So very importantly, and first off, I'm thankful to the people that have kept this going, and put in so many improvements during the time I've been looking more closely into the project. I'm pretty certain that I'm going to be forgetting people if I start listing, so apologies to anyone I miss, but here goes, nevertheless:
For the longest time to me it's been you, Illwieckz that has been keeping things going and holding things together here - and from what I saw, Afontain, Lautre and Gireen, you kept company and lent a hand for most of the time along the way.
Freem, it would have been hard to miss you in the chats, and your AI work (and less visible refactoring) has certainly had - and continues to have - a massive impact on the regular playerbase.
Part of the reason I said I'm probably going to forget people is that up until recently that was it for those I was aware of doing stuff here :P :/ .
But of course Sweet0 and cu-kai , you two keep yourself busy giving players a place to call home (by running, updating and also importantly, sticking round on servers - and more!).
And then while perturbed and Ishq, your name didn't stick to me from following chats, I now know a little bit about the work you've been doing "under the hood" on the game and engine - both on improvements and new features as well as fixing existing bugs that turn up.
Finally - I guess honorable mention :) - Viech I'm looking forward to what you'll be bringing to the game :) - a few years down the road from when you and others first built it.
So that was the roll-call I guess :P , but I also have a wish list - things I'd like to see happen going forward (and am more than willing to lend a hand putting into place).
I'll try to keep it short, and just go for bullets - happy to expand on any of this if people want some more explanation. I would love to have:
* A conflict resolution method / process
* Some kind of idea for onboarding new contributors
* A website that reflects the current state of the project (ie, an up to date website)
* Some clarity on who/what makes up the team, and how decisions for the project are made
* A place where the steps that go into making a release are sketched out (publicly, if possible)
I have two motivations for these suggestions: One is I love the game, and I'd like to contribute to it - but while - like I've mentioned above, overall progress in general is great, the friction here is driving me off. The other is I think the project would benefit from these things - I believe overall it would help getting things improved and growing the game.
(yes - I realise these are all "meta" issues. I'm also convinced it makes a difference whether/how you have these meta issues addressed; by putting in a bit of extra leg work over "just going with the flow" - as attractive as I can see that is :P).
Thanks for your time, and curious on what people's thoughts are - and how / whether people are open to some of the suggestions.