User:Caleb
| Caleb | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Rank | Webmaster | |
| Age | 21 | |
| Location | Alaska | |
| Forum Join Date | 3-17-07 | |
| Forum Userpage | Caleb | |
| Number of Edits | {{#ec:Caleb}} | |
| This user is a member of Zelda Dungeon. | ||
Zelda Revolution (2001-2002)
Back in Jr. High and Freshman year (2001-2002) I decided to start my own Zelda website. I was inspired by other sites such as Zelda Power, Zelda Dungeon and the now closed Zelda Central. My idea was to make a website that covered all the general things most Zelda sites offered back then: fan art, fan fiction, walkthroughs, guides, articles, etc.
But in particular, the plan was to gather ideas (through forums and e-mails) for future Zelda games and send it directly to Nintendo. I assumed that with enough of a presence and a growing fan community, our voices could be heard by the "big dogs." It was really a pretty stupid idea, looking back on it...
I was young and inexperienced, but tackled the prospect and taught myself how to use HTML and Photoshop in order to create some walkthroughs and guides. I actually got pretty far, designing several pages and writing complete guides for the first two games of the Zelda Series.
Eventually, I got burned out, in particular because I was doing it all by myself. I had three "staff members" who were just that in name and never ended up doing anything for the site (because I didn't have the guts to "order" them to do anything). I gave up on Zelda Revolution a little over a year after I started the site, having never gone public with it...
Text Guides (Winter of 2006)
In the fall of 2007, I decided to get back into the "Zelda business." However, I didn't want to make another website. That was just too stressful and I decided that creating walkthroughs and guides was where my true strength was. I had always been a fan of using GameFAQs.com whenever I was stuck in a game, even though, ideally, I'd like to use an online walkthrough with screenshots and maps...
I began writing a walkthrough for The Adventure of Link and Majora's Mask, which I only truly finished the latter of. I was originally planning to only use them for GameFAQs, but then I was inspired by watching Mases Hagopian's video updates over at Zelda Dungeon, explaining his uncertainty for the future of his website. It's worth noting that I had already considered this one of the three "legendary sites" that I had grown up occasionally checking out every few months... He was struggling between merging the site with a few others, or pioneering forward and making Zelda Dungeon the best it could possibly be in regards to walkthroughs and guides...
My personality is very "all or nothing." I'm either not even willing to try, or I'll give it my very best. So hearing Mases say he was considering the possibility of doing something "revolutionary" as it were, inspired me, and awakened the dream I had once before. I e-mailed him and asked to join him, even if only to give a Zelda Dungeon stamp on my text guides. Why didn't I consider JOINING a site in the first place?! I was hired within a few weeks.
Zelda Dungeon (Spring of 2007-Present)
I've been hard at work at Zelda Dungeon ever since, producing high quality guides that are better than even those at Prima Games Guides, IGN.com, and all of the Zelda guides at GameFAQs.com. Everything I've learned through my "Zelda Revolution" experience has greatly helped me in creating top notch guides. I am constantly trying to improve the way I create these massive guides.
Currently, I've completely redone the Majora's Mask section and am now working on Ocarina of Time.
My Policy
When I look at a guide, and if I can't tell at a glance where I need to go, then the guide "fails the test" and needs to be improved. I look at all of the guides I write in this manner, and try to consistently improve them. This "hard eye" for making guides gets me in trouble with some of the other staff at the site at times, but I truly mean well ;)
~ Caleb Simpson, Webmaster at ZeldaDungeon.net