Image Designer Archive
Thread: What ID Means to Me: A Story
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Nouva
Tue Mar 29, 2005 5:30 pm
#1
Long ago, before there was a Star Wars Galaxies forum, there was the Star Wars Trilogy. It began with Episode 4. I was a young girl then and my parents took me to a drive-in to see it. I never understood much of it, but I knew what I liked about it... the images of all the heros and villans. The mysterious aliens and funny droids. Almost a bit more than two decades later, a voice, a whisper, a rumor of a game developing based upon the galactic stories I treasured! Talks in newsrooms and blog boards, and then finally an official forum! So many long years of writing and shaping the game on those forums. So many posts that lead to the core development. Many of you may not remember those days...
It was during the pre beta stage of the game that I took to heart and soul, the entertainer professions. I always dreamed of being a saucy cantina gal that could dance, play music and even touch up the other entertainer's make up. At that stage of the game, anything was a possiblity but never promised. It was an amazing time to see ideas flow and input be implemented into a working skeleton. I was telling myself, "Wow, a Star Wars game that I am helping develop! It was close to a dream, but so close to reality." Over the course of development, many of my ideas were implemented and were praised for thier creativity and forsight.
Then came the beta tests. I cannot begin to tell you what my first steps on Tatooine felt like. I was there! I was on the sands Luke Skywalker walked upon! I saw the stormtroopers Ben Kenobi mind tricked! I was there and I was going to make my mark. Enter Nouva... Nouva, the Dancer... Nouva the Image Designer, Nouva the semi-decent Muscian :laughs: Nouva was to be one of the core entertainers and had been throughout beta.
From my first flourish to my first eye shadow coloring, I mastered each profession from the bottem up, sometimes two or three times. I explored each profession in depth, and reported bugs. I gave feedback on better flourishes and more advanced ID proceedures. I was shaping the game and making a difference. I met special friends during closed beta and even more during open beta...One of the saddest days was the end of beta, a few days before launch. The image dsigners IDed eachother with a fairwell hairstyle...the dancers did teh last dance, and the musicians thier last song... I did them all... then I walked... walked to my medium house near the rebel base, and sat alone...smiling ...as I logged out...
Then came launch day... I began on Starsider, with Nouva. The entertainers must have made an impact in beta as it seemed everyone and thier mother played an entertainer... an image designer...It was overwhelming and fun! So many playing a game because they loved the social aspect of it! So much attention given to our professions, even on the forums. It was a great time. Sooner or later, Starsider became crowded with teh 1337s, and degenerated into a after-school program. The role-play was lost for me and the lag unbareable. I moved to Wanderhome...Enter China...
I was still in role-play mode. China was not only an entertainer... but was determined to be the first Master Image Designer in the Galaxy. It was a long road there. I remember when I was alone and 3/3/3/3 Novice designer. A young woman, Tera was her name, was facinated by my talent. I made her look like a diva, and she was my first apprentice. We had no money, tips were poor, and we had often had to take breaks from design just to run delivery missions at 100-200 credits, but we were determined. I eventually took on a second apprentice named Sway. I taught them patience and exploration of the profession. I told them, any fool can wear a master tag, but only a designer that knows what she is doing is worth a client's while...Three long months and not a master born until one day I smiled at my apprentices... "I am the Master..." My apprentices grinned back... and Wanderhome was changed forever.
Since that day, those who apprenticed under me had name recognition. It was at the point where my school of design dominated the server as we set the price guide for design. Sure there were and still are rogue designers, but the regulars knew where to go if they wanted it done right. A student of mine was just as certain to get customers that knew my name. I embraced design, made it my only profession, and continued my duty as a feedback/bug reporter, not just a player. I began a circle of designers, and we had weekly discussions about our future and what we can do to make it better. I would then input thier views here on the forums. You could say, I was thier moderator for all intents and purposes.
As the years past, it became more and more evident that my profession was being disrespected. I would see novices get stiffed for credits, be spoken harshly to, etc. Dancers and Muscians getting bad rapport due to macro-bots. Development paying more attention to combat classes and less attention on the social aspect of the game... The social aspect...the aspect that made a MMORPG a RPG. I was confused, and began investigations...it did not take long to figure out a lone person discovered a holocron, and so began "Attack of the Bots..." I kept my chin up, and hoped for the best. But things happened that I would never thought I would see. Fellow entertainers supporting the behavior, even those I called friend. It broke my heart...
