Modding community.

[Stellar_Magic]

Okay, as many of us know there are several modders in the community, many of which are actively researching, conceptualizing, modeling, and recruiting for their own distinct mods. Several of these mods are of an extremely large scale with a team of several members, they have their own web site and forums. But what about those modders which lack the resources of the larger groups? People like me.

 

I have an idea which may equalize the playing field. What we need to do is create a guild of sorts along the same lines as the RDB II for EAW. Members create models, units, tutorials, scripts, and so forth which can be used and modified by anyone within the community.

 

This way the creativity of people in community will not be stifled by a lack of resources. Not everyone can afford Maya or 3DS max after all.

[Guest JediIgor]

It's already happening, the guys behind IA2 are starting an EaW Nexus. We at SWR were planning the same and we were hoping we could work together instead of having two separate sites though..

 

but yeah, the problem is not hosting , it's

 

1) people to design the site (graphics)

2) people to code the front-end for the site (*clean* html/css)

3) people to code the back-end for the site (php, python, etc)

4) people to manage the site

[Cain]

I have an idea which may equalize the playing field. What we need to do is create a guild of sorts along the same lines as the RDB II for EAW. Members create models, units, tutorials, scripts, and so forth which can be used and modified by anyone within the community.

 

He he he - TTO was a similar thing for RTW but it collapsed due to power struggles and now I have no time to revive it.

 

Anyway this new Moding organization should have these goals:

 

1. High level management for multiple projects.

 

2. Information sharing.

 

3. Human resources sharing.

 

4. Powerful PR Department.

 

5. We will have a private and untraceable exchange of feedback between the developers and the moders.

 

6. Excellent access to the EAW sites main page news.

 

7. QA departament for all the mods.

 

Etc.

 

Yup we will surly have such an organization and it will virtually dominate the moding field of eaw since it will be designed to function - game industry style.

[Cain]

It's already happening, the guys behind IA2 are starting an EaW Nexus. We at SWR were planning the same and we were hoping we could work together instead of having two separate sites though..

 

but yeah, the problem is not hosting , it's

 

1) people to design the site (graphics)

2) people to code the front-end for the site (*clean* html/css)

3) people to code the back-end for the site (php, python, etc)

4) people to manage the site

 

You will always have separtae sites .... and diplomatic problems between them.

 

Thios RDB II like organization will have enclave and representatives on all the EAW sites and they will not risk not haveing them (us) so it should work fine.

 

In early 2006 the organization should be up and running.

[Guest JediIgor]

The point of representatives would only be to redirect people who are looking for resources back to the central site. How does one expect to keep track of everything if it's scattered across the internet? Yes, there is a clear need for a webapp to help manage everything efficiently.

 

But I'm not saying that a webapp is all we need.. I am saying it's one of the many necessary components (as is everything you listed).

[Ghostly_Substance]

I may have the resources but I dont have the patience to mod a unit thats very detailed like you guys can. All i'm trying to do is take advantage of the numerous modding communities out there that claim they can help other people. Whats the point of mods if you cant get what you want then?

[Cain]

The point of representatives would only be to redirect people who are looking for resources back to the central site. How does one expect to keep track of everything if it's scattered across the internet? Yes, there is a clear need for a webapp to help manage everything efficiently.

 

But I'm not saying that a webapp is all we need.. I am saying it's one of the many necessary components (as is everything you listed).

 

He he he - yes you can say that .... that the resources will be drawn to the central command - but no site will allow you to have an enclave on their forums if you are not fair with them and keep their members there and maybe bring more.

 

Basically this organization allows man power transfers (moders) between different sites and its communication network is up to date... not to mention the know-how that the organization will have from direct access to the devs.

 

I bet that the devs will prefer to deal with a free virtual non-profit organization that they can trust and have feedback exchanges.

 

Without a high level of control and information privacy and security, no one will risk to get to close to the moders.

 

Some whacko can decide to sue the developers saying that his mod helps sell the game … who knows what can go rung in this world.

 

So you will always need a filter to enable the devs to help the moders since if something rung happens and someone decides to sue, then all the infos that the moders had in the past were from the organization filter and this will also be deleted. The devs will deny so the only one left to target will be the org, which is anyway virtual.

[Stellar_Magic]

Good point, leave it to lawyers to figure out how to sue a bunch of 1's and 0's...

 

[Guest JediIgor]

He he he - yes you can say that .... that the resources will be drawn to the central command - but no site will allow you to have an enclave on their forums if you are not fair with them and keep their members there and maybe bring more.

Why would you even keep enclaves on other sites? There should only be one definite place for all modding resources. Running around across all the EaW sites to search for things that might've been mentioned in one enclave and not anywhere else is kind of silly. Plus it taxes the time of the people who belong to the modding community and want to get the news out.

 

Basically this organization allows man power transfers (moders) between different sites and its communication network is up to date... not to mention the know-how that the organization will have from direct access to the devs.

