Lelling

Thanks for the votes, folks! I'll keep the Introduce Yourself forum in the Community Center club for now, but if anyone has any more ideas and/or suggestions, don't be afraid to let us know!

Hail, comrades! As promised, we are continuing our steps to further align OpenCommunity with its core ideals. We've updated not only the channels on our Teamspeak, but also the website, with a brand new logo! We're also happy to report that in the spirit of equality, all our members on Teamspeak have been awarded a Golden Cookie! In the coming days, we will continue to improve the website to truly flesh it out in the spirit of OpenCommunity. Please stay tuned for further announcements later today, detailing the new redistribution of power and responsibilities amongst the members, as well as additional announcements regarding our Teamspeak changes tomorrow! We are really looking forward to taking OpenCommunity one step closer to the ideals mapped out in its initial founding! SFSN! Lelling

OpenCommunity effectively disbanded its commander teams, but we did wish to facilitate the founding of an independent commanding group, which is what resulted in PvE, but this doesn't mean we wont be organising charity events and the like ? Nothing! ? But that's not a problem - since we are not competitors, there shouldn't be any conflict if people wish to join PvE events and also be a part of OpenCommunity. We also understand that OC is intended for a very fringe audience, which is why we're supporting the formation of independent groups from those who no longer feel like OC does what they want from it.

It's time for a new thing aaah! This time I've got something a little bit more serious! ? Something which I think is very topical when it comes to discussions about edgy humor, freedom of speech, etc. This is a really good video, and I've heard good things about NonCompete before, but never actually checked out the channel prior to having this pop up in my recommendations. 10/10 would recommend watching this vid!

I think "benevolent dictator" is not really an appropriate term, due to the nature of the community. You wouldn't walk into a restaurant, try to eat from someone else's table and then call the restaurant owner a dictator for not allowing you to do so. We outlined what OpenCommunity is, and just because other people who came in wanted it to be something else, doesn't make us dictators. A library cannot be turned into a swimming pool. Also, the teams always had the potential to completely self-manage - the Raid Team, for example, was entirely self managed and needed practically no input on my part. However, the commanders from the other two teams never really wanted to take on more responsibilities, they just wanted to have more privileges, but without putting any of the self-management effort. I mean, most of them couldn't be trusted with writing the name of the community they were in properly. That's partially why we are creating this independent space that is outside of the community, so that it's even easier for these groups to self-manage. I really do believe that a platform open to guilds should exist, but it's also clear that OC was too specific of an idea to work as a general platform. Because we recognize that OpenCommunity's ideals are not something that all of our members were here for, and we do still wish to create an actual neutral platform. It just can't be within OpenCommunity. But, despite the point of it all being to create a free and neutral platform for guilds & groups to exist in, people have this idea that OpenCommunity is somehow oppressive - btw, this idea and the language describing me as a dictator only started when we started banning people with nazi memes in their avatars. We're wondering how this will impact our project attempts, and whether it would've been better to put forward the money for another license and try to start it up on a completely separate TS, rather than starting it here and then moving it after it's become more independent. Another one of the biggest risks we recognize is that even if the project is successful, and attracts multiple guilds and other groups, the likelihood that any of them will be interested in putting any effort in maintaining the platform for everyone is not high. But I'm not too worried about that, even if it doesn't take off ? As far as I'm concerned, the fate of that platform really is in the hands of anyone who wishes to use it, we're just creating the option. I'm more focused on all the good stuff that we're actually going to be doing inside of OpenCommunity (especially the board games, arts, crafts, and culture chats!) ? ?

