Review [Issue 25] The Creative League

[Ilia.ArchangeI 6,785]

The Creative League is a group of talented and creative players of Tanki Online,
unique in their style and engaging in various spheres of creativity - artistic, graphic,
video-graphic, poetic/prose, modelling, game design, level design and much more.
We have united with the goal of communicating, receiving constructive criticism of our creations
from our "colleagues", publishing our work in a centralized manner
to simplify the access, assessment and discussion for the rest of the players.

So reads the short description on the page of the Creative League in the Creativity section of the Pub. But I'm sure many of you were interested in a little more details about the League - who we really are, how we came into being, what we do together, how we communicate or collaborate on projects, how to become a part of us, and other similar questions. Well here is your chance.
 
We've been in the English community for nearly a year now (since August 2013), but never have we formally presented ourselves; so any questions that may have had arisen have remained unanswered, or even worse - partially answered by rumors, or falsely answered altogether.


Who we are not 


We are not a group of Photoshoppers. I've come across so many comments and remarks about the Creative League being all about Photoshop. Similarly, people assume that our primary requirement for membership is superior skills in Photoshop.

I do understand why this assumption exists. Photoshop is accessible to almost everyone, it has a relatively moderate learning curve, the working process is speedy, and the results are nearly instant. It is for these reasons and more that most artists know a thing or two about Photoshop. Since publishing such work is as easy as clicking a button, you have seen mostly Photoshop work, and will see a lot more.

But that doesn't change the fact that Photoshop is only one tool of some of the Legionnaires. Many of us don't know anything about Photoshop whatsoever.


Who we are
 
 
In short we are... artists. Although commonly artists are associated with visual arts, art encompasses a multitude of activities:

• Visual Arts - drawing, painting, graphics, design, photography, video, sculpture, architecture.
• Performing Arts - music, singing, acting, dancing.
• Literature - writing, for the most part - poetry, novel, etc.

Though we don't have any dancers in the League yet, I hope you see the point I'm trying to get across.

We have photographers, 3D modelers, musicians, singers, writers, and a variety of other creative individuals who indulge solely in their form of creativity.
 
Members of the League can be easily recognized by the unique paint they possess called Helios. You can read a little more about the paint in the History section of this article. The paint looks like this:

 
 
What we do
 
 
Like all "creative" people, we "create". Joining the League may be tough, but being in the League isn't easy either. Legionnaires are expected to regularly (and relatively frequently) produce their creative work and share it with the world. This is our Mission after all - to share our creativity with... you!
 
Whether it's a piece of graphic art, a video, a poem, or a 3D model - you will always find something new and interesting popping up in our thread, and the threads of our Legionnaires. True, sometimes quality is sacrificed for sharing a raw idea or concept, but it all leads to a better end.
 
Though we don't have an official mission statement (as far as I know), in my own words it would be something like:

"To learn and to teach, to give and to receive constructive criticism, to enhance our talents and skills, and help our colleagues do the same, to share the vastness of our creative imagination with the rest of the world - that is our mission."

 
Not so poetic with all the technical terms, but it fully expresses the meaning of our small collective.
 
 
Our History
 
 
The initial idea of the Creative League belongs to XERUVIM, and was originally realized by Darkpheonix. The foundation laid out for the creative community have since remained unshakeable, although the first attempt of creating such a project came to an unfortunate end. The topic was closed at Darkpheonix's request.

The current Creative League topic was created on December 15th 2012 by Aleksei (@TRD-34), who decided, along with Denis (@Cu6uppckuu), to re-prioritize the unification of the creative community. Not many know how perilous was the path of establishing the League, how many trolls and envious players have attempted to harm the development of the creative corner in the expanse of the forum. Among the first to notice the potential of the creative league was a moderator of the "Your Creativity" section - @Mapro; thanks to her efforts, despite the remarks and distrust, the thread has expanded and grown strong. The name is all that remains of the old CL. On March 1st 2013 the CL topic was pinned in "Your Creativity".

In 2013, the League underwent more developments, among which on the 13th of August with the 1.178 update all the Legionnaires received and unique and recognizable paint "Helios" (developed by , a member of the League).

The work of the League was highly esteemed by the administration and developers of the game, and you will often find them on official social outlets of the project, such as Facebook (EN | DE), Twitter (EN | RU | DE), Instagram (EN | RU | DE), VK, the Tanki wiki page of course (hopefully the English one too soon), and others.

On August 27th a subsidiary of the CL was openned in the English community, which was a huge step towards popularizing the creativity of Russian speaking players and collaborating with other communities. Not long after, on November 1st, the CL was introduced to the German community as well.

All important decisions are made through discussion and general consensus, therefore the governing structure of the League can be compared to a parliamentary monarchy. We do not place age or rank requirements for joining the League, nevertheless becoming a member is quite difficult; one must create unique high-quality work and know how to communicate and recieve criticism. Since August 2013, due to a high number of applicants not meeting this criteria, recruitment has been closed. Membership is invite only. Generally Legionnaires browse the "Your Creativity" section, and if a player has caught our attention with their work, their candidacy will be put up for voting. If the results are positive, an invitation will be quick to follow.

 
How to become a Legionnaire
 
 
You don't need to know Photoshop. At all. You don't need to be better than all our members. Or half of them. Or any of them, for that matter.
 
We look for creative players - ones with ideas and imagination, who are passionate about their art, and have a strong desire to learn and expand their skills.
 
It's true that the quality of your work will directly affect whether you are accepted or not, but only because that accurately reflects what I said above - your desire to learn and you passion about art.
 
A player who has sub-par art, but has significantly improved lately in his skills, and is coming up with new ideas is a lot more likely to become a Legionnaire than a great artist who hasn't done anything to challenge his skills for a while, and is just pumping out the same old thing.
 
It all comes down to this: if you love your art, you will sooner or later have a place in the League, if you want it.
 
You can check out the details of our application procedure on our application post. Hope to hear from you!
 
 
 

Edited July 31, 2017 by Hexed

[Guest Maserati]

gj 

[Eragon 13,876]

You should make a small contest or something which allows players to compete to enter the league... 

[MA3CTPO_HA_XAHTEP 832]

Hmm, that's nice, so many talents. :)

[TheLonelyEpic 212]

You should make a small contest or something which allows players to compete to enter the league... 

Um, isn't that how Arch joined the League? Enjoyed the article very much.

[nexx_mowarek 35]

Nice one!  ;)

[giotto2 0]

so good idea, enjoy!! B) 

[lordmostafa 3,821]

Wow, I didn't know that much about the league ;)

[MrCommando 1,412]

Nice :)