doom
Bewildered Beginner
Posts: 9
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Post by doom on Oct 26, 2010 14:22:33 GMT -5
Hey guys, I'm new here, but I've been a long time lurker (about two years). I really love ASoUE, and love theorizing about things that may or may not have happened. The thing is, though, I came in late, and I know there are other people who came in late. Most of the long-time members know all about the different theories and such about the series, but those of us who are new don't, and it can be very intimidating to try to trawl through everything and find the theories. So here's my idea: 667.com Not necessarily that name, but a site where people can find information about the books, theories, fan work, etc. Some people, though, might ask why not to use a Wiki page. The thing is, with a Wiki, anyone can edit, and thus this leads to differences in theories. An official database would end confusion, and could be updated by certain people, with solid, verified theories. Here's where I come in. I'm an avid web designer and coder, and have come up with a concept, linked here. I would, of course be happy to finish the design and code it, if it is liked and the idea is a good one. One thing that I do know is that there was once this same idea, under the name of The Bauidelaire Mansion. The fate of this I don't know. So what do you guys think? Is this a good idea? Is my concept good?
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Post by Dante on Oct 26, 2010 15:32:56 GMT -5
As you note, we did experiment with this before under the Baudelaire Mansion identity, but that fell through - among other reasons, for the fact that we were subsequently linked on LemonySnicket.com under our forum identity, making the site somewhat redundant. It is a shame that we never really got our act together for a non-forum site in the mould of, say, Mugglenet, or even a proper wiki, but that's partly to do with an issue you point out: Theories are a big part of the aSoUE community, far more than the solid facts, which are reasonably apparent from the relatively short books. And theories are far more ambiguous to try and index. Their very existence causes disagreement. Except now, when most discussion has quietened down to the point of apathy.
I'm going to throw my two cents in for roaring back into gear in 2011/2012 for the new series. Much easier to handle these things if you know what you're doing in advance and can put systems in place for it.
Edit: The reason I haven't commented on the linked concept is that I'm only getting error messages from there.
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Post by blakegriplingph on Oct 26, 2010 20:52:46 GMT -5
The site mockup looks good, and yeah, we do need a centralised hub for all things Snicket, especially since most of the other sites I know ended up in the Great Unknown or something.
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Post by Hermes on Oct 27, 2010 10:06:53 GMT -5
I think this is a good idea, definitely worth trying.
I wonder how important theories are now. While the series was still unfolding they were certainly very important; but now most of the questions have either been answered ('Who is Beatrice?') or turned out to be unanswerable ('What is the Great Unknown?'). There may be some exceptions to this, though - perhaps most notably the sugar bowl; we aren't told what is in it, but it is possible that we are given material to work it out - an unconfirmed report of an interview statement by DH suggests this.
As for facts - I think people who aren't such devoted Snicketologists as us could well find a resource helpful, so that they can find answers to questions like 'in which book does X happen?' without having to search through thirteen volumes.
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doom
Bewildered Beginner
Posts: 9
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Post by doom on Oct 27, 2010 15:15:01 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback, guys. I think that it's worth a shot, even if it does fall through. If it were to go through, I can do the coding and design, like I said, but I don't know that much about ASoUE. We could find four or five experts to write the content for it.
I was searching through Wistful Web, and most of the sites are gone, incomplete, or just plain bad. The main ASoUE site also doesn't help new people coming to the series understand what's known and what's not known. With the new series coming, and the general decline in popularity in the forum, I think a site would be a great way to boost interest.
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Post by Dante on Oct 28, 2010 3:25:55 GMT -5
I'm starting to come round to this a bit. Obviously there are a few things to consider, like how to pay for the site, but maybe we could pull this off again, although I still think next summer would be the better time to work on it. I'm sort of envisioning news articles all having a "discuss in the forums" link so we can continue building our news archive there, but with a link archive on the main site, and it's occurred to me that, if we really want to do this, there might be more "plain facts" information readily available than you would otherwise have thought. It really depends on what Tragedy thinks, but I could come up with a few ideas.
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Post by Hermes on Oct 28, 2010 10:33:33 GMT -5
I still think next summer would be the better time to work on it. Agreed. Yes. When I began to think of what might go into it it was amazing how much possible material there was. One thing I would advise is to develop a substantial part of the site before we make any links to it. Often sites of this kind fail because somebody thinks 'I have a great idea for a site', writes three pages, and then gives up. It would be better if, the first time the outside world sees it, there is quite a lot there.
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Post by Dante on Oct 28, 2010 11:27:05 GMT -5
I definitely think that all the material should be fully prepared before the site goes live. That makes it easier to update from then on, as the hardest part is already done. But I also think, and this is kinda what I meant, that some of the information we need would be easier to acquire than it might look like. There's a lot of it, but there are ways of drawing on existing information resources.
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doom
Bewildered Beginner
Posts: 9
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Post by doom on Oct 28, 2010 13:36:33 GMT -5
I'm glad you've come on board, Dante!
Does one require approval for such a large project? Should I PM Tragedy first, or start gathering people to work on this?
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Post by Dante on Oct 28, 2010 14:06:16 GMT -5
Naturally, Tragedy needs to be consulted. Furthermore, I think a good deal more time spent thinking, albeit more formally, about what exactly we want in terms of content and format is necessary. But getting the agreement of people that this is a good idea is an important first step.
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Post by Christmas Chief on Oct 28, 2010 14:27:34 GMT -5
Could you further explain the idea, please? I'm afraid I don't quite follow precisely what the purpose of such a website would be.
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Post by Hermes on Oct 28, 2010 16:58:22 GMT -5
But I also think, and this is kinda what I meant, that some of the information we need would be easier to acquire than it might look like. There's a lot of it, but there are ways of drawing on existing information resources. Might that not cause copyright problems?
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doom
Bewildered Beginner
Posts: 9
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Post by doom on Oct 28, 2010 17:20:27 GMT -5
I think he meant existing information that was gathered by 667.
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doom
Bewildered Beginner
Posts: 9
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Post by doom on Oct 30, 2010 9:13:59 GMT -5
UPDATE
I've PM'es trag and am now waiting anxiously for a response.
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Post by blakegriplingph on Oct 30, 2010 9:44:59 GMT -5
If you need some technical assistance and stuff for the site, feel free to ask.
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