The Infamous Story Of The Failed Reddit Dragon MMO

[@cranberri_inari]

3D modeler here, her stuff is actually really friggen good!! Great sense of anatomy and style! Couldn’t be used in game as-is due to the high poly count, but that’s usually how these game models start out; nice high poly model that gets retopologized into something manageable for the game, and then you transfer all those great details to the low poly model. I really hope she keeps at it, these are gorgeous.

[@JumboDS64]

Ya exactly, baking in the tiny detail as bumpmapping

[@kirin1230]

Oooo I didn't know that modelers made a higher poly model first. That's really interesting!

[@alyti]

just yeet it into ue5 it'll cope somehow

[@transsnack]

@@alyti lol, I'm pretty sure that's a good way to melt a computer

[@ddjsoyenby]

yeah they are good.

[@MrSiren52]

The part about not regretting what they had done is a pretty powerful idea for creatives. You won't finish every project, they won't all be successes even if you finish. But to look back and be fulfilled with what you have done and even grow from it is a lesson we all can learn.

[@estherstreet4582]

people are dunking on this person for being wildly overambitious but like,,, drawing hundreds of dragon races with an evolutionary tree for an MMO that never came out is also cool as fuck. More people should be proud of their ridiculously overcomplicated projects that they did loads of work on and then nothing came of it.

[@animalobsessed1]

Same, my ex-husband, who is an actual employed game developer, had promised to help me make a game I wanted. So because I figured he knew what he was doing, it seemed like a realistic achievement to me. I never had any interest in learning game development, but I figured it would be a fun way for us to spend time together, doing something that combines both our interests. Like this woman, I started to research a bunch of stuff I'd need to make the game as realistic as possible. I eventually gave up on the project once I realized that he had no intention of actually helping me make the game, (he was planning on using it to "lure" me into learning game development, so he could then make me help him with his own indie game), but I still don't regret the time I spent learning things. I ended up learning how to use blender at a level I was genuinely happy with. He wasn't happy with my creations of course, because he wanted me to learn to make models that were on par with modern industry standards, (and refused to help me put the models into the game until I made "better ones,") whereas I just wanted something for myself. I had no intention of competing with professionals. (Plus, I wanted to get some basic gameplay working first, so I could see if it would even work at all, before wasting my time on details like better graphics.) I learned to set up a system in Unreal Engine to layer coat textures in a genetically accurate way, for which I had to research coat color genetics. Spending so much time figuring out how to make it work, turned out to be a great strategy for remembering how the genetics work in real life, so even though I've barely used the knowledge in years, I can still remember it. (I don't remember how to actually make it work in the engine, because I was never interested in the game development aspect in the first place. But I do remember how genetics work.) Once I realized he was never going to help me code an AI in Unreal Engine, I switched to a different program that had easier tutorials, where I was proudly able to get some basic functions working. (I had the dogs following treats, I had obstacles with functional collision boxes, I had stats that were able to increase and decrease, etc. Overall, way more than I ever would have expected to achieve on my own.) Unfortunately, I ended up accidentally saving a different file over it, and losing all my work. Trying to recreate it would have been way more work than it was worth, so that was the end of that. I still use my knowledge of Blender every now and then, to make speculative evolution models for my thought experiments. I have no interest in becoming "better" at it though, when my current knowledge is already enough to serve my needs.

[@animalobsessed1]

@@duffman18 I do have an interest in speculative evolution, but this seems pretty messed up lol. I wouldn't call it speculative evolution. Aliens modifying genes isn't evolution, and I'm sure we can agree that this isn't likely to happen (so no real speculation). It sounds like just a fantasy story, which can be fun as well.

[@azuraracon6406]

Why I love Millennium Actress so much. Whole point is that it's okay if you never perfectly achieve your dream in any art form; the joy of creation is its own reward

[@SnowEspeon]

Grand ambitions are awesome. How in the world will you ever break new ground if you don't push the boundaries of what's possible? No reason to regret being an overachiever, y'all.

[@westvirginiaglutenfreepepp7006]

Honestly, if the original artist ever wanted to, she could just release all of this material for tabletop rules and it would make an awesome TRPG. Can you imagine this as basically a dungeon masters guide? It's a perfect fit, even with all of the weird minerals, astronomy, and everything, it would just go into the world

[@duzehalo]

omg yes! I didn't make this connection watching the video but seeing your comment - you're 100% right, it would be awesome

[@Mae-eg9gm]

i would eat that shit uppppp

[@ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Now, THAT's a good thought. The problem with doing this as a computer game is building all the models and writing the software.

[@hermitcrabguy29]

Holy shit you're a genius

[@liquidnation9992]

I would totally play that! But it did exist back in the 90's for D&D as the Council of Wyrms setting for the second edition

[@Michaela_ZC]

My sincere hope for this person is that she put this dragon stuff in a portfolio & got a job as a concept artist somewhere. There’s so many talented artists out there held back by hyper-focusing on big projects they can’t reasonably complete at that point.

[@Cheyruz]

I felt kinda similar and my adhd brain wouldn't let it go, so I did some (unnecessarily intense) sleuthing, and followed their trace through a link on deviantart, a chain of dead tumblr accounts and twitter to a patreon, and it seems like the reddit OP is doing (mostly nsfw) furry art under the name "Thorso" now. So, well. Not many dragons, sadly. They also made a webcomic called "sublunary" at some point. It's crazy how much stuff people make that just kinda… lingers on the internet, until the site either goes down or someone deletes it or something.

[@kuddlykraken2157]

I agree, it's some extremely impressive amount of work. What a shame this game hasn't seen the light of day.

[@the_furry_inside_your_walls639]

@@kuddlykraken2157 It realistically wasn't gonna see the light of day, not when her aim was to make an MMO of all things. I don't think a lot of people realize just how much time, effort, and money it takes to create an MMO, probably because a lot of the MMO's that already exist look cheap on the surface(but are far from it on beneath the surface). Making 3D games is a really difficult thing to do to begin with, especially one with as much detail as the one the artist in the video was trying to make.

[@lonely_saturn]

I wouldnt really shame people for having passion projects. Its good to know when to quit but passion projects are good to have and focus on. Not to mention things like this that are absolutely hyper-focused on are normally made by neurodivergent people since we're more likely to hyperfixate and obsess over said projects. Its okay to have a big project you're passionate about, even if it'll never see the light of day. It can be fun to work on anyways, and doesn't have to hold you back. You can have a job and just work on that in your spare time.

[@nebbygetinthebag7263]

I feel like Reddit was Reddit regarding this. The OP was genuinely excited and happy about this and the fact that everyone largely trashed and mocked her was just...sad.

[@DoctorStarky]

I love how refreshingly low stakes this is. No one got scammed. No one got their life ruined. Just a nice art project. I hope she's doing all right.

[@zeethenecromancer]

According to a reply to a comment around here they're doing furry r34 stuff now under a new name...which was certainly a rollercoaster to read after this wholesome video

[@DoctorStarky]

@@zeethenecromancer Sincerely, good for them.

[@Viteaification]

@@zeethenecromancer not really. sex is a part of life afterall

[@zeethenecromancer]

​@@Viteaification No I'm not saying to be condescending, I'm saying that when I read that comment it gave me whiplash and I nearly spit out my drink

[@mammoneymelon]

@@zeethenecromancer the dragon sex game to furry r34 pipeline 😂 if that comment is right, i'm glad they're doing well^^

[@connordarvall8482]

What I respect about the creator is not having any regrets about just making it to the concept art stage. A lot of people who've tried to make games I've met keep whining about how all their projects fail, but this one just admits "Yeah, I'm aware that what I'm making is extremely ambitious, but I gave a crack at it anyway."

