What's that, Furcadia?

Here are a few tips and ideas to help artists get fair compensation. These are steps to be taken with careful consideration, of course. If webspace is required to implement some of these, then it will be provided free of charge. These won’t work for everyone, and they require some hard work on the part of the artist, but if you’ve got an artist friend who is down about how much they’re getting for commissions or their art, point them here.

It might help.

• The top tip is to have manners. Saying “Please” and “Thank you”, and in general just being courteous will get you a lot of repeat business. Remember, you’re offering a service. “The customer is always right” is one of the best mottoes you could have, so long as you’re not being walked on.
• Get a paypal account. This is the best/fastest/safest way for you to get money. Accepting snail mail is fine, but if you can, get them to use paypal. There’s less of a chance for a mixup. (Or a scam.)
• Do some freebie work. Not commission-grade material, mind you, but definitely put up, say, a free item or two, or maybe a canine or feline male/female/unspecified port set for use in different dreams. Why? Because people will view your content more if there’s free stuff for them to have. (It happens.) and the more they visit your site, the more likely they are to buy something from you, (if they’re the type that buys things,) or drive other people to your site. Just remember to state explicitly whether or not you allow changes, and that you require credit. A good way to get credit easier is to include this with every freebie:

(0:9) When a furre arrives in the dream, (5:200) emit message {Say !credits to see a list of the artists who allowed their artwork to be included.} to the triggering furre. (0:31) When a furre says {!credits}, (5:200) emit message {<Your name here + whatever patches/ports you did.>} to the triggering furre.

Obviously you’ll be replacing <Your name Here + whatever patches/ports you did> with your name and the patches/ports that are being downloaded, with copyright date and such.

• Don’t be afraid to cancel a commission if someone is being a jerk to you. If they fronted you part of the money, refund it to them and be done with them. You don’t need, or deserve, to be harassed just because someone is paying you. Have some pride.
• Don’t be afraid to auction off your art. Set a starting price, and an auto-buy price, and let people go at it. Be prepared for the port not to sell if you set the price too high. The idea here is to start low, (Way less than standard commission prices,) and go up. (Buyout price being above normal commission price.).
• When pricing your artwork, put your pride on the back shelf. It’s good to be proud of your work, but sometimes it blinds people to reality. (Especially artists; no offense.) Get a wide sampling of how people think of your work, and what it’s worth. Remember, other artists might be telling you to ‘price it high’ because they want commissions too, so look at the people who get commissions a lot for an estimation of how much it’s worth to them. You’re in a competitive field, so you probably won’t get minimum wage for the hours you put into work. As always, be respectful.
• Have a portfolio showing a wide array of what you can do. People who can show that they have experience, (and a lot of it at that,) are more likely to get a commission. They show that the artist can handle a big job and will be a professional about it.
• Watermark anything you show to other people on the Internet. If you don’t, it will get stolen. A watermark should be subtle, but visible. (Think translucent so that it’s harder to pull out.) and across a good part of the image, (like the shoulder or body, or across a good portion of the item) and not over the background so that it is harder for them to steal it.
  • Put up items that are pay-to-download. Using paypal, this is simple. Here are some directions:
  • Log into Paypal.
  • Click “Products And Services”.
  • Click “Website Payments Standard” on the right-hand column.
  • Click the “Accept Contributions” link under the “Donate” button.
  • Read through what it says, and then click “Get Donation Buttons”.
  • Fill out the form with information about what you’re getting a donation for. (IE which artwork.)
  • Put a minimum amount you want for the item. (I suggest $.50 cents to $1.00 for an item pack, and $3.00 to $5.00 for a 3 character portrait set.)
  • Pick a button. (Or make your own.)
  • Choose whether or not you want it to be encrypted.
  • Press the “Add more options”
  • Fill in the website with a link to a page that tells people how to download the patch files. (Or how they’ll get them, if you want to e-mail.) Remember to follow PayPal’s rules about this.
  • Press the “Create Button Now” button.

You’ll get some code that you’ll need to put into a website; I suggest doing so beneath the item you’re trying to sell. It gives them the option to ‘buy now’, as it were.

You can use this website template for your website/portfolio. (Pre-setup for use with ports/items/freebies and commission slots, including mouse-over links to larger preview images.)

Remember, these are just guidelines. They’re not concrete, they won’t work for everyone. If you have any feedback, or other tips that you might find of interest to artists.

I would rather this not turn into a discussion about “How artists are unappreciated” or something. This is specifically to make life for artists easier.

Beekins are Furcadia’s volunteer group. Their (volunteer) job is to help the players of Furcadia out when they’ve got questions, bugs, or just need a helping hand.

One of the big problems with the Beekin Group, however, is that most people don’t know which group does what, and who should be handling what kinds of situations.

