So I wanted to make one final point about criticism and art in general, because judging by some of the reactions to what I thought was very mild advice for beginner artists, a lot more people need to hear this.
If you pursue art in any form, whether as a hobby or a career, people are going to give you criticism that is unsolicited, vague, subjective, harsh, or sometimes just wrong. That is unavoidable.
What matters is whether you are mature enough to process it.
You do not have to agree with every criticism or obey every suggestion people throw at you. But if your response to criticism is hostility, smugness, or treating every flaw pointed out in your work as a personal attack, you are going to sabotage your own growth.
Part of the problem is that a lot of people have convinced themselves that art exists completely free of standards, technique or structure. Every time somebody gives practical advice, you immediately get people rushing in to say “there are no rules in art” or “just do whatever you want.”
I think this mindset does far more harm than good.
Every artistic medium has fundamentals.
Drawing has anatomy, perspective, composition and colour theory. Writing has pacing and prose. Music has rhythm, scales, chords and timing. Comedy has delivery and setup.
These things matter because art is communication.
You can have deep emotions, powerful ideas, and sincere intentions, but if you lack the technical ability to express them properly, the message can completely fail to reach the audience the way you intended. Tommy Wiseau genuinely wanted The Room to be taken seriously as an emotional drama. Look how that turned out.
A joke is not funny simply because the comedian intended it to be funny. It becomes funny through skill, timing and delivery.
Art works the same way.
People hear “art has fundamentals” and immediately hallucinate some elitist argument that you are not allowed to have fun or experiment unless you have mastered realism first. That has never been my position.
Some people just want to draw for fun, relax, make things they enjoy, and spend time with friends. That is perfectly fine, great even.
But there are also people who take art extremely seriously and genuinely want to improve as much as possible. Those people need honest criticism, even when it stings.
Some of the most valuable advice I have ever received came from people who were blunt, harsh, and completely unconcerned with whether my feelings got hurt. Without that criticism I would not be where I am now.
Some criticism will be stupid, malicious, or come from people who have no idea what they are talking about. Your responsibility is to sort through it, keep what is useful, discard what is not, and apply it where it helps. It is not your audience’s responsibility to perfectly phrase criticism in a way that protects your feelings.
And honestly, a lot of people who claim they desperately want to improve actually just want validation. You can tell because the second somebody points out a flaw in their work, they become defensive and treat criticism like a moral failing instead of a normal part of growth.
Eventually people stop trying to help them.
Because despite what people online say, skill matters. Technique matters. Execution matters.
Once you reduce art down to pure intention while dismissing craftsmanship and technical ability, it potentially opens the door to arguments that gen ai is real art too, and I'm not giving those fuckers and inch.
So ask yourself honestly what you actually want from art.
Do you want it to be a comfortable hobby where you unwind and have fun? Or do you want to push yourself as far as you possibly can, knowing that growth is often frustrating, repetitive and difficult?
Both approaches are valid.
But if you truly want to improve, you cannot spend your entire life demanding honesty while punishing everyone who gives it to you.
@DragonSkiesMTG As far as I could tell, the main problem with companions wasn't the mechanic itself. It was the discrepancy of sheer power level between one another and some restrictions not being "restrictions" at all.
If Gen AI was a tool designed for artists then why would an artist ever need videos of a timelapse?
This is just further cementing that Gen AI is being built as tools to deceive and scam.
Okay, I have expressed this here several times, but since I keep getting the same post over and over again, let me reiterate it.
First, it would be wise to stop showing us your "specific character ideas" on social networking sites or in letters to us.
Instead, your actions will contribute to the possibility that your request will not be realized.
This is the conclusion I have reached not only with TEKKEN, but also with other titles I have worked on over the past 30 years, as well as with other in-house titles.
Many people send game companies letters, character ideas, and game scenario ideas via social networking sites and contact forums.
Basically, the more specific and detailed the idea is, the less likely we are to adopt it, and the further away from it we are from being influenced by it.
Why? Because a certain percentage of people will file a lawsuit in the form of "you used my proposal without permission" or "you stole my proposal" or "that was my proposal.
(The scary thing is that in the past, people who have not sent me any letters or emails at all have protested vehemently, "My idea came first!")
I've had them come out of the blue when I was walking around in private or at a game center (and it was for an RPG title that I had nothing to do with the development of).
In the past, several of our titles have solicited user ideas and naming rights in magazines as "campaigns".
However, many game companies stopped such initiatives and campaigns after such troubles, including lawsuits claiming rights despite having signed all kinds of consent forms in advance.
It's not a question of whether we can win the lawsuit or not, but the fact that these kinds of troubles arise is a burden for us.
I'll always refer to and listen to the opinions of fans/users in my case, and don't get me wrong, opinions and ideas are two different things.
Also, of course, there are times when fans help me when designing characters.
In the case of "Shaheen", it was unheard of in the industry to release sketches of the character in the concept planning stage before the character was announced on SNS to gather feedback on what needs to be revised or improved in consideration of Middle Eastern culture.
In addition to that, we also had @Ghafarinho (and his friend), a Saudi player who was studying abroad in Japan, supervise the character design, dialogue, character names, and his command list names.
By the way, he @Ghafarinho learned Japanese and returned to his home country, where he is now working as a Senior Video Game Content Rating Specialist. Without him, Shaheen would not have become what it is today.
For "Eliza", the plan was to first publish a list of character ideas that were considered but rejected, and then hold a fan vote to create an actual character that would appear in the game.
We presented the details at the San Diego Comic-Con Comic-Con, and even there, the character grew out of a lot of feedback from fans.
"Lars" was created through the Swedish Embassy's mailing list, where a wide range of Swedes, from students to company executives living in Japan, came up with ideas for the character name.
Ultimately, the idea of Lars Alexandersson was suggested by a Swedish woman working in Japan, who was invited to the development office before the character was announced.
There she was very happy to find out that her idea had been adopted for TEKKEN (the game title was kept secret and the call for ideas was open).
There are still many more examples, but these are all examples of cooperation that can only be achieved through good relationships with the community.
They are also currently accepting illustrations for TEKKEN's 30th anniversary, and these are another example of the very positive relationship between the community and TEKKEN.
However, as I explained at the beginning, it is basically a risk in this day and age to receive details of specific ideas from fans, and it should be noted that we try to avoid trouble as much as possible.
I put up a GoFundMe to help get funds to pay artists for Innomination, the card game I'm making. Anything helps, even just sharing the link or this tweet!
https://t.co/kB4wmNUZUx
There a LOT of OCs I want to draw... If only because I feel as though they will never commission me. If that's the case, aren't I basically just doing that work for free?And then I think, "I'll just draw Kamal instead."