안녕하십니까. 도미넨스 워 작가여러분,
오늘 미국 일자로 월요일 아침에 도미넨스 워 대회의 홈페이지에서 새로운 발표를 하게 되었습니다.
그동안 무성했던 의견들을 종합해서 주최자인 Fred 가 긴 글의 담화문을 내 놓게 되었습니다. 요약은 다음의 내용과 같습니다.
- 폴리카운트내에서 일어났던 불미스러운 사건에 대해서 먼저 사과를 드립니다. 관련되어 15 개팀의 운영자들과 회의를 한 후에
다음의 결정을 내리게 되었습니다. - 지난 5여년 동안 도미넨스 워 대회를 사랑해주시고, 응원해주신 도미넨스 워 대회는 전세계의 으뜸의 올림픽대회의 모습이 되었고
팀과 팀의 경쟁을 통해 발전적인 역활을 하게 된 게임아트 대회입니다. - 하지만 개인이 운영하기에는 너무나도 큰 스캐일로 발전하게 되었고, 경제적인 부분에서 감당하기가 쉽지는 않았습니다.
- 후원회사에게 받은 후원으로는 모든 우승자들에게 상품 또는 상금을 지급하기가 쉽지 않았고( 다행이 한국 우승자들은 모두 받았습니다.)
이는 도미넨스 워 대회의 프로패셔널한 정신에 어긋나는 행동임을 인정합니다.
- 처음 시작은 상품과 상금이 목적이 아니라 경쟁과 정보공유로 인한 상방발전의 도모가 우선이었습니다. 준비하는 게임아티스트들에게는
배움의 공간이 되고, 게임아티스트들에게는 새로운 직장을 잡을 수 있는 등용문의 계기가 되기도 하며, 세계적 수준의 가장 재미있는 대회로
성장할 수 있으리라 생각했습니다. - 하지만 도민네스 워 대회와 언얼씨 대회를 운영하기에는 저 역시 경제적과 에너지가 충당하지 못했으며 모든 것이 적지 않는 부담이 되었습니다.
- 사실 폴리카운트 팀들이 언급한 내용은 틀리지 않습니다. 하지만 이 모든 문제는 제가 공개하기를 꺼려했던 속사정에 대한 부분이었습니다.
지난 5년동안의 대회를 운영하면서 모든 수입의 총계는 50000 불에 불과합니다. (육천만원) 구글 광고를 통해 하루에 2 달러를 받게 되었고
소프트웨어를 서포트하는 회사에서는 단 한푼도 받지 못했으며, 티셔츠는 불과 6장 밖에 판매가 되지 않았고, 3년동안 30장의 포스터만
팔리게 되었습니다. 또한 후원비로 보내주신 정성은 고작 3000 불정도밖에 되지 않았습니다.
- 대부분의 수입은 저의 개인적인 돈과 Fred 의 어머님을 통해 충당하게 되었고, 몇명의 운영자들의 후원으로 지금까지 진행할 수 있었습니다.
만약 제가 원래의 직업은 게임아티스트로 일하게 되었다면 일년 수입이 50000불 보다도 더 많은 샐러리를 갖을 수도 있었을 것입니다. 지난 5년의
시간은 저에게도 경제적으로 쉽지 않은 기간이었습니다.
- 이런 상황들을 고려해서 Fred 는 사퇴를 결정하게 되었습니다.하지만 도미넨스 워 대회와 언얼씨 대회는 계속 될 것입니다.
저는 dominancewar.com 과 unearthychallenge.com 을 새롭게 단장하고 준비할것이며, 이는 더이상 Gameartisan 과 별개의 의미로
존재하게 될것입니다.
- 어려운 상황인 만큼 현재 여러분들의 후원이 필요합니다. 후원을 하고 싶으신 분은 다음의 링크로 부탁을 드립니다. 링크
- 특별히 함께 열정적으로 도와주고 함께해준 운영자들과 친구들에게 감사를 드립니다.
