Two orcs.
I learned a lot from these orcs last week. The fellow on the right, the green and purple one, was the one I partially painted while teaching basic painting techniques. (I only teach basic techniques - don't know any advanced ones!) The one on the left, in powder blue with tan skin, was one painted by my "students."
What the teenagers learned from me that night were how to handle paint and choose a brush, the importance of priming, how to do washes and drybrushing, and so forth.
What I relearned once again is that this hobby means different things to different people. Me, I tend to get obsessive about my paint jobs. But the newbies reminded me that this hobby is about having fun. They argued about proper skin colors for orcs - one decided on green, one swore that brown was the official AD&D method, and one (a free thinker!) decided on coppery skin. One thought that his tough orcs looked best in powder blue armor. Another really got into the spirit of splashing blood on his sword, and wounds on the armor, and strange symbols elsewhere...
(Thanks to Nemo Miniature for providing the plastic orcs, which come as part of their Fantasy Warriors game set.)
We've recently completed work on the 1/285th and 1/300th Scales WWII Miniatures Library. The question rises: what next? Which period/genre? Which scale? What information are you looking for, and how do you want it organized?
Send your opinion to the editor.
Last month we asked what folks thought about taking the website commercial. In came the votes. Surprisingly, 5 out of 6 of you said that you'd pay for access to this website! Suggested subscription rates varied, with some wanting $5-10 prices, most hitting the $20-25 range, and a few brave souls willing to pay $50 or more. Some of the best of the comments:
| Chris Brantley (brant@erols.com) |
|---|
| I'm not sure whether I would pay a modest fee to read your pages or not. I like what I read, but there is too much free stuff out there that you are competing with. My philosophy re: the website growth versus time dilemma is "less is more" Focus on a few things and do them well, rather than trying to do everything. Why do people come to the Miniature Page? Find out and spend your time focusing on those specific things. Or, since it is just for fun, do what you enjoy most and forget the rest. And when you get burned out...take a break. |
| Chuck (Minadmiral@aol.com) |
| Think big - the mighty oak was once a nut like you. |
| Peter Simunovich (petersi@simu.co.nz) |
| You do a great job. Yes, I would buy in if you went commercial. |
| Curt Daniels (curt@intercomm.com) |
| I feel that most gamers want to spend their limited gaming money on lead and conventions. With the good search engines available most people can build a large library of links what they would loose by not subscribing are the news, editorials and reviews. I am not sure how much value people would place on that service. My two cents worth. |
| Mats Soldestam (soll@hem.passagen.se) |
| I don't really play any miniature games. I like to read about it though, and your site together with Terragenesis are the best. |
| Thomas Pope (tpope@cs.cmu.edu) |
| I like how you bounce from ruleset to ruleset and from company to company. That's a start. I'd also like to see more articles on the other side of the hobby. Sculpting, casting, the business end, as well as painting. Other than that, just more of everything... |
| Ken Messenger (MessK1@aol.com) |
| I thought about your question long and hard. My first thought was, heck no (I'm kind of frugal), but I really started to consider it. I read your page around every three or four days and I get tips from it. It's not fair to demand so much of your time, if it's costing you so much. So would I sunscribe to TMP? Yes. What services would I ask for? I would like more pictures on painting and construction tips. I would like to see a Battle Report section, with pictures, of various games you played. This sounds funny, but that helps if I really wanted to get involved with that game and it helps clear up some rules questions. |
| Larry Brom (loribrom@interpath.com) |
| Would definitely pay as much for your wonderful endeavor as I do for Magweb ($60 ?) since the information and news updates are worth it all, if you're serious about the hobby. |
| Tom Barkalow (twb-vpl@worldnet.att.net) |
| I like the game rule reviews you have, especially the rare occasions when someone writes in with their views (and especially the even rarer times when it is apparent the writer has actually tried playing the system through a few times and isn't just spouting off immediate reactions - saw a lot of this with Volley & Bayonets and Napoleon's Battles). I like your reports on miniature reviews, painting attempts, and building armies. I would like to hear how some of the latter actually have fared in tabletop battle and how you would do it differently now that you've tried battle with them. I would expect a bit more in-depth reporting of hobby happenings - trying to go out to contact folks to get the scoop than passively relying on what is reported to you. My honest opinion is you're nuts for considering going commercial as I think it would be a much bigger headache than I would ever want to tackle. |
| Tony Edwards (aedwards@tripos.com) |
| I wouldn't mind small donations from time to time, but odds are if $$$ was required I would probably slip up after a while and then I'd forget the whole thing. Sounds shallow, but I figured you'd appreciate an honest answer. And by the way, just in case you're wondering, I've been reading your pages frequently since probably near the beginning. I really enjoy reading the pages. |
So am I taking TMP commercial? Not right yet, but I'll keep thinking about it. I can see the vision of what this website could be if I could work it full time... but frankly, it might make more sense to get rich first with my day job, then retire and do this in my spare time. :-)
| Comments or corrections? |