The Pirate Summit and Arlong Park Redesign

[Don Quichotte De Flamingo]

so you connected all our beloved OP-places on the i-net..
looks good and iam interested in

Here you will be able to get news, update notifications to the sites, and other exclusive content.

[Flux]

I haven't looked at the OP section on wiki; is it really that bad?

I find the quality of the One Piece Wikia actually very good.
It's certainly got all the info I need whenever I'm searching about on it.

[Malintex_Terek]

I haven't looked at the OP section on wiki; is it really that bad?

The quality leaves a lot to be desired. It's just a microcosm of OP's Wikipedia article, which is where fans bash each others heads to death like Pachycephalosauruses.

[captain usopp]

geez, no need to sound pompous. I think brain dead zombies would sound more dramatic anyways.

[Corsair King]

The podcast, The Pirate Summit, and the new AP are all an effort to conglomerate the One Piece community so we can support the series and make it the most popular anime in the United States, or at least more popular than Bleach.

Well, I guess it's good to be positive, but that plan is pretty vague. How is a Forum, a couple of fansites, a Podcast, and a webring all aimed at the hardcore audiences of One Piece supposed to make One Piece into the most popular anime in America?

That's not going to happen, so I hope that's not the prime motivation in this project.

[Zach Logan]

Well, I guess it's good to be positive, but that plan is pretty vague. How is a Forum, a couple of fansites, a Podcast, and a webring all aimed at the hardcore audiences of One Piece supposed to make One Piece into the most popular anime in America?

That's not going to happen, so I hope that's not the prime motivation in this project.

It's a means to an end. The big thing that similar Anime communities have on One Piece is a conglomerated fanbase and the ability to reach out to those who make the series and get what they want done. I feel that the One Piece community, if motivated, can accomplish the same (and has in the past). Unfortunately over the last several years, I think our community has drifted both apart and away. Though we have had some very major events in the past year, I think we have a tendency to act dismissive towards real progress.

Yes, these aren't big steps necessarily, but we're trying to make it at the very least look like the One Piece community is there and that we care about this show...we don't want it to go the route of Detective Conan or Big Windup. In order to make sure releases of One Piece continue in the U.S., to make sure that the simulcast continues in the U.S., we need to incentivize or at least show that people are interested in the series. They're all small steps to coalese the community and make sure that we help the series grow and prosper in the future so we don't hear from Funimation that One Piece is doing "pretty good," because, as advertisers, that seems less than stellar to me. Plus, Funimation themselves said they want this to:

1) Get on television
2) Become bigger than Naruto

And in my point of view, the way to even make either of these possible is to have a fanbase that knows it wants both of those, and that have a set objective.

[Dragon Warrior Steve]

Well, I guess it's good to be positive, but that plan is pretty vague. How is a Forum, a couple of fansites, a Podcast, and a webring all aimed at the hardcore audiences of One Piece supposed to make One Piece into the most popular anime in America?

That's not going to happen, so I hope that's not the prime motivation in this project.

Since I didn't see anybody else stepping up to the plate and make an attempt at this, I say that this shouldn't be so criticized.

[Malintex_Terek]

Sorry captain usopp, I didn't mean to make it sound that way.

Since I didn't see anybody else stepping up to the plate and make an attempt at this, I say that this shouldn't be so criticized.

Why?

[Dragon Warrior Steve]

I think I answered that before you even asked.

[Malintex_Terek]

I'm a little slow, you'll have to spell it out for me.

[Zach Logan]

I'm a little slow, you'll have to spell it out for me.

What is it that you do for this website again?

[Malintex_Terek]

I do what you're trying to do, promote OP. So I don't understand why DW's saying this is a bad idea?

[Dragon Warrior Steve]

How could I think this is a bad idea and not support it when I'm a part of it?

[Malintex_Terek]

Nevermind, it's a misunderstanding on my part.

Since I didn't see anybody else stepping up to the plate and make an attempt at this, I say that this shouldn't be so criticized.

"I don't think criticizing this should be criticized".

[Dragon Warrior Steve]

Just don't shoot the whole plan down before it even has a chance to fruition. I can't be so optimistic about One Piece gaining that level of popularity, but I still think this would be good for the fanbase.

[Corsair King]

Since I didn't see anybody else stepping up to the plate and make an attempt at this, I say that this shouldn't be so criticized.

It's not so much that I'm criticizing it. I'm more or less playing devil's advocate because the premise (Essentially an old-school webring) and alleged goals of the project just come off to me as a little bit silly, if not overambitious. All of these groups were affiliates before, and the Pirate Summit is really just a central hub for it all. It's not like too much is actually changing here that I could get worked up over.

[Malintex_Terek]

I'm skeptical of there being any mainstream-media influence, but at the very least it might minimize the regional dissent between OP camps, which is an earsore to say the least.