I have been here since the alpha, and want to be here for the omega. I left for personal reasons for three months. Imagine my surprise when I came back to Wanderhome... So many people not designed... so many of my friends list with teh very designs I performed on them, exclaiming, "I knew you would come back, I waited for you... can you design me?" Friends... tears came to my eyes, and credits were suddenly meaningless. I designed them... not for credits, but out of love... and appreciation. I designed my heart out that evening, and made an entire fleet of stormtroopers very happy to kick some rebel behind. I never knew how much impact I made on my server... all because I was a great designer.
So what does Image Design mean to me? ID is my heart, my soul. I am a ID because I helped create the profession. I am an ID because I still continue my duties and shape the class into one of content and one of respect. ID will always be my profession despite the pressure to become a combat class. I realized long ago that it was people that made my profession what it is, and it is the people that I serve. To do any less would be unsatisfactory. I cannot wish for the past to come back, but I can still want the fundamentals of the past to be reincorperated into the profession.Becoming a Master Image Designer means nothingwithout hard work, exploration, understanding, talent, and above all, patience. It is something I always taught my apprentices, and something I still hold true to this day. Image Design is a love of mine because it has personal value being a project I helped create. Many of you can say that you helped design ID to with the launch forums, but few can say they were there when ID was just a blank sheet of paper. Just to stress emphasis...I love Image Design, and I love you all, even those who may not agree with me. Be Image Designers and be the best at what you do; for what it's worth, I just want you all to understand me.
Message Edited by Nouva on 03-29-2005 07:30 PM
NeoKirjava
Tue Mar 29, 2005 7:14 pm
#2
Wow, thanks, inspiring words, It's greatto see that the kind of people I knew and loved in SWG at the beggining of Live still exist, I have not played for several months due tothe wayin whcih entertainers in general havehad a lack of attention.I really wish the fundamentals did still have the old focus, SWG is nothing without the social aspects, it is now terriblylacking 
I hope for new improvements through the CU (which is very unlikely to happen) still we can always hope!
I hope for new improvements through the CU (which is very unlikely to happen) still we can always hope! Message Edited by NeoKirjava on 03-30-2005 03:17 AM
MaddamMakeover
Mon Apr 04, 2005 3:36 am
#3
Wow i was touched by your elegent story and your words of wisdom. I never knew that their were others who felt the same about about ID as i do. Ive been a MId for allmost 5 months now on Inifinity and my name is my bond. Nuffing in this game beats the feeling i get when i have helped a someone old or new fined the look they have allways wanted. Continue your good work and take away the knowage that your ID sisters on other servers feel the same as u do.
/deepbow of respect
Mexia Firesun *Moon Shadow*
Master Image designer
Mexias Make Overs *Cross River City *(Talus)
( Helping to bring colour and style to Infinity )
TKmaster and followerin the way of the exploding fists
Nouva
Mon Apr 04, 2005 1:44 pm
#4
Thank you both for your kind comments. And please all, feel free to tell your own stories of your road to image design, and your experiences through the years/changes. And at the end, what does image design mean to you?
masterim-doublea
Fri Apr 08, 2005 7:44 am
#5
somone in the game has been telling people to go to my for a MID and olny my because im the best. well im a newb, i guess im good but not the best. when i leave the salon with no title over my head, (i turn the title off to not ger bugged) i got 5 people chasing after me saying "Im me plz!!" it ok but after awhile im tired of id for the day. i got people saying "id me" when im out in the middle of killing a trooper in the middle of the tatt. why would somone tell every one to go to me and olny me. when im leaving i try to send them to the other id but they will olny get im by me. i know their is many other id betterd than me that have been im since launch.
Cindel
Thu Apr 14, 2005 5:41 am
#7
Thank you for your insipring words, Nouva/China. It's good to see that there are still players left who actually care about the social aspect of the game. I had played other MMORPGs before SWG and was immediately blown away by all the interdependencies of players and professions in SWG. I have played from week three (shipping to Germany took a while) and today have three characters, none of which have but a single combat profession. Musician, Image Designer, Tailor, Doctor, Architect, Shipwright... I play the crafters as social profession, too. I do have a vendor but prefer to do business face to face, working with the customer/client to tailor whatever Icraft exactlytotheir needs.
