New sigblock

[FranckKnight]

Made this one on a whim, for fun mostly, and as a personal challenge as I'm still a novice at Photoshop. I've done alot of things on CorelDraw, but Photoshop still has alot of grey areas.

But thought I'd share :P Tell me what you think.

[Yellow Mage]

Are those all you?

I can't help but feel its awesomeness would only go up exponentially if there were multiple characters involved in that signature.

Also, the "Dimensional Death" and "Judge Jury Executioner" tags seemed completely unnecessary.

[Feba]

way too busy. Background is good, but you really need more variety in characters.

Bottom should just plain be removed. Too busy, but on top of that it will probably be outdated in a month. Updating image sigs is just silly.

[FranckKnight]

Dimensional Death is my Linkshell, and the Judge Jury Excutionner a sort of title we give to people in the LS, but I know what you mean :P

And yes, they are all me. The idea is that all of those are my high level jobs. I thought about placing them like this.

[Armando]

Also, the "Dimensional Death" and "Judge Jury Executioner" tags seemed completely unnecessary.Agreed. They're arbitrary, look out of place, border on "dangerously corny," and if you need to give yourself titles like those then it just looks like you're trying too hard to be cool.

EDIT:Dimensional Death is my Linkshell,Then it would help if you write "Dimensional Death LS" or something of the sort, and if it didn't block the characters so much.

[FranckKnight]

Well, to explain what it comes from, perhaps my old sigblock will help.

This is the sigblock made by our LS' leader when he feels like it :

http://ddeath.overminddl1.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=220.0;attach=135;i mage

So that's where I started when I wanted to mess with photoshop to make a new one of my own.

Thanks for the tips thought :) I should probably rework a few things about it.

[Ketski]

Am I the only one that liked it?
My only suggestion is to rearrange the way you listed the jobs. Have your 75s and 37s together instead of putting the job list in order.

I liked the clever idea of making your characters look as if they were in a court room.
Judge, Jury, Executioner. I got it right away. Very creative :)

Oh, another suggestion is to make your rank stuff smaller, like how your guild leader made it. I just think it takes up too much room.

P.S. You wrote Executionner. Its spelled executioner :P

[Tipsy]

Am I the only one that liked it?
My only suggestion is to rearrange the way you listed the jobs. Have your 75s and 37s together instead of putting the job list in order.

I liked the clever idea of making your characters look as if they were in a court room.
Judge, Jury, Executioner. I got it right away. Very creative :)

Oh, another suggestion is to make your rank stuff smaller, like how your guild leader made it. I just think it takes up too much room.

P.S. You wrote Executionner. Its spelled executioner :P

Thank you! I thought it was really good too.
It tells a story. I like that.

And busy is good, it draws attention. It had me starring at it for awhile in interest.

Keep up the good work, man.

[Feba]

And busy is good, it draws attention.
busy is bad. Very very bad.

Simple is better.

Period.

[FranckKnight]

Well my LS leader took the file and played with it some more, compare. He's alot better than I am with Photoshop XD I still got a ways to go, but it's good to try new things on your own too.

[Feba]

That's much better. Cleaner lines, not nearly as much conflict trying to look at it.

That said, it's a bit too big, and there's still too much info there.

[Murphie]

The thing is, no one but you really cares about those details like your job levels. I mean, why does it matter that you have never leveled PUP or BLU or DRG? Why are you listing jobs you haven't even bothered to unlock? If you haven't done any Bastok Missions, why list the country at all?

On the other hand, it's your sig. But if you're asking for feedback, this is the sort of thing you're going to get. Most people are just looking for interesting graphical sigs, or funny sigs. People don't care about accomplishment sigs.

[Feba]

It's not that, Murphie. I understand wanting to display your accomplishments and trophies and such, I do it myself. It's just that building them as part of an image signature is exceedingly unwise.

[Murphie]

I understand it too. I'm just explaining that no one else cares. And whether it's a part of the image or not, it's still mostly superfluous information.

[cyrusblaze]

I agree on the extra info not needed (jobs only lvl 1 or not unlocked, and missions for other countries you havnt done)

But overall I like the way it looks and I think it looks cool. If I still had my old account I would have someone make something very similar to this for myself.
As for "no one cares' that could be applied to 90% of other signatures, various quotes no one cares about, quotes about the person ect ect so that point is pointless.

