One thing that often gets custom creators is zeal. We get an idea for a new unit, or a new mechanic, or a “fix” to a perceived flaw in the game, and we immediately get something cobbled together and post it. We then obsessively check our custom thread every four and a half minutes to see what accolades for our revolutionary custom have poured in. Well, if you don’t have a lot of experience under your belt at just playing the game you may be disappointed and not just a bit perplexed as to why everyone doesn’t see the creative genius of your design.

For me, this was one of my earliest mistakes. I had only been playing for a short time when I started posting custom units. It is fine to start designing units as soon as you want to. But maybe you should wait to post them until you have some game playing experience under your belt. If you consistently post units that are so overpowered as to be unplayable or whose wording is so poor that that it would take a team of editors to clean it up, you will probably see fewer and fewer people being interested in even looking at your customs, much less replying to them. Jot down your ideas and designs, set them to the side, get out your Heroscape and play a game. I know for me, after I had played the game for while I wanted to edit my customs thread to get rid of the embarrassing customs I had posted early on. I didn’t, but I wanted to.

Again, DO NOT take this as me saying you shouldn’t be designing. I am simply saying that if you want to generate positive feedback that will help you improve as a customs creator, wait to start posting your customs until you have some game playing experience under your belt.

Experience with just playing the game helps with several things; here are a few:

>> It will help answer the question of whether or not your new unit needs designed in the first place. Did you just design a unit that for all practicality has already been designed, play tested, and accepted as canon? This is not to say you shouldn’t design it for your own enjoyment, just don’t expect a lot of feedback or positive response to it. If you do not have a lot of experience playing the game you may not be familiar with all of the units out there which means you might end up reinventing the wheel.

>> It helps you understand the complexity of interplay, otherwise known as synergy. If you don’t have adequate experience with the game you may not truly understand the power that a unit that gives Valiant Soldiers a +1 boost to Attack and Defense has until you play against a Raelin armored 4th Mass pod on height boosted by that new figure you designed. You may not understand the possible brokenness of your unit if you don’t have adequate experience actually playing the game and not just reading through the Unit Cards. Sometimes what is written does not translate well until you have experience with the unit. Now, of course play testing will help with these things, but experience playing the game can help preclude these errors and prevent you from wasted time designing and play testing and the embarrassment of posting such a unit to only have it torn apart by well meaning critiques.

>> It helps you understand the how and why of ability mechanics and their wording. If you read custom unit abilities with phrases like “roll the d20” or “Figures within 4 hexes of…” you have probably seen a custom by someone who has not spent enough time playing the game and reading the cards. The wording on the original cards was developed to give the clearest, most concise, and most accurate description of the mechanic possible. There were times that questions still arose, but most of the questions were precluded by the “wording protocol” of the original designers. You want to know this protocol and stick to it with your custom as much as possible.

For better or worse we sometimes get tunnel vision when it comes to customs: We see only our own. If you post a custom it is ostensibly because you want feedback on it. You want to hear how people like it or maybe how you can tweak it some, or the absolute universal desire- “Would someone please tell me how much this thing should cost!”

The thing is, as much as we want people to comment on our new custom unit we sometimes do a poor job of doing-unto-others-ing. I know I was pretty mediocre at this when I was most active in the customs community. I would try to be intentional to offer feedback and encouragement on other threads, but it always came in spurts. I truly wish I had done this more.

Exercise those analytical muscles
Since we are often better at finding fault in other people’s creations over our own, this process of giving feedback can actually be mutually beneficial. The customs creator you are commenting to gets much needed feedback and you exercise those muscles that help with seeing wording problems and flaws in mechanics. As creators we sometimes inadvertently foster what I call “familiarity fatigue”. We become so used to looking at the unit we are working on, we fail to notice certain things about it that may stand out to someone with fresh eyes looking at it. Because you aren’t as familiar with, attached to, or invested in the other designer’s unit you are much more impartial and fresh in the way you look at it. This is a valuable trait for all customs creators- the ability to view a unit impartially, even their own. You may be critiquing the way another designer’s unit’s ability causes movement issues for large figures when the light goes on concerning one of your own units with a similar issue you didn’t see before because of your attachment to or familiarity fatigue with your unit.

Reciprocity
Another benefit for you that comes from commenting on other people’s units is that it usually fosters reciprocity. You will find that those you help and encourage with your feedback will often venture over to your thread as well.

