Wiping away the past (Destiny)

by Leviathan , Hotel Zanzibar, Friday, September 11, 2015, 02:18 (3157 days ago) @ Cody Miller

That brings me to what the point actually is. The point is that a work of art, and all versions or editions of it that are made public, should be preserved and made available forever. This is an ideal, and it's one that often doesn't play nice with practicality, but that doesn't mean people won't or shouldn't keep pursuing it.

I would also love to see great things preserved as they were, but I don't think that ideal should ever become a restriction to the artist.

I didn't say it should.
Do you really think it's a matter of their vision, though? Do you really think their goal is that lofty?
I think it's practicality, and possibly a lack of forethought, and, maybe, an incentive to play on a regular basis so you don't miss things-- admittedly even if it is that's not messing with people's minds on the level of gambling for legendaries, but it's not what I'd call an artistic vision.

I think yes, it is a matter of the vision of Destiny. Overcoming practical challenges, like a voice actor you couldn't get back or limited space/memory for Blades and Wolves, is how that vision remains reality.

If I ever want to make some art or do something I would enjoy, and someone told me I shouldn't do that because it cant be preserved for the future, I would not listen to them. I think if I worry too much about making things last I will miss the present. :)

What if you put your energies into creating something really amazing, which made it into a larger work, then after that work was released, retroactively removed. Your contribution erased by someone else. Would you not feel upset? Betrayed?

I've had illustrations rejected, removed from different editions, and other similar situations. There have been times where it bummed me out and other times where it did not. Sometimes I understood why it happened, sometimes I didn't, but I knew going into it that it might happen because I was familiar with the work and my contract. Things flux and change and I am not in control as a contract artist.

And when I am in control, like my own comic, I have gone back and changed stuff previously released. If I ever release a hardcover there will likely be even more tweaks to fix mistakes hitherto unseen or optimize it for the different format.

In a closer approximation, if I was contracted to do a comic, and after finishing the first issue, chose not to or was unable to return for the rest of the series, I would understand why an art director might go back and get the ongoing artist to redo the beginning.

The nature of Destiny does not allow for preservation easily. Like live theater, sometimes a new actor has to sub in for the original castee. The returning audience member doesn't get to relive the same experience. A recording of the performance will also never capture what it was really like to be there. The show must go on until the tour is done. You can critique it, but you cant make it a static film, because it doesn't want to be one.