leafbladie 2012-04-04 19:27:28

I wanted to ask a favor. Would you possibly put a character that I made in TOME? I don't mean a background character, but a person who might fight nylocke, alpha, or your character. If do consider it, please tell me.

Mizox 2012-04-05 22:58:52

I wish you luck in your endeavor Kirbopher. yes it's hard to choose a path, but you know as well as everyone else that you are the only one who can do it, you can either wait for an answer to slide into your mind or you can take aim at an option and then force yourself along, nobody knows for certain where they'll end up next, anyone who thinks they do is lying to themselves, but you can try, and try you must. for yourself, for your friends, for your fans, hell even for an income.

but whatever you choose to do next, do your best at it. you can do it, and you MUST do it.

fatherbuck 2012-04-06 01:21:43

over the years i've seen a lot of sincere thoughts posted on the internet get shat on by a... 'vocal minority' as alvin-earthworm puts it so eloquently. kirb, if I may call you that, i've watched your art progress from the first few episodes of the TOME sprite series, to it's sad cancellation. Parody Rangers was just the beginning for you. Look at media like 'Least I could Do', it was always funny but it looked like crap at first, now years later sohmer and lar have a great thing going as their talent has grown. You're just getting started man. It's only a matter of time before the right people notice you. Until then, the only advice I feel authorized to give you is keep producing artwork you are passionate about, keep developing your talent, and things will fall into place.

GaruuSpike 2012-04-06 18:37:49

I think one of (ONE of) the underlying frustrations you're experiencing is a lack of motivation due to real-life issues. Well, don't worry; we're patient. We all have a lot of OTHER stuff we feel like we need to keep track of. I check your page a couple times a week, to see if you've made something, and if you have, I watch it, but I don't sit curled-up in a cardboard box all the time and seethe in anger about you not fulfilling my animation speed expectations.

I've experienced this EXACT feeling before: I used to have a... thing that thousands of people loved, and when I took a break to fill my own interests (Or perhaps to get a JOB.), there was this little voice in the back of my head nagging "You're not getting anything done. All your fans want you to stick to a schedule," but was then combatted by "Maybe that thing you're making isn't even good. Just quit so you can move on with your life." Back and forth, back and forth. It drove me INSANE after a while. I'm pretty sure I feel you, bro.

Take care of real-life problems & issues & obligations before you do anything on the internet. We can wait. What you make is VERY good, and the general rule of thumb for media production is Longer Production Time = Better Quality. If you force it, whether it be the animation or the writing, it won't be good. We don't care how long it takes you.... if you're not feeling it, you're not feeling it. Just have fun and do it when you feel like it. :D

Now, I see that you want to get a job in animation. I... unfortunately have no experience in this field. But if you want to put your time, energy & focus into getting a real animation job instead of working on TOME, I have absolutely no problem with that. Real Life is more important than Internet Life. Who knows, you might even get hired by some animation company, and they might help you make a Television-grade edition of TOME. TOME is your idea, and it's awesome. You don't have to break your back to keep making it if you have other things in your life that are more important.

I wish you wealth and good fortune. :)

Baryonyx89 2012-04-07 03:55:27

Hi Kirb,

Just wanted to let you know that TOME is my 2nd favorite web series, next to YGOTAS; TOME makes you happy and, from the comments I've seen and my own personal opinion, it makes your fans happy. So why even slow down on it, let alone stop making it just because of a money issue?

Like you said: "Keep doing TOME, people DO like it!"

Perhaps the reason why you're not making much money on TOME is because it's kind of difficult for people to know about it; I only learned about this series through a random trailer of Nylocke hidden deep within ShadyVox's channel.

Maybe if you got the word out more, the views would double; maybe triple.

Anyway, I think what you're doing with TOME is extremely original; whatever criticism you get about it resembling .hack or whatever videogame anime, just brush it aside knowing that it's based on your own original TTA series.

I notice that many popular web series have dozens of long-term jokes, like LK's "screw the rules, I have $$" and "Card games on motorcycles" or TFS's "Kaio-ken, Kaio-what?" and the Krillin-owned count. So far for TOME, there's only the "Nylocke, master/dragon of ADJECTIVE NOUN" joke; maybe if you keep up what you're doing but increase the potential internet memes, you'd get more views.

