Are things slower around here?

[Kosheh]

Um, maybe I'm just tired (3 hr sleep!), but I don't really know what part of your post conflicted with anything I said, or even had to do with anything I said in the first place, even though I keep seeing my name come up. Like, I literally don't get what you're saying. What did anything I say have to do with buttpats? Can someone elaborate?

hey that's funny i was also running on very little sleep and don't see why you're coming up either. oh wait yes i do.

your name came up a few times in the beginning because i used you as an example.
later on, when i use your name and "buttpat" in the same sentence, if you read the rest of the topic you'd recall that I mentioned something along the lines of making a new creativity forum using "less original" aspects.
that's more or less giving new members unneeded buttpats and pink flowers when they're obviously doing something wrong - don't you agree? THAT'S what I'm referring to.
we should be encouraging creativity as much as possible and give the opportunity to present original works, shouldn't we?

i spent a part of that post backpedaling. it's an awful thing and you shouldn't do it (i did)

the general gist though is that within your post you present a pretty good reason to use sprites (wasn't really criticizing you or anything to begin with; basically "i use sprites on the site as references to make more original work") - and together with vipershark you guys make the point of "we need more original content" - while i agree, the incoming userbase doesn't really have all that much...spark. i'm sorry, but it's true.
most don't have a background in art, and are trying out spriting for the first time. i'm referring to the pixelarting populace. sprite rippers are a different story and aren't really the focus here.
a lot of people joining are learning art and pixelart techniques etc. from the ground up.

to reiterate my point: as a result, TSR's community atmosphere in general appears to be conducive to novice spriters. a multitude of the people who come here looking to learn to sprite etc. are just starting out and have little experience in spriting let alone art.

if we're gonna establish ourselves as "a showcase of original works and pixelart" that's kind of shooting a bit high, given the incoming userbase is...more or less, just starting out with little or no prior art/programming experience.

basically: we're the stepping stone before people move onto other higher-standard communities like pixeljoint, or graphic arts-related careers. let's cater to that group and try to help get inspired minds get moving