Thank you for you speaking your mind, I definitely think the changes are massive and there'll be an even more pronounced change in how things will look. The reality is that these changes were inevitable. The OpenCommunity model was not necessarily unsustainable, it's just that it was unsustainable with just 3 people managing it. Despite repeated calls for people to step up, interest was sparse. If spread evenly, the work needed wasn't that much, at least in the Event and TT Teams, but while there was interest to keep benefiting from it, there was no interest in actually maintaining it. Commanders would harp on about wanting fewer rules and regulations, but when asked to come up with solutions to issues on their own and democratically resolve them, nobody wanted to do the actual thinking, and when a group of commanders actually did establish an alternative to OC and GW2C, all of their rules and procedures ended up being identical to OpenCommunity's (almost as if we had thought them through, and they were there for a reason). The reality that most commanders don't want to hear is that there's a difference between just tagging up and doing events, and what we were doing at OpenCommunity, and you can't have the same perks without the same hard work. Same with non-commander volunteering. We kept consistently asking for volunteers who wished to help with community management, or anyone who could help us engage people outside of events, etc. etc., but no one wants to put in the work. So we would continue to put in the work ourselves, stretching our limits temporarily, thinking "in time, the volunteers will come". They didn't, and these changes are not as much a choice as they are a necessity. OpenCommunity was like... hmm ? this will be a stretch of an analogy... it was like a market bubble, and it had reached maximum capacity. It would either pop and collapse completely, or it would need to be de-escalated. We chose to go with the de-escalation route.

For as long as I can remember, @Pippin's been mentioning eating banana bread every now and then and how great it is, and I've never had it before. So I decided to try and make some ?. I've never baked bread in my life, and the last bread-type thing I made was a potica in 2015, so this endeavour is something I've been thinking about for ages, but always put off because I found it too daunting. And for some reason, today, I saw we had some extra bananas and I was like "today is the day". The banans called to me ? Behold, my first bread child! Well, it's kinda bread. Banana bread is arguably more of a cake than bread ? But it's called bread, and it's mine, so it's my first bread child! I love how soft and fluffy it came out. And look at the bottom! Such good spongy texture! I'm so proud of my firstborn ? I was scared about the flavor but it also tastes super nice! Although I don't know how good of a judge I can be since I've never had any banana bread before ? And don't worry, I didn't burn it ? The reason it's so dark is because I added cinnamon.

Hello everyone! As the reshaping of OC continues, the biggest, and so far most untouched, area that will need to be affected is Guild Wars 2. Let's talk about the future of Guild Wars 2 and OpenCommunity! Guild Wars 2 Club As part of the modernisation of our website, the Guild Wars 2 section has been moved into a club of its own, becoming our third specialized area of the website! This includes all the general Guild Wars 2 forums, but does not include the GW2 guild subforums. Check out the announcement here: Our New GW2 Project As OpenCommunity is moving away from organising events, we find that there is a lack of Teamspeak platforms hosting Guild Wars 2 groups. Since we still have a running Teamspeak, we figured we would extend our support to anyone wishing to still run events on Teamspeak. As such, we want to announce our new Guild Wars 2 project, which hopes to establish a neutral place for independent event organisers, and just guilds and groups in general. So, what is it, how will it work, what is even happening? Let's break it down! A Neutral Platform The idea behind this new platform is a separate section on the OC teamspeak where each group can get its own area within which it is fully autonomous. The Players vs. Events group was recently given such an area, and we wish to extend this opportunity to any group that desires it! Each group with such an area will have full autonomy over its channels, as well as moderation rights, similar to what Community Guilds got under the old system, except with more powers and privileges. Groups will have more protections and a more dynamic permission system, basically being little islands inside of the platform. OpenCommunity will not have any direct influence on when and which events any of these groups choose to run, as well as on how they choose to run them, and they will enjoy full autonomy with regards to their members. Each group will be able to set their own internal rules and regulations, and will also be in charge of enforcing those rules internally. This platform would be open to any group, regardless of whether or not they organise any events on their own, and can just be used to provide a cosy voice chat home for those who need or desire it. For those who organise events, this means they will have more visibility, and for smaller guilds it should mean they'll have more chances to join activities! Website & Calendar Support The groups will also get their own area on the website, in the form of clubs. We've had some great success trying out clubs, and they have many features and are very flexible in terms of what they can be used for - from discussions, to questions, to information pages and calendars, a club offers a guild a micro-site of its own, which the leader(s) of the club can fully customise. They can also appoint their own moderators, and are completely in control of what kind of content appears in their club! We'll also be returning the Calendar to our website, and members will be able to see events from all clubs they are a member of, meaning it'll be a great go-to place for anyone wishing to see who is doing what event! Eventual Goals So what is our goal with this? We've said before that we do not want OpenCommunity to be seen as a service provider, so this move seems kind of counter-productive. This is still true, however, this is also a project that we thought was really cool, and something currently missing in the Guild Wars 2 community. Our intention is to see if this idea picks up any traction, and eventually create an independent, self-running Teamspeak. If it does not, we can most likely continue to accommodate a small number of groups, even if this project ends up being shelved. The Future of OC Guilds We've already discussed integrated guilds in the past, now let's take a look at what's going to happen with the other OpenCommunity guilds. With the move towards a more community-focused OpenCommunity, and the addition of this platform, guilds that were previously under the umbrella of "OpenCommunity guilds", will now have the ability to move to the new independent area. While guilds can continue to exist inside of OpenCommunity, there will no longer be a label such as "an OpenCommunity guild". The existing guild sections on the website and teamspeak will be deprecated, as there will be no more need for them, and guilds will instead be able to have the (more independent) guild area on Teamspeak and a club on the website. Guild leaders who wish to transfer to this new area should get in touch with us, either via the OC Teams discord or directly here on the website! OC Raid Discord As we're no longer organising raids, the OC raid discord has been inactive since we went into downtime. However, there are still many members on it who might be interested in raiding, so before we fully shut down the discord, we wish to hear from anyone who organises, or is interested in organising raids. Let us know, and we can give you a shoutout in our closing announcement on the raider discord! Teamspeak Updates Coinciding with this project, we'll be cleaning up our teamspeak and reshaping it to fit our new direction for OpenCommunity better. We will be clearing out most of the existing channels, and replacing them with a brand new structure, as well as re-evaluating the various tags. The Community Member - GW2 tag will be getting deprecated, however, as Guild Wars 2, and all our members within it, held such a special place in OpenCommunity we will be replacing it with an exclusive legacy tag. This tag will remain on all identities which had the GW2 tag beforehand as a kind of vanity tag to show off your legacy status. Note that we wont be reassigning these tags, so make sure you don't lose your identity! (For help with preserving your identity, you can check out the relevant Teamspeak tips post.) We're planning a lot of cool changes for the Teamspeak itself, and we'll go through more details and specifics regarding those in a future update. Stay tuned!

