Duke John
01-25-2004, 23:25
Hello everybody,
I must warn beforehand that this post is not of the kind you usually see in the Dungeon. Still I have my reasons for posting it here; it's mod-related and I need advice from other modders. So here goes
I am troubled and torn. Several months ago I started a thread where I posted my first new unit graphic, the Uruk-Hai of the Lord of the Rings. At that time I did not know that it was only the start of something huge.
The ME:TW community
The community wanted a Lord of the Rings mod badly, and more and more members offered their help. The response was so huge that we had to move to a forum dedicated to ME:TW as the mod was now known. The forum at leftzed.com was getting crowded however and development of the mod was hindered by the amounts of posts produced by the members.
The choice was then made to separate the developers forum and the players forum, with the latter only opened recently.
Leading the ME:TW team
The discussions were productive and they were for me enjoyable to see how enthusiasts all over the world could work together. In time responsibility and leadership was appointed to me. I did not ask for it, but I "earned" it in some way.
At that time I was still hopeful for a finished mod and I released the first beta. This beta was for 90% my work, not surprisingly since it was mostly composed of graphics. After the many compliments on that achievement we even got a review in a French Wargames magazine.
More people offered their talents and I happily accepted them and tried to coordinate all their efforts. And at this point the problems come. Modding is a hobby but I had reached a point where I needed to guide 10-15 people, moderate discussions, bring up new ideas and make 30 BIfs. I rang the alarm and the ME:TW team came up with the idea to make small groups where each one had a focus on a small part of the mod. Play-testing was getting along very nicely and Helper was making his fabulous map of Middle Earth.
After several weeks there was however still little done. The discussions were no longer productive as almost everything was discussed and we had reached the point where it was time for action and not for words. This change of working method was not really "accepted".
The problem
Some people may think what the problem is, so the mod is taking longer to finish, so what as it gets finished a bit further in the future? Well at that time I was putting enormous amounts of time into the mod especially compared to other ME:TW team-members. I am not judging them for that, it's a hobby and everybody may decide for themselves how much time is put into it. But my time was set as I still needed to finish loads of BIFs, I was progressing but the rest of the team couldn't catch up. And from my point of view this was not the way to go as making unit graphics should take the most time. Changing names adding units is done in a flash, but still it wasn't done. So I cracked my whip a bit harder but to no avail, a small spurt was made and then the energy was again lost. I got disheartened, was I such a bad leader that I could not motivate others or was something else wrong. Well after weeks of frustration the last straw was a serious argument between two members.
In December ME:TW team had a bit of a crisis as me and Helper decided to quit the team, partly because of the said argument and partly because of how ME:TW team was losing spirit and its nice and friendly atmosphere.
But the bond between ME:TW teammembers seemed to be strong and after a grouphug we decided to continue working on ME:TW.
We had our Christmas vacation and we should have gotten enough energy to go full speed. Then I decided that my university should get priority for a while and I posted that I couldn't spend time on the forums and the rest should continue without me for a while. And silence struck the developers forum. Apparently the dynamic ME:TW team lost its momentum completely and got to a halt.
Perhaps one of the most ambitious mods for M:TW was perhaps doomed to failure because of the amount of work needed to be done. Perhaps we made the wrong decisions on how we worked. But in the team's present state I think I can safely say that it will never be finished.
If someone cannot see this mod to die, then I seriously hope that he takes over the lead and finishes it. The big problem lies with the unit graphics. Without me, there is currently nobody who can do it. I got backup by someone, but he left, another one started his own Silmarillion: Total War mod. I do know that Aldaeron and Encaitar still want to work on the mod, so any future METW modders will certainly get help from beside the enthusiastic METW forum community, I wish them the best of luck.
Why am I posting this?
Probably a question some of you came up with if you did read my post. Well, if I continue working on this mod and finish it, there will be a mod probably wanted by thousands of people. The ME:TW forum already has 400 members and each day we have new members. And we haven't even promoted our mod in the LotR community. But this also means months of work, work on a project in which I no longer have much motivation for. The only reason I was still modding ME:TW was because of the community. I have no ambition into making a career in the games industry so it always remains just a hobby.
I realise that this has become quite a long post and perhaps there won't be any responses, but if that is the case then it's still an answer. If the people do not care for the person behind the mod, then why should I care about the people who play the mod?
Perhaps I just want to hear, "Quit with something you do not want to do." I have several other interests, I have a loving girlfriend and I am learning myself how to make wooden furniture and there is of course a study to finish. For me it's worryingly alarming when people comment on me when I post something else besides ME:TW. "Yeah, sure it's nice, but what about ME:TW?" After writing this post I have emptied my heart and I feel kinda relieved as I finally tell the community on how ME:TW is faring and that I am getting fed up with it.
So what do I gain with quitting ME:TW? Well an awful lot of free time and no obligation to an internet community on how to spend it. I really like the maturity of the Org community and I plan to help other modders more and finish some guides. One merit of ME:TW was the experience I got with M:TW and I want to share it with others. Perhaps it will even mean a finished METW mod made by someone else. I am now also working solitary on a Wars of the Roses mod. I do it in my own pace and for my own pleasure, and I like it
I am curious whether anyone could have been bothered with reading it all, but for me, this post is a kind of goodbye to ME:TW. I have enjoyed it (at least the discussion bit) and I want to repeat a line (probably a bit altered) a Finnish member once said on the developers forum: "I feel honoured that I could have traveled in the same train." But I have reached the point where I need to switch to another train and get on with my life, so please do not blame me for my resignation.
