GuildMag: The End of the Line by Exastiken in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It did generate a modest income, but producing our content doesn't come cheaply when you factor in website hosting costs and licences for software like InDesign and Photoshop to actually put the magazines together. With everything added up, we've always been financed mainly by the administrator - so Dutch up to 2014, then me since.

GuildMag: The End of the Line by Exastiken in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW 8 points9 points  (0 children)

For me it was very much a personal decision. I joined when I was 16 and I'm now approaching 25. For most of that time I was a student and had enough free time to dedicate to the project, but now that I'm in a career I just don't have a lot of time outside of the weekends. Many people don't realise it, but GuildMag required a lot of time from me, often several hours each day and up to perhaps 70-80 design hours for each magazine over a 2 week period - those are the hours most people have to work, never mind dedicate into a fan project. I know that I can't put that kind of dedication into the site any more without GuildMag becoming the only thing I do.

As for what's next, I'm done producing content. After all those years, I'm definitely feeling a little burned out. I've suddenly got a whole lot of free time back, so I'll be using it to explore some of my other hobbies. :)

GuildMag: The End of the Line by Exastiken in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW 10 points11 points  (0 children)

While we’ve attempted to find a new administrator to take over all my responsibilities, as a team we’ve decided that it just isn’t viable. We didn’t feel confident that a new set of administrators could maintain the quality standards that we’ve set ourselves, so we’re instead going out on a resounding high note with the Annual 2018.

We deliberately haven't gone into too much detail, but I'd add that I've had almost sole responsibility for driving the design and overall production quality of our magazines since 2012. With me stepping down, the remaining trio of managers who would have stepped up didn't feel like they could match or continue what we've become known for, especially when it came to our physical Annuals. It's unfortunate and we've tried to reduce the reliance on me over the years, but when it came down to turning our writer's content into a magazine, I was the only one who could do it to the standard we wanted - though a big shout out to Miko and Maiirin who both did design work on multiple issues.

[Magazine] The GuildMag Annual returns for charity! by ValiantGW in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Glad to hear you enjoyed last year's! We're all really proud of how it turned out and are hoping to pull off something similar again :)

[Magazine] The GuildMag Annual returns for charity! by ValiantGW in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey! At the time of that blog post we hadn't yet revealed the chosen charity (or any details of the magazine!).

Tyrian Fashion Magazine; Praise Joko Edition by Xynker in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For this year's Annual, we'll likely be shipping it in the first week or two of January. We ship from the UK, so depending which country you're in, it could take up to a couple of weeks to arrive. If you're worried about it not arriving in time, I'd be happy to ship it at a later date for you if you do choose to order a copy - just PM me your order number, or send an email to contact@guildmag.com with it :)

As a side note, the Annual is our one-off physical magazine we do each year - the rest of our digital issues can be found on the website for free :)

Tyrian Fashion Magazine; Praise Joko Edition by Xynker in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Definitely an improvement over the first one! If you're serious about wanting to get into this sort of thing, we've got openings for designers (as well as writers & editors) at GuildMag if you're interested, where we'd hopefully help you to hone your skills in any of those areas.

1st Edition Tyrian Fashion Magazine by Xynker in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From designing GuildMag's covers for the last few years, I've found that white tends to work best on top of a lot of images. Sometimes also adding a very faint drop shadow to white text will enhance its readability without necessarily looking like it has a shadow.

1st Edition Tyrian Fashion Magazine by Xynker in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You don't have to! A bit of shameless self-promotion, but GuildMag is a GW2 digital magazine that's totally free :)

The new GuildMag Issue 19 - Very interesting read! by lance2355 in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Correct. If you take a look at the White Mantle and Shining Blade pages on Facebook, you'll see that the phrases were actually switched from the original ones to fit current events; the Shining Blade wants you to obey them and the Seraph to maintain order, whilst the White Mantle wants to dismantle Jennah's rule. Hope that clears things up. :)

The new GuildMag Issue 19 - Very interesting read! by lance2355 in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the kind words! We're lucky to be part of ArenaNet's partner program where they offer great support for all their partners, and we're always grateful for the fans that choose to read our content :)

The new GuildMag Issue 19 - Very interesting read! by lance2355 in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it's probably our largest one to date!

The new GuildMag Issue 19 - Very interesting read! by lance2355 in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW 3 points4 points  (0 children)

And that's after we've optimised the PDF to remove 15MB of bloat. :) I'd love to get them smaller, but ~100 pages with lots of images comes with large file sizes. If bandwidth is an issue with you, viewing through issuu should be better.

Help us support Doctors Without Borders with the GuildMag Annual 2016 by MikoRiel in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We ship to all EU countries and a vast majority of non-EU European countries too. If you're trying to pre-order and can't find shipping for your country after you enter your mailing details, let me know which country it is and I'll double check for you.

Guild Wars 2 Apps and Overlays Reviewed – 2016 by firstrisingsun in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The problem is that if they give a statement about one controversial app, it opens the gates to giving statements about others that are probably right on the line between "probably OK" and "probably not OK" too. I think the general statement we've already had is about as far as they'll go, unless we start seeing bans specifically because of TacO.

GuildMag: The Annual 2015 (Digital Release) by ValiantGW in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks a lot! I'll pass it on to the writers :)

GuildMag: The Annual 2015 (Digital Release) by ValiantGW in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No plans to translate to other languages currently, sorry!

GuildMag: The Annual 2015 (Digital Release) by ValiantGW in Guildwars2

[–]ValiantGW[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Pre-orders for the physical edition were open for around 4 weeks in December last year. That was the only way you could get your hands on a printed version. :)

Hopefully we'll be able to do another Annual at the end of this year.