1) You're correct that ideas outpace the ability to implement them, even after cutting them down to only the ideas which gain consensus. This has been true for as long as I've been on the staff, and going back through our records it looks to have always been true.

2) The limiting factors on coding resources are, IMHO:

- Trust. This is the dominant limiting factor, but a malicious coder would be a disaster. Access is tightly limited to a few people, with a few more submitting code by email for implementation by someone else.
- Technical Competence. A sloppy coder will cause a high rate of crashes, possibly including extended downtimes. The damage from this would outweigh the positive impact of many projects. Everyone makes mistakes, but it takes a lot of training and a good "safety net" to make sure mistakes are caught, repaired, and prevented.
- MUD Competence. It's rare that a coder is handed specifications so exact that they don't have to fill in any blanks. You need people who can guesstimate those details with some degree of accuracy. This takes knowing the game's present state, as well as where it is heading.
- Real Life. The types of people most likely to satisfy the trust and reliability conditions mentioned have been with us a while, and are likely to be older people who hold full-time jobs, have relationship or family commitments, and the like.
- Burnout. It's hard work, and a lot of it is thankless. A common example is that repairing something that periodically crashes us is usually only noticed when it's not being done. Also, the bulk of people (everyone but me, now?) who code for us are programmers at their day jobs, and it's easy for CF coding to feel like overtime. Finally, suffice to say that a (vocal) minority of the playerbase is something that has caused all of our coders to take time off from time to time.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com