@ 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.