- A post at Polygon disagreed with fans’ protests about game mods being sold on Steam. “Over and over, it’s been shown that when great content is rewarded with cash, better content flows forward. Of course, more crap will also flow in — but Steam has spent years improving its Workshop system to let the best content filter to the top. Modders will now have a reason to finish their work, and the best modders will find reward in the social aspects of the modding scene — as well as monetarily. The idea that adding a layer of real-world rewards will somehow stifle content is absurd.”
- Notwithstanding the lure of cash, game publisher Bethesda listened to fans and reversed its decision, even refunding earlier purchases. “[W]e underestimated the differences between our previously successful revenue sharing models, and the addition of paid mods to Skyrim’s workshop. We understand our own game’s communities pretty well, but stepping into an established, years old modding community in Skyrim was probably not the right place to start iterating. We think this made us miss the mark pretty badly, even though we believe there’s a useful feature somewhere here…Even though we had the best intentions, the feedback has been clear – this is not a feature you want. Your support means everything to us, and we hear you.”
- Radio.com wrote about the contest run for Mad Men to reproduce its first episode. “Similar fan-made cuts of other movies have taken the internet by storm, including Star Wars Uncut, a project to remake the Star Wars films. That project began in 2009 as a lark by a then-20-something programmer and later went on to win an Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media. Few of these types of crowd-sourced remakes, however, have gone on to be recognized in an official way or aired for millions on TV. This makes Mad Men: The Fan Cut a smart move on AMC’s part to rally Mad Men junkies as the show winds down, allowing them to re-enact favorite scenes and put their efforts back on the same screen that captured their imaginations seven seasons ago.”
- The Media Industries Project “examines the profound changes affecting media industries worldwide, focusing especially on creative labor, digital distribution, and globalization” and looks at what they call connected viewing, which they define as “any product or service that augments the entertainment experience by integrating Internet access, game play, and/or social networking.” They look at various changes in entertainment consumption, including “How is connected viewing transforming the relationship of viewers to media content and access?” However, the MIP looks at the issue more in terms of how it challenges entertainment producers than in the relationship between audience and creators.
- One area where the relationship between audience and creators continues to fail is in fanwork ambushes. Nerd Reactor posted about the latest display of fan art on a TV talk show. While acknowledging that “[s]ome fans have commented on the trend with criticism, saying that it is a way of shaming fans and making celebrities uncomfortable” the title of the article points out the real issue involved — the lack of participation by fans. If the creator of the fanwork isn’t known, it’s probably because the media outlet in question failed to make any effort to contact them for permission, as well as failed to credit them on air.
What sort of creator and fan interactions have been a win or fail in your experience? Write about them in Fanlore! Contributions are welcome from all fans.
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