Specificity
When commenting on someone’s custom, be specific, both in your praise and your critiques. While it is encouraging to hear things like, “Cool unit!”, or, “Love it!”, or , “That is so awesome that from now on every unit I see will be measured by the epiphany inducing greatness that has sprung from the depths of your genius and landed on this unit’s card!” or something like that, it is even more encouraging to hear something like, “I really like the fact that the unit uses a synergy mechanic that isn’t just another bonding ability”. (Ok, I do admit that hearing that my unit is epiphany inducing would be totally awesome) Likewise with critiques. “Not the best custom I have seen” may be a true comment but it will do nothing to help the designer refine and improve both the unit and their design skills. Be specific about what you like and what you see that can be improved upon.

Mmmm… Sandwich
When commenting on another designer’s custom, the “Sandwich Rule” is a pretty good guide. If you are not familiar with this it basically states that if you do have something to say that will be perceived as negative, preface it with a positive comment and follow it with a positive comment. This doesn’t mean use false flattery or say something you don’t mean. It means really look at the unit. In my time as an SoV Judge I cannot recall ever having a submission about which I could not genuinely find some positives to comment on. Also, when you offer positive comments it creates an openness for the designer to be more receptive to your negative feedback.

Community Mindedness
Perhaps above all the other pros connected with commenting in other designers’ threads is the effect taking time to do so has on you: caring for the community. As you comment and encourage other designers you begin to feel an investment in and connection to the community that can be lacking in people who isolate themselves to their own threads. It is almost strange the rapport and camaraderie I feel here with people I have never met before. This is by far the most important part of impacting the community: we impact the HS community more through our service to the HS community than we do with our custom units. The awesome thing is though, as you impact the HS community through serving the HS community, the HS community responds by offering feedback and encouragement in your custom unit endeavors.

Ahhh, yes. The great existential question.
So, let’s talk philosophy, specifically Custom Unit Philosophy. I know, I know, “This is a game! Why try to make it all complicated and high falutin’ with ‘philosophy’?” It isn’t nearly as high falutin’ or complicated as that. Your custom unit philosophy is simply that thing that guides your design process from conception to putting it on the battlefield.

Custom unit philosophy is actually a pretty broad ranging topic, but for this post I want to focus on just one aspect of it; the aspect that, arguably, will have the greatest influence on your reputation in the community as a designer. The very first thing you should consider when you get an itch to design something is “Why?” Why are you setting out to design that particular unit?

There is this guy named Colby Dauch, you may have heard of him (I think he might go by another name around these parts :wink: ), who once said, “Custom unit creators all have their own motives for which they create. Some creators wish to port figures from other games to Heroscape… Other creators like to take their favorite characters from books, movies, video games, or other varied forms of media and realize them in the world of Valhalla. Some custom unit creators attempt grand mechanics that revolutionize the game… I believe there are several factors that must be considered when creating a custom unit that you desire to ultimately make seamlessly fit in with the [canonical] units…” HS Codex #2, Custom Unit Philosophy: More Unit, Less Custom, pg. 22

Another old timer ‘scaper, Karkadinn, had this to say about custom unit creation, “To start things off, let me ask you a simple question. Why are you making cards? Are you just making it for yourself, to have fun? There’s nothing wrong with that… Now, of course there’s many different reasons for you to try and make things for others to enjoy as well as yourself. Maybe you’re trying to capture the feel and theme of a particular pre-existing character. Maybe you’re entering a contest… Or you want to try out a new mechanic you’ve fallen in love with.” HS Codex #5, Custom Unit Philosophy: Finding Your Place in Heroscape History, pg.35, 36

So, the question of “Why?” isn’t something I came up with, it is a foundational question that has been around since the beginning of custom unit creation put forth by people who just might actually know what they are talking about.

As an example, I most often designed units when I saw an awesome sculpt that told a story and I set out to tell that sculpt’s story through thematic abilities and stats. The other motivation that was most common for me was when a mechanic would pop into my head and I wanted to see if I could flesh it out in a usable way. These were my two most common why’s.

The good thing is, this isn’t a hard question to know the answer to. It is usually pretty obvious from the start and is actually the easiest part of custom unit design. So, this post isn’t about how to discern your motivation, or what motivations are best, it is more of a “Make sure you understand how important your motivation for a unit is” kind of post. It will affect your credibility in the community.

