Dean, thanks for chiming in. I'm willing to accept that there was no insult intended here.
That doesn't change my feelings on the matter, though. For months (years, actually) you and others have been talking about how we need to get 3rd party maps approved for Championship-level play, not just to enrich the tournament environment but to give the cartographers a reason to keep making maps--and when that finally happens, all of my work gets shuffled into the secondary category? That is extremely disheartening.
You may stand by your decision and assert that the Standard and Open lists are where those maps belong--that they aren't good enough to see Championship play--but that in itself is a bit of a snub to myself and those who put their stamp of approval on those maps. I trust that it isn't intended, and it may or may not be deserved--that's a matter of individual opinion, after all--but it stings nonetheless.
dnemiller wrote:
I think what hurts your maps more than anything is it seems like you dont play star wars miniatures. I dont know this for a fact but I am making an educated guess based on the layouts of your maps you have created.
I was playing it long before you were (before it was on store shelves, even), and have even played in your presence, but we've discussed this before. Suffice it to say that I do play, just not as often, and rarely competitively. That is a shortfall in competitive design, and it's why I pay so much attention to the opinions and suggestions of community members here, and why I gather feedback from this community and make revisions before sending my SWM maps to the printer.
Swamp Caves, for example, was refined by this community until I was assured it was a solid competitive map and had the sort of gameplay balance that was needed in a tournament. Badlands was reviewed by members of this community in private, and changes were made in accordance with that feedback--but it didn't even make the Standard list. When Offworld Shipping Center came out, I saw many posts and got many comments from players wishing that it was on the restricted list. But a year and a half later, it's not.
Finally, there's the Cargo Docks, which after thorough playtesting was recommended to you for inclusion on the list, and it was stripped out as well.
dnemiller wrote:
I made a wrong decision two years ago because I wanted to give in and make sure we had some new maps to play on. That was the wrong decision to make. I blew it then and I am trying not to repeat it.
Still, you more than doubled the Restricted list. (Which, by the way, is not a bad thing in my opinion; the maps that were added deserved to be there. I only take issue with the ones that are missing.)
dnemiller wrote:
I am sorry you thought I should discuss it with you. I dont discuss my map decisions with anyone.
I don't think that you should have, necessarily, but I've seen others on here in recent weeks discussing the final recommendations as if they had seen it (and they had), and no one thought to tell me that I might be in for some disappointment; I had to find out on my own, and it was a bit of a shock.
dnemiller wrote:
Realistically half of the maps on the restricted list are yours. Granted thru Wotc but they are yours.
Actually, not in the slightest; I didn't design the layout of any of the maps left on it, I just illustrated them. I did design Freight Transit Station for WotC, but even that got demoted.
Look, I'm not going to whine and mope about my injured pride beyond today, and I may even keep making sci-fi maps with this game in mind. It's still a part of my business plan and the game remains one of my personal interests. There are still a lot of cool maps I want to make. I just needed to get this off my chest.
I sincerely hope the new Restricted list works out well for the game.