I came up with something while reading the forums, but for the sake of me I can't think what impact positive/negative it could have on the players and staff.

So I want to recruit your brains into maybe telling me what would happen.

From the way I understand the way things work in immland for ideas or changes is the following: An idea pops up, it gets sent to the appropriate staff, it gets discussed, hashed out, tests are run, it gets scheduled for implementation, gets coded and implemented.

Now for the juicy question part: What would happen if the discussion of new ideas by the staff was done in the forum, visible to everyone but on a private forum that only imms could post in?.

Jae

Someone on the boards mentioned recently about AGES and using them as a means for producing overall themic directions for CF. I like the idea and think it is an appropriate means to add transparency while avoiding th headaches that the Imms have mentioned.

What I believe would make alot of people happy on both sides of the fence is having a more concentrated development that allows for specifc large scale directions to be taken that can be advertised or openly spoken of as an overall theme for an Age while still allowing smaller scale efforts that either don't matter to the overall team effort or would cause problems if revealed early couild remain in the strict province of Immland.

To give an example:

Let's look at Marvel Studios. They have an overall gameplan that is mapped out for the next seven years. We get our 'independent' films that have loose associations with each other that fit within a wider connected unierse allowing for characters and stories that gain from having their own 'Ages' - like ahem...Age of Ultron...which the wider public knows about while still able to maintain the secrecy of their long term vision.

Basically it boils down to keeping your base fed and happy.

Obviously this is alot harder to accomplish with a staff of volunteers. It may not even be possible. However it is an example of being able to maintain a certain amount of transparecy which keeps your base active and engaged while also maintaing the necessity of secrecy.

I believe CF needs an 'Age of Ultron' of its own. We need more often to have not simply periodic quests but specific targets that the entire Imm staff is working towards (group projects) as well as the little independent movies...ahem....projects that keep the base begging for more.

Maybe for example ...*cough*....more water areas as a theme so we can get water races and improve water shifters? Just a thought!

>From the way I understand the way things work in immland for
>ideas or changes is the following: An idea pops up, it gets
>sent to the appropriate staff, it gets discussed, hashed out,
>tests are run, it gets scheduled for implementation, gets
>coded and implemented.

This sounds reasonably accurate. We're not always as organized or focused as we might be at our day jobs, but when things are running smoothly this is pretty much the gist of how it goes, yeah.

>Now for the juicy question part: What would happen if the
>discussion of new ideas by the staff was done in the forum,
>visible to everyone but on a private forum that only imms
>could post in?.

No way. This would be bad for a number of reasons, including:

1) No offense to you folks, but if you could see this stuff, especially in draft stages, you would be giving us both barrels of your opinion way too early and with too little understanding regardless of whether there was an approved forum for it or not. There is a reason why professional development companies, authors, movie producers, and so on and so forth do not do this.

2) We muse about things that we never get around to or that we agree are kind of neat but nobody feels inspired to commit the wrench time too, and being volunteers that is okay. I don't want to be hounded by people about every single thing we talk about doing but for one reason or another don't get around to doing (or doing quickly enough for some people).

3) Everyone treats internal and external discourse differently. Our time is limited enough without having to make sure that we're working together as staff members in a way that is always appropriate for broadcast, so to speak.

4) A small but vocal subset of the players would draw the most absurd and royally stupid conclusions, conspiracy theories and conjecture from this stuff ... I just ... no. That is a Pandora's Box I'm staying the hell away from, sorry.

But! Perhaps we can and should do a better job of being more transparent with regards to the direction of the game. That I will think on.

As a heroimm, going from the "I have X, or Y in mind" brainstorm stage. To the realization can be stressful, or a headache.

I have 4 personal initiatives I would like to work on from the marketing side. Plus an area to complete. Plus the regular admin duties which will occur as progress is made.

Juggling that with day to day commitments are, honestly, difficult even taking it as I can manage. If for some reason someone was nudging and prodding me, or putting me under a lot of pressure I don't think I would fare well.

The other points are salient also but this one in particular strikes a chord with me.

All good and valid points.

I can definitely see it now.

Jae

All your reasons for not doing it are the reasons I want it done. The comedy would be endless.

a comedy of errors from the outside as an observer, but I would personally feel pretty crappy if life took over and I had let a bunch of the community down by failing to deliver on something.

I don't think anyone would want to be part of the staff with 50+ observers watching their work progress over their shoulder and making comments/trying to micromanage along the way.