Hey everyone! It's time for our largest club yet - the Guild Wars 2 club! Joining the Club If you're already familiar with IPS clubs from our Creators' Corner, or Let's Game club, you'll be familiar with the functionalities here. If not, let's get right into it! To start posting, all you have to do is click on the "Join Club" button on the top right. Then you're in and you can start posting straight away. This doesn't have to be manually confirmed, so you can automatically join without any wait times. Note: If you posted any threads in any of the old Guild Wars 2 forums, you were automatically added to the club. You can leave and/or rejoin at will. Clubs offer a variety of really cool features, allowing players to pick and choose which sections of the community they're interested in and participate there, rather than be met with a flurry of forums every time they load the page. The GW2 features all of the previous Guild Wars 2 discussion boards, as well as a brand new GW2 screenshot gallery, both for personal screenshots and for events! Discussion Boards Tyrian Tavern The general GW2 chat on our forums, for all and any discussions related to Guild Wars 2! This board contains all the posts from the Tyrian Tavern forum, as well as everything from the previously separate Raids forum, now both merged into one. Guides The place to drop guides of any sort relating to anything in Guild Wars 2! GW2 Questions Converted from the old Raid Q&A, the new GW2 Questions section is open to anyone to ask and answer questions related to Guild Wars 2! The Gallery The gallery offers a new and easier way to share screenshot and moments from Guild Wars 2! Whether it's screenshots from your personal exploits, or memories from a community event, here's the place to post them! To start posting, you can either create your own album, or, in case of community events, choose an existing one! Once you've created the album, you can upload images to it at will, and users will be able to comment individually on pictures, or on the entire album. You can also post updates or link to the album from anywhere else on the website. Follow the Content You Enjoy! In IPS, you can follow any content - be it a specific thread, a board, a gallery, or even an entire club! Simply click on the "Follow" button, usually found in the top right corner of any post, forum, gallery, or any other content, and you'll be able to pick how, when, and where you receive notifications regarding that specific content. You can follow and unfollow any content at will, and can even set to follow content without other members being able to ese! Give Feedback & Share Suggestions Clubs are very flexible, and can be changed according to our needs as a community, so if the current set up ends up being not exactly what we need, it can be expanded, contracted, or reworked in a way that makes it more convenient to use! Comment to let us know what you think about the features and whether you find them useful, or if anything is missing! As always, if there are any issues, you can message me here on the website directly, or reply to this thread!

