Utsuha Moon
I am incredibly disappointed.
I was the artist for Violet's room and I just found out through a third party that:
1) My art will not be used, apart from a possible "gallery".
2) Violet was removed from AURB despite stating that she was busy for a single weekend.
I don't know much about #2, so I will only address my own concerns. The only, and I do mean the ONLY reason why I draw for AURB is for Violet. She is a dear friend of mine, so why wouldn't I bite the huge time demand, opportunity costs, and draw for her?
I spent three weeks on art, when I was working full time from 9 to 5, when I was studying for medical school admissions exam from 6 to midnight, skipping meals to complete the art for AURB. And so what? I wanted to do it for Violet, because she genuinely cares for AURB. So I should care too. This is the least I could do for someone I care about.
Now I understand:
1) Violet is no longer included in AURB.
2) Characters who were in the circus room now have new art.
3) Art previously completed will be used minimally.
Here is my take on this issue:
1) I have wasted 36+ hours.
2) I lost 20$ per piece.
3) I am given nothing--credit, satisfaction--nothing. Not even a notification of what was happening with the art I completed.
I am severely disappointed.
Please do not use my art for AURB. The only person I gave the explicit permission to use my art was Violet. Please respect my wishes.
1. Violet made a public announcement that she was withdrawing from the ball (i have screenshots to prove this if you require it), and that she 'hoped to be back next year'. She left of her own accord, we merely updated the roles to reflect her decision. If you have a problem with her decision, take it up with her.
2. No art for any characters is going to be used in the graphics. The post graphics are merely there to show who is an official roleplayer and who isn't. They will include names and that's it.
3. No new characters have been created unless the player chose to change. The characters that you made art for have been included in the new room. We specifically designed this merge with people's efforts in mind, to make sure characters would transition easily. Your art would only be a 'waste' if the player character chose to change their character.
4. All art will be included in the front page of the ball in the gallery section, but each character's official art piece that will accompany their introduction section on the front page is up to that player to decide on. If you have a problem with that, take it up with the player.
5. You are not the only one working their a** off to make this ball come together. I run my own company and I live entirely off the money I make from that. I'm actively choosing to lose
hundreds of dollars and potentially end up in debt to make sure I do my part. You don't hear me complaining.
6. Other people have had days of their time wasted in terms of the work they put into plots for their rooms, but everyone else has taken the merge gracefully and understood that it was needed to keep the ball from collapsing in on itself, because the format Newsies Boy originally went with for this ball was too large and we had too few staff to manage it. Projects change in scope all the time, paid or unpaid, and if you have such an issue with these sorts of things, I recommend not volunteering for things in future.
7. There has never been a 'circus' room, and no characters have been given 'new' art aside from those that never had art prior.
8. If you don't want your art used, that's your choice and it will be respected. We are more than happy to include your art in the new room for whatever characters have been merged should you change your mind, and if you want monetary compensation for your efforts, this can be arranged.
Your entire argument is based on the idea that Violet was unfairly kicked out when she chose to leave of her own accord. I could just as easily say that I'm severely disappointed in the immaturity of certain members that complain everything is 'chaotic' when they didn't bother to check the announcements and things they were quoted in.
We are tired of the temper tantrums. We are tired of the petty, childish arguments. We are doing what we can to pull together a ball after almost an entire year of planning was more or less a waste because so many people dropped out for work/life reasons that we couldn't keep the original five rooms open. If we had not done this, the ball would not have gone ahead
at all, and then
everyone's efforts would have been a complete waste.
I hope that you can understand that we did not merge the rooms to piss people off. This was not us playing 'favourites' - I put plenty of effort into characters, plot and graphics for my room, but my room was canned as well. We chose the global warming room because it would allow us to create 'islands', on which the characters from the other rooms could 'live' unchanged. It had the most flexible plotline, and enabled us to incorporate everyone's efforts into one room. As the Main Hosts of the ball, Brokuto and I had to make an executive decision to scale back the scope to save the ball from falling apart, because it
was. That is the point of the Main Host role, to make sure there is something to
host. We would have evidently been just as hated had we cancelled the ball, as we would have been for merging the rooms, so we really don't care either way about people's opinions of us. We're here to do a job and make sure there is a ball for 2016. If you have a problem with that, that's on you.
If you still don't find this answer satisfactory, there is not much we can do for you.
I hope that addresses all of your concerns.
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