Taehoon Oh, Maxim Miheyenko,
Ryan [Aftermath] Hawkins, Nina Leo, Leta juan liu, Wong [Yung]
ChoonYung, Lamont [Lamont] Gilkey, Joseph [Blankslatejoe] Mirabello ,
Rob [cookepuss] Santa, Donovan [ThatDon] Keele and of course, my brother
Max Hultqvist and my devoted mother, Barbara [Amethyst] Hultqvist.
- 이제 새로운 면모를 띄게 될 도워 대회를 위해 저는 사임을 하지만 새로운 리더와 모습으로 새롬게 변화될 도워 대회를 기대합니다.
- 끝으로 화가 나있는 폴리카운트 악당(농담,후후)들과 언제나 최선을 다하는 씨지랜드 팀과 경쟁을 하는 Gameartisan 의 한 아티스트로서
도전을 하고 싶습니다. 끝으로 2011년에 시작될 도미넨스 워 5 대회의 발전과 성공을 기원합니다.
  |
Sincerely Yours,

| Fredrik Hultqvist |
 |
- GameArtisans.org Founder
- DominanceWar.com Founder
- UnearthlyChallenge.com Founder
- GAMontreal.com Studio Director
- 514.439.GAME (4263)
- workshop [at] gameartisans.org |

원본은 다음과 같습니다.
The following article is in response to what has been written here (Article mirror - Polycount Thread - GA Thread).
Apologies it took so long. I had to speak with all 15 participating
community leaders about the massive changes that are about to occur...
December 13th 2010 - Note from Founder
Dear friends and fellow artists.
We have seen many great moments in the history of Dominance War -
Hobbyists turning into masters, students getting jobs with DW art, panic
attacks due to upcoming deadlines, relief with thankful extensions,
smiles on artists' faces during DW worldwide events, artists helping
others regardless of location or religion, everyone united in the spirit
of sharing ideas, pro artists creating world class art, communities
comming together to compete in a friendly team vs team challenge, and
more. However with all the above, I must now address you on a very
personal level, because in truth, I have failed you. I have failed
economically to continue on with what I have started. Everything has
gotten too large for a single person to handle and as a consequence,
people are questioning my integrity, I have offended sponsors, I have
made artists everywhere upset, I have insulted champions with incomplete
prize packages, and I have failed my mother who has supported my
endeavors to date. I can no longer explain my reasons or circumstances
because after witnessing reactions to current events, I understand that
you want and deserve more. Unfortunately, I have nothing left to give.
All I can say is, in the span of 5 years, I am proud of what I have
accomplished – I was able to successfully start Dominance War and
Unearthly Challenge from nothing and I will soon enable them to continue
on their own. How? Read...
Why such grand events?
I began
Dominance War and Unearthly Challenge because I believed they would
be a great benefit to the game content creation community at large. It
was my dream to create events to promote artists and to provide a place
for artists of all levels to learn, support each other, showcase art,
compete in the comfort of home forums, get noticed by employers,
practice making art, and have fun in a world event that was specifically
made for game artists. I started it, I supported it, I funded it, I
maintained it, I believed in it, I struggled for it, and I seriously
enjoyed it. I knew that if not me, then nobody else would be mentally
insane enough to do it. This was my way of the Ninja (Naruto Manga reference)
and I had to make it work, whatever the cost - be it health, money, or
time. But it has gotten to the point where I alone am unable to carry
the costs, maintenance and functions of DW and UC. For this reason, I
am stepping down from both Dominance War and Unearthly Challenge. I am
no longer qualified to run these challenges as both my reputation and
name have become a burden on their paths. But I am in no way shutting
them down...
Where'd the Money go?
