unforum

[jerrthescowler]

I think character development is one of the most important things in a slender series. I love watching characters go nuts slowly but surely. Of course adding a nice orginal arc is always welcome.

[ChildOfAtom]

[Lithp]

Thing is, I think you're seeing a decline where there's just standard procedure. Most things don't become insanely popular, and often end "before their time." This is especially true when you have a lot of already well-established competition in that genre. Most established series also lose a little momentum with age, and sometimes have to be re-invigorated.

Speaking of reinvigoration, while it's not a vlog, there is a recent Slenderman installment that's arguably become more popular than any other--Slender.

Now, I don't want to dissuade anyone from doing something new, but...that's not guaranteed to not flop either. Frankly.

[ChildOfAtom]

But Slender did the very thing we keep saying a new project will have to do... it struck out for new territory, not in terms of story but terms of medium. It made a splash by divorcing itself from found videos, and white text on black screens, and "Episode #26," and college film students, and bad morph suits... and put everything in the hand of the player. (Of course it also created new tropes that are now being reflected back into the new series... finding pages, etc.)

And, no, doing something new isn't going to guarantee a success... but in my opinion a Slendy series right now starts with more baggage that weighs it down than opportunities.

[punxtr]

#NOMOREVLOGS

In short.

[Lithp]

It's kinda going back on that, though, with the full version increasingly borrowing more & more Tropes from Marble Hornets.

But pedantry aside, I do see what you're saying. Honestly, though, I feel like there's also a fanbase problem, here. People say that everything is too similar, but they're also very afraid about a series diverging from what's been established.

Not necessarily you. But I have seen it happen.

[SignerJ]

What I think you should do? Make something completely new. Completely new? It disagrees with TribeTwelve or Marble Hornets? It's material is contrary to what most of the already established vlogs do? Perfect. That is exactly what this mythos needs. I don't think that the character Slenderman itself is becoming oversaturated, but rather, his traits are. Everyone knows about the distortion, about the tentacles, the teleporting. Do something new, create new traits, get rid of old ones.

I think that is one of the reasons that series with the Slenderman and other monsters are so popular -- they do something new. They don't give the Slenderman new traits, but they give traits to these other creatures.

I may be repeating myself a lot, but, if you really want to make a Slenderman series, do something completely new.



Also, I remember a time when people would say "no more blogs!" Now it's "no more vlogs!" Maybe some people should start making new blogs? I don't think that I have seen any really new and at least decent blogs in a while. Sure, there are hybrids, but they still use video. I'm talking about actual blogs, like Tale of Tales or The Mythos Project.

Of course, I could be wrong, and there might still be a plethora of blogs. If that's true, could someone please send me a link?

[OhWhatProvidence]

Try making one that's an actual ARG. Emails, blog, maybe some video or even text messages (google voice accounts are great for this!) if you're feeling ambitious, that is. We could use more 'real' ARGs here... Esp with SM. Or blogs. But no vlogs, too many. Unless you have something to set your vlog's format apart. (no more 'film student' bs. have a good framing device if you're going to use vlogs.)

[punxtr]

I agree. There hasn't been a full out ARG for Slendy since the 7 trials. Other series have had ARG sections of their story, but eventually that ends and then the series is no longer as interactive. A full out ARG with a dedicated staff of puppetmasters is what will bring unFictioners back.

[Lithp]

I pretty much agree with everything that's been said since I've last posted. I regretted not getting on in time to get involved with EMH's interactive material. And I've also frequently complained that people are too unwilling to experiment with Slenderman.

[nesferatuzero]

There are many ways to re-create the slenderman. Look at vampires, they been changing and evolving (in some cases, devolving) into different interpretations of it. Hell, there's countless different draculas that exist in culture. Just try it some thing that you would like to see in slender vlog and go from there. Don't overthinking it and don't let others discourage you.

[Carnahan]

[TheFallenenvoy]

what are you saying all of the caughtnotsleepings are cultists and i 1000% hate all other series'. every one of them.

[punxtr]

[OhWhatProvidence]

ARGs are a dying genre?

You do understand that the main purpose of this forum is for non-Slendy things, right? Some people seem to forget that before Tribe Twelve came along, there really was NO section on this forum at all for SMM stuff. And go head over to the News and Rumors section (yes things exist on this forum besides to SMM section) and you can see a bunch of new trailheads that got posted this last week. Dying genre it is not. Changing, ever-shifting in focus and playability, yes. But dying? No. Far from it.

Also I know I've said this before but Crux-Crucible did really well as an actual ARG with Slendy/Fear Mythos stuff... Puzzles, prizes to win, phone calls (so many disturbing phone calls at 1AM...), chat rooms, blog posts, emails, the 'Crucibles' themselves- like the Seven Trials but there were more and they were a lot more fun...