Global Development Team additions

[LoneAngelIbesu]

Originally Posted by salesman

I'm not saying the GDT can be fully functional and do the things we want it to do without strong leadership, but its members shouldn't use that as an excuse for doing nothing. There's a few people out there who have already proven that they don't need a big boss man to start helping (eg Jerret, Chris and Dusty), but on the other hand there's people who are sitting on their GDT tag because "they don't have a leader".

I don't think it's fair to say they it can't be used as an excuse. Nobody really quite knows what to do. We had the Graaloween project, but there weren't many details as to what we were supposed to actually be doing. Another project that was discussed was a Global Event Server, which suffers from the same lack of objectives and organization as Graaloween.

Those, in addition to various graphics and documentation projects, are all that have been discussed. Some of us have taken on personal projects, like myself. But that's just me scripting something and releasing it into the Code Gallery with a GDT stamp on it.

Lack of a leader organizing everything will be the downfall of the GDT, if it already hasn't been. There's a reason why nearly every working community in the world has a system of leadership (businesses, governments, GraalOnline & servers, etc). This whole co-op, we're all equals, let's hold hands around the campfire thing just doesn't work. But I've said all of this before and the sound of my own internal voice is starting to annoy me.

I was told that Bell was going to come in and take a gander, but I don't even know if she's settled in to her new home yet.

[Hiro]

Originally Posted by LoneAngelIbesu

I don't think it's fair to say they it can't be used as an excuse. Nobody really quite knows what to do. We had the Graaloween project, but there weren't many details as to what we were supposed to actually be doing. Another project that was discussed was a Global Event Server, which suffers from the same lack of objectives and organization as Graaloween.

Those, in addition to various graphics and documentation projects, are all that have been discussed. Some of us have taken on personal projects, like myself. But that's just me scripting something and releasing it into the Code Gallery with a GDT stamp on it.

Lack of a leader organizing everything will be the downfall of the GDT, if it already hasn't been. There's a reason why nearly every working community in the world has a system of leadership (businesses, governments, GraalOnline & servers, etc). This whole co-op, we're all equals, let's hold hands around the campfire thing just doesn't work. But I've said all of this before and the sound of my own internal voice is starting to annoy me.

I was told that Bell was going to come in and take a gander, but I don't even know if she's settled in to her new home yet.

could we imply that some leader should be voted or appointed (probably appointed) as the head of the GDT (basically giving someone a team of the most competent developers to work with) with the job of directing the GDT to improve graal overall?

[salesman]

Originally Posted by LoneAngelIbesu

I don't think it's fair to say they it can't be used as an excuse. Nobody really quite knows what to do. We had the Graaloween project, but there weren't many details as to what we were supposed to actually be doing. Another project that was discussed was a Global Event Server, which suffers from the same lack of objectives and organization as Graaloween.

Those, in addition to various graphics and documentation projects, are all that have been discussed. Some of us have taken on personal projects, like myself. But that's just me scripting something and releasing it into the Code Gallery with a GDT stamp on it.

Lack of a leader organizing everything will be the downfall of the GDT, if it already hasn't been. There's a reason why nearly every working community in the world has a system of leadership (businesses, governments, GraalOnline & servers, etc). This whole co-op, we're all equals, let's hold hands around the campfire thing just doesn't work. But I've said all of this before and the sound of my own internal voice is starting to annoy me.

I was told that Bell was going to come in and take a gander, but I don't even know if she's settled in to her new home yet.

If the leader is just going to be another random member, then I don't see how having one will allow you to do anything you can't already do on your own. You say organization is a must, but what's stopping you from getting things organized yourself? A leader is just going to tell you what you already know: Write a wiki page on _____. Create a _____ system to release to the code gallery. Do ____ (something that anyone, even non-GTD, can already do).

This brings me back to the point I tried to make before the GDT was created. The team is pointless because the only thing separating its members from regular players is the "(Global Development Team)" appending their names.