[@ctdaniels7049]

Big mood. I should do more concept art for my funny lil steel mill game. 🤔

[@Jamsaladd]

She had barely done anything at that point yet. Stfu

[@Mitsukouer]

Izzzyzz never fails to create a new unique look for each video

[@ph-1012]

25% of why I watch her is seeing whatever she'll look like next

[@ScarIsARebel]

I want to dye my hair like that it's super cool

[@Vitorio582]

It's impressive

[@bernkastel7438]

It’s one of my favorite things about her videos. I love it when KZbinrs go the extra mile to do stuff like that, it shows that they enjoy what they do.

[@limebloodedleviathan]

Im convinced shes a shapeshifter

[@zelenpixel]

as someone who really likes speculative biology the idea of this is really appealing to me (the concept of splitting tetrapods based on how they adapt one of the three pairs of limbs is really interesting, as is having three pairs of limbs at all) and the art is really good too. but yea i can see how it was far far too ambitious. the game overall did remind me of spore too and i would have LOVED to play this also ive always pronounced imgur in my mind with a g like in "good". never considered any other pronunciation

[@TheFunwichHorror]

Honestly, this would've been a great speculative biology project. OP could have kept posting their dragon designs with lore and explanation as to how they evolve/survive, and it would've been a neat, if niche, work. There are plenty of speculative biology works these days, some even covering dragons, and they seem to be quite popular with certain people. OP could've kept the scope small and realistic, maybe as a personal art/worldbuilding project or even a homebrew module to be used in a DnD campaign or something similar. Insisting that it should be a game, an MMO no less, was where OP sadly flew too close to the sun.

[@catatoblob8598]

@@TheFunwichHorror I'm not sure this would make a great ttrpg due to the amount of time spent just evolving things, but it could definitely work as something like Doodle God, or even as a complicated niche board game.

[@cartoonishidealism582]

I mean, with all the effort OP put into the world building I feel like he could have even just published a book of some kind. Like “A Guide To Draconia” or something I dunno. I loved those kind of books as a kid. Anyone else here read “A Practical Guide To Dragon Riding”?

[@starsiadraws]

I've always thought imgur was said like "image-er"

[@zelenpixel]

yo my comment blew up somehow i was not expecting this and yeah id love to read a specbio project like this too like serina or hamsters paradise etc

[@H11pShark]

I'm so sorry to OP for getting bullied so hard and while it is true this probably wouldn't have done too well as a game, I could see it being a fantastic book or graphic novel. I loved every second of the development, the colors, the art, the detail. I'm a very detail-oriented person so I love seeing people get super into projects like this. I hope OP is doing well and doing just as much research into whatever project they chose next

[@durdleduc8520]

that is my thought too. if i were there when this post was first made, i honestly might ask if she'd ever want to adapt her concepts into a different medium.

[@Ibumurda]

It was 2010 Reddit they hated everyone and anything creative back then

[@Purplesquigglystripe]

I’m getting browser based mmo vibes like Flight Rising and Lioden

[@Jamsaladd]

Constructive criticism isn't bullying , she clearly needed a reality check. Stop being a dip shit

[@mikemahaffey9121]

I can understand why she never finished her game project. She had some amazing concepts going on. She could have took a lot of those ideas and made a graphic novel out of it.

[@noizepusher7594]

Exactly, she clearly loves worldbuilding. She should’ve started this out as a worldbuilding project as the way things evolve and how everything comes together seems really interesting to her.

[@CanonOverseer]

And she's certainly got 3d modelling talent as seen from some of the dragons

[@ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Or a TTRPG

[@RhiannonSmudge]

Wherever OP is today, I hope she's doing well and is using her artistic talent to its fullest, whether that be for a job in a creative industry or as just a hobby I kinda want to know who she is so I can find her online, maybe give her a follow if she's still posting art

[@RhiannonSmudge]

@@grezgu Huh... if you're for real, I can see it. She's got talent for drawing dragons, so she's probably making bank drawing anthro dragons. No judgement on her if you're telling the truth

[@yardantosemito5024]

@@RhiannonSmudge what did the reply say? They deleted their comment...I think?

[@RhiannonSmudge]

@@yardantosemito5024 A suggestion that they might be under a different username drawing nsfw furry art I don't remember the username they suggested nor could I find their profile via a quick Google search, so no idea if they were telling the truth. Though I can see it, furry art can pay pretty damn well

[@yardantosemito5024]

@@RhiannonSmudge not my place to judge on that but oh well they can do what they want.

[@hkazu63]

@@RhiannonSmudge yeah, it’s not my cup of tea but if you find your core base, you can make a shocking amount of money out of furry art. If that’s what she’s up to, more power to her, she could take in thousands a month out of it.

[@zoeb3573]

Honestly, I respect the creator's attitude towards the whole thing. She focused on the journey and not the destination. I hope she got some good creative lessons from the project, put all this in a portfolio and went on to work on something else professionally.

[@phazonsuitzora]

I'm definitely maining Arctic, since I love tanking. Expect me to roll up with a lore-compliant name and elaborate backstory in a perpetual refinement as I learn more about the game world, too.

[@Yeb-wp9em]

Yooo catch me taunting all the adds so my team mates don't get hurt, fucking worth it

[@mistahchad220]

"Elaborate backstory in perpetual refinement", you didn't have to call me out like this, mate

[@Joe90h]

Immunity to one of the most annoying biomes in video games? Likely ice based powers that slow foes? Sounds like my class to me.

[@Man-ej6uv]

id take the swamp thing, i’m edgy

[@bodyno3158]

I'm always a DPH guy, seeking the thrill of precise, planned one-hit kills (or get one hit killed), I'd probably min-max a glass-cannon swamp build, thx for your tanking. Now we need two healers... One keeping your HP topped like an IV line and one keeps me from ded like a defib.

[@Nikki_the_G]

This was a really interesting and amusing video idea. My overriding feeling when you found all the other (actually good) artwork is why, why, why she chose the worst image imaginable for her reddit post lol. And that if she stuck to her original idea of making this a small mobile game, (sans the endless atomic-level detail she clearly got hopelessly lost in), it could have worked and even gotten her a Kickstarter going. Especially if she partnered with someone to do most of the actual coding while she focused on artwork and gameplay. I wonder what became of her?

[@amoureux6502]

There was a Flash game (RIP) I used to play called Seed that revolved around cross-breeding and genetically altering plants and it was extremely simple but endlessly fun and lowkey if OP had stuck to the iPhone genetics app idea and not gotten lost in the minutia of it I think it could have turned into a similar game

[@SemiDoge]

"What became of her?" Married mother, probably?

[@MidnightArcade404]

@@amoureux6502 bro i remember that!!! i miss those old flash games

[@nickfra]

That concept art is all actually impressive, for what seems like a project that is just the brainchild of one person. I am pretty baffled that they chose to lead the post with that image that was like the worst one they had developed.

[@Reyes24]

When I was 13-15 I swore I was gonna make a warrior cats MMO. I still have images of old models and maps stuffed away somewhere but oh my god, the overview was so in depth. For whatever reason I thought I could totally run a team on volunteer basis which consisted of even more 13-15 year olds so I'm sure you can tell how well that went. There had to be new drama between the staff team and userbase at least once a week. It was fantastic. Amazingly this did spark my interest in animation and 3D modeling and I'm currently enrolled in school for computer animation with hopes of getting into game dev again at some point either as a freelancer or contract work.

[@NIGHTBLOODUSAGI]

I hope you get to reach your dream!! :)

[@kiddosneakybeaky3934]

@@TrampolineLover95 Meh, WCUE has horrid devs anyhow. Besides, I’d be interested to see an *actual* MMO for Warrior cats, genuine things like hunting etc.

[@IsaSaien]

I'll be waiting for that cat game.