"It's wrong to make money off of characters and concepts you didn't make... But wait, I'm not making any money"

SCREW THE MONEY, YOU HAVE RULES (ethics)

I look forward to TOME episode 4.. and 5.. and 50?

Balkarzar 2012-04-07 09:26:15

I usually never ever do anything on newgrounds, first time I'm making a comment (had a hard time figuring out how to make a comment), so I hope you see this and it helps.

If TOME is what you like and what you are passionate about, then that's your future for now. Don't doubt your animation or art, even if you think its not good enough then use TOME to improve it while producing the episodes. Sometimes its not just what you can do but what you do means to you, passion is not just doing is about doing what you do the best you can do, keep improving yourself.

And about getting a job, I heard its really hard to get one in the animation field, so think about self employment as an option, an internet series is a great way to accomplish that, it'll at least hopefully be able to let you live somewhere and eat (I would love to see a Nylocke T-shirt, but that's just me). Think about TOME its what you like, do it because you want to, nothing else, don't worry about peers or fans, if you like it, do it. Plus doing something you like and you are passionate about will probably faster get you a job, employers will see your passion in your work and would be more willing to hire you.

Btw, part of art is how everything fits together not just how well you can draw a human body, does the look your characters fit with the look of the background, theme, atmosphere etc? I hope I've helped in some way.

Zobot257 2012-04-07 14:57:14

Ugh, I hate posting here because I really doubt you'll ever see this and there's like fifty-ish other people who have said anything of significance I would say. But I figure adding one more voice to the rising din can't hurt, at least.

Kirb, I've been a fan of your work since TTA. We spoke like, ONCE on the old Bonus Stage forums and you linked to TTA and I liked it. Since then I've followed your work and enjoyed most of it. TOME is, in my humble opinion, one of thr best things you've created and I have thus far enjoyed it. I am a firm supporter of the series, your animation/writing/voice acting skills, and your attempts to get noticed for them.

If TOME makes you happy then its going to be head and shoulders better than anything else you produce while feeling otherwise. People who are happy and content give more of themselves into what makes them happy and it shows. I've known what its like as a writer working on something I don't enjoy and it just doesn't ever come out as well.

If you like working on TOME and want to keep working on it, then keep working on it. But know that whatever you choose to do, you have at least one person on the internets who will support your decisions 100% as long as you choose whatever it is that will bring you joy in life. If you make t-shirts, I will buy them. If you offer commission-cameos I will buy one. I am a staunch supporter of your work because I like it.

You probably will never read this. My voice is one of many in a crowd. But in the off chance you do and it cheers you up even slightly, I think writing it was worth the effort. And although this probably seems a bit silly to offer, if you ever need someone to talk to about concerns you have being a creator, I have been there before and am willing to listen, and my email address is zobot257@gmail.com. Ignore or email me as you wish.

Solarzero 2012-04-07 15:57:54

You got alot going on in your mind so let's sort out everything and try and give you some answers shall we man?
[What if I go back to making stupid video game parodies that I was ridiculed for YEARS for doing? Everyone else is doing them, including many artists that I look up to, maybe it's more acceptable now! ] - These are what we call fads man. They come and go, and just like all of our past recolor productions, starting out they seem fine, they get hated, die out, and then rise from the ashes. There will always be room for this.

[ No, wait! I just spent a whole year working on this original thesis film I always wanted to do, I've finally gotten to a point where I wanna be with my work! I can't just go back to doing stupid parodies that take a week to make and then get a million views in 24 hours, that'd be dumb! ] - Fun thing about the world is you can go back and revisit things. The major question is should you. Popularity drives alot yet without the drive to push it continually, minor parodies won't last. Look what happen to series like Decline of Gaming.

[It's wrong to make money off of characters and concepts you didn't make, so don't do that! Keep doing TOME, people DO like it! ]- As you answered yourself before this moment, people do like TOME and as you said you like making TOME too. The question you fail to ask yourself is sadly what more can you do with it? Is TOME just to be your pet project or can you expand it to something you are looking for?

[I'm not making any money and have no idea if I'm furthering myself as an artist doing it, not to mention gaining little to no respect from my peers! Do I quit and try doing something ELSE original, or will that just piss off the people who DO like TOME and the people who -didn't- like it and just wanted it to improve will think I'm a quitter?] - Now you're just stretching yourself everywhere and trying to appease the world. While you're animation skills are only slowly improving, your writing skills have excelled far greater than they have in the past. Quitting now means you quit on something that makes you happy and happiness shouldn't be discarded so easily.

