you know what I’ll defend until the day i die? closed species. Fukken,
closed species dudes
Idk I get really defensive over them?? A lot of people deride and hate them and I’m just!!!!
(context, if you don’t know: a closed species is a concept where a person invents a fictional species, and then says that only they or approved others are allowed to create one; you can’t just make one yourself. So to get one, you have to buy, or win, or trade for, etc, one of these official ones. They often sell “make your own” slots too, that generally grant the buyer the rights to create an official design of their own. While not always, there’s usually some degree of lore or worldbuilding too??)
And I know they can seem silly on the surface but listen. i am SO HERE for artists and creatives supporting each other and inventing new ways to both create and, yeah, profit too?? Like there’s a critique to be made somewhere in here about the commodification of art re: a Profit Motive, but out here in Pragmatic Real Worldsville, we gotta eat lol? Especially because the system inherently only, like... works for those who Opt In to the whole game
because there’s always this perennial argument over how, leeeeeegally, closed species can’t be “A Thing” inasmuch that there’s no, like... actual law protecting the creation of a class of traits, and it’s always this sort of NEENER NEENER U CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO ; ))) thing? And it’s like Yeah You Solved It, These Things Only Have Value Because We As A Community Collectively Decided They Do, Wait Until I Fuckin Tell You About This Thing Call Fiat Currency. sure u can just make a Closedspecies, but the existing community won’t recognize it as valid, but you CAN and just... draw it by yourself but like??
NOT TO MENTION the entire concept of “Off Brands” or “knockoffs” which are, EXACTLY what they sound like? And I Extra don’t get those--are you trying to underscore that this whole Closed Species Thing is arbitrary to you? If you want [X] really bad but don’t respect the creator’s wishes enough to make a not-quite-the-same-but-the-same-species ripoff, why not just make the species you want to start with, again, you just won’t be uh Accepted by the species community
sorry I DIGRESS my point there was just: the Open Secret is that yeah closed species aren’t “real,” except for those that willingly choose to opt into the entire ecosystem but
NOT TO MENTION, many CS are hand-in-hand with ANOTHER concept, an ARPG, an art RPG. Where it’s... literally a game, you earn currency to purchase items that grant benefits, many have stats your character gains to compete in community events, all sorts of Literally Game features... that, just like! A handful of artists! ENGINEER THEMSELVES OUT OF LOVE!! and you usually “play” by just, drawing!!
so a lot of the times a closed species can be like, a video game you’re buying access to, too!!
And I KNOW the prices people spend on higher end species can be shocking to outsiders (let’s cut to the chase: high hundreds low thousands USD for particularly rare/sought after types), but tbh?? I’m just HAPPY for those artists whose concepts are THAT valued to certain people tbqhhh.
idk i just hear a lot of hate and I think a lot of people don’t stop to think about the actual... Cool Shit Afoot. yes there are lazy ones. yes there are derivative ones (ask how many _____dogs there are). yes there are cashgrabby ones. so there is in anything.
Artists and their fans came together and created a way for the artists to produce content that the fans enthusiastically seek, for the artist to world-build and create character designs and concepts, and to give clients a way to be directly involved in both those worlds and their creation, and for the fans to get to “own” a little piece of that world and a design by that artist. it’s actually pretty badass that we holistically created a mutualistic little relationship between artists and patrons like this
