With Blizzcon coming up we obviously had to have something cool in the works again. Last year's article series was a huge accomplishment for us and it was extremely well received. This year though we have got more active writing staff than almost ever before, we've got highly talented graphics wizards in Meru and shiroiusagi supporting us and more time to plan and prepare. So with all that and more in mind, we decided to run a rather unique theme for this series.
These articles follow the Major Arcana theme. Simply put, the Major Arcana are trump cards in a Tarot deck, and each card has its own meaning. The meaning of each card is very open to interpretation, with some cards representing wildly different aspects - both positive and negative. Each player at Blizzcon was assigned a card by our writing staff, the one that we collectively felt best fits the player's individual story. So why are we doing this?
-> We now have the passion AND manpower to put something like this together. Nothing can stop us now!
-> We went with a very common and general type of article series last year, and we often do the same for individual players throughout the year. We try to identify their individual storylines, or those within a group or series, and write about them. With a lot of those same players from last year's Blizzcon also competing at this year's event, we would run the risk of sounding repetitive if we wrote these previews in the same fashion. Players like MC in particular were at risk of getting what would essentially be rehashed article from last year, which is something we really didn't want.
-> It lets us work with a very creative and fun approach. Writing can and should be fun at times!
-> We think you will enjoy these special articles for the biggest SC2 spectacle of the year. It gives the whole thing an extraordinary feeling that you won't get for any other event.
Now, keep in mind that these articles are not about comparing the players to their assigned card. Instead, think of the card (and what it stands for) as the overall theme of their article. Sometimes we have to think outside the box to come up with an interesting angle to apply. Bearing in mind that with how open the Major Arcana cards are to interpretation, it's very possible that you've thought of angles that we haven't or that your idea of the player's essence (which is what we tried to dig into with these articles) is different from the writer's.
If you're interested in tracking our thought process, feel free to read up on the Major Arcana and the meaning of its cards and tell us how wrong we are for not assigning card X to player Z!
We hope you'll enjoy this year's Road to Blizzcon series as much as we've enjoyed working on it.
Here are a few resources for those interested in delving deeper into the meanings of the individual cards:
Side note:I like how I checked the wiki for "The Fool" (which is my nickname) and found that the article contained a wiki link to the term "Heyoka". TL is everywhere!
I hope it can remain understood that I only mean this as constructive criticism. I have always appreciated the writing of TL staff. It's a huge part of why I use TL and became a part of the community. I genuinely love the articles TL staff have produced over the years. I just want to say that the theme stuff seems like a crutch for real writing and a lot of the time it's such a narrow, singular thing that it doesn't even resonate with most people. You might see a lot of people commenting in a manner that indicates that they got it and enjoyed it, but the people who don't aren't going to be speaking up to say so. It's not a big deal, and I'm not the least bit agitated, but a lot of the time it seems like less professional content because it translates content that should be universal to us all into something that is often foreign to the majority of people, even if a significant minority still exist and relate to it.
Just some feedback on writing.. that I don't expect will go very far, because this thematic stuff has become the way of things on TL... but for my two cents, I have always appreciated the articles that don't try to achieve being fun or engaging via that particular route of being thematic. The gimmick gets old after a while, and simply changing out the face of the gimmick doesn't combat the inevitable drying up of the novelty itself. I think it takes away from the core content. Sometimes I get the vibe that it's more of a self-indulgent angle that the writer is enjoying, and that it is done more-so for the writer(s) than for the audience. But I could completely mistaken. I know there are people who feel the opposite of how I do, too.
Here's this for consideration - how do thematic TL articles, being taken as sports or esports writing (if we may equivocate) compare to standard, professional sports coverage. One thing is clear: my feedback comes from a person who prefers something more than less professional. I think it's more engaging, more universally accessable, and much better for our scene and for the writers themselves moving forward in their careers. Consider yourselves as applying for a serious writing gig in the future, where you are a paid employee. If the work you have to show has you comparing people to tarot cards and pokemon, you probably aren't going to be making a very professional impression.
That all being said, I think there are some great points and reasoning in the OP, and I won't be surprised if I enjoy this thematic angle. It's not as if I haven't before! And I am very much looking forward to these articles, as I do all TL articles. I very much appreciate the work and will definitely be reading these articles and all the future articles that you all put out, with or without the usual thematic stuff. I hope it makes enough sense to post this feedback here, on a thread specifically about the style of these articles.
This comes from someone who has often considered becoming a TL writer but who hasn't done what all of you have, in actually going through with that and putting in the time and energy to do it. So please don't mistake me for being without a measure of gratitude and humbleness in the face of that, while saying this.
EPT
6 Terrans 
6 Protoss 
4 Zerg
