The Skyhaven Disclaimer and Related Thoughts

Today, I recieved an e-mail from an outfit called Skyhaven Games (henceforth in this blog entry to be known as "SG".) They wanted me to post a disclaimer on Skyhaven Adoptions (henceforth referred to as "SA") stating that my site is not affiliated with theirs. Since launching SA eight to ten years ago, longer if you count the brief time it was an appendage to my nearly-defunct original site (Realm of the Bright Dreamers, now Dreamspire Castle), I have never been confused with anything remotely official or professional. In fact, I have never heard of this company until this afternoon when I checked my Inbox. Curiosity getting the better of me, I tried clicking the SG link in their signature, but evidently their official site is a Proboards messageboard which requires one to create an account to even view. I wasn't that desperate to know who or what they were, but a Google search hints that SG may be some sort of trading card outfit. (Might've been fun to look at, but there are only so many hoops I'll jump through to view a site.) In any event, I replied telling them that I'll have the disclaimer up within a week, which is apparently fine with them. Unfortunately, the disclaimer will be the only new material ready to go with the update.

So, what's up with SA? Is it dying? Is it already dead? There was a time when I wouldn't even entertain the notion, that I'd cling tooth and claw to my sites, but times march on and some things fall behind, intentionally or not.

SA is not dead, at least not yet. It has, however, been in a state of suspended animation, and looks to remain there for a month or so more at the very least. Why? A number of reasons.

First up, I want to teach myself Dreamweaver and make the switch away from FrontPage. (Not only is FrontPage no longer supported by Microsoft, but it's always been considered a poor cousin to Dreamweaver in the web community, burdened with extra code and other crud.) This might require me to rebuild my sites - all of them - from the ground up once I get Dreamweaver installed. Naturally, the fewer pages to convert, the more likely I'll do it, so I've been holding off on site expansions until I get the time and gumption to start Operation Dreamweaver Transfer. Since this SG issue has come up, I'm actually considering going a bit further than simply rebuilding if/when I transfer; maybe it's time to change the name and rework the entire SA concept from the ground up, as Brightdreamer Adoptions or something else.

The second reason is one that's dominated a few blog entries already: the painted drums. Since my November launch, I've sold seven out of ten drums, and I currently have two more requests waiting at my workbench which will bring to total up to nine out of twelve. I've also been told that at least one other area shop would be very interested in carrying my stuff on consignment (the owner saw a drum and said she'd happily carry them), which of course would require me building up more of an inventory. My success here has led to further experiments in other things I could make to sell; the current front-runner is a spirit shield idea, which should be easier to paint more stylized designs on (being a flat, single-sided surface; as much tension as I manage to get on the drums, I still have enough give in the canvas to make tracing and painting a hard, crisp line difficult.)

Third, I've been trying to take my ideas and make them into actual stories or story roots, rather than simply batting them about, which is what most of SA was all about: a holding pen for creatures and ideas, a place to play with them.

And fourth, sadly, I'm just not seeing as much return on my efforts at SA as I used to. The click-and-take cyberpet community isn't what it used to be. More and more are moving into interactive pets, creating them or just playing with them. While I'm sure, given enough time and dedication, I could probably create a more interactive SA, I have no desire to ride herd on the kind of people such communities inevitably attract, the hackers and the whiners and the abusers and the trolls. SA was always more of a laid-back place. The challenges, the Hunt and so forth, were things to be completed at one's own time, in one's own pace, at one's own discretion. Creating content was more fun when I was reasonably certain I had an audience that might enjoy it. Granted, being stagnant for half a year isn't the way to keep people coming back, but still...

Now, the bell has not yet tolled on the fate of SA. I am still building myself back up to template work; actually, if I get the spirit shields up and running, I may be able to work them to dual advantage, using templates for SA as linework for the shields and vice versa. I still want to get the Hunt back up to something approaching its former glory, and if nothing else I harbor dreams of creating/recreating more critters. One thing SA will always be good at is helping me explore beasts and beings in a way that one can rarely do even in a story setting, unless one wants to stop the narrative dead in its tracks. Somewhere in the back of my mind lingers an idea of using SA and the world I created for it (Tirialle) as a basis for short stories, which would contribute to another lifetime goal of mine (writing and finishing stories.) But there are only so many hours in a day, and only so many places one can focus one's attention at a given time if one wants to accomplish anything at all. For now, SA just isn't one of them.

So, anyway, that's where things stand at Skyhaven Adoptions. Still hibernating, still dreaming... and still waiting.