The Energon Pub

While we all are saddened by Bills passing, I just hope that the lot of you don't lose your desire to keep creating. I think Bill would love to see this place move on even without him at the helm.

I am hoping the opposite happens, I for one hadn't been kitbashing in a while and just this morning cracked open some paints and got to work. Tribute to him, and plus, I need to make up for lost time.

same here,i am now determined more than ever to move forward with this site as a contributing member and not just an observer

Same comment as grimlockprime108

i agree it is the best way we can honor his memory is by moving ahead,and continuing his legacy

while I haven`t picked up a tool yet for a TF kitbash(a Robotech repaint aint exactly a TF is it)I did start sketching some movement idea`s and parts for a scratchbuild I`ve wanted to do for a looong time now...and when I DO get to work on this thing, I`ll probably need some advice here and there as I`ve never truly scratchbuilt anything from a load of styrene and a modelkit before....nor am I making it myself easy with the scale I`m working being set already to 1:24...(yes, it`s an alt type kitbash with some masterpiece series influences)

Wanting to make sure I do what I've set out to do has been my response. I most CERTAINLY do not think that TFM would have wanted us to be so upset that we stop creating. I think everything he tried to do with this site, his work, and his friendships/advice to the rest of us would be directly contrary to that idea.

i hope this goes on. he loved the hobby enough to start this site shouldent it go on in his honor? maybe do a little tweaking and add a bio with history of him and his work so future members will know.

doomtron wrote:add a bio with history of him and his work so future members will know.

I think that would be a great idea to add a biography of Bill and have a showcase of his work to, so future members will know what a great inspiration that he has been to this community.

If I have one regret about this site, Its that I've never posted pics of my work...............That has all changed now, I want people to realise what an inpiration bill was............If it wasn't for him my collection of alts would be abpput 6.....thanks to him its about 60

I havn't exactly lost my interest... I've just been so tired to finnish the 2 prijects I've started.

BUT!
As a tribute to TFmaster I'm going to do my best and finnish Grasp the horrorcon I began working on as my first KB...

I don't think there's any question that the site will go on.

I think Ryan's looking at using the TFMaster.com domain specifically for such a tribute, largely for the sake of Bill's family, so they can easily access it.

Whether that means a new domain for Transtopia I'm not sure (although I've already looked up Transtopia.com - some bugger's already nabbed it and they're not even using it!), but to be honest, I don't think it really matters - those of us here can easily make sure the site can be found with sigs and links, as we already do.

As far as I understand it, Ryan's still working on TT, although it's taken a bit of a backseat at the mo. But I'm sure no-one has any intention to close the site following Bill's death. After all the hard work he put in keeping it alive, that wouldn't be right at all.
I believe the site will appear as stand-alone (like it currently is), but actually be a sub-site for Seibertron, replacing the current Demiurgic City.

I definitely think a tribute to Bill should be on its front page, or at least easily accessible from it.

Well, i decided to work more in Arm. Prime's trailer, he will like to see us moving on.

I want you guys to know this: Transtopia will live on. I have an obligation to complete the work that Bill asked me to do. The sad irony of all of this is that due to his decisions last October, the site has a future so long as I'm here. Bill and I had a lot of discussions regarding the integration of Transtopia into Seibertron.com. He was definitely vocal about these changes that he desired on this site as well. It is my duty as his friend and colleague to complete his requests. And as his friend, I will watch after the Transtopia community and make sure that you guys are not forgotten.

Part of my original agreement with Bill was that we would integrate Transtopia and redirect the tfmaster.com domain to the new section on Seibertron. While I don't see a problem with the former, I do personally have an issue with the latter at this point considering current circumstances. I think it would be inappropriate to redirect the tfmaster.com domain. I think tfmaster.com would be best served as a tribute website which his wife (Lauren) and their son (Racheal) can come view at any time to remember Bill, as well as you guys. I will need your help to make it a great tribute website which I would like to do in the near future. That means I've got a lot of work to do.

The biggest thing that I need from you guys is help with the tribute content for tfmaster.com as well as direction/ideas/suggestions for the new Transtopia section on Seibertron.com ( http://www.seibertron.com/transtopia ). Let's make sure WE (i.e. "all of us") work together to make sure that the world of Transtopia continues for as long as possible. The biggest thing that Bill wanted to accomplish by integrating Transtopia into Seibertron was to give you guys more exposure for the incredible work that you do.

I don't want Transtopia to be some half-assed subsection on Seibertron that I would forget about like Demiurgic City was. I want it to be a major feature on the site. This can only happen if everyone here continues their passion. The reason Demiurgic City took a back seat was because no one really seemed to care about it. I don't want that to happen with Transtopia. I want to go to the homepage of Seibertron.com and see somebody's incredible and beautiful custom on the homepage. I want to see JAF or Devastator making a news post or an update to let the world know that "X" new customs have been added to the website. I want you guys to get the recognition that you deserve ... and that Bill wanted.

As I mentioned above, I need your guys help with this. I'm not a kitbasher. I have no desire to be one. But you guys are incredible artists. This is your hobby. I'm a programmer. Together, we can make this right. I need you guys to communicate with me so that I can make sure I build the tools that you need to showcase your awesome work. I think this would make Bill really happy. I only wish he could see the end result. The future of Transtopia is in our hands. Let's make Bill proud.