This time I decided draw the same character that they were drawing, mostly because I wanted to try and draw a specific face, and because HORNS! But, because we're so busy with all the various announcements, changes, and the Community Assembly, I'm probably not going to be able to finish her this weekend, so here's my sketch! I tried drawing her way bigger than I'm used to, mostly so I get to focus on details. As a bonus, earlier, I also did some practice drawing the faces straight on. The top two were based on the same scary terry, and were mostly a practice of differentiating the same base. These are also twice the sizes of faces I usually draw, and I'm quite pleased with them tbh ? The one on the bottom left is an even bigger face, and I wanted to try an expression. It's the first time in a long time that I've drawn an open mouth of any sort (the last one I drew made @Wolfie yawn every time she looked at it), and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out ? I got distracted and also drew the dude's body ?. As you can see by the eraser smudges, the hand on the hip gave me tons of trouble ?

Oh hey, it's time for another video! This one is from ColdFusion, a channel with one of the chillest voices I've ever heard. Dagogo makes really cool videos, usually about new technology and related topics. This is his newest one on the spoopy new Google Stadia! (I have to say I'm not used to him using such clickbaity thumbnails ? ) Honestly, Stadia and cloud gaming in general fills me with a ton of dread ? It's always concerning when too many things become a subscription service rather than we get to actually own them.

So after some trials and tribulations, and a case of starvation I had to load from, I finished this challenge and completed all the milestones ? This was my village's final form ?

Unfortunately, the feeling only lasts as long as it takes us to try the feature out and discover the few things we absolutely need that it just doesn't do, turning 1 hour of setup into 40 hours of tweaking and fixing ?

Hello everyone! In our continuous effort to refresh and update our website, we've given a facelift to our old Let's Game forum. Welcome to the Let's Game club! The Let's Game club is the new go-to place to talk about anything game-related. Talk about your favorite games, share screenshots and discuss specific games the community's playing en masse, or just share stories from your single-player adventures! Joining the Club If you're already familiar with IPS clubs from our Creators' Corner, you'll be familiar with the functionalities here. If not, let's get right into it! To start posting, all you have to do is click on the "Join Club" button on the top right. Then you're in and you can start posting straight away. This doesn't have to be manually confirmed, so you can automatically join without any wait times. Note: If you posted any threads in the old Let's Game or Minecraft forum, you were automatically added to the club. You can leave and/or rejoin at will. Club Features The club feature is an easy way for people to tailor their browsing experience to what they're interested in, and not have a massive list of unread forums glaring at them when they load the page. Instead, a list of clubs will allow for browsing of content you're interested in. This club features two previous discussion boards - the Let's Game general discussion board and the Minecraft discussion board. It also features a new gallery which members can use to upload screenshots from their video game adventures. Following the content you like! One of IPS' best features is the ability to follow specific things, and set how exactly you wish to receive notifications regarding certain things. When you click Follow on a particular thread, forum, gallery, or any other database, it will give you a notification of your choice when something is posted. This makes it really easy to keep in touch with the things you like to see! You can choose to follow specific threads, people, or even entire categories, and individually set the notifications for each one. For example, if you'd like to receive notifications whenever anything, from posts, to images, to comments, is posted in the the club, you can follow the Club Overview itself. Alternatively, if you just want to get updates when new images are posted in a specific album, you can follow that. Using the Gallery The brand new empty gallery may appear a little bit scary at first, but it can be used very easily, so don't be scared to post in there! If you go to the Screenshot Gallery tab in the club, you should see an "Add Images" button. Click the button, and you'll get a popup asking if you want to add images to the category directly, create a new album, or if you want to use an existing album. If it's your first time posting, or if you're beginning to post a new project, the best option is to "Create a new album", so all your related images are contained in the same place. Once you've created the album, you can upload images to it at will, and users will be able to comment individually on pictures, or on the entire album. You can also post updates or link to the album from anywhere else on the website. Give Feedback & Share Suggestions The club set up is flexible and can be changed according to our needs, so if the current set up ends up being not exactly what we need, it can be expanded, contracted, or reworked in a way that makes it more convenient to use! Let us know what you think about the features and whether you find them useful, or if anything is missing! As always, if there are any issues, you can message me here on the website directly, or reply to this thread!

