Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Rant: Much Ado about Crappy Norn Breeds that don't Deserve the Slot Space They were Given.

Most people who frequent CCaves are aware of the BorgNorn revival project being headed by Annex. I liked the Borg Norn Lite version when I used it - they're fun to mess around with. So the project has my interest.
Why am I mentioning this? Because of the breed slot suggestions that have been popping up in there. My suggestion was Geat Q since the Primrose Norns in that slot aren't particularly well done and have a better version made by Norngirl. The next suggestion that came up was Grendel E, made by Sam999, apparently so he can have the Borg Norns in his game.

WARNING: Incoming furious rant with lots of censored profanity. Viewer caution is advised.

First off: He could have them in his game regardless of what slot they were in, so that's not a good reason. Secondly, the apology at the end of his post came off as incredibly condescending, like his opinion was the word of God. Finally, why the heck was his first thought a grendel slot? One with a Grendel breed already in it, no less?

Knowing Sam, I'm pretty sure he was the same person who put down the Fayen Norn idea down at the Creatures Wiki; an idea that really, really ticked me off. Why? Someone suggested putting a GOD. ****ING. ****. NORN BREED. in the SAME. ****ING. SLOT. as the Banshee Grendels. Why? Because they aren't legally available anymore and "don't work on Macs."

Really?

What the **** was the person who wrote that entry thinking? "Oh, the only official Grendel breed ever made is no longer available, so that slot is technically open. I know! That's the perfect slot for a NORN breed! Certainly that won't annoy the **** out of all the Grendel fans, because Norns are so perfect that they deserve to fill every single slot in the game!"

Really. That was that person's first thought? Even though there's a ton of crap in the Norn and Geat slots that no one will miss if it gets overwritten, they wanted to put a ****ing norn breed in Grendel B, a slot that should belong to the Banshees alone, or failing that a quality Grendel breed that will fill the void they left behind when the Gameware shop went down. 

Okay, furious rant is over with.

This sort of mindset annoys the crap out of me. I know Norns are supposed to be the centerpiece of the series, so I'm not angry at the fact that there's a lot of norn breeds - that's to be expected. What I'm annoyed at are the people who put norns in grendel and ettin slots, especially if they ignore all the junk that's in the norn and geat slots, and especially if said norn breed is a lazy recolor (biggest example: The Crimson Norns - they're barely altered from the original sprites!).

Being the major Grendel fan I am (in fact, Norns were never my favorite species - I've always liked Grendels or Ettins better), I'm naturally of the belief that we need more quality Grendel and Ettin breeds, not more Norn breeds who take up those slots. Granted, I'm willing to excuse the offense if the Norn breed is really well done (the Aqua Norns, for example - sure they look goofy, but you can't say that they aren't a well-done breed). It's the recolors that tick me off.

It's not just the recolors, actually - I get very annoyed whenever someone suggests putting a norn breed in a slot that's already occupied by a grendel (or ettin, to a lesser extent). In that case, I really don't care how good the norn breed is, in that case. I will continue to loathe that breed until the creator decides to move it. Admittedly, I originally thought this way about grendel breeds who share the same breed slot, but I've moved past that period now.

 As such, I'm happy to see that most breed-makers these days put their norns in the norn and geat slots, overwriting the crappy and/or lazily done recolors that were originally in those slots. Hopefully, this trend continues into the future. Keep those norns out of the grendel and ettin breedslots, people. Support Creature Equality!

7 comments:

  1. "Support Creature Equality!" - Made me lol.

    Haven't kept up with any of the posts you mention, but I'm definitely all for keeping the species in the right species slot.

    Can a Norn breed in a Grendel slot even breed with other Norns?

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    1. I was going to say something about a Creatures Civil Rights movement, but couldn't think of anything funny enough. P=

      In C3/DS, yes. The only thing required for breeding is that for the two creatures to be the same species (and even that isn't a problem with Amami's crossbreeding script installed). The slot assignment only comes into play with the appearance genes, which have no effect on the rest of the genome.

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  2. Personally, I'm not strict on the whole "keep breed slots in their species" thing, since to me, it's really a file-naming convention and little more. It makes sense to stick with it since it's there, but in the event that all the norn and geat slots were actually full of high-quality breeds (which, admittedly, has yet to happen), I would have no qualms seeing new norn breeds placed in grendel and ettin slots.

    But I do agree that people need to be careful with where they put their breeds; I hate it when two breeds I really like are fighting for a slot, especially when so many lower-quality slots could have been used. I've actually renamed the the files of certain breeds to fit them into slots I wasn't using, despite it being a long and frustrating process.

    While we're talking about breed-slot pet peeves though, it frustrates me when a breed is "incomplete" in the sense that sprites and atts for life stages are missing. I understand if the author intended to have less than the normal amount of life stages, but I'd appreciate it if they would at least copy and rename files to fill in all the life stages, so there aren't so many problems with breeds "bleeding" into each other when you have to overwrite one with the other and have a creature that totally changes sprites from stage to stage.

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  3. I like the Crimson Norns - they're a recolour, but I can't get that bright RED that they have by breeding any existing norn breed. Some people didn't like the Draconian Norn when they were released, because they're more painted-looking, rather than modelled.

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    1. I adored the draconians, personally :P

      You bring up a good point though-- everyone has their own likes and dislikes when it comes to breeds, and no matter what breed slot a developer chooses to overwrite, someone is probably going to be unhappy.

      Maybe this could be aided if there was a way for the community to audit each breed, and vote if they believed the breed was worth it's slot, to get a general idea of which slots would be the least popular.

      Rethinking the situation though, I think the developer(s), who actually put their time, skills, and effort into the development process, have every right to make their own choice about breed slot. I think for all their hard work, they should at least have the benefit of their own breed not overwriting something they personally enjoy.

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    2. And it was far worse a situation in C1 - two breed slots free for norns, eight free for grendels, and nine each for Ettins and Shee (as it was known then). In comparison, 26 slots for each species feels like paradise!

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  4. Hey, I think its great that you can speak your mind on blogs without censorship unlike on forums and message boards. Keep it up. I agree with you too that grendels are the superior race. I was inspired to make my own pro-grendel blog, if you get a chance let me know what you think. thanks.

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