We're the same age dude but you've gone alot farther than I have in certain places and other places I could probably say I'm way ahead of you. Game companies won't pay you to parody their characters, that much I can promise.

Feel better
~SZ

Dongard 2012-04-08 02:23:25

All I will say to you kirb, I have been following you for years, waaaaay back when you were just starting TTA. Was abit upset with your video-game parodies time of your life but well I kept on following you.But so if you want funding? Want a real team? Want the support of your fans.

Well have your fans support you then.
<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/">http://www.kickstarter.com/</a>
is all I say to you.

Best of luck to you, I look forward to your future

Josiah10 2012-04-08 23:06:39

I have been a recent fan on your Tome work and can say i'm spoiled by it. Meaning I can't watch the old version because im blinded by the new version. But I see your problem, your mind is trying to make a logical decision awhile another part of your mind is trying to define what is logical. But in the end all you can really do is what you want, there is no right or wrong path just choices. In my mind I wish their was a site that hosted beginning artists such as yourself that played series like Tome with donation options. I mean that in my mind would be perfect, I would pay five dollars to watch like six episodes of Tome a year, and that might not seem like much but I sure their are others out there too that would do the same and that would add up. Anyway I am rambling now, I hope you can find peace of mind in your life before summer comes. Can't wait for Tome 4#!!!

PaddedSandals 2012-04-10 10:11:23

Listen pal, I've watched a lot of your stuff, starting with the lame video game parodies and ending with your TOME series, so I'd like to give my opinions for what they are worth. What you've been putting out recently is nothing short of extraordinary. Considering the constraints of the project you've managed to keep the stangard very high. Good writing, pacing, voice acting and animation that perfectly treads the fine line between quality and economy (so we're not left waiting years for each episode). I'm happy to say my first opinions of you were wrong and you really are quite talented. If you need to make some low quality stuff just to pay the bills, that doesn't in any way diminish the good work you do providing you keep it separate from your real work. You don't have to prove anything to anyone because you already have. Doing what you have to do to keep your head above the water isn't selling out, it's just part of life. Once you've sorted your money problems out with another crappy parody video you can get back to the work that you love. Unless the next episode of TOME is stuffed full of product placement I won't consider your reputation tarnished, no matter how many sequels to brawl taunts you make.

Good luck in the future, It's always a pleasure to see someone who loves what they do.

MidnightPlease 2012-04-13 05:44:29

TOME is one of the very few"amateur" things i deem worty of paying for.

Spend more time and effort in marketing it and pitch a few products for sale.
Its hard getting a series out there and becoming one of the big boys that actualy get decent pay for it that's true.

But you've got your own universe and style now with the new TOME just give it room to grow and it might take you places.

Also your one -year fresh outa animator factory ? Your still young, keep dreaming for a little while.

PokeKirbyDeluxe 2012-04-14 04:43:14

Kirb, I've been watching your stuff since as SOON AS I GOT ON NG. You are an inspiration to me (just like the late Edd) and you are one of those people who made me who I am now. A kid with no actual flash skills who loves watching both your original stuff and parodies so I can cheer myself up. I suggest that you could do the best of both worlds: Do like 70% original goodness, AND a little bit (obviously 30%) unoriginal goodies. Either way, your stuff ROCKS so much. I just hope you do what you want to do, and hopefully, you'll see what is next. I personally want to become a Game Designer, (let's hope NIntendo) and I am trying my best to get into great schools for that job. Just choose something to do, it'll come eventually. :)

PokeKirbyDeluxe 2012-04-14 04:43:14

Kirb, I've been watching your stuff since as SOON AS I GOT ON NG. You are an inspiration to me (just like the late Edd) and you are one of those people who made me who I am now. A kid with no actual flash skills who loves watching both your original stuff and parodies so I can cheer myself up. I suggest that you could do the best of both worlds: Do like 70% original goodness, AND a little bit (obviously 30%) unoriginal goodies. Either way, your stuff ROCKS so much. I just hope you do what you want to do, and hopefully, you'll see what is next. I personally want to become a Game Designer, (let's hope NIntendo) and I am trying my best to get into great schools for that job. Just choose something to do, it'll come eventually. :)

Ruduwulf 2012-04-14 17:07:24

I was gonna say something really inspirational and encouraging, but PokeKirbyDeluxe kinda beat me to it. What he said. TOME rules. I was introduced to it (when you started the flash-animations) by a friend who'd watched all through your sprite series, and he was ECSTATIC about it. He kept going on about how Kirbopher was bringing back TOME and I said "Wait, WTH are you talking about?" He told me to watch it. I did. I said "This is AWESOME!" and I started trying to decide who my favorite character was. It took me about 30 seconds to realize that all of your characters are too much fun to choose between. *reads other comments* And, going off of what sepiroth-blade said, I would totally spend money on TOME merchandise (like a plushy or something). SELF-DOUBT, I VANQUISH THEE!!!

