OtakuBoards Graphic Worm

Also known as the “OBGW”, the “Graphic Worm”, the “Worm,” among other variations, the project was constructed by placing a continuous string of graphics horizontally, each measuring 600×450 pixels. The left and right sides were to be made in a simple manner, to allow smoother transitions betwen pieces.

The OtakuBoards Graphic Worm was started by Retribution in Feburary of 2006. The idea was inspiried by another worm created by members on  a different forum, but soon gained popularity and momentum that made it “hard to get a post in edge-wise.”

In the beginning, the Worm contribution order was determined by members private messaging Retribution with a request to be added to the que. A member could only make one request until the order ended, then they could ask for another spot. This system worked well for the first dozen entries or so, but started to fall apart when members would not post and thus had to be skipped.

Within a month of the Worm’s beginning, the server it was hosted on crashed. At first, it appeared to be a temporary problem as reported by White, but soon turned into a permanent one, as confirmed by Retribution.

A few weeks later, Katana offered hosting for the Worm, and was thus unofficially put in charge of the project. At this time the project fell by the wayside for a month, something that would become quite common in its summer run. After one particually long drought, members were encouraged to continue on with hopes of “making it to the next Nifty Fifty.’

With the transfer of servers came a new system of submission. Started by Boo, it became a simple system of calling “dibs” on the next piece, then editing ones post when they finished their piece. The problem of three or four people calling “dibs” at the same time, strangely enough, never became a problem.

One thing that could be criticised about the thread was its tendency to only have ‘established’ artists create pieces. Nowhere is this more evident then in the neck-and-neck “race” between White and Katana, each of whom have over five pieces in the Worm. However, the majority of the ‘established’ artists only kept on creating pieces to keep the Worm alive.

Eventually, interest ran out due to school and other such activites, and the OBGW ended with 65 pieces in October. Throughout its course, dozens of members contributed to the Worm, utilizing programs ranging from Paint to Photoshop. However, the Worm managed to hang on a bit longer, receiving not one, but two, mentions within the course of the OtakuBoards Scavenger Hunt. 

Categories: Notable Threads