[@dancelikean1diot]

@@kiddosneakybeaky3934 yeah but its still a pretty cool game. I dont really play it because I cant get into private servers anymore

[@kiddosneakybeaky3934]

@@dancelikean1diot yeah fair,

[@muttzoone]

As a game art student, honestly- the idea has so much potential, the concept art is so good it's just its TOO ambitious!

[@Nogardtist]

most of these game concept is marketing and asset flips is the final results a real dragon game can only go 2 ways not third way where its a second life roleplay with dragon models the first path is a god game where whatever you do or dont impact the world a platformer adventure dragon game thats where spyro was successful

[@the_furry_inside_your_walls639]

@@Nogardtist A second-life esque roleplaying game with dragon models is very much possible. She just didn't have the resources, budget, or team to do it.

[@writershard5065]

@@the_furry_inside_your_walls639 But even so, it could work great as a limited scope evolution simulator. Sort of like spore, except you experiment with cross-breeding, trait selection and stuff like that to create newer and wackier dragons with intriguing properties/abilities.

[@JL-jz3]

Day of Dragons is a game that started off controversially but is literally pretty much what this girl wanted to do (and you even breed! Science!!)

[@comajuice]

Fellow game artist student, I'd see it work if it wasn't an MMO, but more like a Sims kinda game if they really wanna put heavy focus on the genetics

[@zedek_]

28:00 This right here is why I'm even watching this video, and why I felt a little sad for OP the whole time while learning about this. What you're saying isn't pretentious at all; the motive for these creators is so pure, I can't help but admire it. For a short while, they lived a beautiful dream... and it's ok that they didn't finish it - their life continues, and so does their growth from the project.

[@PrettyJeffMaybe]

Great video! I love hearing about failed projects, as it's part cautionary tale and part self-deprecating humor when I think back on my own projects that fell short of their lofty goals. Regarding the breeding/evolving mechanic, DBO could've tried something like Rogue Legacy, where you carry over experience from your predecessor. But as mentioned, mating with other players would be highly problematic, and even if the mechanic was fixed, the project was far too ambitious to ever be completed.

[@jadesix9980]

out of context the sentence "mating with other players would be highly problematic" is so funny to me for some reason 😂

[@loonbird]

Mating with other players couldn’t be too bad, games like the Isle, Day of Dragons, Animalia, and Beasts of Bermuda do that, with things like stats and cosmetics being passed down

[@radradnaya]

Post grad 3D modeler here! I spent my undergrad doing 3D animations in Maya and got a multimedia degree. I wanted to say that the models for the dragons here actually look pretty good-they look structurally sound and the textures look as if they could have been made themselves to create the unique effects on the skin (like the gellified look lol). It’s hard to say definitively that they made these themselves-they could have used borrowed textures or texture techniques, but it atleast seems that they had a little bit of experience with 3D modeling. One of the big things though that is hard to tell without further evidence is whether those models will actually animate well. A lot of that has to do with smoothing your models down to a skeleton and ensuring nothing breaks or tears as you move joints, but from just looks I feel the dragons have a lot of good potential! This is all without even mentioning how your poly count and textures can effect the rendering process and slow things down but again I feel like it had good potential. Anyway, thanks for the vid!

[@Julia_and_the_City]

I feel so sad that this person got roasted this hard on Reddit for chasing a wonderful pipe dream. The value of projects like these isn't in seeing them finished - it's in the joy of doing it at all. Myself, I've been toiling away at a worldbuilding project that has gotten way out of hand and will never amount to anything marketable (because no one wants to see worlds without any *story* happening inside them). It's been in the works for years on-and-off between my other obligations, and I still enjoy doing it. I can really mega-appreciate the Dragon Bloodline creator's landscape art, actually. These mountain valleys look like places I'd like to get lost in in my dreams. Fuck Reddit.

[@misterglass5197]

hey do you wanna tell me about your project?

[@mammoneymelon]

i've been creating characters for as long as i can remember. i probably won't do anything marketable with most of them, but that's not the point! i make art for myself! my mary sues and i are having a great time, regardless of how anyone else might feel

[@MrSignman65]

A Dungeons and Dragons homebrew manual would 100% work with that. Pure worldbuilding, then add basic mechanics, sell that and let people run with the concept.

[@Briskeeen]

She didn't get roasted though? Most of the comments were just people who recognized her over ambition and tried to direct the woman from burning herself out by biting off more than she could chew.

[@baffledmouse]

Yeah, I don't know why I make illustrations other than for the joy of making them. I have a degree and masters but any attempts to monetize my drawings I have shied away from because it takes the joy out of it and opens my work up to being judged.

[@PugsleyThePear]

The thing I love most about Izzzyzzz's videos is how she takes such an honest and appreciative look at internet culture that other people outright dismiss and scoff at, and that makes people think "wow, maybe there's more to this than I originally thought". She's *anti-cringe.*

[@casualcrisis6349]

cringe culture is so toxic honestly. once i learned to look more into things instead of at face value, i realized that people enjoying things and not hurting me, doesn't affect me. c: i agree

[@mammoneymelon]

embracing "cringe" honestly really affected my self-identity in the best way. relearning to embrace my interests and creations has helped me in learning to be myself without shame. i may be cringe, but i am free

[@delablo]

I really hope the original creator finds this vid. As a creator myself, I know I'd be over the moon to see so much care and humor put into a video about my old project.

[@user-unfriendly_-o-]

They seem like a very nice and polite person and they put so much work into designs and models. I think this would be better as an art project.

[@llamaniaman4002]

It would be amazing in her portfolio when applying to animate/design/render somewhere else.

[@kowloonbroadcast]

yeah, an artbook would actually be a perfect medium. really, the drawn concept art looks like something of a pretty solid substance.

[@decapitated420]

it would've been an amazing single player game as well, she could've added a multiplayer feature as well, since, if I recall multiplayer isn't as hard to manage as an MMO

[@kywire._]

The way you carry the weight of archiving 2010s deviantArt dragon history is genuinely awe-inspiring. Thank you for the work you do!

[@jinx7075]

Izzy is the living proof for 'the internet never forgets'

[@ddjsoyenby]

fact.

[@Colonies_Dev]

how do we convince izzy to download WoW dragonflight lmao

[@nichnytsia.stitch]

Oh god when you showed the actual "hidden lore" artwork that the OP had made for the game my first reaction for some reason was to want to cry, like, those are genuinely beautiful drawings and i'd hate for something I made that was actually not a bad idea get remembered as a cringe meme because of a poor image choice for a post. it's obviously much too complicated of a game to be made into an mmo, especially with all of the attention to miniscule details, but still I can imagine this getting a completely different response if a different picture had been chosen for the initial post. it's nice that the artist doesn't seem to feel much regret about it though. this video turned out to be much more wholesome for me than I had thought when I clicked on it at first

[@Bruh_Kenzi]

[@schedar_cassiopeia]

@Dagon Frazer no

[@lamibonxd]

@Dagon Frazer bot

[@useronefiveninesix]

@Dagon Frazer whatever u say dagon frazer

[@harryxyz2982]

@Dagon Frazer hello JACK WRATH Didn’t expect to see you here bud Still seeking the attention your parents never gave you

[@tootbender6935]

You should check out some gameplay videos of Draconia, an early-access game where you can play as a dragon.

[@pandimensions]

This honestly looks like a student project - and not in a bad way! This kind of development of a speculative, never-to-be-made personal project is one of the best ways for a newbie artist or game designer to build a portfolio and the skills they'll need to make games professionally. Even professionals do this to show off their skills or learn new ones. The game was never going to be made in the way OP seemed to imagine, but the exercise itself will have taught them loads and is super valuable!

[@nubtail]

this person obviously has a lot of passion, and I hope they do something with that some day. A videogame might be too ambitious but comic/graphic novel would work well with her existing talents.

