And Our Survey Says... (Patreon)

My sincere thanks to everyone who participated in the impromptu suggestion box poll thing I put up the Sunday before last.   As of writing this, Wednesday 31st January 2024, the results made for some intriguing reading, even if they aren’t representative of every Patron I have as a whole. And that’s okay.

In terms of preferred subject matter, out of those who responded…:

I’m not all that surprised by it, given the two previous instances I ran similar polls resulted as:

And that's fine. 👍🏾

However, the variation of comments was what caught my eye.  Varied perspectives and experiences, some of which are very alien to my own, illustrate just how wide generational and cultural gaps are.  Like a lot of those wanting to see more human stuff.  Not sure why exactly but... okay.

So don’t consider this a pushback, just want to address a recurrent theme.

Why don’t you draw more from JRPGs like Dragon Quest?

The main reason is my own ignorance and lack of exposure to them.  That is to say, JRPGs didn’t exist during my formative years so I never cultivated any sort of attachment to them or any encyclopaedic knowledge of them.  Dragon Quest didn’t exist here in the UK until the 8th entry in the franchise was released in 2006 (initially re-titled Dragon Quest: Journey of the Cursed King).  So by the time JRPGs became more widespread and commonplace in countries outside of Japan and North America in the 2010s, it was simply too late; I’d lost interest in actively purchasing and playing video games first-hand and became more of a spectator with a very narrow scope.  It’s only been within the past 4 years I’ve a better understanding and appreciation of the themes and ideas explored in JRPGs, predominantly thanks to YouTube channels like:

• Chase Kip
• Birds of Play
• Black Oni Mage
• Marsh

They summarise the plot and contextualise things in a way I can understand. I’ve yet to stumble across anyone who’s done something similar for Dragon Quest.  So, forgive me for being unable to draw from a franchise that barely registers on my radar.  If there’s a monster list or a cool cut scene or something somewhere, point me in the right direction.

That’s not to say a piece of art will be guaranteed or anything (and I definitely do not intend to ape Toriyama nor Nakatsu’s artstyle with Dragon Quest) but we all have to start somewhere…

TL;DR: Can’t draw from what I don’t know.  It’s as simple as that.

As for the other reasons why there are some things I refuse to draw from whatsoever, well, in some notable instances, I’ll let Awkward Zombie’s comic do the explaining for me.   

Note: I am not passing judgment or condemning any originators, or fans that are far more comfortable than I am drawing from a certain after-academic-hours entity, for example.   Each to their own, you do what you feel is right for you, et cetera, et cetera.

I’m just saying that I am subject to the laws of my own country and I simply don’t want to risk it.   I’m sorry.

To end this on a positive though, there are some scenarios and ideas I’ve been presented with that I’ll take into consideration going forward.  So thank you very much for these, I really appreciate them.  Again, this isn’t a guarantee (I’m not even 100% sure that I’ll be back here in March to be honest) but I’ll bear them in mind.

Help me to help you.

I’m not omniscient so I can’t know every video game or something, and it's with your insight, I can better tailor things so you get what you want.  Huzzah.  

And that's it, I guess.  Thanks for reading and thank you for your support and feedback.

I am indebted to you. 🙏🏾

Yours Sincerely,

'Kamiduzaurus.