Hey hey! It is Wendesday, so it's time for another episode of Pub Draw! I was a bit worried that if we do it every week it'll be too fast, but turns out that some of the episodes will be practising and improving stuff we've already learned, with some advanced techniques. It also features Laura drawing on a tablet, so anyone who's not using paper, now you wont feel left out! ? This episode is another head drawing episode, this time it's from a slightly different angle, so that we can better learn how to work with heads as an actual 3D object rather than just flat faces drawn from straight ahead. Timestamps: 2:08 - Skip the ad 3:30 - Intro 6:15 - Start drawing If they're gonna keep starting so quickly, I don't think I'll keep including timestamps ?

The other day, I got all our pins & magnets required to fill the supporter packages still waiting to be shipped out, so over the last few days I've been packing the next batch of supporter prizes. I figured it would be fun to share the process, drama and conflama of preparing the packages for mailing ? When I decided to make this blog post, I unfortunately already packed all the currently pending packages - you can see them in the pic above, waiting patiently in their box corner for the day they get to see the world - so I was a bit miffed I couldn't include the whole process, but fortunately, someone ended up filling in their information just a few days ago, so I had another one to prepare! Package Tracker The first step is always going to the package tracker. Every now and then, I check all the packages marked with "Awaiting Response", to see if they've been filled in with the required information. Once the info's been updated, the package is ready to pack! Today, we'll be packing a Heroic Supporter box, so it does contain the magic OC mug ? Preparations Alrighty, so we've got what we want to pack - we need 1 mug, 5 bibi pins, and 1 Tyria Pride pin! Time to bring out the many boxes of pins & magnets! These boxes contain all the pins we've accrued through the ages. I'm currently looking at ordering a nice sorting box so I can store them all a little bit more neatly, but until then, I just have to do a little bit of browsing until I get to the right ones ? Right now I basically have 3 boxes - one for the bibi pins & magnets, one for the other currently sending pins, and one for everything else ? There's also one box where I keep the brand new thank you cards and stamps. If this was just a small package containing pins or magnets, I'd just use one of the envelopes you see on the left side of the picture above, and a stamp, but because this contains a mug, we'll need to use a box! Normally, I'd use a small box, but I just ran out! ? Luckily, I have some backup boxes from the post office - I originally bought those for the packages, but they're too big, and made from heavy cardboard (probably on purpose, so they can charge more for mailing them ? ). Pen to scale. Lastly, we're going to need some safety wrap. There's now a general rule in our house that all bubble wrap gets brought to me for inspection before it gets thrown away ? However, I did also buy an actual ball of bubble wrap, and some other safety wrapping that I use for the mugs, but for just filling empty air in boxes, I generally use recycled packaging, so we don't create too much waste ^^ Let's Get Down To Business Now, let's get to packing! First, I like to write a little thank you note. Thanks again to @llandshark for making the artwork for our Thank You cards! I'm really happy with how they turned out! The reason I write the message first is because the pens I use are very wet, and the ink takes ages to dry, so to avoid any smudges I write the note first, and put it away to dry ?. And yes, this has resulted in me having to open an already sealed and packed box to put the card in after forgetting to do so beforehand. Now, on to the pins! I like to secure the pins to a piece of paper, so they don't rattle around and get bruised, or leave marks on anything else in the box. I bought this nice shiny paper in both green and pink, originally to write on it, but the shiny finish it has actually makes it really difficult to write on, so now I use it to secure the pins on it ? It just keeps them nice and safe. In a completely unnecessary act of overkill, I use this weird professional-looking cutting tool to cut the paper into strips instead of using scissors ? Once the pins are nice and secure, I put them safely inside of the mug, in a little pocket of spare bubble wrap I had lying around, just so they don't damage the mug on the inside. That's the entire content of this supporter package, but the packing doesn't end here! Now it's time to protect this mug like it's my own child. Recently, I ordered a new chair, and its legs were protected in this foam mesh ting, like they're some kind of sensitive fruit, so I stored the mesh to use it for the mugs ? Behold, my ceramic fruit child! Now, all that's needed is to fill the package with tons and tons of protective bubble wrap, put everything inside, seal it, and write the address. Then, the package is ready to send! It joins its friends in the box corner, waiting for the day they all get to be released into the world!

