they must be present and a darker shade from the rest of the custom.

Woohoo! It seems we don't have any uploaded customs I can find which break this rule. There are a few who have lines which are a little light to be outlines, but none that are so much so that they could be found to break this rule.

5. Fully custom dog lines are not allowed! However minor edits to appear like a hybrid are allowed. Also wolves may be colored to look like dogs. 

If those aren't fully custom dog lines, I don't know what is. The tail, ears, and body have all been changed to look like a dalmatian. Even the person's profile states she's a pure-bred dalmatian.

The lines and colouring on these two fellows is fantastic. But once again, how in the world are they not custom dog lines? The tail, muzzle, ears, body...they look much too similar to pit-bulls than any hybrid.

6. Emote edits should not be cut off! A little here or there is fine, but every emote, should not be cut off. Either make it fit or cut it out.

There are a few emotes around that are cut off, but no single custom seems to have multiple cut offs. Yeehaw, two rules haven't been broken! (at least that I know of of course)

7. No Anthros! Quad customs only :)

Beautiful edits, great colouring...but quite clearly violates the rule here. Nothing else to say on the matter.

So, 2/7 rules have not been violated...that's not too bad...right? The mass majority of customs accepted follow all 7 rules, but the fact that so many slip through creates a fairly flawed system. Why are some accepted, while others are properly denied? It's a fair bit beyond me.

 

Rant: Account Auctions

So I've recently got into the business of account auctions. Which are a complete farce. Why? There's one thing all online auctions need, and that's an end date. Without one, there's no pressure for people to bid, and no reason the auctioneer would ever sell at a decent price. The reality is, auctions on WH are just sales asking for offers. An auction is a risk for the auctioneer, they may get a great deal, they may get ripped off. How they work now doesn't work at all. The auctioneer can wait forever if they'd like, they don't have to have an end date. Just take a look at these examples here and here. In the first, the autioneer is asking for more points than the highest bid from the highest bidder. Auctions don't work like that. In the second the person clearly says they have the right to choose not to sell. Which is fine if you're selling at a set price. Not in an auction. Auctions are both risks, as well as rewards, and those creating them need to realize this.

This was a problem on another site I used to be on, MagiStream. Without end dates, people would wait until they were happy with the bid. And that's great for the auctioneer, but the fact of the matter is that bidders have the right to get a good deal as well. Not to mention if the auctioneer never gets a good bid, they simply choose not to sell. If you've ever been on an actual website with auctions, you realize this is not how that works.

What needs to happen is rules need to be set in place for auctions. A set end time must be required for all auctions, time zoned and all. The auctioneer is then required after this set time to sell to the highest bidder, even if they are not happy with what they received. Bidders must also post their bids directly on the thread, to avoid confusing others.

'But Lo, this will make accounts sell for less!'

Actually, no. Accounts that are actually worth something will still get ridiculous bids. This also creates a competitive atmosphere with people one upping each other right before the auction ends. This system will prevent people from creating those 'might be selling' topics (which are ridiculous, if you want to sell, just sell) while providing to both bidders and auctioneers in a fair way. The ability to simply sell your account for a set price would still be in affect, but if you're going to auction your account, you'll have to be aware of the risks you're taking. It's only fair to all.

Obviously we'd need some better policing of auctions, just to make sure people pay debts and don't try and get under the radar if they don't get a high enough bid for their liking. This would also prevent people from bidding and deciding after they've changed their mind, thus screwing the one auctioning. In addition, we really need a system to prove if people have the points (I'm sure we've all seen a newb or two boost an auction with points they clearly don't have). The sales board just needs some fine-tuning, to make it fair for all.

Speaking of auctions, if you haven't seen these ones already, check them out. Sea is holding an auction of a 15 GBP donation for accounts and points. Band is also selling a sexy account here who's bid is still quite reasonable. And Jek's selling two accounts with fairly low IDs, if that's your thing.

All I've got for today it seems. Hopefully I don't run out of topics with how much I've been posting.

Pack Features Plz.

My laptop is smashed. I've ordered a new screen, so wish me luck that the rest of it still works? My dog decided to run through the charging cord. Thus, laptop acted as a frisbee. I might be a bit inactive, since I only have an ancient desktop to work on, but I'll try and get a post or too up here and there.

On to the topic of today! Pack features. Why? Because I want to reminisce and dream of mass-mails again okay? As a member of a number of packs and a leader of another, these really do make up a fair amount of game-play on WH. Well...they did. Then the update came around. Since then, packs have gained a few features back (like invites! seriously, we couldn't invite or boot people for around 2 months), but nothing compared to previously. Packs as of right now in terms of gameplay are quite useless unless they're fairly large and can actually offer their members sizeable XP/attack/defense boosts. Most can't, because they have nothing to incite members to join them. See the never ending circle?

Now boss battles are a feature most of us can remember. Attack Vlad, wait for most of your members to join, kick Vlad's bear butt. (haha). Or kick Inno's butt. Or the Rudolph. Didn't matter, it was alright. It didn't give anything to those who participated, but many people enjoyed it just to see if they were strong enough to survive through the entire battle. And of course, if a pack could beat a boss it was a good indicator as to whether it was powerful, and was another reason to join it. Still, the fact that none of the members who participated got anything out of it irked me. Maybe when they come back, we'll see that all the members that joined in will get some XP or something. Sure, the pack would get a few points and DP. But we all know DP is worthless, and you can't split 3 among 30.

Onto the only new feature we've gained since the update, boosts. This is genius. I love it, as does anyone who gets to experience it. Most packs seem to only use it for the XP boosts it gives (which makes sense) rather than the possible attack and defense bonuses. I seriously want to give Karl a giant juicy bone for this one though. It's incentive for people to join your pack, for members to level and it lets us all level faster. Seriously, just perfect. If you haven't joined a pack, you should just for the boost.

Last topic of the day, pack communication. As of right now, it is virtually impossible to easily communicate with all your pack members. Yes, I know, we have a pack forum. Not everyone checks the forum, you'll be surprised to hear though. Which is why please, for the love of all packs everywhere, we need some sort of mass-mail feature again. They made it easy to contact all members of your pack at once and tell them what was going on. Because everyone always clicks that little '1 message' button. Unless you're me, and enjoy being antisocial. On the topic of pack forums as well, has anyone managed to figure out the difference between Pack Discussion and Pack Planning? The two seem basically the same to me...but now I'm just being overly critical. One forum would really do just fine. Less clicking. Easier for me to be lazy.

For now I suppose all we can do is patiently await the return of the pack point shop, boss battles, pack battles, the use of HTML on profiles and of course, mass mails. Packs are a great thing, but they're very underprivileged when it comes to features.

Just a shout out to the lovely Sheri while I'm posting this, who a link to my beauty of a blog on her own blog. Go check hers out. She actually updates her blog fairly frequently, and likes to feature packs and sexy customs. Give her loves.

Wee, all for now.