Wizard Wednesday Recap, 2024-05-08
After the introductions, Elf immediately hits the Cult with a fakeout, stating that the team has a ton of announcements to make and saying none of which they will be making during the show.
Soon™
Bear says:
"Something happened on Monday that put me in a really good mood."
He says he feels like internally everyone has been hyping each other up (for the upcoming announcements). Dotta says he has been really heads down with negotiations and hasn't been tweeting much because he hasn't had many words to say publicly. He says once all of the negotiations are in, "we can talk about how great everyone is," but until then, expect more paperback D&D imagery.
Elf says the quiet working may continue for another month, but he says that he thinks that it will sync up with another wave of bull market vibes. Dotta says that Elf is surprisingly good at detecting upcoming market sentiment, so he believes him. Elf says that although they won't be able to make any project announcements soon, a lot has been happening on the Lore front.
Lore Updates
Elf mentions that many new community locations have been entered on the updated version of the Runiverse map, and encourages other to submit theirs. Elf also says the Lore website is coming along nicely, but says the design of the site is taking a while, so he will be importing all of the content into Wizzypedia for faster distribution. Elf speaks to a thread he posted about the orders of Art in pieces generated with AI, and emphasizes again that he is not trying to discourage anyone from using AI tools to make Art. He then comments on Jitcy's PFP, asking who made it.
Jitcy tells Elf that Entropy made his PFP, and Entropy takes the stage to speak about how he made these crunchy versions of the 3D Wizard models. He says he's been trying to think of a way to more easily distribute them.
Dotta says that "speaking of Cult content that [he] doesn't know how to make," da0xlab has made Wizard art from corrupted NES ROMs, and has added them to the Book of Lore.
Cult Questions
Childhood Thievery
Then, Elf launches into Cult Questions, beginning with a question about whether or not the founders ever got caught stealing as children, and the effect that it had on them. Bearsnake says he went through a phase, and the first thing he ever stole was a pack of Wax Bottle candy.
Dotta says that he isn’t sure that he’s every stolen anything from anybody. He says he recently took his daughter to a museum where there was a beautiful violin on display with very little security. He told his wife he thinks that was the only time he’s considered stealing.
Entropy recounts a story about an old Microsoft website that he was able to use to acquire multiple copies of Windows 95, which he first used to upgrade the family computer. He then sold the rest. Dotta says that if digital things count, he’s actually probably stolen “a lot.”
Madotsuki tells a tale from his youth regarding an incident at a gas station in which he and his friends were approached by a stranger to help them steal some snacks.
Elf says:
“I definitely stole, but never got caught.”
Elf's Questions For the Community
Elf is then asked if he has any questions for the community about the Runiverse. He says the community answers these questions every day on Twitter and in the Secret Tower. However, he does encourage the community to explore more the relationships between Characters.
The Gate to the Seventh Realm
After that, Elf answers a few questions about the Gate to the Seventh Realm. He notes that the Beasts were released around 2 years ago quite recklessly by a group of Wizards (who didn’t even know what they were opening) Once released from the Gates, the Beasts were then captured by Beast Masters, with whom they still reside. Elf says there are factions who wish to see the Beasts return, and this is explored in the show script. There will not be a Beast Season Two until Season One is "complete."
Modern Weapons & Magic
Following that, Elf discusses the relationship between modern weaponry and Magic in the Runiverse. He says this boils down to a classic “guns v. swords” Internet debate.
“Guns are far more effective if the goal is simply to win the battle.”
Elf says, opposed to guns, swords are much more aesthetic with an Old World appeal. He says writers have been tackling this for decades. He tells of a scene in Star Wars in which Obi Wan uses a blaster and describes the weapon as “so uncivilized.” Elf says that writers usually address the discourse of guns v. swords with their own in-world rules. He says in the Runiverse, Magic is first and foremost an artform—“the Arcane Arts”— aesthetics, not pragmatism, reign supreme. The artist for the Forgotten Runes Comic, Reilly Brown, is always looking for new ways to draw fantastic spells. He says that’s his favorite part to draw.
“Magic spells only work when they are deployed with a certain amount of style and showmanship.”
Elf says in the Runiverse:
“For a soldier to decide to pick up a gun over a sword would simply be counter-intuitive and maybe even blasphemous. A Warrior wielding a sword with enough…honor and bravery, with enough artistry, is indeed engaging in a type of Warrior Magic.”
Elf says that storytellers often opt for swords because aesthetics make for more compelling stories and more compelling stories make for more engaging worlds. He says he wants the community to use technology in their stories but says to know, “the computer has a ghost in it.”
Elf mentions that some Warriors even wield flamethrowers. He says this isn’t so much of the Warriors’ attempt to wield a devastating weapon, but more as an attempt to imitate a pyromancer.
Zay La Soul approaches the stage to ask if there will ever be the ability to see sales statistics over time for the comics. Dotta gives a brief explanation of the royalties holders get from featured Characters and says, "Eventually." Dotta notes that the comic isn't profitable yet, but the team will still plan on paying out for appearances because it's a foundational part of the project's model. He says it's part of figuring out this new collaborative protocol for IP rights.
Dotta says that once they figure out the right royalty model for everyone long term, transparency reports will be easier to publish. He notes that once you start publishing them, it isn't something you can really go back on. Zay La Soul asks if providing that data could potentially get the team in legal trouble as it may seem like holders have made some sort of investment. Dotta says they definitely don't want that to be a confusion.
Madotsuki says that he's excited that the comic's run has made it to issue #4, saying that he doesn't know of any other projects with comics with runs longer than one issue. Elf notes that no other projects have comics with community-owned storylines and characters. Bearsnake says that he can see a world where the work that Forgotten Runes is doing now from an agreement and rights standpoint makes its way into entertainment unions.
Cult Content
After a short connection with one of the "2021 Boys," Dr. Peepee, the team reviews the Cult Content Chronicle—art from the past week within the Forgotten Runes Community aggregated every week by Tania del Rio.