The changes in the game and of the community itself actually have destroyed a lot of this interdependency, people rather go solothan socialize, have AFK buff bots available and mostly a second account to supply themselves with whatever they need crafted. Pure social players are a dying breed since the path to the force requires combat skills (I can't remember seeing Luke or Anakin even squash a bug before becoming a Padawan... but that's a different story) and the glow of a Lightsaber attracts players like moths.
Now with the CU in testing, more than ever do I feel SWG needs a social upgrade, too -because both the MM and the RPG-aspect of this MMORPGare fading out of existence.
I was close to quitting the game several times but it is always people like you and posts like yours who keep me from cancelling and raise hopes that maybe someday, when all the AFK bots, power grinders, and whatnots find another game to waste their money and others' gametime in, SWG will once more become what it once was: A place my characters feel home.
Cedriq Moorland
Master Image Designer, Master Tailor
Bria
Message Edited by Cindel on 04-20-2005 04:44 PM
Nouva
Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:14 am
#8
Lady China, just curious from your name....
Are you Chinese?
No no, not Chinese, darling. Everyone always asks me that. No China is a nick name my friend and I came up with because of my degenerative bone condition. My bones are brittle and if I fall or get hit hard they shatter like... China!
Sobekeus
Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:47 am
#9
I enjoy Mastering Image Design on every character I make, it's usually my first Mastered profession. Not because it's easy or fast, but because no matter what other professions I go for, Image Design is the only one I enjoy so thoroughly I refuse to use a pricing system, and only allow tips.
In the first day I became Master I had requests for any number of things, and many repeat customers. The Theed Salon is probably the place I spend the most time not in motion.
I do it partly for the social side, partly for the enjoyment I get out of character design, and partly because I need a balance to my combat skills.
Balance is the key to a stable mind and body, my balance is achieved between war and peace.
I have to remaster ID again, because I rerolled my BriaToon for the 4th time
masterim-doublea
Thu Apr 21, 2005 4:31 pm
#10
Sobekeus wrote:
I enjoy Mastering Image Design on every character I make, it's usually my first Mastered profession. Not because it's easy or fast, but because no matter what other professions I go for, Image Design is the only one I enjoy so thoroughly I refuse to use a pricing system, and only allow tips.
In the first day I became Master I had requests for any number of things, and many repeat customers. The Theed Salon is probably the place I spend the most time not in motion.
I do it partly for the social side, partly for the enjoyment I get out of character design, and partly because I need a balance to my combat skills.
Balance is the key to a stable mind and body, my balance is achieved between war and peace.
what sobekeus said, i like Image designer more than jedi, (im not a jedi on bria, so BH dont be after me)
Sobekeus
Thu Apr 21, 2005 4:40 pm
#11
Krone you git, Ima grind my new toon in ID and I'll want training 
masterim-doublea
Thu Apr 21, 2005 7:20 pm
#12
ok log on coem to the theed salon if im their ask for training, ??... is that what u wanted to know.
DarkLadyT
Thu Apr 28, 2005 10:19 am
#13
China! So nice to see you post here. Ijust reactivated this account on tuesday and I've been amazed at some of the people that are still playing that I know. I believe I had told you this before, but when I first started ID on my first character (a Twi'lek named I'ni) I was afraid to send you a tell to ask for your help, etc. I had heard about your Role Playing style and was intrigued by it. However, being a newb to RP, I was too afraid I would be lacking the talent necessary to become a part of your school, so quietly practiced on the friends I had made in Moenia.
After actually having met you, I realize how silly that was! You're a great person and an even better ID. I didn't pick up ID with I'nessa until much later(after mastering a few other professions that I didn't enjoy). I loved being a Tailor and thought Image Design would be a great compliment and it is! I would never surrender my MID for anything, I love it that much. I have the same hopes that the social parts of this game return to the strength they were in the early days of playing for me. It was the social aspect that kept me around for a year and a half and it's the social aspect that brings me back now.
Hope to see you in-game soon!
*waves*
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