[@Wrattata]

im absolutely obsessed how Izzy looks so drastically different in every video and yet they always manage to slay

[@Meleedroit]

Confession: I thought she was just dying and regrowing her hair every video, and that wigs just didn't exist

[@jan_Masewin]

each outfit is a damn work of art

[@Bridgeru]

​@@Meleedroit I did too until I just read your comment; I feel like a kid who just learned Santa isn't real learning that.​

[@Meleedroit]

@@Bridgeru brown bricks aren't in Minecraft😔

[@Bridgeru]

@@Meleedroit Maybe not for you, but I use the Environmental mod so I can place brown (terracotta) bricks in Minecrap! (No I didn't have to boot it up to check the mod..)

[@femoman]

I'm always that guy who mains the unloved-but-useful class, so I'd totally be a forest dragon. Also this does get me a bit misty eyed about my own dragon-based unfinished project: a plan for a length multi-book teen fantasy saga about a girl who encounters an amnesiac dragon that can't remember the mission it's been sent to Earth on, and the two form an unlikely bond, narrowly avert the world being destroyed by the dragons, adventure to their realm, befriend this little goblin girl who works as a librarian, and so forth. I got about 4 chapters into the 1st book before giving up, but I really should get back to it someday...

[@brikkets]

that book series honestly sounds like it'd be straight up my alley!

[@redacted8573]

Hey I mean, an entire mmo is a project far too ambitious but a book series is actually something one person can finish. This honestly sounds so fun, you could still write it!

[@Lemonnitenite]

Ohhh I'd love that if that were real, power of friendship !!!!

[@b.f.2461]

Sounds like a great book!

[@HundredFlower48]

I would read the hell out of that!

[@SisterRose]

I feel like there was so much put into this, it's a shame it all seemingly went to waste. She should definitely dig this stuff up and do another project with them - like one of those fictional biology type books, that seems to be exactly up her alley. Imagine what a cool gift it could be for the sci-fi/fantasy nerd in your life.

[@mermaidpotato]

Thanks for this video. I 100% agree that more people need to just. Have a self-indulgent over-ambitious project they turn around over and over in their head and use as an excuse to learn new things but then just kinda. Quit when it stops being fun. And pick it back up. And it's just for them, and they don't start a kickstarter about it. It's good for the soul. Like it doesn't really even feel like a failure to me, to start those kinds of projects and leave them unfinished. It's so hopeful and so human *and then* so generous to just let yourself let it go.

[@humansizedbirdnest9435]

This is worded so well. 10/10

[@ArDeeMee]

/signed

[@genericname8727]

I regret posting on Reddit about the game I was working on years ago. I wasn’t making it to sell (just for personal fun, and I was having fun with it even though relatively early into things). I have experience in writing and art, plus since I wasn’t planning to sell it I was allowed to use a lot of free assets others would have to pay for, so budget wasn’t the biggest concern. I was mostly just building the world, starting with a small town. I wasn’t planning on there being a lot of complex mechanics (though I did want to be able to swim underwater, which would’ve been the most complicated thing to do imo). I wasn’t even going to have combat. I enjoy writing, so I was going to include written clues to a story and some dialogue for the different characters you can interact with and that was basically it. Figured I could add other stuff if I wanted, but I wasn’t exactly planning something as complicated as a dragon evolution game. I knew it wouldn’t be simple, but it seemed achievable. People on Reddit were so rude, made me feel like an idiot for thinking I could create something (even though I’d already made some pretty decent progress toward my goals now I look back on it), and they insisted nothing was going to work out as I expected and I should start by making a simple 2D pong-like game. At the time I figured they must be right and I was underestimating how difficult every single thing would become, especially since so many of them had actual experience completing games and I didn’t. I figured they assumed I was aiming for something super ambitious at first, but they maintained their opinions even after I clarified that what I was aiming for wasn’t that complex and was just for my own fun. They completely shattered my interest in that fun little artistic hobby I’d been eager to share with them. Looking back I don’t even understand why they were so harsh when I wasn’t even trying to do it professionally and made sure to emphasise it was just something I was working on for fun. They also kept saying stuff like “so who are you going to pay to do voice acting?” but I don’t think my game needed voice acting, and I couldn’t get them to stop imagining that I was aiming to create some massive Skyrim-like game. I’m now pretty confident that what I was aiming for wasn’t really that complex at all (time-consuming, but achievable), and it was just a fun hobby for me that I’d like to get back into someday. Unfortunate that all the progress I’d made was on a now broken computer.

[@magickaldust1213]

You really should try getting back into it!

[@J_Lynn]

Reddit is always so unreasonably hostile. Everything is life or death to them. I also work on artistic projects and I'm constantly terrified to share them with the internet for these very reasons. I think you're right, though. Not all games need voice acting. Voice acting can even be a detriment, especially if it's bad. Screw the haters. Do your art projects. I admire you for trying it (as I do anyone who commits to creating something) and you should be proud of what you accomplished.

[@KatyBooksetc]

Really hope you get back all the work you did and thank you for clarifying that reddit is not somewhere to publish ideas, half finished projects or even small finished projects 🤔

[@lennysmileyface]

Don't post anything on Reddit.

[@IceePhoenix]

I hope OP is working on something she cares about right now, I would love to know what happened after all this and I hope she is doing ok. Her models are amazing and I would've loved to play this game had it actually been fully developed realistically.

[@zarakoda]

Your comments about unfinished projects really hit home for me, as someone who gets done with a minority of my creative dreams - but came from my heart at the time!

[@ddjsoyenby]

same, i'm hoping i get at least some of them done.

[@TheShadowcreator]

My 10-year-old sibling told me she was writing a fantasy novel, and I thought it was gonna be like the dragon MMO, but I read it and they've got one chapter done and it's honestly really good? They were able to quickly set up the romantic plot between the princess and the prince in an engaging, funny way. It's also all spelled correctly, which is more than I could do at that age. When I was that age, I tried to write a book which I can describe as "Twilight, but set in the Bionicle universe, and they're all in high school." It was pretty terrible. I threw it away in shame years ago. Kinda wish I still had it.

[@beepboop171]

I hate to say it but I really wanna see a twilight bionicle highschool story that sounds great

[@onlywewouldknow]

Once for drama we had to write a play. I wrote a play about a panda bear with chainsaw arms having to fight ninjas and zombies. I was like 17 and I would pay money to find the copy my friend typed up and formatted for me. Was it good? Oh dear no. Was it a lot of fun to read? Definitely. We still talk about Kilroy to this day, 15 years later.

[@onlywewouldknow]

Also he retired after winning the girl and played the banjo with his feet. Because, y'know. Chainsaw hands.

[@ArDeeMee]

Axe Cop is a webcomic about a cop using axes. The creator took the stories his then 5 year old brother made up playing with toys, and turned them into something real. It‘s mind-boggling but really fun. No need to suspend disbelief required, it is so over the top that no one could ever take it seriously.

[@onlywewouldknow]

@@ArDeeMee axe cop is so fun

[@harmc2301]

With the concept art, the artist should have made a game similar to dungeons and dragons or even a graphic novel. They are EXTREMELY talented

[@spoonstruck]

Exactly what I was thinking! Seems like OP was just a worldbuilder and could have channelled that creative instinct into something more achievable, and there would be room for details about soil composition etc in a format like that

[@four_girls_in_search_of_awesom]

Pipe dream project? I was really into the book series Goddess Girls (Greek gods in high school) and wanted to make a virtual kid’s website where you could go to Mount Olympus high. Literally worked out so much of it, but it’s impossible cuz I would probably just get sued by the authors haha. But it’s an idea I keep coming back to and revising in my head.

