Do you think a good creator is an "open" creator?

[HorsesandMOARGaloar 300]

Seeing the drastic power of Disney's pervasive growth (and fear of "ruined content" and kiddy-safe things), and of Hasbro's treatment of the Brony fanbase (from C&D's and "girly nonsense" a la Alicorn Twi's Palace and her "cliche-filled, high school adventures"; to even banning the staff from reading fanfics)

 

-- contrasting with the "open-ness" of Valve Studios (e.g. TF2 sometimes opens itself to the influence of its fans, and permits their artwork)

 

-- I sometimes wonder how open should I be to my fans' influences, if I publish my works and continue them, in the future.

 

Should my stories be a bit more independent of my fans' influence (lest it become like "the popular shows"), or should I allow my fans to storm in and do almost anything they like with my stories (with the dominant fanons simply becoming canon).

 

 

Perhaps they can improve my stories. Or wreck them.

[ShadowPirateX 600]

Why not a mixture of both?

[KoGy 187]

It depends on the media and the type of IP.

You know they banned them reading of fanfiction to avoid lawsuits.

If you create something you do have the copyright.

 

I don't blame Hasbro for the C&D-s. I'm not having negative opinions about that.

[Kay Dreamer 884]

There's legal reasons why a creator would be skittish about reading fan-made content. If they read it and had plans to incorporate something similar, they risk being sued for their use of another person's idea. (Ridiculous as that sounds. You'd think the creator of a universe would hold copyright over any idea set within it. They made the world it's set within.) 

 

Also, it's rather silly to complain of "girly nonsense" when this show is in fact targeted at little girls. It is extremely well written and inclusive toward people of all ages and genders, but do have some respect for the target audience. 

[HorsesandMOARGaloar 300]

E. g., I'd talk to a fanfic writer, and offer him the chance for (at least bits of) his fanfic to influence my work. He can refuse if he wants to.

 

This is so that whatever headcanons the fandom has will become canon. (e.g. Jack Crabster is a famous surfer, and a secret superhero. I then make it canon, after asking my fanbase -- even though it spoils the surprise, though )

Edited June 19, 2014 by HorsesandMOARGaloar

[Scootalove 10,684]

That is why creators should be careful when they make or read fan-made content. Better to get permission than not using something without permission, even when they copyright their own material. There are some legal reasons to give credit and prevent your stuff from being stolen.

[lightning-spark 34]

Not necessarily, if someone is good at one thing it doesn't mean that they will be good at another aspect of it . A good creator will know what they are decent at and give other things a go but a good creator doesn't have to be good at everything.

[Celli 4,335]

It depends on the media and the type of IP.

You know they banned them reading of fanfiction to avoid lawsuits.

If you create something you do have the copyright.

 

I don't blame Hasbro for the C&D-s. I'm not having negative opinions about that.

This probably the best answer you can get. 

[Invincible 2,090]

I think a good creator knows how to please their audience without losing their goals.

[HorsesandMOARGaloar 300]

@Scootalove

 

So, I would think it this way:

"If a creator wants Fanon X to be canon, he can ask permission from the supposed creator, and if he/she says 'yes', the creator must give credit to whoever who came up with Fanon X if the creator makes it canon."

Or would you like to share to me another way? Or will there be no such thing as a "canonized fanon"?

[I used to be a stranger 7,989]

Team Fortress 2 is an open game to content creation but the Half Life continuity is most definitely a closed creation. So Valve is a mixed bag.

 

It really depends upon the subject matter whether the audience can or should be able to influence the direction of the media.

Contrast: a closed created world, vs. an open improvisational creation.

 

Lord of the Rings, the Original Star Wars trilogy, the Back to the Future Trilogy, Ghost in the Shell, Crime and Punishment, and the Chronicles of Narnia are all extremely well developed universes specifically because the ideas that made them work as stories and narrative universes were developed behind closed doors, or even within the confines of the imagination of one or a few people. They are the better for this, because matters which could've been considered debatable or abstract were fully fleshed out by their main inventors or proponents. Works of this singular vision (Lord of the Ring's theistic analogy, Star Wars' Greecian drama references, the Back to the Future Asimovian call-backs, Ghost in the Shell's commentary on transhumanism, Crime and Punishment's analysis of individual vs. absolute morality, The Chronicles of Narnia's Christian analogy) are impossible by committee. It is in the same way it is irresponsible and dangerous to captain a ship by democracy.

 

"Open worlds" however are made to have a large amount of audience participation but this requires fittings that make it right to have the improvisational imagination in the creation. Who's Line is it Anyway has it in common with Team Fortress 2 that there are tools which the audience can use to create content. (Audience suggestion cards, and level creators, respectively.) Or in some ways Avatar: The Last Airbender could be considered an example, by way of people commenting to the directors through Deviantart. George R.R. Martin doesn't seem open to letting fans of Game of Thrones suggest how it should end. But Who's Line asks the audience how it should start.

 

 

 

I think a good creator knows how to please their audience without losing their goals.

 

I think a good creator makes what is conducive to useful or beautiful goals, regardless of what the audience's reaction may be. If you only play to the fans, that's a form of populism which doesn't necessarily make it good.

Edited July 3, 2014 by Blue

[silvadel 1,393]

It depends on the media and the type of IP.

You know they banned them reading of fanfiction to avoid lawsuits.

If you create something you do have the copyright.

 

I don't blame Hasbro for the C&D-s. I'm not having negative opinions about that.

 

This is why the creator of the company should run the fanfiction site.  They could have a part in the terms of use that waives lawsuits and such if any ideas therein are used in the show.

[Invincible 2,090]

@@Blue

That's exactly what i was trying to say. I think a creator should have their own vision. If you let your fans get their way with every little thing you'll lose that vision.

[HorsesandMOARGaloar 300]

Team Fortress 2 is an open game to content creation but the Half Life continuity is most definitely a closed creation. So Valve is a mixed bag.

I remember something like this in the MLP franchise as well; on the G3(.5) vs G4/FiM debate/fight, when you see from the perspective of the G3(.5) fans, they will argue that FiM has been slightly influenced by outside influences, "ruining the show".

 

Another good example of this is "Watch Dogs"; I'm pretty sure people will vehemently hate the developers over the Rainbow Dash and Trixie keychains.

 

Lastly, TF2 itself. In a YT video, I've witnessed comments from angry people that say something like this: "you bronies are ruining the game!", because of the "Magical Mercenary" and the "Pyromania" update.

 

So, although I would like to add some fanon into my stories, these could teach one important lesson:

 

 

BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO ADD TOO MANY OUTSIDE REFERENCES: OTHERWISE, YOU WILL GAIN MANY ENEMIES FOR DOING SO.

Edited July 5, 2014 by HorsesandMOARGaloar

[Clockwork Chaos 219]

yeah, i'd say things along the lines of what some other people have said where it completely depends on the kind of thing that's being created. i'd say that if it's an ongoing series, where more will be written as fans want it, then by all means let the fans make suggestions, take inspiration from other works and what not.

 

but if it's a very clear idea that you've got in your head, that's different. you wouldn't want people interfering with your baby.

 

the way that i've done it is i've written 3 stories around my OC, chronicling 3 major turning points in his life from the age of 17 through to 58, and if people like them enough to wanna right fan-canon for some reason, they have free reign over the course of maaany years to write full story arcs that could easily have taken place between the canon stories