Well give us a list of what you plan on doing and what Bill wanted you do to and we'll give you our inputs and such.

I remember you guys talking about the ability to post our own galleries. I'd assume with Moderator permissions built in so that Dev or someone reviews them before they go public of course. Thats an idea I'd definitely want to see. Helps cut work on there end and lets us feel a little more involved in the process.

A separate subforum for Transtopia built into the Siebertron Forums I'm assuming is a given. I know you guys talked about integrating us all over there. I've got accounts here and there.

A voting system with the galleries would be cool. Allow that to have an effect on which Customs appear on the front page of the site and the Bashing area its self.

Definitely want to see the follow along articles from here migrate over, and the ability for people to add there own, again with some moderater review.

It's good to hear from you Ryan. I guess my post here would be to request for more communication with each of the staff here. I know my channel of communication can hardly be less open. I'm just here willing to help out in any way I can. I know I for one remain optimistic about Seibertron's involvement with Transtopia.

hell if you need me to help out on the norm deleting posts and more then i am more then happy to. every bit of help i am willing to give

Thanks Ryan for all the effort allready involved.
Im sure all the mods here would step in and help out on whatever is needed.

As for the comment about putting an option to 'rate' a custom, please dont.
Me and TFm thought about such a thing way back but for custom work it is certainly not possible to 'rate' a custom solely based on pictures.
Thats what the forums are for, to discuss about said custom.

i think pepie is right (thinks thats the first time i didnt say pepsi)

a option to rate wouldnt be great because comments work strong regards to fine tuning and more.

However, how about a custom displayed on the front page, probably chosen at random from the archive, which links into its Transtopia gallery? That would certainly grab people's interest, and if each gallery also has a prominent link into the galleries menu page, then there's a way to draw them into the Transtopia (sub)site...

Pepie wrote:Thanks Ryan for all the effort allready involved.
Im sure all the mods here would step in and help out on whatever is needed.

As for the comment about putting an option to 'rate' a custom, please dont.
Me and TFm thought about such a thing way back but for custom work it is certainly not possible to 'rate' a custom solely based on pictures.
Thats what the forums are for, to discuss about said custom.

This is exactly the kind of stuff that I need to know from you guys. Bill and I never really got to discuss the specifics of the tools that he wanted me to build him. We just had a mutual understanding that I was going to take care of the Transtopia community's best interests. We never got into things like "Should users be allowed to rate kitbashes?" or "How should the kitbashes be categorized?".

If you guys think it when you think of Kitbashing, I probably need to know about it. The more information that you guys can tell me about what you think will make a great kitbashing section, the better the end product will be for you guys to use. I really need you guys to overload me with information. If we need to start a new thread about this, then we should. I don't think we need a new forum for this since we can just use this existing website forum.

I also need to know what forums you guys will need at http://www.seibertron.com/transtopia/forums

This is part of the last exchange Bill and I had about Transtopia. I have other messages where we've discussed Transtopia and some of his ideas, but none of it's really fleshed out. I also don't just want to get rid of the Transtopia posts, which I think Bill wanted to do. It's nice to look back at Bill's posts to see how passionate he was about all of this. It's also a sad reminder about how short life can be.

TFmaster wrote:Anyhoo, I know we've both had a lot going lately but I also wanted to talk about the current situation of Transtopia. I'm guessing until all the bugs are worked out for the forums (Wich we are having problems on our forums as well/Some debug mode ****) we won't be able to go forward with anything. I brought up the idea before to just get rid of the Transtopia forums and then just reorginize the Duramic city (Sp?) to house Art, and a few minor sub sections for kitbashes as in Finnished, WIP, Scratchbuild, Tips/Help and just do away with the rest of the forum sections on Transtopia since your forums have all the same content.General discussion and all that good lucky horse ****.

Also, We really need to allow Dev to start making Kitbash galleries again on Transtopia because other sites will get all the submissions while we have down time...Eventually it's ganna make Transtopia obsolete if people have a new place to house their custom work. Anyhoo, just a concern.

Ramrider wrote:However, how about a custom displayed on the front page, probably chosen at random from the archive, which links into its Transtopia gallery? That would certainly grab people's interest, and if each gallery also has a prominent link into the galleries menu page, then there's a way to draw them into the Transtopia (sub)site...

I'm open to any suggestions you guys have along these lines. Keep in mind that Transtopia will have it's own "homepage". I feel that it should also have a place on the main homepage as well so that people know about it, whether it's galleries like the toy galleries on my site or the spotlight or feature areas of the homepage.

Here's an example of a subsection with it's own homepage:

http://www.seibertron.com/
http://www.seibertron.com/people/index.php
http://www.seibertron.com/comics/index.php

Yeah, I'm just trying to work out in my head what would be the best places to link to where.

I like the idea of the random(?) custom on the Seibertron frontpage to draw users into Transtopia, but I think it should go into that custom's gallery rather than straight into Transtopia, and that the gallery should then link to the Transtopia page. If that makes sense.

Ramrider wrote:Yeah, I'm just trying to work out in my head what would be the best places to link to where.

I like the idea of the random(?) custom on the Seibertron frontpage to draw users into Transtopia, but I think it should go into that custom's gallery rather than straight into Transtopia, and that the gallery should then link to the Transtopia page. If that makes sense.

That would be fine ... kind of like how the Spotlighted galleries work currently (such as the Ironhide gallery).

That'd be the fella.