Sounds like a great idea, torstan. I'd just like to think a little more about the consequences of maps flowing off this site to another where Arcana has little or no control.
This was just a thought that came to me this evening. Deviantart (www.deviantart.com) is a huge art gallery on the 'net. It has built in compatibility with PicLens and is very easy to browse and navigate. Wouldn't it be a good showcase for the skills of the Guild?
A possible set up would work like this:
One account under the name of the guild.
Maps would get uploaded there once they had been posted in the Finished Maps section, and possibly only after they had been vetted by the CLs for quality, or if they had got a certain rating from the Cartographer's Guild members (I believe we can rate posts, but that we generally don't ?).
A deviantart gallery can have subfolders. This would allow the folders to be organised in the same way as the forums here are organised - regional, world, dungeon etc.
This would allow for an easy way to scan through the collected maps of the Guild, without having to do hefty searches through the forums. It would also expose the guild to a lot of wider publicity.
Two things to make clear at this point. Firstly, deviantart has a clear implementation of the Creative Commons licenses so it is very easy to make sure art isn't lifted for dark purposes. Secondly, when you upload a piece you have a comments section. I would suggest that the name of the person who created the art would be clearly specified here to make it obvious who to contact if someone wanted to use the art under the CC licence.
Just a thought.
Sounds like a great idea, torstan. I'd just like to think a little more about the consequences of maps flowing off this site to another where Arcana has little or no control.
As I have put it forward - the deviantart page would have password access that would be given out to Arcana and all CLs. So all content would remain under the control of those who run the guild. However, I know that this opens the audience wider than the current site because the current site only allows you to see the images if you are registered. I don't think that's a bad change personally, but it's not my site
Perhaps it might make a companion to the CWBP Wiki?
I cant see how a shared page would be better than users each taking their own deviations. If this site is really pressed for space perhaps?
Maybe we could keep a 'Hall of Challenges" there. Upload the final entries of each mapping challenge to one gallery.
That might make for an interesting site.
Sighurd
One thing to bear in mind is that all of the people who look at the images here are map enthusiasts instead of general browsers. As I see it, the material here would be watered down by being exposed in a less niche way. Just my 2p.
Bleh...I don't really care too much for the idea...mainly because it would be a logistical nightmare, and another place that would require moderation of some sort...I've always hated the Deviantart social groups that repost other peoples work anyways...Its always confusing...
Now if everyone would like to put a link to the guild on their deviantart page, that would be cool!
Now that I can do.