[@nejdalej]

Would you want to talk to the authors to get their blessing? If it's a fan game and you're not making money from it I think you'd be fine x

[@sunettas9738]

That's cool! I used to like that series too. It had a good setting and characterization which would be fun to see in a video game

[@fruitygarlic3601]

If you reworked it into a TTRPG, do you think you would be allowed to host it somewhere as fanfiction? I was a fan of the books so I wish you the best.

[@biptari]

Honestly, if you detached from any specific lore from that book series, I'm sure it could have been something out of copyright territory. The idea of modern Greek gods in a high school setting sounds like something that could definitely have different and unique concepts from it instead of just that one!

[@user-kf4ch3vl3t]

omg i forgot about that series i was literally obsessed how could i erase it from my memories

[@halotheorist]

The game Dwarf Fortress had a really small team, and one of the bugs they fixed over the years was that the cats in the fortress were getting drunk because dwarves would spill their ale in the tavern, cats would get the ale stuck to their paws as they walked over it, and then when they licked their paws to clean themselves they would ingest the ale. Sometimes the project succeeds, against all odds. I definitely still feel more connection to the unfinished projects, though

[@robburr4751]

That sounds intentionally programmed, im failing to see how something that advanced is considered a bug.

[@kookbook4399]

@@robburr4751 old bloody footprint code that then applied to all liquids -> a feature that made cats actually ingest the thing on their paws when cleaning themselves. so far it's normal. the real problem was with the numbers, because blood alcohol calculations made the cats drunk on comparatively low doses. this meant that a lot of cats that walked on pub floors suddenly started throwing up and stuff as soon as they cleaned themselves. that was the real "bug" .

[@robburr4751]

@@kookbook4399 Thanks for the explanation! It would be pretty interesting to see these types of standards met in AAA games.

[@d.h.foster8937]

The main dev also has a Ph.D in mathematics, has been making games since before the internet even existed, and developed Dwarf Fortress over a decade+ using a codebase that's existed for even longer (since I have a feeling a lot of the limb damage system comes from a very old game), with a scale that's far below the stuff you need to do in order to make a 3D game, let alone a 3D game with network play and always-online servers. Having a big idea for a project is totally fine of course but there's a point where you just gotta go 'come the fuck on', and I don't think people were going to be very charitable about it considering how many dipshits back then and even now marched onto the internet to let people know about their totally real open-world survival crafting mmo with RPG elements.

[@DoctorStarky]

@@d.h.foster8937 yeah, while dwarf fortress is super impressive, I also think it's a case developers having a good sense of priorities. The game was able intricate as it was because they focused exclusively on the mechanics for two decades. The game only got graphics like this year

[@tumbke]

I like this idea of conceptualizing something just for the fun of it. It’s like creating your ocs and world building around them without the intent of publishing them into something consumable for everyone else. It’s for yourself!!

[@mammoneymelon]

i genuinely think projects like that are one of the purest forms of art. making something because you want to without trying to appeal to anyone else is my favorite thing. shoutout to all the 12 year olds out there with their overpowered ocs and unwritten books - your ideas and art are all real and valid, and no one else can take that away

[@solis-g2t]

Dunking on ppl online is pretty fun, but I love vids like this because it really shows the humanity behind the project...;It's very interesting to see all the renders and concept art! Really gives good insight on what Op was thinking. It's genuinely a shame that the project was too ambitious otherwise, I would've loved to play something like this and still would!! :3c

[@yourfriendazul]

The dragon OCS and dreams of making a dragon game have come back to me 😂 I'm not that far into the video but the reminder of wanting the "specific button to flap your wings" hit me hard 💀

[@Korvilon]

Really does remind me of a project a friend of mine was working on for like their entire life alone. They made new languages, alien worlds with deep lore, by hand artwork, and entire timelines for plot and how things connect. They wrote a single book and published it and although it was good enough that they had fans for the book immediately, they even married a fan that came from Europe to meet them. No matter how much people push them though they wont write another book. They just freeze and won't do it.

[@RK--ni5kj]

This reminds me of a game I have in my steam library that I haven't touched in ages called Dragon: The Game. It had a similarly overly ambitious open world RPG concept, and has been in early access since it first hit steam in 2014. I'm not sure if there was any interesting drama behind the scenes or it was just simply abandoned, but if it piques your interest, I know as a fellow former dragon and wolf obsessed kid I'd definitely watch a deep dive on it!

[@ZarrProductions8]

Lol a fellow dragon:the game buyer. I bought a three pack thinking my fam would play it with me. Yeah, that didnt happen

[@RazzleTheRed1]

I didn't buy that one in particular but I am a regretful Day of Dragons backer XD

[@Beebles190]

Dragon’s Blood Online stumbled and fell so Flight Rising could run. But seriously, this project was WAYYYY too ambitious and kinda confusing as a game concept, but I can see an AMAZING speculative biology project like Serina or Runaway to the Stars. If she dropped the MMO idea and turned her website into an encyclopedia of her biomes, weird animal species, and dragon culture, then I bet she’d find way more success (and less harassment)

[@kabobawsome]

This was what the *majority* of people in the thread were talking about, to be fair. But the words "science-based, 100% dragon MMO" are inherently funny on their own so people outside of having dove into the original thread latched onto that bit. The thing with the game is that they underestimated the game on 2 fronts. Creating an MMO without the existing backing of a massive company is already basically impossible, but the concept of a functional biology game has been tried over and over and over and over, because it's HARD. That's what Spore was meant to be, but that failed to live up. Currently the best variations on this are Species and Thrive. Species really isn't a game as much as a fun little simulator to play around in and Thrive is so difficult that they've only barely reached the point where species can be multicellular.

[@Heather-vi7gy]

I'm glad someone else made the flight rising connection lol. i was listening to this person's concepting thinking 'oh man this person wants to make a breeding/genetics based pet sim so bad and she hasn't realized it oh no' I was initially thinking more the insane complexity of markings and opacities that lioden/wolvden have and then remembered flight rising existed like oh yeah... there is a dragon breeding game

[@horseshoecrab59]

Hell yes, 100% agree. Flight Rising and Runaway To The Stars came to mind for me as well. RTTS with the attention to the speculative biology and science behind the worldbuilding, and of course FR with the neat dragon genes :D Those two are definitely more successful thanks to their creators having a more grounded approach to their ideas. Rather than building a HUGE game from the ground up, starting with a comic/blog or a simple dragon collecting/breeding game. And with their success, they've gained the resources and experience to potentially expand their projects. Starting small is the way to go for sure.

[@SheHulk-jg2jc]

Flight Rising is super grindy

[@notkaliroi6675]

I can relate to this actually! I've been working on a full length animated movie without any help, which obviously is a quarantine born pipe dream but I'm halfway done. The only obstacle I face is that my motivation wanes sometimes so the part about things like this being the purest form of art was a much needed statement

[@yulemaaraya6798]

What's it about? I wanna see it! I Love animated movies! Especially small indie ones with weird style types. Keep at it. That's something to be proud of

[@notkaliroi6675]

@@yulemaaraya6798 omg thanks for asking!

[@greteh92]

I look forward to seeing your different looks as much as I do the content of the videos!

[@justanautisticnerd8969]

@Dagon Frazer kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKjRlHSHqtefp80

[@harryxyz2982]

@Dagon Frazer hello JACK WRATH Didn’t expect to see you here bud Still seeking the attention your parents never gave you

[@ProtoManiac2283]

agreed

[@Crypted112]

wow there's like 3 different bots in this one comment alone

[@justanautisticnerd8969]

@@Crypted112 actually my comment was not a bot lol, it was the link of the "stop promoting your channel in the comment" from jackfilms. I should have made that clear.