DarkonFullPower 2012-04-17 00:22:15

It seems that you are having the exact same thoughts that I am. I too am writing a story, but unlike you I currently have no way to animate it. I too am stuck between what I think I should do to better my life and doing what truly makes me happy, my story. I sorry but even I don't know the answer. Of course if the answer was easy, then it wouldn't be important. All I can say is ask yourself how you feel about continuing TOME, at least continuing it right away. Then think of others in your life, and how they might feel about it. Consider both you and everyone you care for before you make a decision. I'm certain that as long as you make any choice from emotion, not just thought, that you will be happy with your choice without regret.

hendoharuku 2012-04-17 01:56:05

Ok here is what my 2 cents are 1. just keep working on tome i mean the idea is amazing its like Dot hack but better and i say people love it because its never been done before. 2. try to get a tv channel to notice you like cartoonnetwork and try to get tome published on a real channel while still putting the episodes here. you can air them first before you post them here so people can watch them on live tv first then come back here if they wanna rewatch it. just try to get a major cartoon net work to help you make tome a reality of a cartoon series and an amazing one at that. if it means sending them the link to your newgrounds page so they can see then so be it. this is just my thoughts and that i support an excellent artist and voice actor/singer if i ever saw one i mean ur better than leo and satan or mario bros z to me

Zerosen 2012-04-21 18:29:21

I may not be a long-time fan of yours, but I support you wholly regardless of what path you take, man. Continue with TOME and get a large following (considering you already have one, you don't have to worry about that), and you might be able to find a way for having a fandom to pay off. I'm not saying "force [us] to pay in order to watch your great animation skills and listen to the voice talents of [you] and [your friends]". But maybe get a PayPal or something and point some of us to it.

You have supporters man, and a lot of them really do wanna see you go on with your ideas and make something great of the art talent you've shown to be capable of in your flashes. Maybe to the point where TOME could be a very worthwhile investment. Hell, I may not know what you're going through since I'm still in my final year of high school, but I'm behind you all the way. Good luck! :)

killerpit 2012-04-28 01:00:09

many people think this at some point when at newgrounds or making animation "what now" broh, you are MORE than a legend on newgrounds, maybe its time for you to take the next step higher, you know what i mean? instead of the internet try something different. other than that i love tome and want you to complete it BEFORE leaving NG. dont pull a whookos on me

DarcAbyss 2012-04-28 02:41:56

Considering the mass of supportive comments, mine will most likely not matter, but I'll say something anyway. To hell with what others think. It's what you think that matters. Many, MANY people would love to see you finish TOME, though the original TTA series was extensively long and even unfinished, but we would understand if you chose to go another route in your career. After all, it is YOUR career. As for improving yourself as an artist, it is only a matter of perspective. You've clearly improved, and I'm sure you will continue to do so. Nothing can stop an artist from improving his art, other then neglect. As for funding, I'm sure if you absolutely needed it, your many fans would gladly pitch in. Why let something they enjoy die when they can do something about it? If anything, contributing to something like this only makes them love it all the more. That option may put a ton of pressure on you, using the fan's money and hoping not to disappoint us, but I cannot see you doing that. You clearly love your work more then we do, which is to be expected. You will find a solution in time, and whatever your choice, we will respect it. Or at least, I will. Can't really speak for the rest of Newgrounds... Regardless, I would love to see the whole of TOME completed. It is a truly enjoyable series that has many unique and complex characters, a twisted plot that keeps the viewer guessing, even those who have seen TTA, and a beautiful and vivid art style. To me, it would be a shame if a great original series were to be ended, but again, I will respect your choice, and support you in what little ways I can. Usually through comments I doubt anybody will read. But really, it isn't about what I think or want. It's about what you think. Do what you need to do now, so you may enjoy what you want later.