Its your sig put in it what you want, if someone doesnt like it, thats thier problem not yours. Put in it what you want.

I like the 'Objection!' in the second one, gives it a mor of a court feel to it :D

[Murphie]

As for "no one cares' that could be applied to 90% of other signatures, various quotes no one cares about, quotes about the person ect ect so that point is pointless.Yes. But he's asking for feedback. I didn't just randomly decide to comment on his sig. He asked.

Of course it's no one's business but his own what is in there, ultimately. But if he's asking, he should be prepared for people to tell him what they think.

[Feba]

Also ALL OF YOU NEED TO GO PLAY PHOENIX WRIGHT

srsly.

[FranckKnight]

Seconded.

But yes, I'm not taking this as pure negative criticism. I think our leader uses this as a model for different reasons though :

-Listing all jobs and their level, when in a LS forum, can be useful to see who has a job within your level range. I agree that unlocked ones miht be superflous, but that might be due to the next reason.

- One sigblock for all : The model is the basis for every other LS member sigblocks he made, so to avoid having to delete, modify and respace it everytime, it's easier to elave it there and just add characters and background picture. Though the model did change, or should we say got better and sleeker, the base model is still there.

Back on the LS side of things, I do agree that all of those are highly unecessary for in the case of public boards like this one, I won't argue that at all. What you call 'medals' are more or less pointers within a LS forum, like who has completed COP and can be asked for help and such. Though the Campaign rank is highly for 'medal' only as it serves no other immediate purpose unlike Assault ranks.

As for here I was looking for comments and criticism on my work, and yes every kind of criticism is allowed in that regard and should be taken in consideration. The end result is personal wish/wants, but there's still always something that can be done better.

Yet personally it was more to see if you liked the Phoenix Wright style of it than for the bottom part of it :P Not that I said anything about that either, since all criticism is good.

[Ayasu]

As the one who makes these sigblocks, lemme go ahead and break down the "points" behind everything.

One point is, obviously, that I use a base template for every sigblock I make. Granted, there's a "lite" version that I have a template for, but most people seem to enjoy the "full" version.

Mostly, this was supposed to not be a way to "show off", but be an all-encompassing piece of information about your character. Job lvls, mission info, assault rank -- these are mostly for people to get an idea of where you are with your character. Granted, it may seem like it's boasting, but it's not.

Yes, this sigblock is mostly for use on a linkshell forum, and this is where it's usefulness comes into play. Personally, I use it on other forums as well, and, on average get at least one request a week from people wanting my style of sigblock.

To take from some of the replies to this thread:

Simple is not always better, especially if you don't feel that, artistically, it's "good enough." There's not a whole lot I can add to, or even take from, these sigblocks without them feeling cluttered or empty in my eyes. Ultimately, as I'm the one making them, I decide if it's a work that's worth being shown to others.

And on the arguement that it's too busy, too flashy, too brag-ey, or whatever... what's a sigblock for, then, if not to show something about yourself, whether it be something simple like a quote, or something a bit flashier, like a sigblock.

I've seen some god-awful sigblocks in my time. But I've also seen some really really good ones. It's all about the amount of heart put into it, just like any other piece of artwork. When I make my sigblocks, I try to get poses and such that reflect the person I'm making it for -- no two sigblocks look exactly alike, even though they branch from the same template.

Take this how you will, I just see alot of people with slightly negative comments, so I felt the need to speak up.


Also, yes, you all need to go play Phoenix Wright right now. (I thought someone would like the "OBJECTION!" I tossed in there. :D)

[Feba]

Simple is not always better

Yes it is.

More information can be useful, but a signature image is not the place for it.

[Ayasu]

Yes it is.

More information can be useful, but a signature image is not the place for it.

Says you. Though, this is your opinion and you're entitled to it, this is not /my/ opinion, nor is it the opinion of everyone else. Not everyone's gonna see it your way.

If I wanted to turn the tables, I don't think a signature is a place to put a playlist of the last few tracks of music you listened to. I don't really like the music on there, so that bit of information isn't useful.

