But this might be the first, so bare with me...
It seems to me, after reading a few of the imm
responses of above ideas, that these days morts
seem to want more productivity (in various forms)
out of the imm staff. Whether its coding new things,
building new areas, etc... As long as I can remember,
this has always been the case, really. After all, this place
would be rather boring if everyone was satisfied with how
it was. Anyway, to the point... Is there some way for the
morts to help? The two things that come to mind are:
1. Voting on what people spend time on. In a Q and A
like environment, would it be possible to as a group
decide on what type of stuff we'd like to see worked on
next? At least between some stuff? (Now I know, in certain
situations, this doesnt work, like if code B relies on code A,
code A would need to be accomplished first) But you get the idea...
2. Once a particular project is underway, would it help to have
it known what imm is in charge of it? That away morts could
mail the details they had in mind for that project for
consideration by the imm or group of imms? While we obviously
cant code it ourselves, it might be helpful if we did some of the
brainstorming? Just some thoughts.
-Hedge
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From: LadyAce
Wednesday, July 17 2002, 03:32PM
It's an interesting suggestion, and I definitely can't answer for the
other departments, but as far as PR goes, I would be thrilled to have
more players tell me what they'd like to see more of, eventwise. I do
get suggestions via idea and Q & A and often go along with that, and
probably that's the model I'd be most likely to stick with. I suppose
I could put up a poll and ask 'would people rather see a flag hunt
tomorow or a game of tag?' or whatnot, but collecting 'live feedback'
seems like the best way to steer project areas.
In general, I think that hitting a department head up for a discussion
about departmental priorities is reasonable.
You can check the builder board to see who is working on what, areawise,
and if people would be interested in reading more about PR priorities,
I can post more along those lines.
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From: Cheyla
Wednesday, July 17 2002, 04:58PM
This'll be largely building-centric and is reflective of my
personal thoughts at the moment (numbed as they are from building
and work). Pardon how long it is, I do wish to be thorough in
my reply.
Personally, one of the great things about volunteering here is the
flexibility. I can pretty much work on whatever project I've
volunteered for that interests me, and when I have the time to.
From a building standpoint, I would be less happy on the whole to
have someone else prioritize my projects for me. I've got a
number I've volunteered for (not to mention those I'd like to
work on), so I can work on one or another as inspiration and
motivation strike me. Of course, this means I'm not necessarily
focusing on one project and will complete them slower overall,
but it also keeps me from burning out and being even less
productive. I couldn't imagine being Kae, with a high-priority
project like the Inferno that would take precedence over all
other projects. But I'm more than happy to help her out with it
whenever I can.
Now, this isn't to say your idea is awful. You really already
have this power you speak of, just in a less direct fashion.
It is quite nice to know someone is interested in a project I'm
working on - whether it's just asked about in a Q&A or if I'm
asked directly. That interest being shown is generally enough
to get me to work on the project inquired of to try and make
more progress on IT specifically because I know there IS
someone in the playerbase interested in its progress/completion.
For your second point, with regards to building... the builder
board has a pretty good project listing and which builder is
working on what. Areainfo lists the current maintainer of the
areas. Both of these are excellent in-game resources for the
building department and who the project contacts are. The weekly
welcome postings of area updates are also good sources for what's
being done, and for the uninstalled areas, who's doing what.
Kaige's page also has lists of who is working on what projects
from each of the departments, not just building.
So what can you do to help? Showing interest is one of the best
things you can do. It's a great motivator for us. And, the more
motivated we are, likely the sooner you'll see the finished
project.
Your ideas are always welcome, too. Best way to help with those is
to provide some detail. Take new social ideas as an example. To
suggest a "hop" social is all well and fine, but what messages
are you expecting to see from it? Will you hop on one foot or
are you hopping mad? For bug reports, more detail on the problem
you're seeing/having is better than less. Don't just bug that
such-and-such is broken - say why or how, and give an example
of what you've just done to get those results. It makes our
job of fixing it (or implementing your idea) much easier, and we
know it's more of what you want instead of what we assume.
Most builders are quite open to discussing their projects, too. If
you have questions about it or possibly ideas for them, let them
know - drop them a note, submit an idea for them, or send
them a tell. Even if your idea doesn't get implemented, it very
well may get the gears in the brain moving in a different
direction and spawn other ideas. And it'll go back to the whole
bit of showing interest and motivating.
Cheyla
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From: Kae
Thursday, July 18 2002, 09:37AM
I was going to write something intelligent here, but Cheyla beat me
to it. Good enuff, back to Hell with me!
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From: Benjamin
Thursday, July 18 2002, 08:18PM
Firstly, I wouldn't say morts have always expected more productivity
out of imms, there's just been an especially large draught of new
things added to the game during the past two years, when compared
to the years before.
Secondly, I agree with Cheyla here; I think the imms should be free
to choose their own direction. While I do wish they'd choose to work
on more exciting changes than a steady stream of typo fixes and so-
called "invisible changes", I don't think morts are really qualified
to have a direct choice in what work gets done. They'd just neglect
the little stuff ALL the time, and that's not the answer.
Ben's player
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