Okay so when a regular site needs resources they can come to the mod site? Decentralizing the tasks would only serve to splinter the community into segments which prefer to be enclaves in one site over the others.

 

Think about the way we have things set up now.. we are only running one forum and people all come here, there is one definite place to get into all the discussions on EaW. If we got rid of this and split across all the EaW fansites, we'd end up with a fragmented community which the devs would probably not pay attention to.

[Cain]

Well you see … I’m talking from experience (TTO/RDB II) so let me explain better :

 

The moder has anyway mod threads on all the important sites, just that now they will be under the main organization subforum on that site. Also since every enclave will have a manager then that manager will keep the updates and reply to all the questions that the moder does not have time.

 

The sites will not accept an organization that has only one central place / they will hate it and ignore our requests.

Also the moder does not need to do PR stuff running around on many forums – such a large organization will have many PR manager and a central news nexus accesable to us and or members and also to some of the officials from other sites. They will decide what nes they want to take and post on their main page if we not directly request this.

Imagine this organization as a virtual publisher of mod runned by ex.moders now managers or admins and in close relation with the devs so true them the devs will also have control over the moding world.

Such a powerful organization will regulate all the issues that may show up in the future ex:

 

One dude makes a mod stealing work from our members etc. He does not want to add the credits or he lies. Such an organization that it present on many sites and has good relations with the admins will be able to request a ban for that dude on all the important EAW sites … he … who will want to mess with the Organization ?! and face banning all over the juice places.

 

Btw the sites don’t need resources from us – they mostly need PR, news and new members. We don’t relocate members in principle but we also make sure that the site will not loose their moders or mods that will go on other places or single sites.

 

For us it’s a question of control an communication for the sake of productivity and for them it’s a question of member&mods security plus acces to our juice stuff.

 

I’m not interested in making one super site since I see no point in it (but we can have a central base only for moders and feedback members) my interest is Borg like / assimilation and control.

1. To control many mods / and help the mod production by prioritizeing resources.

2. Enable the devs to have the same control over the mods true us.

3. To ensure security on all our mod products on multiple sites.

We don’t fragment us we assimilate them in our structure. And give them acces to the system so everyone will have to benefit from this on the long term.

 

And it usually works if the managers of the organization don’t decide to kill each other Brutus stile – that’s why we have the devs who will ensure that this will not happen.

 

Also a such an organization will give acces to materials from difffernet mods and ensure that the credits are cumulative etc.

 

PS. Btw how come the RDB II as small as it was has the best mod in SWR history (Made in 6 months) beating even Warlords (SWR) and Relaoded a mod that is in work from 6-7 years ago will never go out since eaw will limit the need for it. (*my personal opinion).

[Juggernaut1985]

I've seen the exact thing you're talking about die in a year from too many people wanting to control everything.

[Cain]

I've seen the exact thing you're talking about die in a year from too many people wanting to control everything.

 

They didn't had experience in the game industry and they didn't had the best moders and the devs on their side

[Siddus]

Hey guys, are you planning to transform PFF in what you're talking about or are you talking about about a new site/forums ?

 

Just to know if I really must answer

[Cain]

Nope its a new thing / a huge "Borg" like moding organization PFF has nothing to do with it.

[Stellar_Magic]

We'll just be assimilated...

 

Resitstance is Futile....

[Juggernaut1985]

No resistance isn't futile becuase the organization Cain is talking about will NOT be able to do what he thinks.

[Ghostly_Substance]

talk about humorless

[Stellar_Magic]

Yeah man, can't take a joke?

[Juggernaut1985]

Sorry, but I accidently deleted the entire update I had written for Legacy of War and had to rewrite it.

[Cain]

No resistance isn't futile becuase the organization Cain is talking about will NOT be able to do what he thinks.

 

Really ?! Yeah its difficult but trust me - I've seen more difficult challenges than this one. And this will be the third organization of this type that I'm createing.

 

It worked with the small RDB II and we had great fun and we shared the credits with all the members. It worked so well with the TTO than now I've seen that old members have tried to revive it under the name of NTO ... and with the EAW will work so well that we will make game industry history in the moding comunities domain.

 

Even Stellar sensed that it will work excellent in the conditions we already have ... since he knows exactly how its done and how it should be run. Just trust me on this one

[Cain]

Stellar - I again need your brain my old friend ... (as always). I need you to take my replys from abouve and mix them in one cool document on which we will continue to work and improve. This doc will be presented to the devs and to the rest of the eaw moders (leads).

 

I estimate that we will need to work on it at least for two weeks by exchangeing ideeas and such.

 

We have 3 categories that we need to target :

 

Moders, developers and site admins - and we will need to make them all understand that they will have only to win by supporting such an organization.

 

And of course we will need to pick a powerful and yet "generic-birocratic" name.

 

Everyone is expected to join and help with their feedback and ideeas in the solidification of the doc after Stellar compiles it.

 

So Stellar - are you willing to follow this path again like in RDB II ?