Thanks for the attention,
Duke John
I must warn beforehand that this post is not of the kind you usually see in the Dungeon. Still I have my reasons for posting it here; it's mod-related and I need advice from other modders. So here goes
I am troubled and torn. Several months ago I started a thread where I posted my first new unit graphic, the Uruk-Hai of the Lord of the Rings. At that time I did not know that it was only the start of something huge.
The ME:TW community
The community wanted a Lord of the Rings mod badly, and more and more members offered their help. The response was so huge that we had to move to a forum dedicated to ME:TW as the mod was now known. The forum at leftzed.com was getting crowded however and development of the mod was hindered by the amounts of posts produced by the members.
The choice was then made to separate the developers forum and the players forum, with the latter only opened recently.
Leading the ME:TW team
The discussions were productive and they were for me enjoyable to see how enthusiasts all over the world could work together. In time responsibility and leadership was appointed to me. I did not ask for it, but I "earned" it in some way.
At that time I was still hopeful for a finished mod and I released the first beta. This beta was for 90% my work, not surprisingly since it was mostly composed of graphics. After the many compliments on that achievement we even got a review in a French Wargames magazine.
More people offered their talents and I happily accepted them and tried to coordinate all their efforts. And at this point the problems come. Modding is a hobby but I had reached a point where I needed to guide 10-15 people, moderate discussions, bring up new ideas and make 30 BIfs. I rang the alarm and the ME:TW team came up with the idea to make small groups where each one had a focus on a small part of the mod. Play-testing was getting along very nicely and Helper was making his fabulous map of Middle Earth.
After several weeks there was however still little done. The discussions were no longer productive as almost everything was discussed and we had reached the point where it was time for action and not for words. This change of working method was not really "accepted".
The problem
Some people may think what the problem is, so the mod is taking longer to finish, so what as it gets finished a bit further in the future? Well at that time I was putting enormous amounts of time into the mod especially compared to other ME:TW team-members. I am not judging them for that, it's a hobby and everybody may decide for themselves how much time is put into it. But my time was set as I still needed to finish loads of BIFs, I was progressing but the rest of the team couldn't catch up. And from my point of view this was not the way to go as making unit graphics should take the most time. Changing names adding units is done in a flash, but still it wasn't done. So I cracked my whip a bit harder but to no avail, a small spurt was made and then the energy was again lost. I got disheartened, was I such a bad leader that I could not motivate others or was something else wrong. Well after weeks of frustration the last straw was a serious argument between two members.
In December ME:TW team had a bit of a crisis as me and Helper decided to quit the team, partly because of the said argument and partly because of how ME:TW team was losing spirit and its nice and friendly atmosphere.
But the bond between ME:TW teammembers seemed to be strong and after a grouphug we decided to continue working on ME:TW.
We had our Christmas vacation and we should have gotten enough energy to go full speed. Then I decided that my university should get priority for a while and I posted that I couldn't spend time on the forums and the rest should continue without me for a while. And silence struck the developers forum. Apparently the dynamic ME:TW team lost its momentum completely and got to a halt.
Perhaps one of the most ambitious mods for M:TW was perhaps doomed to failure because of the amount of work needed to be done. Perhaps we made the wrong decisions on how we worked. But in the team's present state I think I can safely say that it will never be finished.
If someone cannot see this mod to die, then I seriously hope that he takes over the lead and finishes it. The big problem lies with the unit graphics. Without me, there is currently nobody who can do it. I got backup by someone, but he left, another one started his own Silmarillion: Total War mod. I do know that Aldaeron and Encaitar still want to work on the mod, so any future METW modders will certainly get help from beside the enthusiastic METW forum community, I wish them the best of luck.
Why am I posting this?
Probably a question some of you came up with if you did read my post. Well, if I continue working on this mod and finish it, there will be a mod probably wanted by thousands of people. The ME:TW forum already has 400 members and each day we have new members. And we haven't even promoted our mod in the LotR community. But this also means months of work, work on a project in which I no longer have much motivation for. The only reason I was still modding ME:TW was because of the community. I have no ambition into making a career in the games industry so it always remains just a hobby.
I realise that this has become quite a long post and perhaps there won't be any responses, but if that is the case then it's still an answer. If the people do not care for the person behind the mod, then why should I care about the people who play the mod?
Perhaps I just want to hear, "Quit with something you do not want to do." I have several other interests, I have a loving girlfriend and I am learning myself how to make wooden furniture and there is of course a study to finish. For me it's worryingly alarming when people comment on me when I post something else besides ME:TW. "Yeah, sure it's nice, but what about ME:TW?" After writing this post I have emptied my heart and I feel kinda relieved as I finally tell the community on how ME:TW is faring and that I am getting fed up with it.
So what do I gain with quitting ME:TW? Well an awful lot of free time and no obligation to an internet community on how to spend it. I really like the maturity of the Org community and I plan to help other modders more and finish some guides. One merit of ME:TW was the experience I got with M:TW and I want to share it with others. Perhaps it will even mean a finished METW mod made by someone else. I am now also working solitary on a Wars of the Roses mod. I do it in my own pace and for my own pleasure, and I like it
I am curious whether anyone could have been bothered with reading it all, but for me, this post is a kind of goodbye to ME:TW. I have enjoyed it (at least the discussion bit) and I want to repeat a line (probably a bit altered) a Finnish member once said on the developers forum: "I feel honoured that I could have traveled in the same train." But I have reached the point where I need to switch to another train and get on with my life, so please do not blame me for my resignation.
Thanks for the attention,
Duke John