It may not seem like a needed question, but neglecting to honestly ask yourself why you are designing a particular unit can result in a unit lacking direction, inspiration, or any real purpose, and this will be picked up on by the community. And while there are no wrong answers to that question, there are some answers, a.k.a. motivations, which may indicate need for some reconsideration before you start down the long, tedious road of unit design.

For instance, if your motivation is to design a unit is in order to get +rep, you might want to reconsider your “Why?” You will most likely end up frustrated over the fact that in order to please people to get that +rep you will constantly be redesigning the unit, not necessarily to make it better, but to make it more pleasing- which is a never ending and losing proposition. This community is pretty forgiving, but if it becomes obvious a person is fishing for +rep he/she will lose credibility. And in the end, you probably won’t end up with that much +rep to show for it, if any.

Perhaps your whole motivation is to design a unit specifically to submit to the SoV. There is nothing wrong with that (per se), but be prepared for a lot of alterations and possible rejection in your future as you have set your sights high. The SoV judges are no slouches; they do an excellent job of discerning the cream of the crop. If you are relatively new to designing, let me suggest it would be a lot less demoralizing and frustrating for you to just spend some time designing units for other purposes (maybe for the pure joy of it) and getting plenty of design experience before trying to design specifically for SoV acceptance. Also, if your driving motivation is to design a unit for SoV acceptance, your unit may end up lacking in the inspiration department, which will harm the quality of your unit, because a unit whose primary purpose for being designed is to hopefully be accepted into the SoV, ultimately, is more about the creator and not necessarily the custom or the community. Keep in mind, there are many quality custom creators who have made an impact on the community without ever having a unit in the SoV.

The importance of “Why?” will become more apparent as you progress in the design process.

Are you going primarily for theme or mechanic, or a blend of each? Do you have a figure whose sculpt inspires an ability? Will this be a bread and butter unit or a shark? This will guide you in what kind of stats your unit has and even what class, species, or personality it has. It will inform how official your wording needs to be or whether a particular combination of abilities actually makes any sense?

For instance, you decide you want to design a cheerleader for the ninja faction: Does the ninja faction need a cheerleader? What abilities make for a good cheerleader? How will the unit’s stats reflect it as a ninja cheerleader? How will its Personality reflect it being a cheerleader for the ninjas (Hint: Cheery probably isn’t a good choice for Personality)?
Or, you are motivated when you find a figure with an awesome sculpt. How will the stats tell the story of the sculpt? What Class will best convey the story of the sculpt?

The “Why?” leads to these essential questions which guide the whole design process which in turn results in a quality and purposeful unit.

While it may seem like a simple and obvious thing, the “Why?” of a unit’s existence is integral to its final quality. A reputation for designing quality units with solid purposes is a reputation that will lead to having a voice in, and making real contributions to, this incredible community. Now, if you want something a little heavier to talk about we could always discuss the “Why?” of our own existence. :)

If you want a little more discussion about custom unit philosophy beyond this basic post check out these links:
Matt Helm's Blog
Custom Unit Philosophy

We are a zealous group, we customs creators. I think it comes part and parcel with our creativity. It is a form of expression and we all enjoy expressing ourselves (and we hope others enjoy us expressing ourselves). This zeal is what has helped keep this game alive and active far beyond what one would think possible for a game that was discontinued 8 years ago. It is definitely a good thing. However, even good things can have some negative effects if we aren’t careful.

So, you have a good amount of experience playing the game, you actively comment on other creators’ units flexing your analytical muscles, and you think you have nailed down a decent “why” for the ideas you have for units. Now, post them all, every single one of them right now! “Whoa, Sapphire! Hold your horses!”

Being a custom unit assembly factory is a sure way to churn out absolutely the most mediocre units you can- at the best.

Like most customs creators, I want people to look at my customs and go, “Wow!” This won’t happen by being a custom unit assembly factory. What this will foster is a loss of interest in, and a decline in the quality of your customs. Each custom you create should be born of inspiration, not whimsy; don’t confuse the two.

For quite some time in my early custom creation days I was posting several new units a week. Was I play testing them? No. Was I trying to fill a niche or introduce something truly unique as far as game mechanics? No. Was I cluttering the customs community with lackluster or mediocre units that would never see the light of day on a battlefield, even my own? Yes.

