Global Development Team?

[DarkCloud_PK]

Originally Posted by Inverness

And, note that Bell said the team members would still be able to work on their own projects where they wish. It would not require the team members to work in a group if they don't want to, but it would make it easier I believe.

What prevents them from working together, without a underpowered staff division, that is largely been getting negative feedback? You need to identify and knead out those issues before you can stick all the devs together and expect anything meaningful to come out of it.

See the GST, it had 3-4 extremely talented devs on it for months, and not a damn thing came out of it, what has changed now for the better? Nothing, things have gone downhill, not up.

[Inverness]

Originally Posted by DarkCloud_PK

What prevents them from working together, without a underpowered staff division, that is largely been getting negative feedback? You need to identify and knead out those issues before you can stick all the devs together and expect anything meaningful to come out of it.

External influences can be a good motivating factor. The current system is not helping bring developers together onto the same page.

Originally Posted by DarkCloud_PK

See the GST, it had 3-4 extremely talented devs on it for months, and not a damn thing came out of it, what has changed now for the better? Nothing, things have gone downhill, not up.

I'm tired of repeating myself. I already said that for myself it was going take a contribution (or fifty) from Stefan to change anything, at least in my case. I'm well aware of the current state of Graal.

Ideally Stefan would be in contact with this team often and would have a role in identifying new features and changes to Graal.

Edit: A good number of the more talented developers have the power of reputation, which is why I don't think global RC is necessary. The team would not be underpowered if the right people are part of it.

[DarkCloud_PK]

Honestly, I don't even think Stefan himself has the control over things to work out the issues, sure he could provide developers more tools/documentation/assistance. However, the the decisions about the state of how the game is ran(server rentals, gold pricing, trial restrictions considering the state of the game as it is), is controlled by Unixmad, how is a lot harder to convince, get in contact with, etc.

[Inverness]

Originally Posted by DarkCloud_PK

Honestly, I don't even think Stefan himself has the control over things to work out the issues, sure he could provide developers more tools/documentation/assistance. However, the the decisions about the state of how the game is ran(server rentals, gold pricing, trial restrictions considering the state of the game as it is), is controlled by Unixmad, how is a lot harder to convince, get in contact with, etc.

Those decisions that unixmad handles are not important to me. What I want are up-to-date development tools and features that would allow me to create what I want. These things can only be provided by Stefan.

[DarkCloud_PK]

Originally Posted by Inverness

Those decisions that unixmad handles are not important to me. What I want are up-to-date development tools and features that would allow me to create what I want. These things can only be provided by Stefan.

What you want, isn't exactly very significant to the game as a whole.
You can add all the requested functions, documentation, and modifications or enhancements to GS2, that you want, and it still won't significantly change a damn thing. Issues are way way beyond the griping of the unfulfilled desires of the developers that exist now.

[Inverness]

Originally Posted by DarkCloud_PK

What you want, isn't exactly very significant to the game as a whole.
You can add all the requested functions, documentation, and modifications or enhancements to GS2, that you want, and it still won't significantly change a damn thing. Issues are way way beyond the griping of the unfulfilled desires of the developers that exist now.

First, I am not talking about enhancements specific to GS2.

Second, the grand majority of content on Graal was created by players using the available tools to do what they enjoy, create their own game. Is it not logical to include that if these tools are improved and more features are added to Graal that can be taken advantage of by aspiring scripters, level designers, and graphic artists, that they would be more inspired to create content? This would be assisted by this Global Development Team creating demos using various Graal features.

[DarkCloud_PK]

None of that matters in the grand scheme of things, you need to look at the bigger picture, beyond what individual developers agree upon and desire. It doesn't change anything, not the egos, the growing seperation of development.

[Loriel]

Originally Posted by DarkCloud_PK

See the GST, it had 3-4 extremely talented devs on it for months, and not a damn thing came out of it, what has changed now for the better? Nothing, things have gone downhill, not up.

Shush, we spent a whole bunch of time resolving specific issues on playerworlds and I am pretty sure that a bunch of us also released generally-useful things, which was not even in the job description at the time.

My two cents on this whole thing is that the unresolvable entanglement between development and administration is, again, at fault for ruining everything.

[WhiteDragon]

Originally Posted by Gambet

Having a line of connection with Stefan is not as great as some of you put it out to be. Sure, he gets back to you on your messages, but it can sometimes take a few days. It's nothing out of this world and wouldn't really change much since it's more important for him to actually be doing something rather than just talking about it.

Well, I think it's also important to differentiate between "having a direct line" and "having a valued opinion".

It's true that Stefan just talking about stuff wouldn't get us very far, but if he comes in with the assumption that what the team says is valuable (which it would be if it was comprised of competent members), then it becomes less talk and more action.

Originally Posted by Inverness

In an ideal situation, I believe the GDT would organize requested features for Graal based on an observed need for the features across the various playerworlds and communicate their findings with Stefan. The GDT might then create a demonstration of how to use the feature based on what it is and have that made available for playerworlds to use.

Yes, I was thinking something along these lines as well.

Originally Posted by Loriel

My two cents on this whole thing is that the unresolvable entanglement between development and administration is, again, at fault for ruining everything.

I agree. At least it's one of the major faults. Pretty ironic when you look at it, considering one of the main administrators is also the primary developer--you'd think that'd bring some sanity to the situation, but alas, it does not.

Originally Posted by Spark910

Isn't this what the PWA is? To some extent, at least, whether or not that line of communication exists and is listened to is another thing.

I was under the impression that the PWA was so overwhelmed with policing that they couldn't do very much else.