Hey everyone! Things are picking up and our plans for the new and improved future of OpenCommunity are crystallising ? We've got a lot to share and we're hoping to share it all before the end of March, so let's get right to it! Community Assembly Before we get right to it, here's a quick reminder that the next Community Assembly will be taking place on Saturday, March 23rd, at 18:00 CET! During the Assembly, we'll be making new announcements, revealing a new project, as well as discussing our plans for the future and anything else our members wish to discuss. For more information about the assembly and the topics discussed, check out the announcement posted yesterday. Fate of Integrated Guilds One of the issues we were yet to make a final announcement about has been the fate of our three integrated guilds, [DV], [PvE], and [KIT], so let's remedy that now! [KIT] will remain as OpenCommunity's newsletter guild, with no expected activity or guild chat. [DV] will remain with OpenCommunity, but will aim to be a smaller-sized guild of friends, rather than focused on daily events. Please read the full DV announcement. [PvE], as previously announced, has become the flagship guild of the new autonomous group of commanders who are organising events on their own, outside of OpenCommunity's direct management. For the time being, they have their own area on the website, with the aim of becoming fully independent. As for the other community guilds, we've got some big announcements coming up regarding our plans for Guild Wars 2, which will be revealed on the Community Assembly. Don't worry if you miss it, though, the announcement will also be posted on the website! Autonomous Group / [PvE] Update The newly formed autonomous group has decided to take on the name of [PvE] - Players vs. Events! They have been granted their own Teamspeak area, in which they have full autonomy, as well as their own section on the website. Check it out for any news and announcements from their end! Since most of the active members from our Minecraft server are from [PvE], they will be receiving a copy of the OC Minecraft world when / if we decide to shut ours down, or sooner, if they so desire. For the time being, our server will remain online, and we'll make sure to announce it well in advance when the time comes. [PvE] now has full autonomy over their operations, and we'll likely no longer be posting updates on their behalf. If you'd like to keep in touch with their news, consider joining and following their club on the website, and joining the guild. We've Updated Our Privacy Policy - No, Seriously We've been going with an outdated privacy policy for a while, and while we're doing all-round updates to the website, we decided we might as well update it. Check it out here. Account Deletion With all the changes coming up, we do understand if anyone wishes to have their data and account deleted from the website, as per GDPR. If you're no longer planning on using the OpenCommunity website, you can request an account deletion. Simply private-message @Lelling with a request for deletion. Package Timeout Not really part of the privacy policy, but also a new website policy so we'll keep in the same chapter. Packages left with Awaiting Response for over 60 days will now be shelved if no address is given. Packages which have a mailing address but have not filled additional information needed, such as the type of Bibi icon, may not receive that particular part of the package, and may only receive the selected items. LFM Now that the future of OC is becoming clearer, we're getting ready to once again open our doors to anyone willing to help out around the community. Keep an eye out for further announcements, as we'll be announcing some new roles open to community members, as well as looking for volunteers for the Toga Party for Multiple Sclerosis charity event, which will take place on May 11th! If you're already wondering about helping out, feel free to post a comment here or contact a staff member! Don't be shy ? If you have any questions regarding this, we can also discuss them during the Community Assembly. In order to help out with MS Toga or any other future events, you don't need to be a commander or have any commanding experience. Spring Cleaning Continues In the next few days, there'll be some more cleanup on both the website and the forums, as we continue to shape our platform into something more suitable for the kind of community we wish to create. We're super happy with the Club feature tests so far, and will continue implementing it in the future, to replace many of our forums, so keep an eye out for any changes to familiar areas of the website ? On Teamspeak, the new autonomous section for [PvE] is up and running, so we'll be running some optimisation of the number of other channels we have on Teamspeak, particularly those which are no longer operational, to make our Teamspeak a little easier to navigate, especially for new members joining for [PvE] events, and to get ready for the major TS overhaul we're also planning to implement in the next two weeks! Stay tuned, and we hope to see you at the Community Assembly!