As you read that the following remember this post is not about how to create quality units. It is about your posting habits (not your work habits) and how your posting habits can have a negative impact on the quality of your creations and the perception of you as a designer which in turn will effect your reputation in the community.

Your posting habits should favor a quality of units over a quantity of units. This is not to say a unit must be fully developed before you post it. A custom unit can be a quality unit before it is finished being developed. A house with a solid foundation, walls, and roof can be a quality house even if some inside work needs done to make it just right. Customs are no different. A unit with good, solid “bones” can be a quality unit and in need of just a few tweaks to make it just right. That is what the community is here for. But, the only way to make sure you are posting a unit that at least has good bones is to take your time with the development of it. It is kind of unfair to the community to post a unit that has had little time devoted to it whose foundation needs serious work before the final details can even be thought about, and then expect the community to put their time and attention into making your custom playable.

I second what Necroblade said here:
I am not saying every custom unit you post must be thoroughly play tested and perfectly refined before posting. However, out of courtesy to those who peruse your customs thread, I do believe a creator should play test a fig at least a couple of times before posting. This lets those who put the effort into helping you refine a unit know that you are serious about your creations and not just pumping out mediocre cards with every whim that pops into your head. It also will slow down how many units you post in a week since play testing takes time.

As an aside: Although this post is about posting habits and not work habits I will say something about that just as clarification. I know for me I usually turned out better work when working on multiple units at a time. If I got familiarity fatigue with a unit, there was another one on deck for me to turn my attentions to until I could come back with a fresh perspective. Sometimes working on multiple units at a time can result in quality as long as you are taking your time with each one.

This is all said with the understanding that there are times when it is totally appropriate, and even necessary, to post multiple units at a time. Such as when you are working on units that synergize with one another. It is much easier to analyze a unit when you see just what its synergistic abilities accomplish.

I think Scytale said it well when he said:
“…writing a meaningful critique takes time and energy. Sure, responding with a quick compliment is easy enough, and you see that from time to time, but to give real, valuable insight takes mental effort and real time. Custom creators tend to be the most interested in their own creations (obviously), which often eats up much of that creative energy, making critiquing other people’s customs almost more of a chore.”

With that in mind, if you are posting wave upon wave of cards (in reference to quantity, not as in Wave 1 or 2 etc.), people will most likely feel overwhelmed at the amount of cards you are posting and as a result will not feel like putting the effort into reading, analyzing, posting on, and helping you refine what you are putting out. You will only be hurting yourself by posting a plethora of units with barely a chance to breathe between cards. Be patient. Lay off the caffeine and relax.

To quote Scytale again:
“It can be discouraging for a new user who hears nothing but the chirping of crickets, even keeping in mind what I said above. There are different ways to get some attention. Patience is one such way; simply be diligent about updating your own customs thread with unit changes and new work. People are looking, even if they’re not commenting, and after a while someone is bound to speak up.”

Of course, post as you see fit; there is no rule or law you must abide by. This is all said with the intention of helping a customs creator foster a reputation of caring about what he/she posts and devoting time to their own creations.

Nothing is wrong with getting excited about the possibilities of an ability or mechanic you think of or an awesome sculpt you come across. But are you furthering the customs community by immediately posting a card with it? That may be a question you need to ask yourself before posting a new unit.

You know the feeling. You log in to your HS account and click on Control Panel and your heart leaps with joy! There it is- notification of a new post in your customs thread! With baited breath you click on the post to see what kudos and expressions of amazement are waiting for you at the bottom of your thread.

While we may not live for feedback on our customs, everyone gets excited when they see that there is a comment in their customs thread awaiting their viewing. Sometimes it is the pleasant surprise of a helpful comment, sometimes it is an awesome encouragement, sometimes it is the less than exciting spotlight shined on a glaring weakness we were oblivious to in our unit. But there is always reason to appreciate a comment- if nothing else it puts your thread toward the top of the list where it is more likely to be viewed rather than stuck on page 12 between a thread for My Pretty Pony Customs and a thread debating the need of introducing a custom unit faction based on characters from the book The Wonky Donkey.

There are different ways to respond to feedback on your custom units that will either build your reputation in the community (even if your customs aren’t the greatest) or or do much to ruin it (even if you have decent customs). Let’s talk about some of those. And keep in mind these are my opinions, but they are based on two things- experience in this community and experience in life as someone who’s job is knowing how to respond to people (I am a pastor). That doesn’t make me an expert (just ask the people in my congregation :) ), but it does help give me some insight. Beyond that, it really just boils down to common courtesy.

