Future Project Input Requested

[Zachariel]

IMO Mickey should create an open board of developers, which anyone wishing to help out can join.
In case Mickey is not much into legal stuff, he can also make devs to sign a proprietary software
non-disclosure agreement, meaning devs can help him with whatever you need and they are bound to keep the game internals secret.

To Mickey:
I understand that this stems from your fear of someone stealing your code and making a great game and earn a lot of money from it.
However, the current state of RPGWO as a fact is that it is pretty much dead.

You can't do everything by yourself. Either accept help and let devs sign agreements, if you are overwhelmed by fear of losing your code,
or this attempt to breathe new life into RPGWO will be just another pipe dream.

[@@Admin Nash]

You realize he coded RPGWO V1 and V2 by himself right??

[Cal]

Over years. and years.

The only reason we suggest this is because of the tag he let on his post

"Just kinda rambling. Who knows what will catch my attention next week" was approximately what he said, no?

If by chance he gets distracted, he will still have people to help him program this..

[@@Admin Nash]

I see where your coming from I just doubt he is going to let some players on a forum help out when he toughly let Jon help him on RPGWO V3 and Jon had ran servers for him for years.

And I he does let people help....awesome....just based on past observances I doubt it will happen

[Mickey Kudlo]

I have some interest in an open source V4. Not worried about profits or code stealing much.
How would the process work?
Would it speed production up or slow it down?
What other benefits and problems does it bring?

[@@Admin Nash]

I stand corrected

[Zachariel]

@ Mickey

The process will be slow, if the team is un-coordinated and
everyone has equal right to implement new components into the game.
Take military for example. There is a direct line of command and not
everyone gets what they want, because that would create chaos.

There has to be only one (or maximum no. of three) people,
who decide what ends up being put into the game.
Then there are department heads, who answer directly to the lead designer(s).
There might be physics department, music department, textures department,
AI department - as you see fit.
Then there are a bunch of minions in each department, who create what they
are told to by their dept. heads. Of course, dept. heads should be capable of
creating the content they are responsible of as well.

But, everyone taking part of the project should offer ideas about new content
and improvements for the game (if they have any), but they should not expect
them being realized (right away or if ever). If everyone started coding and
implementing stuff they like, the production will be a chaos.

As it currently stands, all programming companies work this way.
It brings you the benefit of significant speedup of entire creation process and a lot of
possibly good idea input into the game.

Downside is that you don't know if any of the dev team members will come through with their tasks.
The downside is that coders working "pro bono" might not feel obligated to complete a task
for a deadline. This said, personally the only thing that counts is quality, not speed or quantity.
Most monetized companies have definite deadlines to meet and this might reduce the final quality
of the product they are making, because they have to produce quarterly income.
With open production, you have the benefit of holding back a release to implement a cool feature
you dreamed up at the last minute, and this is a good benefit.
Definite deadlines create stress and discontent and should be avoided.

But hey, if a dev truly wishes to help you, then he(she) will get things done.
Sure, there might be some wannabes', who are in it for fame and glory, but RPGWO has never been
about such things. Look at the quantity of its' userbase.
RPGWO has always been about bringing joy to the few who manage to discover the game.

However, with proper dev and advertisement, you can definetly increase the userbase of your game
AND perhaps even make a living with developing it.

[jace]

Get some sort of voice communication up to help organize the troops

[Kaios]

I have some interest in an open source V4. Not worried about profits or code stealing much.
How would the process work?
Would it speed production up or slow it down?
What other benefits and problems does it bring?

Open source is the way to go. Honestly if the game is even half-decent, you will get at least one person who enjoys customizing clients meaning you can take the time to focus on more core mechanics. The only issue with an open source client means any mechanics put in place to make the game more difficult (such as a "fog of war" for example) could easily be cirpigvented if they are client side. Kind of like Jon's program he made a long time ago to see through walls and wolf on V1.

[Kaios]

And by cirpigvented I meant cirpigvented. Seriously Jon just add the edit button back in.

[Kaios]

Oh never mind he just filtered c u m for some reason. Good thing this forum is owned by a complete moron now. Triple post.

[Zachariel]

@ jace

Everything related to RPGWO dev should be done in written language in a separate dev forum,
to which only devs can post, but everyone can read.

This minimizes the "what was i supposed to do?" issue and defines clear guidelines and overview
of the progress being made.

@ kaios

RPGWO should not be made open-source. While the game might lack paid VIP content in the
beginning, there should be definetly some when the game is mature and I don't see how you can
monetize an open-source game.

If the game starts to bring income, all devs should get a share depending on their input and participation.
Until then, the dev of RPGWO should be taken as "pro bono" community effort.

Mickey needs to eat, to buy bread and milk. Let the man pay his rent. So do all of us, who are willing to
give our best in any slight chance that this game will be a commercial success.

And if it won't, then we have had an awesome time developing an awesome game with an awesome close-knit group of awesome people.

[Kalose]

karma for you zach very insightful 

[@@Admin Nash]

Well he said he's not interested in profits from it so there goes that point, he has a full time job.

[Zachariel]

I wonder if Mickey has ever thought:
"Wouldn't it be nice, if I could just lay back, do what I love the most and never have to worry about making a living?"

If you do something out of passion, then your creation will be twice as mighty as one created out of necessity,
because you're willing to dedicate all your energy and time into doing what you love the most.

In case of Mickey, I sincerely hope that it is creating awesome games, not working whatever daytime job out of necessity to earn a living.

[Pokemon Steve]

I'm willing to help work on this.
=============
Start an IRC channel.
Create a repository on GitHub.
Lets get started.

[Greatest]

If you do something out of passion, then your creation will be twice as mighty as one created out of necessity,
because you're willing to dedicate all your energy and time into doing what you love the most.

sorry but thats utter bullwolf!  I had a fun hobby once that made me a nice chunk of cash(not a huge amount but was ok for the amount of tume I spent doing it), so I quit my job and focused more on it since I figured I could make just as much cash doing something fun...

I now hate doing what I once loved doing because it became a chore and not just something I did for fun.  I now work a crappier job than the 1 I quit, I make about the same pay but have more work.  moral of the story: if something is fun and you enjoy doing it, keep it as a hobby or you'll end up hating it.

[Jon The Great]

I had the opposite experience Greatest worked for three years then quit built a company and now never have to work for someone else again. But I did have lots of backups in case anything went wrong sideprojects/websites etc.

I do get the chore part though but it is a tradeoff.

[Mickey Kudlo]

I am quite happy with my steady, day job for the past 17 years. I am 39 and to change careers now, during a recession, with a wife and cat and a pez habit to support, is not smart.

Game programming is a right where I want it, a casual, stress free hobby.

[Zachariel]

The tricky thing working for someone else during a recession is that you can never be certain
you will keep your job when, lets say, the U.S. national dept blows up this september/october
and the dollar becomes a worthless piece of toilet paper.

I think we all know what happened to Europe the last time USA tigered up.
Compared to what is coming, that was just a foreplay.

Whatever the case is, RPGWO should still be developed at least into an AA title,
either open or closed source, because there are NO other games with such deep
crafting systems.
Once, I remember Arcanium (was it?) had around 10 000 usages listed in the dictionary.
With this, RPGWO is very unique.