Oh I could speak about the subject of this thread so much. I am glad to have found a discussion like this, actually.
Deep down the line, it all boils down to one thing: I am, it seems, a far better worldbuilder than am a storyteller. So if I want to have something to show, why not include the best part too?
...Of course, things are much more nuanced.
The first question is, I guess, why to share it at all?
There's not much point in keeping all the worldbuilding to myself. If I do, most of it is never going to see the light of day, much of all this is still not at all projected into a story and will likely not be in the short term. More importantly, there's no improvements if I keep it to myself - it is made only of stuff I know, and that includes errors and bad practices. Sharing some of the information, even if it is limited to with my beta readers or with other writers I consult for, provides several benefits such as logic check-ups, new ideas and who knows what much else that I'd otherwise not have available.
Then there's, who to share it with?
There's one thing, and that is that while it is my personal Pokémon verse, it's not my world alone. I work with other writers, we share ideas, we share a pool of character concepts, we have starred together in RPs, and I enjoy fandoms other than Pokémon too.
All that eventually leaves an imprint in my worldbuilding and the setting that is born from it. As I've pointed out in my thread, my 'verse is reference-rich. If I can find something cool from a videogame I like to adapt it to the world of Pokémon, I will. If another writer lets me use their character for some plots, I will -and of course they will be credited. If an artist has created a portrait of one of my characters, I'll pretty much go with that as their "canon" appearance. Et cetera. You are not alone when worldbuilding, so the result, IMO, does not benefite from being yours alone either.
Added to that, I am interested in the feedback of people who do want or have a reason to to follow my creative process. If they say I am doing something wrong, what is their basis for it? Where's the proof? Do they propose something useful instead?
And finally, I guess, why do it on PokéCommunity?
I am going to admit, this is not the first place where I am posting this, however it is the first place where it is publicly structured. Most of the information and development I have is spread across several documents, some of them in Google Docs, and all in the process. And all that is in the process of being migrated over to what will one day be the Official Suocéverse Wiki.
But it's a very long road, and in the meantime I do have some organized stuff to show to people, namely my work on the Worldbuilding June prompts. And idea that has helped me (and forced me ;-) ) to shape up and organize things and I think it's coming up nicely. Plus, it gives me a FAQ to point some reviewers and contributors to when they start asking the same questions over and over...
And of all the forums I am a member of, I chose you, Pokécommunity, for pretty much the same reasons everyone else has: the awesome CSS the friendly community!
Just kidding. It is both things. :-p
The CSS capabilities in PokéCommunity are above any other major forum in the fandom and are only second to hosting your own wiki or working in one with high enough technical work put into it, such as Bulbapedia. The choices of typography are adequate, formatting with most themes is quite sane and the custom BBCode allows us to set up anchor tags to point to relevant parts of documents.
And then the people. I spent much time in FF&W's Writer's Lounge, talking about random writing advice, and always found the community very open and willing to contribute, without forcing themselves or anyone else to bash their heads on the desk. It feels here more a hobby than a job, whereas in other places (coughredditcough) it feels like you can be ostracized for not following the standard of the One True Ring.
So yeah...
There's lots of reasons why I am here, but it mostly boils down to it's the best place to show off the best I have.
And I guess, I'll also gain something from it and other's people's work on this multiverse thing as well.
