Controversial Myst fan Matthew Hornbostel - known for his "D'ni Temple" level and a number of erratic suggestions and posts, has agreed to give out approximately $200.00 in prizes to Guild of Writers members as part of a tutorial development contest.
Prizes include educational books on Blender and texture art, as well as Amazon.com gift certificates, to be awarded for the top four tutorials entered into the contest as judged by a small panel of volunteer GoW members.
He hopes that the prizes will motivate the development and release of many new tutorials for age writers to use and learn from, including tutorials related to use of the recently released 3ds max plugins, Blender art, Python scripting, and (ideally) conversion of fan ages into MO:ULagain.
Both the contest entries and the prizes should be beneficial in improving the quality of the work produced by the Guild of Writers.
Tutorial entries are due on May 15, 2010. Should the contest prove successful, further unofficial contests may follow.
Matthew is also giving to Cyan Worlds and recognizes the importance of supporting the company, but sees investment in the fanbase as more cost-effective in terms of age creation.
If even one high-quality fan age is created using the knowledge gained from these tutorials and these prizes, he suggests, then it's a better investment than giving to Cyan Worlds - since Cyan Worlds requires hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to create a single official age.
<a href="http://forum.guildofwriters.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4165&p=40840#p40840" target="_blank">More information about this story</a>
Submitted by: Matthew Lyles Hornbostel
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