[@themiskatonicorder9595]

I'm usually not a fan of hair with tons of different colorings, but this style combined with the makeup is actually really pretty! This is one of the best looks you've had in my opinion

[@skyeguy7914]

I honestly really love and respect projects made with genuine passion like this one. No matter how far they may go. There are some people out there in the world who have some really interesting and neat ideas that, if brought to life, could be worthwhile.

[@chadolbaegi-art]

this is so oddly wholesome for what one might’ve expected from the title :’) as a kid i had soooo, so many book and comic ideas that were clichéd and edgy but i get wym about those projects being in a way the purest form of art. just earnest love for the craft, that’s hard to go back to as an adult tbh :(

[@lollertoaster]

My insane passion project that I'm working on since half a decade is writing a short story 5 pages long and finishing it. It's horrible when you knowin your head that you have a lot of time to do anything you want, but not a single second of it feels like a "free time"

[@KatyBooksetc]

This made me smile - can relate 🤣

[@Albinojackrussel]

Would it help to actually carve out official writing time? So you can do it without guilt. I have nothing but respect for anyone who does short stories. That shits hard

[@evy1729]

I had my own phase of "I'm SOOO gonna become a mangaka and sell lots of my comics eeeee here are some stories and storyboard and the first few pages!" 😂🤣 But honestly? I want to revisit those concepts and maybe try to draw a short little webcomic of one because last year I had a blast entering (and failing ofc!) a webtoon contest. Even then I was doubting myself so much I procrastinated like a pro and in the end only had a week to draw everything from start to finish. I had to simplify the story, dumb down the style to chibi everything, but when I finally got into the flow of it, it was great! So yep, I might try this again, but this time not in just a week. 😆

[@dovesveins333]

i saw the image of the reddit post in the past but never really saw any info on it. knowing that things went much further than i thought is super cool, and i hope the op is doing well these days :>

[@canhedotricks6078]

I'm tempted to find out what the OP is doing these days

[@ottonevermore]

that website art actually looks really cool, it has some unique designs and a lot of cool-looking mutations, you can see how much thought OP put into the world. I hope that even though they're not making the game anymore, they're still working on this world so they can design creatures and plants (and figure out the soil's mineral content) to their heart's content without the external pressure to turn it into something. also, love your halloween sparkledog hair, izzy!

[@manticore6963]

With the rise of "alternative evolution"-books like "All Tomorrows", I think this world as an artbook with a all it's lore would sell like hot cakes.

[@ghoulashtea]

As someone with a double degree in geology and video game animation, I felt my nerd heart alight at hearing how OP wanted to create her own fossil record that tells the story of the world she was creating cause I honestly think that's such a cool idea. But the amount of detail she was describing of basically creating a whole world's geological record from start to finish seemed like waaay too much detail. It would really suck to have such a cool world building detail hidden behind prerequisite sciency info for the player to understand the cards they were being dealt.

[@bimblebees]

Izzy, do you know about Flight Rising? I feel like you should definitely know about Flight Rising. It also had dragons, and breeding, but on your browser.

[@Acleverusername]

FR is kinda similar to this tbh

[@BiancoAsterisco]

It's kinda this idea but made like neopets instead of WoW

[@literallyafishhook]

literally the entire time i was thinking about fr, one of my favorite websites ever lol

[@mycomnithegreat434]

Was about to say this! :D

[@sexygirlmax2019]

its very popular still

[@sodakuwun0707]

okay, wow, her anatomy is so fucking good holy shit. i wish my dragons looked half as good as that. such a shame that people were so cruel and didnt give her credit for what she may be capable of. thats the work of a creative mastermind whos going somewhere.

[@Arkatox]

I'd actually never heard of the Reddit post before, but it's interesting how many genuinely super cool ideas were involved in it. I hope OP found major success in a creative outlet in the last decade, because they have the creativity and the ambition. Well, maybe too much ambition. But the amount of genuine work that was put into the project is very impressive.

[@remjoleea5560]

As someone who just got out of a semester of historical geology and oceanography and has a past history of biology I 100% get the drive to want a simulation game that takes into account scientific principals like evolution, plate techtonics, etc. Building a game “world up” is a super cool concept. I’m not personally a big dragon person but i am upset that they got clowned on so much :( It really is an interesting topic and the art and concepts were really good!!

[@Gentvein]

The premise reminds me a lot and I mean A LOT of “Flight rising”. You pick an area/clan to start as and breed dragons together to make new types of dragons. It came out in 2012-2013 so I was wondering wether dragon blood online or the Reddit post inspired the game in some way. My friends have been playing it a whole lot recently and there’s even the option to look for minerals and stuff in the dirt I believe, I’ve never played it myself but it immediately popped into my head while watching this

[@pagheit]

some of the concept work looks like drawovers of flight rising characters to me. one of them looked like it had the same head as a tundra dragon.

[@Orion-ih5xl]

SAME, i hope more people play the game, my user is moonwhiskers if u wanna be friends

[@shoecheto]

Start what?

[@Orion-ih5xl]

@@shoecheto i think they meant choosing an element and thus clan/area to start as.

[@Gentvein]

@@shoecheto genuinely so embarrassed dear god

[@heckoffmate1392]

The fact you made a meme for the hypothetical fan response to a game that doesn't exist was so weird, I really felt like I was living in that timeline.

[@shrimptime1148]

I love how positive of a take you have on the illustrations because the art of the creator is really good!! Even the finished renders are awesome

[@shrimptime1148]

Forgot to mention that I went to school for animation and game design for 3D stuff and I really love seeing the concepts and work that this person has done. It's just really fun and silly to see

[@May-scribbles]

I love hearing about semi-obscure random little stories from the internet like this one. The art shown about midway through is really cool! And I love the wig look, it’s very “dragon queen” / “forest druid.” I love the strands covering one eye, even if half of the time I wanted to brush it aside so your face wouldn’t itch lmao

[@Kiannka]

YES!!! I was OBSESSED with Dawn of the Dragon for the flying scenes. My neighbour and I each had the game for diff consoles and we finished every save file and then deleted one to play again. This game single-handedly dominated my childhood. Some of the fondest memories I have are from flying around and roleplaying with her Edit: also yes I had plans of making a game that was basically the flight levels of Spyro dotd with some quests thrown in but I didn't even know how games were made back then and when I tried coding for the first time I realized my adhd brain can't stay focused on it anyway haha

[@uglyferret9397]

I can not tell you how much I relate to being a kid who just wanted to play open-world flying dragon games. I was always so mad whenever the games only had you fighting/killing them lmao. I played my Spyro Dawn of the Dragon game so much, especially in I think it was Avalar that it's now actually broken and sorta unplayable lol.

[@viomusardathefluffysealgas9347]

Exactly! Same. I still have my Xbox360 game of Spyro the dragon dawn of a new beginning.

[@mrziiz6893]

Honestly this is incredible and Reddit was wayyy too harsh (who would’ve guessed). The immense detail gives me big scientific world building vibes, which is sweet! I hope she continues this project as it would fit right in with the alien biospheres community! My theory is she used the game idea as a physical reason to work on this hobby (I completely understand the feeling of thinking my hobbies are a waste of time and I often find myself tying my projects to a physical medium even if I never intend on actually working on the grounding idea) I would love to see all the in-depth scientific details she has made!

[@mrziiz6893]

I doubt she actually planned on actually making the game, at least subconsciously. The grounding idea of a game is perfect for a idea that you may feel like is a waste of time (even if a hobby is never a waste of time if you enjoy it). The fact she never made any kickstarters and never did any coding really makes me think she was just leaning on it as a grounding rod type deal. I hope she knows that the scientific world building community is a thing and this level of research and immense scientific detail would fit right in with Bibliaridon creating his world’s massive evolutionary tree form the first single cell organisms on his world and Artifexian forging his world from the literal ground up!

