by Shadowmancer | Oct 31 2007
When Ex Libris Nocturnis began, it was a relatively simple affair. It has steadily grown over the years, and, for better or worse, just as steadily lumbered away from the site it once was.
I miss the personal touch. The magazine metaphor that we started with never really spoke to the realities of web publishing, and the current “as-we-get-it” paradigm doesn’t really satisfy me either. Though I’m not exactly swimming in free time, I want the site to be not only more active, but more useful.
This isn’t the first time one of the staff has taken out the soapbox to discuss exactly what ELN has become. Shannon even did it back in 2001 under the same title I’m using today. He says in that article that talking directly to you, the reader, isn’t something we normally do, but I don’t think that’s exactly true anymore, or even if it ever was. Everything we do comes down to us, the nominal staff of ELN, and you, the readers. In many cases, the line has been blurred to the point of illegibility, and the staff and the reader have become the same entity.
That’s the way I want it. I want the site to be a discussion between friends as much as it is a resource for players and storytellers. We’ve been around for over ten years, and in that time, I’ve seen a lot of friends come and go. Each of them left their mark on what ELN has become, and the majority of them have gone on to work for White Wolf in a number of capacities. I still get excited when I see Joe Carriker or Chuck Wendig (to pick a couple) listed in the credits of a book, because I remember how much I enjoyed getting their articles (and in Chuck’s case, working with him as our Hunter editor) before they got to write for the Wolf. It flatters me that ELN used to have a reputation as the minor leagues of White Wolf, but to be perfectly frank, that’s never really been what this is about.
ELN is about community.
The biggest difference between a printed resource and the strength of ELN is dialogue. The line between reader and writer is blurred (and has been thus for as long as the site has existed) in ways that have only more recently come into vogue on the wider web. The vaunted “web 2.0” revolution of user-created content has been business as usual for us for quite a while.
But the stream has never been steady. Originally we released monthly or bi-monthly showers, and we’ve had our fair share of droughts… But I want to increase the amount of useful content you get, and even look to find ways to make that information useful no matter which World of Darkness you prefer, or even if you don’t play in the World of Darkness at all.
To that end, It’s important to me that we do look outside the “White Wolf ecosystem” that exists. We bring all of our experiences, whether they are events from our past, music we love, movies, books or comics we read, whatever, to the creative process. The broader our influences, the more rich the worlds we can create. So I want to show you the things that inspire me, and I want to see all the things that inspire you.
So our paradigm is shifting from webzine to some sort of Promethean-like hybrid of a magazine, with its reviews and supplements, and a super-blog. I’ll be separating blog posts from the old articles and reviews, so you can still find the full-sized supplements and resources that you’re used to without digging through the blog entries, but I hope you’ll find the blog entries useful.
Here’s the thing: our diet does not consist solely of White Wolf supplements. (When you say supplements like that, it sounds like White Wolf is a vitamin.) As some of you have been aware, I’ve been planning an alternate site, another webzine… Something that would cover all manner of media that falls within the darker side of things. That alternate site isn’t necessary. ELN has the capability to expand to support all the things we talk about regardless of ELN’s purported mission. Horror movies? Check. Nifty and creepy new bands we should give a listen? Check. Amazing book or graphic novel? Check.
The darkness conceals more things than vampires, and we shouldn’t limit ourselves and our discussions.
For now, me, First Oni, Felis, and our editors will have access. There are a few other people I’m going to give access shortly. If you have an idea for a blog entry, or want to write a guest spot, please contact me. We’ll also keep an eye on the discussions, and consistently insightful, interesting writers may be invited to write for the blog as well.
It’s an experiment. Things are tight around here, and money to pay for hosting fees and keeping my tech gear running so that we can make the site happen isn’t exactly falling out of the sky, so we need your help. We’ll also be using a portion of the proceeds from any Project Wonderful advertisement to advertise ELN on other sites, and try to bring in some new blood. I’d prefer not to advertise at all, but I’m hoping this will help keep the site in the longer term.
If the non-RPG content doesn’t satisfy you, or you just want more World of Darkness (or Kult, or Call of Cthulhu, or whatever) content to make you happy, join the club. I’d love to see more great resources for RPGs on ELN, but the content of the site has been mostly generated by you, the readers. If you want to see more of something, either write it and submit it, or badger someone you know that can write it to submit something. We do what we can, but we need your help.
It’s time to blow the dust off of the books of darkness, crack the spines once more, and carefully flip through the crumbling pages, heavy with age and secrets.
Welcome to Ex Libris Nocturnis.
Tags: state of the union, eln
Yes, this is that ELN. We still cover the World of Darkness... We just like other stuff, too.
blood, changeling, clive barker, comics, ctl, frankenweenie, inspiration, iron man, lucas, movie, movies, music, review, rock, state of the union, system of the down, tim burton, video games, warren ellis, writers
S p o n s o r s
I just hope that there actually are responses when one tries to contact the editors/etc. I recall many instances of sending YM messages/private messages that do not receive responses, which actually tempted me a few times to give up on this site.
It gave the impression that, “If the ones in charge have no time to talk to the people, maybe the site does not plan to stay alive.”
Thankfully, I haven’t given up. And yes, this change does look promising.
Article Author
If I was one of the editors that missed your communications, I apologize. We’re definitely going to be trying to push our editors to respond to queries in a timely manner, and we’re also going to be looking for more ways to make the site (and the staff) more responsive to our readers.
If you ever have any problems contacting the staff in the future, e-mail me. I’ll go poke ‘em with a sharp stick.