Even inside the Beekins it isn’t always obvious what a person should and should not do, so consider this a review of the program and a cheat-sheet.

Helpers – Generally knowledgeable about most everything on Furcadia, they can give general help to just about everyone about everything. Their downside is that a lot of them don’t know specifics. When you type, “Help <whatever>” in Furcadia, you’re sent directly to the Helpers Channel. You can also find helpers in the Naia Green Help Center; they’re the only ones allowed to help there. (I’m pretty sure you can’t actually sit there on the pillows unless you’re a helper anyway.)

Teachers – They teach our Beekins; their interaction with the public doesn’t actually extend very far, and they don’t answer questions. Generally, you need to be in another beekin group to join up with the teachers, so any time you interact with a teacher, you’re probably also interacting with another kind of Beekin.

Mentors – These beekins are all about talkin’ things over with other beekins. If you’re a beekin and you’ve got something you want to talk about, these are the guys to turn to.

Pixels – These guys do a lot of the artwork you see in festival dreams and on the Furcadia website. They’re the little fairy-furres that hang out on the Dream Channel and give out snarky comments to you if your pixel-art is shameful. Or, alternatively, they give out a helpful hand and teach you how to shade that portrait better. To be a pixel, you have to be good at art. Good to someone else’s standards, by the way, not your own. Sorry.

Masons – These guys help you out with dreams. That’s anything from patches to maps, DS to PS, anything and everything you do in a dream is their domain. (Unless they’re being cranky and claiming that their badge means they don’t have to help, which never happens in the Masons!) Anywho, if you’re lookin’ for help with somethin’ dream related, these’re the guys to go to.

Bugges – These guys make Furcadia break. A lot. That’s what they do when they’re not trying to avoid being squished. (Sometimes they do it while they’re being squished, just for giggles.) Found a bug? Think Furcadia’s broken? These are the guys to talk to. Unfortunately they can’t help you out much if you don’t give them clear instructions on what you did to make Furcadia break, so make sure you pay attention and can repeat the break that you’ve done.

Guardians – Power hungry sociopaths! No, not really. What they are is a small-ish group of volunteers who do a lot of work to resolve player-created conflicts. They’re not ‘ban happy’ as a lot of people predict, and they’re (mostly) easy-goin’ people. They do have their bad days though when pestering them and asking them to be your girlfriend will annoy them. (It’s true, it will.)

Remember, beekins are there to make your life easier, so don’t harass the hell out of them. It annoys them and makes them want to beat you across the face with a rubber mallet. (Or worse.)

Edit: Oops, I forgot the welcomers. (And believe me, I’ve been hearing about it!) Welcomers are the people who say, “Howdy!” whenever you enter Furcadia. They used to be the most popular group, (because everyone was allowed to join.) but now, that’s not the case anymore, though! However, if you need to be shown where a main map is, or shown around one, these are the furres you’ll want to talk to.

Another installment, this week we’re lookin’ at a blushin’ (Cute too boot,) bride-to-be.

Her ‘love’ is workin’ for the United States Air Force. She’s currently only accepting money through Paypal so she can help pay for certain things, (like her dress) for her wedding which is slated to be out on DVD sometime later this year. (Check your local stores.)

This demure girl does all sorts of different artwork. For a price, she’ll even do some for you. Here’s how she breaks down her pay-rate-for-work, in her own words:

• Remappable Furcadia Portraits: $15
• Nonremappable Furcadia Portraits: $10
• Bust Image: $10 (includes shading and simple background)
• Chibi Image: $15 (a miniature childish version of a character)
• Full Body Image: $20 (Includes simple background and 1 character shaded, +5 for more detailed background, +10 for 1 extra character, $5 for any others after that)
• Oh and Character Reference Sheets: $20 (front pose and miniature remap version, +$3 per extra details ex: back views, close-ups, etc.)

You can see examples of her work by clicking this link. Or, if you’re feeling gutsy, (or want to see her portrait art,) you can always click this link here instead. Either way, I think her art is swell, (and I’m sure she just blushes in the cutest of ways when she’s flattered,) so go ahead and drop some money into her pocket. She’ll take care of your port pretty fast, (general time is about 3 hours for one she informs me,) and she’ll probably throw in some gratuitous laughing out loud to make the journey together a fun one.

This has been mentioned before, but sometimes you need a little extra music for certain dreams. If you’re looking for some neat sound effects, you can head on over to another sub-site of mine at this address to score some free, small midi files that you can use in any Furcadia dream.

If you’d like to cuddle with someone, (and you’re a silver sponsor) type `cuddle <name>. They’ll be given a request to commence snuggling that, if they accept, will put them (basically) on top of your character for maximum cuddliness. Be warned, when using the Chinchillas, the side-effects could be disastrous!