[@doom4369]

As a 3d artist I'd say that the dragon models are pretty good for 2010 standards honestly. Texture/materials are definitely a little rough around the edges but considering this is just one person I'm fairly impressed.

[@TeaCandy]

This is a really cool take on these kinds of unfinished projects! I have SO many of my own lol, this is a refreshing way to think about it instead of just "wasted time." That said I do have to poke fun at myself for my own pipe dream video game. The details are murky now bc I "worked" on it probably 15 years ago, but I remember it was rave-themed and one of the key gameplay elements was that the entire game was dark except for stuff like... glow bracelets. The goal was "intentionally hard to navigate." I don't know why I ever thought that was a good idea LOL

[@tobbatticus]

Loving the marysuecore look for today's video, absolutely legendary

[@PopChanx]

It honestly sort of saddens me that the default in these scenarios is people being purely cynical. As a child, I too had these unrealistic dreams, but the way it is, you grow out of it. It's sad creative minds don't receive support - yeah, in this case, a large MMORPG is a basket case, but people seem so eager to trash down on others instead of valuing talent that's right in front of them. I hope OP is still working on their dreams, whatever they might be today.

[@gothicmuffinofdoom]

Those dragon head sculpts are not bad at all for when they were made, they are pretty neat, and OP seems to have a good grasp on Zbrush. (Zspheres are fairly annoying to work with, and I don't know why they used them in the photos without giving them a skin) There was some promise in the art, the rest of it, Big ideas, very big ideas. The sad thing is OP was not the only one who wanted to make an MMO as their first game.

[@ayior]

Have you, by any chance, ever heard of Stray MMORPG? It was small, inspired by Arokai and Impressive Title and the likes, so maybe you ran into it - and I became part of the team at some point Still friends with another dev, too. We were kids (teens) that thought we could make an MMO. We tried. Cool thing is, both me and the one I stayed in touch with actually went into games as a career later. Edit: This is giving me flashbacks, though we didn't get backlash. Also you bet we were out of our minds when the game Stray was released this year and actually similar to our concept back in the day lol

[@toastycinnabear9738]

I think I managed to dig up the deviantART group on it, and wow- yea that concept is eerily similar to the Stray game that got released lately. Wild.

[@ayior]

@@toastycinnabear9738 wonder if you found my old art lol. I made this doberman and cat mascot. We had a proboards forum for updates :D Cool you looked it up though!

[@casualcrisis6349]

if you don't have use of the concept you should consider selling it to other game devs. ive heard this done and it can get you revenue back for other projects you actually focus on

[@kaytlinkociemba]

woahhhh

[@nekkotine8535]

I'm actually working on making my own rpg game soon! I struggle with coding due to my dyslexia. Seeing you talk so highly about a game like this gives me hope to actually making it

[@SHOTGUNbourbons]

3D artist who works at a game studio here! Honestly the zBrush models aren’t bad at all, actually quite good and she must have practiced quite a bit since the program itself is notoriously complicated. However the 3D art pipeline is long and making this high poly dragon sculpt is one step out of ten to create a game ready model. If you popped that bad boy in an engine it would lag or crash. She’s used poly paint and textured in zBrush. But if she wanted this to be in the game she would need to retopolgoise the high poly into a low poly, then UV unwrap it cleanly, then bake and texture it, then rig and weight map it and finally animate it. That’s a shit tonne of work Usually there’s artists who pass a model to each other and the work is broken up, I’ve had to do the whole pipeline for a couple of jobs and man is it exhausting. I wish it was as easy as just sculpting something up and popping it In engine but that’s not reality unfortunately Also amazing video, I was also the dragon kid on the hunt for that 100% dragon accurate flying simulator

[@maimtubeTV]

honestly the concept art is so cool that it makes me wish this game could exist. it's actually really sad how op got their idea chased off of reddit like that with so little recognition for the parts of their concept that actually worked, it honestly just sounds soul crushing. the lore is really intriguing and i would love to see something actually being made from it-maybe not a game, but definitely something. the idealist in me is definitely daydreaming about this concept coming to fruition lol.

[@usedburgerpickles]

I'm rewatching your old videos, so hopefully I didn't just miss this, but would you do a video on VMK? It's Virtual Magic Kingdom, a Disney MMO that closed down like 10 years ago or something (eww, I'm old). It was almost exactly Disneyland, with a Main Street, all of the different lands, rides, everything. As a kid who couldn't go to Disney, I absolutely loved it. They had kiosks in the (irl) park where you could get special items, I was always soooo jealous. There was a huge forum with a whole role-playing section that I was part of - I cringe to think of what I was saying back then. I remember the outrage when they announced they were closing a game. The stupid words on their website: "all good things must come to an end." With this, the forums closed/died, and my role-playing group made our own forum to continue. I cringe even more to think about what went on when we didn't have to follow the rules of someone else's kid-friendly forum. People have since made their own games. VFK (Virtual Family Kingdom) was the one that everyone seemed to move over to after VMK closed, but now there are remakes or whatever they're called that's basically the same game - like the Club Penguin ones. If you want more info or anything, I have so much more to share. I'm still in a discord server with my old role-playing friends, so I'm sure they have lots too. :)

[@redargylesocks]

I googled VMK after reading this and semi-recovered childhood memories of playing it. Wild

[@Skyking549]

There are fan servers that run vmk so its playable if you can find it 😆

[@confuzzykins9352]

Omg, this was really wholesome and comforting to watch! 🥰I was always so embarrassed about my old middle school and high school passion projects, but I never had the heart to delete those scripts, mood boards, and concept art folders. It's fun to look back at them and cringe at my teenage arrogance, and it reminds me of simpler times. Plus it's great to know that I've grown enough as a writer and artist to recognize why those projects never would have worked 😭 I'm glad that I'm not the only one who's gone through this!

[@matsu8518]

Wanna say that that artwork on their website is genuinely stunning to me. It's bright and immediately catches your eye, with the creatures sweeping across earth and down the page. I really like it and op is a good artist. Great video as usual. Like tons of people, I didn't really look to much into the post. I've seen it a few times and it gave me a chuckle. I hope op is doing well, wherever they are.

[@jonunya6552]

i’d 100% be a player who’d main the tropical dragon and then watch “what your fav DBO dragon says about you” videos and all of them are like “this is nobody’s favorite” or “you’re basic af” and i’d just be like damn ok (that already happens to me with a lot of fandoms)

[@kayakat1869]

Op should come out with a spec evo book with all of their work. This looks so interesting.

[@zoeyvalkyrie]

The bloodline aspect sounded to me like a significantly more complex version of the generation system in Tokyo Jungle, where your options for mating were limited by progression and better mates resulted in better starting stats and larger brood sizes for the successive generations. There was also the incentive to progress to a new generation, as age would start reducing stats past a certain point. Now that I'm typing this out, I'm also reminded of how the more virtual pet based Digimon World games handled generational stat and move inheritance. Presumably the game, if it were ever made, would also tie the appearance of the dragon avatars and possibly horizontal progression options such as access to new skill trees (or other such development options) to their generational system.

[@froggychair570]

Oh my god I never thought I’d see a Tokyo Jungle reference in the wild…

[@clarehidalgo]

You gonna get the switch version of Next Order?

[@zoeyvalkyrie]

@@clarehidalgo Honestly, probably not. Partially because I already have the PS4 version, partially because I find it less fun to actually play than the OG on PS1. That game is a mess, but it's a charming mess. Next Order polished away too much jank and ended up being significantly less engaging, IMO.

[@wolfgangervin2582]

@@froggychair570 That game is a jank gem. My only complaints were the occasionally bullshit RNG that could totally screw you over (esp. with the deceptively short time limits) and the lack of a platinum trophy, which is very warranted given how tough some achivements are.

