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| Community Focus - Azeroth's Studio |
 As WoW gets closer to release the community is getting more and more diverse. Where once was only some guild sites and information sites, there are now thriving communities specializing in unique and interesting areas of the Warcraft universe. From time to time we'll spotlight these trailblazers here in the Stratics Community Focus.
Our first victi...err... Our first interview was with Raene from Azeroth's Studio. Some of you from the EQ world may have seen her last venture with Norrath Studios. Essentially what you'll find over at A.S. is a tight knit group of artists who all share a love for the visual aspect of the WoW universe.
Raene was kind enough to answer some questions about her fledgling community.
How would you describe your site and its intended role in the WoW Community?
Azeroth's Studio is a place where visual artists of all media can gather to create, improve, discuss, and view fan art for World of Warcraft.
What are some of your goals for the site?
In 2000 I started Norrath's Studio (www.norrathsstudio.org), as a small board for discussions of EQ fan art, with different media. At the time I was on the Rathe server, and our server had a screenshot artist (myself), an animation artist (Aegirson), and a paper/pencil artist (Quinne). We would post new works, commissions, and explain how we did a certain technique, or ask for feedback. It was very small and grew over time.
The goals for AS are the same as with NS. We strive to be a positive community of artists and/or fledgling artists that learn and are inspired from each other. We try to create standards of art ettiquette and educate ourselves and others with regards to copyrights, file size, file types (gifs, jpgs, bmps, transparent gifs), media types (paint programs, 3d programs, what inking pens to buy etc) and proper forms of critique.
Which MMORPGs have you played in the past?
I've played TheRealm as Jaella Lamplighter, playing since Realm beta in 96 until EQ beta. In EverQuest I'm Raene WolfRunner and currently play on the Zebuxoruk server. I briefly tried UO, but wasn't thrilled with the graphics.
Did you come to WoW because of the promised gameplay? Or was the artistic style of the world a bigger draw to you?
I came to WoW initially because I've always been a HUGE Blizzard fan. My husband and I ordered Warcraft way back when it came on 2 floppy disks and was ordered direct from Blizzard. The artwork of the game though is breathtaking, and the artists are truly gifted. I can't wait to walk around and explore the beauty they've prepared for us.
What do you like best about the community you've nurtured at AS?
Currently we're very small, and that's ok NS has grown so much that often it's hard for me to give individual attention to every piece that's posted. AS is still small enough that I can do that.
When people submit art, the criticism from the AS members is almost always constructive. Do you have active admins watching for negativity or is the community simply a well behaved and positive bunch?
We try to foster positive criticism. We don't necessarily "police" for negativity as we try to educate for constructive comments.
When WoW goes live, what character do you think will be your main?
Either a Night Elf, or a Human Mage. (hmm...or a troll shammy, or an orc sorceress....or or or) I imagine I'll be like a kid in a candy store trying to decide on race/looks/abilities
Care to Comment?
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