What Polycount wrote
was very true. They had the right to say what they did, furthermore,
each artist had the right to question my motives and money spending
habits. Everything was hidden as I am not a very open person who likes
to discuss myself or my methods unless forced. So what did I do with
money earned online? Basically, I earned less then 50k total in 5
years from everything DW, UC and GA. How? Sold 6 t-shirts to date,
$2/day for google ads, main banners are primarily for sponsors who
provide software as prizes (normally - $0 funding), Sold under 30
posters in 3 years that cost $12 to print $19 to sell and over 160
hours to create, donations made under 3k in 5 years, and finally,
sponsors paid for 35% of the costs of running a challenge like DW or UC
(remember, it's not just prizes, programming costs too), I paid the
rest. If I was an artist in the field, I would have earned over 250-320k
over a 5-year span, the working hours would be better, I’d have a paid
vacation, a dental plan and I would only spend my money on myself. If
you do the math, 50k divided by 5, is 10k per year on average. Add in
the fact that 90% of everything earned had to be re-invested back into
making DW, UC and GA great, and that leaves me with, give or take a few
dollars, –250,000k in total (no salary because I am running online
challenges full time, plus I am personally funding each event). Believe
it or not, it was very tough for the past 5 years. For those who
question GAMontreal, please don't. Seriously...
What changes are coming in 2011 and beyond?
As I step
down, I would like to give the world community I have come to respect
and love, my World Challenge System. I will finish the pre-domwar
challenge and before I leave, I will ensure that both DW and UC will
continue on to become the great events that they were meant to be. To
assure this, from this day forth, all previous prizes for both UC and DW
are cancelled. It is unfortunate, but in order to give the new
generation of DWs and UCs a fighting chance, I must invoke this right.
My final act as organizer and founder will be to personally construct
two new communities on DominanceWar.com and UnearthlyChallenge.com. I
will detach both DW and UC from GameArtisans’ systems and transfer all
art entries to their proper domains to ensure that all previous
finalists will remain in history where they belong. I will then create a
final special world challenge system for DW and UC and ensure that
future events can be easily held. I am positive that with the united
effort of 15 forums, some spectacular competitions will arise in 2011
and beyond. But first and foremost, Prizes I imagine, must be severely
reduced because they have gotten quite out of hand (my bad
). .
Help get the next generation of world events started!
If there was ever a time to donate, this is it!
Don’t let Dominance War die!! To create a new system, transfer all
files, and add an animation category, it is a very costly endeavor. If
you would like to give something back, and at the same time, help me
give birth to the next generation of Olympic art challenges, then
please...
 |
Sign your name on DWV. In-kind Donations are always welcome - Link |
 |
If you are an individual who has $200 and would like to support DWV and
write a comment about why you are personally sponsoring it, please, go
directly here - Link |
Special Thanks to...
I would
like to thank the following passionate and brave volunteers who have
worked alongside me in the past. The prominent ones being Taehoon Oh,
Maxim Miheyenko, Ryan [Aftermath] Hawkins, Nina Leo, Leta juan liu, Wong
[Yung] ChoonYung, Lamont [Lamont] Gilkey, Joseph [Blankslatejoe]
Mirabello , Rob [cookepuss] Santa, Donovan [ThatDon] Keele and of
course, my brother Max Hultqvist and my devoted mother, Barbara
[Amethyst] Hultqvist. You and everyone else who helped, rock!
Final words and thoughts...
It's time
to pass on the torch. I am not sad by recent events, instead, I am
happy and excited for the future. I am truly looking forward to seeing
how great Dominance War and Unearthly Challenge shall become and how
they will expand to help artists everywhere level up across the world. I
hope everyone will have a great new year, and I look forward to
participating in Dominance War V, not as an organizer, but as an
inspired GA artist bent on crushing all other artists from competing
forums - especially those annoying and evil Polycount’ers (love you
guys), and maybe CGLand, cuz they are too good. Yeahhh! Bring it on! It
was an honor and privilege to run these challenges and I hope
everyone will enjoy the next generation of Olympic art events to come.