See how easy that works? Two way street. ^^

[Feba]

Perhaps, except for a few things:

1- I don't play FFXI any more, so my character would be out of place, not to mention boring.
2- The information is simple, and presented in an easy to read format. There is no information that cannot be easily identified without a teeny bit of common sense; unlike your signatures.
3- By your own admission, along with my own earlier on, whether the information is useful or not is unimportant. The problem with having information in a signature image is that it is not updated easily. This, however, is.

The point isn't that I don't like the signatures, they're alright. The point is that simplicity is good, and those signatures are not simple.

[Ayasu]

The point isn't that I don't like the signatures, they're alright. The point is that simplicity is good, and those signatures are not simple.


Then here's the simple question: Why bother replying to a sigblock opinion thread to begin with if you don't even like them? lol

Simple things for simple people, ne?

[Feba]

Why bother replying to a sigblock opinion thread to begin with if you don't even like them?

Why bother asking for opinions if all you want is a great big "oh yeah all our sigs are so awesome" circlejerk? You do understand what an opinion is, right?

Simple things for simple people, ne?
Cute, but no.

[Ayasu]

I return back to my question: If you don't like sigblocks -- and this thread is very obviously about sigblocks -- then why do you even reply? lol

Also -- if you don't play FFXI anymore, how much sense does it make to continue to post on an FFXI forum?

Not to mention -- how many times will you try to get the last word? :D I can keep this up forever. :3

[Feba]

1- Because I do like some of them. Yours != All. Sorry if it hurts to admit it, but people can think your art is bad without thinking all art is bad. If you don't want opinions, tell your LS members not to use their signatures publicly. If you want opinions, don't get butthurt when they don't agree with you.
2- Plenty.
3- What makes you think I'm trying to get the last word? I'm discussing a subject. That's kinda what you do on forums.

[Ayasu]

lol You amuse me. :D You're getting so heated over something so... simple. lmao

[Neomage]

Coming from a third party perspective, but... Feba doesn't sound heated at all. You seem to be the one getting flustered.

[Feba]

Ah, but Onionsoilder, it's much easier to get people upset when you claim they are upset. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy for many people.

Unfortunately for this person, though, I've trolled plenty myself. I usually realize when those sorts of tactics are being used.

Either that, or he's got his head far enough up his own ass that he assumes that anyone who criticizes his art must be completely unreasonable.

[Ayasu]

Trolling? No, not my intent. Originally I popped in to speak up for a friend, and then immediately got "jumped" on by Feba.

But oh well. I've had my fun. Flustered? Nah. Highly amused though. lol Gonna go ahead and leave this place behind again, though, now that I've seen it's /still/ not worth my time. Thanks Feba!

[Feba]

and then immediately got "jumped" on by Feba.

What?

If by 'immediately' you mean 'eight hours later' and by 'jumped on' you mean 'replied to', I think I understand what you're saying.

I'm not really sure what you're upset about, though. Maybe reading Internet forum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_forum) would help you understand what this place is for.

[Icemage]

I'm only going to say this once, but it would be a good idea to hear me out.

From the forum guidelines:
7. Keep signatures and avatars file size small!

Image sizes used in the personal photo or signature area must be kept small! Please keep the images below 25 Kilobytes and no larger than 550 pixels wide and no taller than 350 pixels tall. Any images in the signature or avatars area going over 25 Kilobytes may be subject to being edited out. These limits apply to ONLY signatures, personal icons, and avatars of the vBulletin system under personal profile in your control center. 25K is A LOT for signuatures and personal photos, remember these images repeat over and over. So 25K picture X 10 posts in thread = 250K! And soon it can reach several megs! (Especially when your browser is stupid about caching the files.)

If you want to show someone your fan art or an image of something you are talking about on a thread, those limits do not apply. (But please be courtious and keep the image sizes reasonable; or if it is very big, provide a link to it.) No one wants to sit there all day for your image to load just to read a post past yours. Severe violations will result in a warning followed by banning for repeated offenses. If too many people abuse the signature or avatar function, it will be turned off.

There are multiple signatures I see in this thread that blatantly violate these rules, including the one under discussion.

I'll give some time for people to come up with alternative sigs, but if I don't see some improvement - soon - don't be surprised if an infraction lands on your doorstep with your sig deleted.


Icemage
FFXIOnline Forum Super Moderator

[Feba]

I would've brought that up, but I can never remember where the ruleset is kept.