It's not even so much ASB maps as "random shit happens for no reason" maps - for most ASB scenarios, there is some sort of "if miracle happens, then a, b, c follow" this is "a, b, and c miraculously happen, and, oh, look, doughnuts!"
(Agreed, though, they are relatively decent-looking)
Bruce
Mmm, doughnuts… *drools*
Seriously though, I could not agree more with you and Fenrir_Angerboda. It's time this thread became the glorious thing it was in the past, and not just a place for posting maps that aren't thought out or particularly well-made. I think the only way to do this is to provide some serious help to the people who make maps, because it is for them this thread exists.
So I now propose a great offensive, like the great Landshark Offensive of times long since past (it's just a couple of years ago, but that's eons by Internet standards) which liberated the Alien Space Bats and Magic forum from the spammers, wankers, trolls and all the others who infested it at that time, to liberate the Map Thread (and all other parts of the forums involving maps) from this recent wave of unexplained randomness.
Krall, the founder and Chairman of our most honourable and gentlemanly
Honourable Gentlemen's Club has taken an important initiative (although it was completely independent from this appeal). He has namely started an HGC project known as the Grand Unified Illustration Ideal, which aims at providing higher qualities of maps, flags, posters, and all other illustrations on these glorious boards of Ian's. I now appeal to the better side of everyone who has a reputation for cartography or other graphic work. Go out and spread your knowledge to the whole world (or at least the whole of AH.com) in whatever way you find suitable; make tutorials, make true examples of all of your works, tutor someone of lesser skills who asks for it, and above all, make pushes for improvements among our new mapmakers at every turn.
A great way to improve your mapmaking skill is to enter a Map of the Fortnight challenge; another is to make a brief scenario and then try to map it, and a third good way is to study others' work. Last but not least (no, this is more like last but most); try as hard and well as you can. You learn little about mapmaking by sitting about looking at other maps; try to improve your skill actively by trial and error. Don't feel the need to post every try you make; I, for example, have many a map attempt that just sits on my hard drive doing nothing, and I've probably made something like a hundred attempts. Yet I think the number of maps I've actually posted is less than twenty.
So in summary, go out there! Help people make maps! Any good timeline will be severely hampered without maps; they help people see the political changes brought about by the events which the timeline, in everything from glowing narrative sentences to plain historical statements, may tell of. Cartography is a cornerstone of good AH. The Grand Unified Illustration Ideal is a good start, but we need to all take action is real change is to happen. Remember your past victories, AH.com! Remember CF.net and OTL.com! Remember Landshark and his great offensive!
Me, I'll be going to sleep now; it's almost three o'clock in the morning here. Sleep and food are the only things that should be allowed to interfere with our goal! For all you who wish to join in the offensive, join me at the HGC thread or write a PM to me; together we are strong!