Read the Comment
This may seem like a silly thing to say, but I do mean read the comment, not merely look at the words that have been typed. Sometimes in our excitement over getting a comment, especially if there is more than one waiting for us, we kind of just view them if they seem inconsequential or less praising of our work. Keep in mind the person who wrote the comment obviously didn’t think it inconsequential or they wouldn’t have written it. Take your time to really read each comment to glean from it what you can. Someone who doesn’t have time to really pay attention to each comment is someone who probably doesn’t have time to improve and refine their unit.

Give the Benefit of the Doubt
I have a friend who has a... um... unique personality. He is the type who is very blunt and matter of fact and has no idea whatsoever how to say things with tact. People who don’t know him can find him coarse, rude, and unpleasant. Those of us who know him know a person who will drop whatever he is doing to help someone who needs it, someone who will give whatever time he needs to in order to make sure those around him succeed, someone who genuinely cares for other people. When we take him aside and explain how he just hurt someone with what he said he is genuinely sorry and will do whatever he needs to make amends. When he says something mouth-droppingly shocking, we give him the benefit of the doubt. We know his intent isn’t to hurt or offend. Transfer that to a medium in which tone of voice and body language cannot inform interpretation of words and you are just asking for trouble- that medium being text on a page.

If you get a comment that seems especially snarky keep in mind you are reading words on a page, not listening to person talk. That means that you have no aids in interpreting attitude and we usually interpret those comments in the context of our own personality and experience.

My sister and I love debating philosophical subjects, my wife sees us as arguing and getting heated over meaningless things. She comes from a family where heated discussion meant one thing- you were mad at the other person. I come from a family where heated discussion means you are thoroughly enjoying the discussion and there is no anger involved, but my wife interprets through her experience (and responds to us with rolling eyes).

Keep this in mind when reading someone’s negative and seemingly snarky comment. Give them the benefit of the doubt that they are not being snarky or negative but are actually trying to give meaningful and helpful advice.

Give Heed to the Comment
No customs creator creates perfect units off the bat (although @dok and @Scytale probably come pretty close). We all need input from the community; whether positive or negative, it is the pathway to improvement. If someone leaves detailed feedback about a unit, even if it is negative, truly sincerely think about it. If you really want to make your unit the best you can you WILL pay attention to every bit advice you get. The true sign of someone who is just looking for attention and recognition is that they will rarely pay any heed to negative input or show any willingness to change something based on that input. This doesn’t mean you can’t defend why you are going in a certain direction and continue in that direction if you really feel your direction makes the most sense (it is your custom after all), just don’t dismiss advice out of hand because you don’t like it.

If the person took the time to post analytical feedback, trust me, they aren’t simply doing it to be mean. It takes too much time and thought to analyze, formulate, and post a response just for the sake of being mean. The person may have an actual point, regardless of how they say it, that may lead to an improved unit.

Respond to the Feedback
This is the one that really gets to me the most. When a ‘scaper goes through the extreme trouble of really looking at your unit and theoryscaping with it and formulating results and then formulating and posting a response, acknowledge it! Even if you don’t act on the advice, acknowledge that you read the post!

Two things about this…
One, it is just common courtesy. To allow someone to go through the effort of trying to help you and then you roll over it like it doesn’t even matter is just rude, plain and simple. This doesn’t mean you have to respond with a lengthy reply. Even a simple, “Hey thanks for the encouraging words!” or “Thanks for taking the time to look and comment on my work” goes a long way. It tells the commenter that you at least took the time to read their post.

Two, it encourages more feedback. If you want to make sure people quit commenting on your units, ignore their posts. Considering again the time it takes to formulate feedback on a unit, people will put their efforts where they feel those efforts are appreciated and listened to. If you don’t even acknowledge feedback, chances are that person will be hesitant to keep on investing time in your units.

Even if your reply is to defend your direction on a unit (which is totally acceptable), it at least tells the person you actually read the post and considered it.

