Wizard Wednesday Recap, 2022-07-06

A view of the top of the Wizzypedia main page, circa July 2022.

Wizzypedia Goes Live

Wizzypedia is now live! Worked on primarily by Dotta and Magus Wazir, it is located at wizzypedia.forgottenrunes.com

The idea is to have a place to collect Runiverse lore, as well as info about community-created collections, projects, and historical happenings. This will facilitate onboarding on new members. In contrast, The Book of Lore remains as the spot for individual character stories. It is still in the process of being set up, but people interested in being editors can create accounts on the website. A new discord channel (#wizzypedia) has also been set up. I (Kel) personally am very excited to participate in this.

Book of Lore Enhancements

There is a new “Search” feature for The Book of Lore! Niski was the lead developer for this feature. Now you can much more easily find entries for certain wizards, locations, or topics!

Adept Hadrien of the Rock (#1144) received a Magic Machine adaption in Issue 0 of the comic book that was a bit different from his community-created lore.

Elf Talk: How Magic Machine Uses Community-Owned Characters in Official Media

Elf J Trul discussed the thought process about when and how to include community-owned characters in the official media. They are working with the comic book writers to strike an appropriate balance, for example. Elf doesn’t tell them which characters to use - they select based on what appeals to them, and what kind of characters they need for their story. Magic Machine can put suggestions in front of them, but the writer has the final say.

Elf’s tip: You don’t have to write long stories - it’s more important to write something memorable + easy to digest. Establishing the “core essence” of your wizard in the 1st entry, might be a good idea before they start their multi-novel adventure…

TV Show Update

Derek Kolstad, the TV showrunner, recently submitted his Episode 1 script, and Elf was blown away. Bearsnake also talked about his impressions of the Episode 1 script. He found the opening to be “big and attention grabbing” - sounds like it’s epic in scope. However, the episode also has its quiet moments to contrast with the “wow” spots. Will be effective in grabbing any viewer’s attention, regardless of their previous knowledge of Forgotten Runes.

"Behold My Quantum Style" t-shirts were quickly sold out during their initial run.

Dotta speculated about how audiences might react to an NFT-based show. A lot of NFT shows feel like “class reunions” trying to fit in as many people’s characters as possible to satisfy holders. With the FRWC TV show, telling a great story comes first, and if they do their job right, people won’t care as much whose specific characters are featured. And with increasing amounts of holder projects, getting a character featured in 1 of those is possible too.

Official Merch Update

Digital merch pass holders have been able to claim some merch today. They got access (via email) earlier than others, to honor their early signup. And a couple hours ago, the store was opened to all holders. Holders get 2 free items (while supplies last), but they must also add 1 paid item to their cart to qualify for that. A new holders-only channel was opened in the discord, where you can find the link for the free merch discount. Props to LachnessMonsta for organizing this.

Community News

Original cucumber hotdog picture that started it all.

At 33 minutes past the hour, the Magic Machine team suddenly signed off and played the ending music for the WW. It appeared that we had a short session week, but then..."CHANNELING IN FROM THE CUCUMDOWNS, IT IS THE NIGHTMARE EXTRAVAGANZA CUCUMDOG WEDNESDAY!!!!" shouted Elf. Elf proceeded to “scold” several of the main instigators of this trend. If you don’t know what this is about…just mosy on down to the Discord, it'll become apparent very soon... There was a discussion among several cult members regarding their contributions to this trend, including an explanation from CheddaaBob about how and why he originally posted the picture that started it all. Listening is recommended depending on your feelings about the trend.

In non-cucumdog news, voting has opened on two new House of Wizards proposals! 1st proposal is a 3D short film by the Mafriends team. 2nd proposal is an adult-themed novel by crypt0natrix. [Note for historians: the 2nd proposal was withdrawn before the voting period completed, so there is no snapshot page for it.]

Lore Reading

The lore reading this week was also by crypt0natrix, about her wizard Diabolist Hobbs of the Valley (8362) (includes "impy shake" content and a very creative usage for the "Vial of Virgin's Blood" prop...)