/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

There’s a desire for feedback/commentary, so I’ll give some thoughts. At the risk of laying it on thick, I do want to start by reiterating that G/GM honestly did a fantastic job wrangling 40+ online spazoids into a several months long art event including OCs (ego traps). This is only the second such event, so I think most critiques should bear that in mind—constructive future considerations. I don’t think G deserves any harsh criticism. He did his job well, and, I think, was even accommodating to a fault.

Broad Comments:

1. The biggest procedural issue is bringing everyone on the same page of expectations. Some people came packing full narratives and arcs. Others had a one shot scene. After two full Crab Tourneys, I think it’s become more and more obvious that the tendency is toward more robust meta narratives and character arcs across rounds. This is difficult, especially when dealing other people’s OCs. Crab is NOT a casual thing. It’s fairly demanding, especially if you want to succeed. A lot of people came in and immediately were in over their head—some in technical skill and others in time commitment and effort expectations. More on this in a bit, although Ardi may be more succinct.

2. It cannot be overstated how critical it is for crab artists to swallow their pride and take a broad perspective on what is actually being done on crab tourney—there was an embarrassing degree of drama that came almost exclusively from excessive attention given to juvenile discourse. Anonymous artists on 4chan on Discord. Read the room. Know who you’re dealing with. Talk like a decent human being but more importantly IGNORE the bullshit that freely flows from these people. You don’t need to respond. You don’t need to engage. You need to draw. You need to collaborate. You need to keep your word. It was exhausting. Freeze the children out. This applies to accepting future crab contestants—hire slow, fire quickly. Gatekeep the hell out of this thing.