Hello everyone! We've had a productive few days working hard on some upcoming changes, and in the next two weeks, we've got a lot of pretty big upcoming changes! In order to open up a little bit of discussion, and to better be able to present and explore the upcoming changes, we figured it was about time for another Community Assembly! The 3rd Community Assembly will be taking place on Saturday, March 23rd, at 18:00 CET! The assembly will, as always, be taking place on Teamspeak, in an open channel, and all community members are invited! What is the Community Assembly? The Community Assembly is a community-wide meeting open to everyone, where we can share plans for the upcoming future of the community, hear ideas from our members and discuss any questions, quandaries and concerns people might be having related to the community. Anyone can come along and voice their concerns, ask questions, share ideas, as well as ask for clarifications on any matters regarding the community! What will be the big topics? Any topics can be brought up by members, but major topics that will be brought up by the OC staff relate to the changes in the community, what we hope they will achieve, and the future we're hoping to build for the community. We'll also be announcing a special new project, which we're hoping will blossom into something bigger than anything OpenCommunity's ever done! Pretty much all of the community will be affected by these changes, but the largest points will most likely be: Our plans and future in Guild Wars 2 Upcoming Teamspeak changes Upcoming Website changes New project Announcement! The topics discussed will strongly affect OpenCommunity affiliated guilds, so we would like to extend a special invitation to all Guild Leaders in the community, as well as anyone who has a guild of their own that isn't affiliated with OC! If you'd like to discuss other topics, don't be afraid to bring them up! Whether you have questions yourself, or you'd just like to come and hear what others have to say or what the plans for the future are, we hope to see you at the 3rd Community Assembly!

OK it's time for another pick - here's a short video from one of my favorite sentient soybeans, Hbomberguy, on the subject of ludonarrative. It's a really cool video and one of the first of his that I watched ?

Sylvari NPC voice: "Seize the moment!"

Hey everyone! Since we're doing a cleanup and rework of the site, I figured it would be a good idea to revisit this forum and see whether we still want to use it, so I put up a lil poll ? What it's meant to do The purpose of this forum is basically twofold - one is a way for people to introduce themselves, and say something about themselves, their interests, etc. This makes it easier not only to get to know each other, but also for any member who sees the introduction to point the person in the direction of the things they're interested in ? The other purpose is that it works as a way to encourage people to make their first post - not everyone is super confident with just entering a discussion, and people might feel too shy to post in a thread about something. This forum basically says "Post your first thing here!" and creates an obvious place for people to make their first post, and once they've made the one, they might feel more comfortable posting elsewhere! Do you think it achieves these goals? Do you have any alternative suggestions? Did it help you make your first post? Let's hear it!

And here's what I drew after Episode 1! I didn't draw Keyleth, the character they're drawing, instead I went for a merfolk, cause I love drawing merfolk! ? ? She's not very symmetrical, but rather than keep erasing and fixing things, I figured I'd focus more on working with my errors, noticing them, and then trying not to repeat them when drawing something else. If you want, come along on this journey and let's have some fun! If anyone else is following the tutorial, post what you drew ?

So, despite spending most of my school days doodling away and actually spending more time drawing than taking notes, @Wolfie can tell you that I never actually practiced any techniques, and that's painfully apparent in my anatomy, hairy lines, and just general lack of consistency, so I thought it would be really cool to actually learn how to draw with some basic techniques, and it might actually improve my skill ? Enter Pub Draw And lo and behold, just recently, Critical Role came out with this brand new show called Pub Draw, where seasoned artist Babs Tarr teaches Marisha Ray (and occasional guests) how to draw! The goal of the show is to basically teach us how to draw a character - like your D&D character - over the course of a couple episodes, so it'll even have some cool stuff for drawing other races! I thought it would be really cool to follow the show and post what I've managed to cook up, and maybe some other people might want to join in too! Don't be shy! Here's Episode 1: Because this is a live show, it does have a little bit of extra chat, but during the actual drawing it's nice cause it gives you time to draw and catch up ? Here are some useful timestamps though: 5:30 to skip the start and the sponsor shoutout 13:00 to skip the intro (which is mostly going through tools and encouragement ? ) 15:57 to jump straight into it and start drawing! ? Also, if you want to do some extra credit, before Pub Draw became a show, Babs and Marisha actually already did a similar drawing lesson, which basically functioned as a pilot for this show. It's basically the same procedure as in this first episode, but I also watched that one because I thought the practice would be good ? The episodes come out once every 2 weeks, and so far there's only been I think two or three, so once we catch up there'll be plenty of time between each episode for everyone to participate without a huge time pressure!