[@tomservo_]

I often don’t know anything about these topics but I enjoy listening to Izzy give a general background and explain the peak drama points.

[@JC20XX]

Took me until like the fifth time you said "mm-grrr" before I clued in lol. Oh, just got to 19:01 and see you addressed it 😂 iirc the creator said that they said "image-er" but they kind of left it open to alternative pronunciations. It came about because at the time you couldn't actually upload an image to reddit directly so it was an image host created with reddit in mind. 21:49 pretty sure that's a reference to a Beatles line from the song Revolution

[@fullmetalanarchist6521]

oh god, i've been saying it "im-grrr" for years.

[@bunniewood]

I was going insane hearing her pronounce it wrong so happy we got there in the end

[@minidwarf4266]

I legit thought it was a joke until it was addressed

[@LeoTheDarkAngel]

Lol, I was thinking the line was referencing the Marilyn Manson song Disposable Teens. but I guess he was also just referencing the Beatles in this song.

[@tehrealcoralsnek7044]

I remember searching flash game sites and the google play store for "free dragon game" and "free dinosaur game" constantly. If I'd have encountered this project back in 2012, I would've lost my mind. Everything about it from the MMO open-world to the growing up as a dragon in your own bloodline would've been like drugs to my kid mind. Also, I totally would have had a main account with an arctic dragon and then a couple years later made a second account with a male tropical coast dragon that I would spend all my time trying to look as eyebleedingly colorful as possible

[@kain5056]

I would honestly love to see this re-emerge as a worldbuilding speculative evolution project like Snaiad or Serina, I think it would be great seeing how much thought and passion was put into it. I hope the OP is doing well and that she still follows her dreams with no regrets.

[@Zenniverse]

I've spent the past 4 months listening to these videos while making an "impossibly large dream game" so this hits pretty close to home. Your Death of Gamevial and Creepy 2010s Flash Games video inspired me to make a secret ending where you get to fly around as a dragon. :p

[@contessabelladonna6643]

To share my “out of control passion project” I started writing an Arcane Fanfic that has turned into a book, and now turning into a trilogy. I want to “publish” it and include art from my friends and I, each chapter has 4 illustrations that show scenes. There will be a few full colored pages too! It’s already 100 pages long of writing…all because I’m in love with Silco. Also it includes dragons 💀 it started out as a simple little idea, a list of headcanons and has turned into this. I’m hoping to have the first book done by the middle of 2023.

[@KatyBooksetc]

This sounds like a cool idea - best of luck with it 😊🤞

[@Amity-park]

I think a lot of kids have had big cool ideas like this before and regardless of how ppl made fun of the creator of this, it really speaks to many of us who aspired to do similar projects to this on an emotional level. Also a dragon breeding game reminds me of flight rising, if you like dragons you should check it out. It’s definitely not an mmo but it is pretty interesting.

[@Izzzyzzz]

Claim your Starter Pack of 15,000 Food, 30,000 Gold and the RARE Xmas Elf Dragon! Download Dragon City by clicking here: dragoncity.onelink.me/DDHl/Izzzyzzz

[@zendjayus4777]

@@Denneth_D. Don't hate on my girl for getting that bag ✋☹

[@p1nkbxxchclvb]

STOP FIGHTING YOU'RE ANNOYING

[@lamibonxd]

@@Denneth_D. lol ur so mad n for what

[@Mewobiba]

@@Denneth_D. Then use a sponsorblocker (i sure do). Yeah, it sucks that people gotta work for corporations to make do, capitalism blows, but right now it is in power and Izzzyzzz like everyone else's got rent to pay and if she can do that shilling some garbage phone cases or shitty mobile game or whatever then good for her. But also you absolutely shouldn't buy whatever she's shilling, it's likely garbage.

[@CloverBlackberry]

@@Denneth_D. why are you mad that she's literally doing her job and getting paid for it

[@Natizilda1]

I totally agree with you regarding unfinished projects. I feel like it's too cruel to dunk on a person because of an overly ambitious project, especially because every creative went through that at some point. Great video!

[@CCCeramics]

I'm maining the swamp dragon. But also what you said about unfished projects is a really nice take. I feel like for artists there's a lot of pressure and guilt when we put a lot of hours into things that never turn into any kind of final form for the rest of the world.

[@chloewebb5526]

This makes me feel aso much better about all my failed projects that I've walked away from lol. As much as I love video games, I ended up a tattoo artist, so unfinished or failed projects are kind of an extreme CAN NOT DO anymore, so looking back on a time when I could afford to stop or fail is kinda making me realize that I was way too hard on myself then, and now. I need to start more projects from the heart that I can afford to fail or let my adhd run rampant .

[@atlascove1810]

why not just make a game design document and publish it so anyone who wants to, can make your game?

[@Ferreneh]

In my opinion tattoo artist has to be one of the most talented jobs in the world; not just creating art, but tattooing them on the skin forever. That takes two different skills that are hard to master 👌

[@chloewebb5526]

@@Ferreneh Learning how to tattoo was like learning how to draw all over again. Every part of the body reacts differently too, so it was nothing but a nightmare of anxiety in the beginning, knowing that any mess up is permanent. Luckily, I had friends that said they'd take a couple bad tattoos as long as they got a few good ones out of it lol. It took a long time before I finally worked up the courage. I was really intimidated by it for so long.

[@Kagamine-Mirrat]

I was obsessed with mermaids when I was younger, and I still am, and I would love to create a project revolving around mermaids, liminal spaces, and weird core, because those are the things that I’m obsessed with.

[@FunGirl013]

This sounds cool!

[@mollysministuff]

I was obsessed with mermaids as a kid too. I was going to write a whole novel from a mermaid's perspective, but I barely got through the 3rd page, lol

[@onlineskitty]

i can just imagine an underwater city that frighteningly mirrors a human civilization that was flooded with water

[@ripzaurus]

This story reminds me a lot of myself. I'm studying programming, animation and game dev, so I haven't given up on my dreams, but it does remind me of my ideas when I was younger. I still have those ideas, I'm still very ambitious, but I'm also wiser, so I know what to give up on and what to keep working towards. Her art and ideas are so cool, some even inspired me, so I hope that even if there's no dragon MMO, she's still creating.

[@indyjoy]

izzzyzzz always looks perfect omg i love the hair 😭 also i get unbelievably excited every time i see one of these posts bc i never see anyone else cover these topics and the commentary is so interesting and well-worded

[@theon1yenigma868]

It's this kind off super imaginative artistic stuff that made me fall in love with dnd and other ttrpgs, as a kid I would spend hours writing movies, video games, play card games, and various other silly little projects. Now I can just make a world for my players to enjoy and for me to ooze creativity onto

[@TheWilderCat]

There's this feeling that's kind of adjacent to nostalgia which I can't really describe but this story exemplifies it. It brings back fond memories of your own hyperfixations. There's the comfort of working on a project with naive ambitions and the simple DeviantArt days. Makes me feel all mushy inside.

[@raechuu4887]

i had never heard of this post but i sat faithfully through the whole video bc im obsessed w your deep dives you talking about your dreams of making a dragon game reminded me of when i was 13 and i was convinced i would be working for SEGA Sonic Team by now (im 21 now). i had a notebook full of all my ideas for a brand new sonic the hedgehog game that functioned as like, the game sonic '06 could have been. it had character movesets and story ideas where i wrote out how basically every sonic character i liked (including ones from the comics) could somehow fit seamlessly into the story and have playable segments so yeah idk if thats happening anytime soon. sorry 13 yr old me

[@crazysmith5408]

To be far to your 13-year-old self, Sonic Team/SEGA does have a tendency to work with fans of the series and let them shine, so it’s still possible.