PAYNEful - the site where humour goes to die, the repository of all things by Sean Patrick Payne
 

60 - Epilogue

60 - Epilogue

Epilogue

I admit it! This was a cheap means of advertising my main webcomic, the production of which suffered greatly due to Steel Nation (which isn't a bad thing). The reference to Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame was made having not even seen the film in its entirety, just from a phase of watching short YouTube videos of bits of it.

Closing Words

I'm proud of Steel Nation. It was a complete blast and produced some of the best narrative collaborations I've seen on deviantART (I'd say that, I'm biased).

Having been a part of other OC tournaments, I can also say that all the competitors (or at least the ones I corresponded with) were truly nice people who were a joy to participate in the tournament with. Case in point: I originally intended to just upload my pages of the story to an archive, but felt best to ask permission of the various creators to have pages featuring their characters hosted somewhere other than deviantART. A lot of them said I could use their pages too, so I started being cheeky and asked the same of everyone. That made this Steel Nation complete archive possible. I'm very grateful. I've had experiences in OC tournaments where certain creators have been very vocal and closed to how they work with me, it leaves a sour taste in the mouth; one I don't get remembering Steel Nation.

As far as I'm aware, there are no plans for a second Steel Nation. There were talks among the previous competitors about a "reunion" of sorts, but I don't think I'd enter again. If I did, it would be with different characters: the Docs have had their story told. I think it's best to look back fondly on what was, rather than chance a second go at trying to recapture that certain something.

Saying that, I think the original character tournament scene fad has slowly faded out a bit. I'm not hearing from many of my previous collaborators about tournaments they've joined and none have popped up on my radar. It's a shame, there's something about these creator-led tournamnents that is a joy to follow or be a part of.

Thanks again to all the lovely people who helped me to create one of the most complex, thrilling and interesting stories I've ever had a hand in. I didn't expect the two doctors to become as popular as they were, and I couldn't have told the story without you all!