Community Resource Idea

[Glorelendil]

Disclaimer: Yes, I know there are all sorts of IP and licensing issues with the following. But this would be such a great resource; maybe we can figure out how to make it work without crossing any legal boundaries.

Background: When I’m putting an adventure together for my players I like to find artwork, usually using Google image search, to show them. Scenes of the forest they’re in, the tower they see from afar, the ruined staircase disappearing into the ground, the monsters they encounter, even the ornate necklace they find in the chest. But it’s a lot of work sifting through hundreds of images and choosing the best ones. Example: I tried to find an image for Stair of Girion, but searches for "waterfall stone steps" returned pictures of backyard landscaping.

Idea: Middle Earth meets Google Maps meets Pinterest. I.e. an interactive map of middle earth that has images (or thumbnailed links to images, to avoid copyright infringement issues) embedded into specific locations. I.e., you could see that there are pins in the map at the southern end of Long Lake, so you mouse over and see that somebody has a found a great image of a stone staircase next to a waterfall, which they have labeled “Stair of Girion”.

So when you’re putting an adventure together, you can look over the map where your party will go and see what images other people have found. You just copy the links, and either share them at the appropriate time with your players (via iPad or such) at a table, or paste the links if playing virtually.

How it Works: Anybody (with an account) can attach image links to the map. To sort/filter the images, the following rules apply:
If you “like” an image, any other images posted by that user will get implicitly modded up for you.
Images/Posters liked by lots of people will get modded up generally.
If you block another user, you won’t see pictures by them.
Users who get blocked by enough other people will end up in moderation, requiring their posts to be approved by moderators
Very active and well liked users can get promoted to moderators.
(The specific rules might vary; that’s just a general outline.)

So, again, IANAL so I don’t know how this all works in terms of copyright, but it would be insanely cool.

[SirKicley]

Sounds like an interesting and cool concept in theory. Complicated a bit, perhaps. Regardless, I don't think "copyright" would be an issue; if the image is posted publicly (not from a pay-to-view site), and the link/source is notated, then I doubt a copyright issue would apply.

Anyone can go an view pictures on DeviantArt for instance; posting a "link" to that photo is not an infringement at least as far as we can tell (we = me and common sense).



Robert

[Glorelendil]

Sounds like an interesting and cool concept in theory. Complicated a bit, perhaps. Regardless, I don't think "copyright" would be an issue; if the image is posted publicly (not from a pay-to-view site), and the link/source is notated, then I doubt a copyright issue would apply.

Anyone can go an view pictures on DeviantArt for instance; posting a "link" to that photo is not an infringement at least as far as we can tell (we = me and common sense).
Robert

I'm actually more concerned with the map and the place names than with the linked images. But maybe somebody with an existing license could make it work... (cough, cough)

[Valarian]

As an aside, I see the Stair of Girion being something between a canal step lock system and the Falkirk Wheel.