Canonfire! Forums-viewtopic-OJ #22 Feedback

Sun Jul 08, 2007 6:52 pm OJ #22 Feedback

This issue of The Oerth Journal unveils the first peek at a slightly upgraded format. New methods being used in formatting have made it slightly easier to offer a full color ink cartridge eating "tarrasque edition" of OJ and the more printer friendly, non-ink cartridge eating version of OJ. We'd like to know how you like the look/layout of OJ #22. Both the "printer friendly" and "tarrasque edition" are available for download here:

http://www.oerthjournal.com/oj22.html

While we make every effort to ensure that each issue of The Oerth Journal is free of errors and oddities, please feel free to bring to our attention anything that seems off or that you have questions about. Fear not! Your brutal honesty will be assumed to be, and be taken as, constructive criticism! Happy

As to feedback on the articles themselves, feel free to open a thread in the Readers Workshop ( http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=23 ) using the following thread title format: "OJ #22: THE DUCHY OF ALMOR Article Discussion".

---Cebrion
_________________
- Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -

Sun Jul 08, 2007 9:32 pm

- Cover. Fantastic! Great art! Great usage of type! Speaking of the cover the link to Dean's website doesn't work.
- I'm diggin' the switch to san serif but don't be afraid to use both serif and sans serif in the same issue. It can be used pretty effectively.
- The page notation in the contents struck me as awkward although it did look better in the tarrasque-edition. Probably because of the kerning although I think it would help to line up the page notation with the first line of each content item and maybe move them a little closer together. Maybe change the color of the page notation to make it stand out. Ever thought of combining the credits and contents pages into one?
- I think my favorite change is the move toward giving each article its own look, without going overboard.
- Really nice layout in Sam's Divine Slaadi article.
- Overall I really like the new look.

Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:45 am

I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing yet, but had a couple notes on my article.

- If it's not too late, please remove the word "equestrian" from the quote at the beginning of the article.

- The Rasahr Echeva art is messed up again. Can you make it so the dude isn't a squished together?

- Also, I thought we were going with the "unfinished," uncolors version of the Rasahr Echeva, at least in the pf version. I personally liked that version better...

Ah well, I'll make sure to comment more once I read the entire issue.

Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:24 pm

I thought "equestrian" should be either removed or changed to "horse" in the quote, but I left it as is because it was a quote.

A general note to all authors: It is recommended that you edit your own work prior to submitting it, mainly to be sure that it conveys the proper meaning, but also to look for cut-n-paste errors that flub up a sentence or paragraph and other fun stuff. One final note: do NOT trust WORD to find your mistakes! WORD is notorious for letting all manner of bizarre stuff get by undetected. Oh, how I hate that! Happy

As to editing, I prefer to correspond with the writers directly on Thursdays during #greychat, but on the #oerthjournal channel. I may require this, or at least e-mail correspondence, with authors in the future. We don't really have an established modus operandi yet, but as things become more organized they will become easier/better(hopefully).

If any of the authors note something that isn't quite right in their articles then contact Duicarthan at oerthjournal@gmail.com directly with any corrections. Please use "OJ #22 Article Corrections" as the e-mail subject/title.

There are a couple minor things (that we are already aware of) in this issue that will be corrected in the near future, but we wanted to get it out on a Thursday before Duicarthan collapsed from lack of sleep. It is probably a good idea to instead delay the release of finished future OJ's by a few days so as to give things a more in-depth review, and also give the authors some time to review the final drafts of both versions of the their articles as they will appear in the issue.

Any author suggestions on how submissions are handled should be sent directly to Duicarthan(see e-mail above).
_________________
- Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -

Thu Jul 12, 2007 2:43 pm

I haven't finished OJ 22, so I will hold off on any opinions, however it would be helpful if Canonfire would place a notice of the current OJ on the Front Page perhaps like the WoG.

Something simply like OJ # is now out, nothing fancy.

Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:58 pm

Will do. This is a preview week. Duicarthan will post an announcemnt when the final update/editing is complete(which will be soon I think!). Cool

_________________
- Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -

Wed Aug 22, 2007 6:12 am

I was very impressed with the new look. The cover art is great, and the interior looks very good. Way more professional.

Good work!

I look forward to future issues in that look...

Thu Aug 23, 2007 4:30 am

We are glad you like it!

(The second half of your bribe will be transferred to your Paypall account shortly, as per our agreement. Happy

)
_________________
- Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -

Fri Aug 24, 2007 1:39 am

As the first Oerth Journal that's I've gone and taken a really good cover to cover read, I must say that I was rather impressed.

My favourate was the article on The Duchy of Almor. It made to sound like a place that I would like to set an adventure or two.

Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:49 am

Just a note to say thanks for putting OJ out there at no cost to the community. I stumbled across it only a year or two ago and downloaded all the copies. I had initially only skimmed them but I finally invested the effort in reading them more fully and constructing my personal, annotated index. While the quality has been a bit uneven there has always been something of interest. I especially liked the constellations of GH in 22. I printed a copy of the star chart and pasted over the 'real' starchart in an old Hammond Starfinder folio. Now I can rotate the disc and see the stars rise and set (which I had a difficult time precisely visualizing without it). Again-kudos to Andy Miller for an article that really adds verisimilitude to the world. It also allows me to say cryptic things like-Serpents you have slain, but still the Snake advances. When the Mage stands high you must enter and take your chances!" It really messes with the players!