[Stellar_Magic]

Are you sure you want to pick my brain, Mesier Cain?

 

We're talking about creating an organization that will act as a central hub for the modding community at large. A place for modders to contact each other and communicate.

 

I've often found that the greatest problem with modding is assembling a proper team, and in order to create such a team you have to find people with the skills you need. Another problem I've run into is modders who are unwilling to share information to assist others, be it coding, models, or general game information. We'll want the members of this organization to be those who are more then willing to help.

 

Another concept to think about would be creating a database of sorts where models, animations, scripts, and code created by modders is posted and the only limit of utilizing the material is the proper citation of the modder or mod in the modification. By creating such a database we could be able to create a close working relationship between the individual modders and large scale mod concepts.

 

Say for instance, Juggernaught's Legacy of War mod is looking for a model for the Enforcer Class Cruiser because his own modeler is overloaded by work or RL issues. It just so happens that a modeler from Imperial Assault 2 posts a model for an Enforcer Cruiser for download. Juggernaught's mod team takes the model, tweaks it for their own use and utilizes it in its mod. The situation could also be easily reversed where Imperial Assault 2 downloads and uses a model from Legacy of War. With models and by default modders sharing information its certain that major modifications would take less time due to the availability and sharing of data.

 

A similar phenomenon has occured within the Homeworld 2 Modification Community. Many mods other then Warlords have begun incorporating parts of his mod because he offers up the information and models upon request. I've seen EvilleJedi's Ion Cannon effect script used by a number of different mods, several of which have nothing to do with Star Wars.

 

By making it a central element of the mod community it will also give the Devs a direct route of communication between themselves and the modders. In many ways you could think of modifications and their popularity as a means of market research. Just look at how Counter-Strike got started! Modders may come up with efficient means of working with the engine that the devs had not considered and would want to incorporate in the creation of the next generation game. For this reason I'd really hope that the mods will be willing to share their scripting, both to help the developers and other modders.

 

You know what... this is starting to sound like some open-source type community... Cool!

[Cain]

Yup they are all corect ... also we support cooperation betwen different sites by haveing enclaves on all of their forums.

 

Off course that we will have a central command site - actually a section in that one (JediIgor is working on it - the new PFF - that will show up after we move to the PF) but that will be used only for work feedback etc.

 

We also have the devs to convince to take part in this organization in a hidden and secretive way (due to legal dangers) and if they will trust or managerial team they will help. That's why we need to have Ismael on this too.

 

Also we have a bit of a problem with this IA2 Nexus thing since it tends to create one super site and the other EAW site admins will not like it not to mention that as a dev you want to have many sites and spread all over the web etc.

 

So this beeing said I want to know if our PFF people will go with the Nexus or join forces with us in the development of the new organization.

 

Btw Stellar - how about createing the "Book of Origins" for the new organization ? (lets have this name for a start : PMO - Petroglyph Moding Organization.

 

1. What is PMO.

 

2. What we offer.

 

3. What are our rules

 

... etc

 

Stellar you are better than me at this ? Could you start the docment and we will work with you on it makeing different versions ?

[Foshjedi2004]

A forum has already been set up for that sort of discussion

 

http://eawnexus.gamingsource.net/forums/index.php?act=idx

[Cain]

A forum has already been set up for that sort of discussion

 

http://eawnexus.gamingsource.net/forums/index.php?act=idx

 

Its not ours and it has not our support ... so are you with us or with them ?

 

I'm not about to enlist my self in a moding community that has not our additional goals and that I personally suspect of not haveing all the cards on the table.

 

Anyway here is the structure of the NMA (Nevada Moding Association) - Nevada = Las Vegas = Petroglyph to avoid any direct legal trace to the devs.

 

NMA :

 

NMA General Manager = Ismael

 

NMA Lead Producer= Eville Jedi - Main job to guide the overall production of mods.

NMA Associate Producer = Main job will be to help the GM - Ismael - and I will suggest for this job - Jedi Igor

 

NMA Community Manager = Cain

NMA Community Coordinator = Ghostly

 

NMA PR Manager = Fosh

NMA PR Coordinator = Open

 

NMO VISION Manager = Stellar

NMO Vision Coordinator= Open

 

NMA Human Resources Manager=Open

NMA Human Resources Coordinator=Open

 

NMA Support Manager= All the site admins were we have enclaves

 

NMA Enclave Manager=

NMA Enclave coordinator=

 

NMA Project Manager = All Mod Leaders

 

... Now inside the NMO we will have two leaders a Manager and a Coordinator:

 

Here are the departaments:

 

NMA Development - 2 jobs

 

NMA QA - 2 jobs

 

NMA Internal Feedback - 2 jobs . for our projects

NMA External Feedback - 2 Jobs . for petro projetcs

 

etc

 

The developers will not take any official managerial place but they will have their influence present true Ismael.

 

now its up to you guys to decide what job yopu want or were you are best suited. We have jobs for everyone.