I mean literally, whatever forum you go to, you will see different types of OP fans, while the fans for other anime/manga are more or less consistent. Everyone in the Naruto fanbase is a "Narutard" for example...people who aren't generally don't associate themselves with the mainstream fanbase. There have been many people leave NarutoFan for Naruto discussion on other forums like here.

One of the big objectives to the AP site when the wiki was launched in 2006 was to standardize the conventions. We didn't have to use VIZ Media's trash, nor did we have to resort to scanslator guesses at terms.

Oda has a broad knowledge of Japanese culture (primarily movies) that he integrates into his manga. It's so broad, not even the average Japanese person is going to get all the references. But with a group of people, that becomes possible, although for the most part omae no kasaan has been the central contributor to that, with Aohige adding some from time to time too.

But, part of the reason I think Wikia is popular is because so many of the regular fans can participate, even if collectively they just ruin the content. They don't feel like part of the community unless they make themselves known like that.

At the very least, this should make people feel like they're part of the community, so it's good for establishing older membership...because most people who sign up to AP don't tend to stay that long or contribute, they just come for spoilers.

[Greg]

Since I didn't see anybody else stepping up to the plate and make an attempt at this, I say that this shouldn't be so criticized.

Now, now. Who do you think we are? Kaizoku Fansubs? We should take criticism in stride.

Why is this awesome for me?

Twitter.

It's nice to have a place where I can just go, "Hey, I updated Oda's Deep Thoughts.", and everyone who is interested, instantly knows. It's something I attempted with the Whore-a-matic 9000 but getting people to click a sig link is like pulling teeth.

And while I don't give a flying fudge about OP's popularity anywhere in the world, it's nice to provide data for those that do enjoy it.

That's why I liked the idea when it was presented to me.

edit:

Oh, and now I have incentive to snap stuff with my cellphone and post about what it is instantly whenever I see it.

[Dragon Warrior Steve]

Now, now. Who do you think we are? Kaizoku Fansubs? We should take criticism in stride.

We've had this conversation before, and yeah we're far from it. I just want to see this come to fruition.

[Zach Logan]

I'm skeptical of there being any mainstream-media influence, but at the very least it might minimize the regional dissent between OP camps, which is an earsore to say the least.

I mean literally, whatever forum you go to, you will see different types of OP fans, while the fans for other anime/manga are more or less consistent. Everyone in the Naruto fanbase is a "Narutard" for example...people who aren't generally don't associate themselves with the mainstream fanbase. There have been many people leave NarutoFan for Naruto discussion on other forums like here.

I couldn't agree more, that's exactly what we're trying to do (I can say that it's starting to work with the podcast, on a small scale).

One of the big objectives to the AP site when the wiki was launched in 2006 was to standardize the conventions. We didn't have to use VIZ Media's trash, nor did we have to resort to scanslator guesses at terms.

Oda has a broad knowledge of Japanese culture (primarily movies) that he integrates into his manga. It's so broad, not even the average Japanese person is going to get all the references. But with a group of people, that becomes possible, although for the most part omae no kasaan has been the central contributor to that, with Aohige adding some from time to time too.

But, part of the reason I think Wikia is popular is because so many of the regular fans can participate, even if collectively they just ruin the content. They don't feel like part of the community unless they make themselves known like that.

At the very least, this should make people feel like they're part of the community, so it's good for establishing older membership...because most people who sign up to AP don't tend to stay that long or contribute, they just come for spoilers.

I also agree with most of that, though I believe when speaking about Japanese terms they shouldn't be a necessity for those in the One Piece community, but instead an added bonus for those who are more committed fans, like many of those at AP. In reference to the Wikia, I agree that fan contributions are important, and we encourage that on everything we do. I believe the Wikia format however has some major flaws, I believe Greg has discussed those before (I hope I'm not mixing him up with someone else).


On another note, if anyone has any ideas on how we can bring casual or non-obsessive fans into the podcast, into Arlong Park, and onto The Pirate Summit, I'd love to know. That's exactly what we're trying to do.

Terek, you put it perfectly, so I'll quote it again:

...Whatever forum you go to, you will see different types of OP fans, while the fans for other anime/manga are more or less consistent. Everyone in the Naruto fanbase is a "Narutard" for example...people who aren't generally don't associate themselves with the mainstream fanbase. There have been many people leave NarutoFan for Naruto discussion on other forums like here.

We need to bring the One Piece community together. If they call us "One Piece-tards" or more likely "One Piece-enius," then power to us. We need to put little squabbles aside: Nakama, VIZ translations (Zolo), and even those we've gone over on the podcast before like the Kaizoku edits, and such. We need to come together and coalesce around the important issues. That's why I made the podcast, and that's why we're taking these major steps.