There's only so much a regular developer can do, and it definitely doesn't require a global staff tag. People who didn't want to help before aren't going to suddenly help now that they are part of a fancy guild. If Stefan or someone with more access and rights were to lead the team, then yeah, things would great and I could see a lot of good come out of the GDT...but that clearly isn't the case.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by salesman

If the leader is just going to be another random member, then I don't see how having one will allow you to do anything you can't already do on your own. You say organization is a must, but what's stopping you from getting things organized yourself? A leader is just going to tell you what you already know.

Seriously? Good leadership doesn't work that way at all. Structure and direction is needed for success. That's like saying a Manager can hire a bunch of developers, and be inactive because he/she has plenty of staff. Nothing will get accomplished if they're just working on what they want, or what they think is cool. Some sort of plan needs to be followed, even if it's mild.

If they don't want leadership (Which isn't the case by the way), then close this thread, and disband the 'GDT'. Simple.

I can't wait for Bell to reply.

[TSAdmin]

Originally Posted by Matt

I can't wait for Bell to reply.

You'll be waiting a while. She's not going to be around for a long time, remember?

[Matt]

Originally Posted by TSAdmin

You'll be waiting a while. She's not going to be around for a long time, remember?

What's her date for return? I for some reason thought it was yesterday.

[taylor]

Originally Posted by Matt

What's her date for return? I for some reason thought it was yesterday.

To be honest Matt I do not think there is an exact date set for her return. I believe it is when she feels she wants to come back and participate. But I do hope she returns fairly soon!

[LoneAngelIbesu]

Originally Posted by salesman

If the leader is just going to be another random member, then I don't see how having one will allow you to do anything you can't already do on your own. You say organization is a must, but what's stopping you from getting things organized yourself? A leader is just going to tell you what you already know: Write a wiki page on _____. Create a _____ system to release to the code gallery. Do ____ (something that anyone, even non-GTD, can already do).

Ideally this is how it would work. This is how Bell wanted it to work, too. But we don't live in an ideal world. People don't tend to get together, organize themselves, share equal power, etc. Inverness might have a different idea of what needs to be done than I do. He might think what I'm doing is completely useless. How do we decide what to do? If we're left to our own devices, are we really bound to any deadlines or standards?

A leader would function just like a good server manager: he or she would assign tasks, set deadlines, etc. Otherwise, we're relying on everybody agreeing on everything and taking responsibility for themselves and their work, including doing what needs to be done, rather than personal side projects. Ideal, but not very realistic.

Originally Posted by salesman

This brings me back to the point I tried to make before the GDT was created. The team is pointless because the only thing separating its members from regular players is the "(Global Development Team)" appending their names.

And the experience and skill, if you count those characteristics as anything important.

Originally Posted by salesman

There's only so much a regular developer can do, and it definitely doesn't require a global staff tag. People who didn't want to help before aren't going to suddenly help now that they are part of a fancy guild. If Stefan or someone with more access and rights were to lead the team, then yeah, things would great and I could see a lot of good come out of the GDT...but that clearly isn't the case.

Maybe there are members that joined with no intent on helping, but some of us actually understood what we were supposed to be doing.* The global tag (it is not a staff tag) is just to advertise the group.

But we (as in, the GDT members) have been asking about global RC. I don't think many people see the GDT as anything more than a glorified guild, simply because we're just 'regular players'. A global RC is a symbol on Graal, but it's also pretty useful for popping into servers and reminding them that we exist. Not to mention removing the necessity of server owners to add us to their staff lists for us to be able to log on (which some might never remove, causing some security problems when it comes to disgruntled ex-members); instead, they would just add rw rights to whatever it is they need our help with.

*As previously mentioned, a big chunk of what we're supposed to do is help servers to develop. As of yet, I have never personally been asked for help, and as far as know, neither have any other GDT scripters. Server owners probably aren't aware of our existence and what we do. It is our responsibility to advertise ourselves, and the last I checked this was being done.