Also, do not respond in kind. What I mean is, if someone seems especially snarky, you don’t gain anything by being snarky back. If you think the commenter is actually just being mean, thank them for taking the time to comment and move on. One thing I have discovered is that online arguments are rarely resolved. They eventually just fizzle out accomplishing nothing other taking time and attention away from the intent of whatever thread devolved into the argument. When you spend time in your thread arguing you are also potentially dissuading people from breaking into the argument to post anything helpful for your unit development. It is really just non-productive and potentially harmful to your reputation to respond to snark with snark.

So, if you get few comments on your units it may have more to do with your Response Etiquette than the quality of your customs. If you show yourself to be grateful for and open to feedback, people will feel more inclined to offer that feedback.

Most of us have admired the customs of at least one of the many unique community customs projects on the site. There are many of them that cover many themes/genres. Whether it be aiming for canonical classic units, projects bringing your favorite cinematic universe to HS life, or a particular video game or book, or your favorite super heroes, there is surely a community project to fit your fancy. One great way to develop a reputation for being a contributor to the larger community is by offering your services to one of these projects.

Depending on what project you desire to be a part of, you may have to suffice yourself with a less involved role to begin with until you prove your commitment- and believe, these projects do require a level of commitment. Having been a part of a few of them, I can say however, that the commitment is well worth it. It isn’t just about having your name attached to a project. The camaraderie you develop with the other project members defies what you would think would be possible for friendships that exist almost exclusively online.

Being a part of a community project will also help the longevity of our game. As long as the community projects continue, interest in the game will continue. This is where the biggest impact comes in. You are helping this community, this website, and this game to continue through contributing to community projects.

It also provides you precious experience in developing a unit from the ground up with a group of people with experience whose input and practices can become a valuable asset for when you are designing your own personal units.

The different play testing methods I gleaned from my fellow SoV judges was invaluable to me for play testing my own customs. Being able to work alongside talented designers like @dok and @NecroBlade (and many others) in C3V gave me new insight into unit design I would have been lacking if not for being involved in the project.

When you go it solo and the only insight you gain is from the comments of people in your own thread your design potential may be limited and the scope of your contributory impact may be as well. It is not to say you cannot have impact on the community and this is definitely not a “If you are not part of a community project what is wrong with you?” comment. I am not presently part of a community project because real life does not allow me (right now) to be able to devote the time needed to pull my weight in a community project.

So, please view this as a “If you want to maximize your design and impact potential and have the time, you should really look into joining a community project” post.

If you just aren’t able to be a part of a community project for whatever reason, you can still help them. How? Comment on their output. Offer them a quick word of encouragement when they release a unit(s). Let them know their work isn’t for nothing and that there are people out there who appreciate the volunteer time and effort they are putting into this game. You cannot overestimate the contribution that is to each and every community project going on right now!

Check out the various community projects and see where you can jump in at. I don’t know about all of the projects and their processes but I know the C3V can always use people to play test prospective units.

Let me add this well said caveat from Dad Scaper...

I love creating customs. It is such a fun and creative outlet. I know it is the same for all customs creators. Because of our love of creating we may sometimes forget that there is more to HS than customs creation. We have a whole community here; a community we can contribute to in more ways than one.

I am sure that each of us have talents or skills that display themselves outside of designing units. I encourage you to explore those skills and see how you can utilize them to contribute to the HS community at large and not just the customs community.

It can be something such as creating a useful utility thread (i.e. @1Mmirg 's Index of Excellent Scaper Threads), creating a great resource (i.e. @IshMEL and@ Lefton4ya;'s Hextreme Heroscape Sreadsheet ), or even something totally off the wall that barely has anything to do with ‘scape but can be fun and/or useful (i.e. Heroscape Themed Fonts). Ask yourself what you wish the site had and endeavor, if at all possible, to be the one to do it (that is what lead me to start the Copy and Paste Abilities Index).

The idea is, don’t limit yourself to just designing customs when you can probably contribute in so many other ways. I understand that creating and critiquing customs can be time consuming and not leave much time for other heroscapers.com endeavors. If you have an idea for something you think the community would find useful, fun, or entertaining it is totally ok to put designing aside for a period in order to work on some other 'scape related project. Your customs will be waiting for you when you get back. You might even dust off those languishing units with some fresh insight when you return to them.

Remember, this is about being an impactful customs creator, not simply a customs creator. When I think back on those who I would consider impactful customs creators I can see their fingerprints all over the site, not just in our little neck of the woods.

You are creative- that is why you design customs. Expand that creativity and get out there and show people that this community still has much more to offer to all scapers!