Let's assume I thought any of the folks posting all over the City Sunset are capable of developing a MMO game. Just for argument.
All that "discussing ideas" stuff over there is counterproductive. Even if most posters were not... unprepared for the task... that mess of thousands of disparate "ideas" written up in excruciating detail and debated ad nauseam is not a workable approach to such a project. That most, including the most prolific and dominant "contributors," are not prepared (having no technical expertise), makes it worse. The few capable people who have seen that, including some programmers who were initially excited by the idea, have virtually run away screaming.
I don't think those capable people have even been recognized by the Plan Z subcommunity, as the group is becoming insular and defensive. I am sure to be chastised for pointing out the obvious here.
But, well, it's worse than a herd of cats. If you really want to accomplish anything, this current sort of brainstorming needs to go. Realize that very few in this group are qualified to design game software. Those few who are need to be identified, and the rest instead concentrate on things like funding. Anything else you say is almost certainly wasting the time of the capable, who could be discussing practical issues rather than trying to explain why your cool ideas in all their glorious detail are not feasible, or even trying to explain the concepts they are capable of implementing to non-programmers.
If you lack experience in software development and just can't put a damper on that creative urge, maybe you can separate and specialize. Writers create a group and figure out how to sort yourselves. Concept artists another group. Then figure out a way of coordinating without stepping all over other groups' territory. But understand that the experienced programmers, not creative artists (never the artists), are the top of the hierarchy. The programmers' work will determine the boundaries creative talent work within. If you aren't experienced and want to contribute, don't go looking for 3D engines or scripting languages and playing with whatever thing catches your eye -- wait for the lead programmers to point the way.
Maybe you'll ignore this, since it's a buzzkill and you're having fun. It doesn't matter much to me, beyond how this is derailing/hijacking efforts to actually preserve City of Heroes*, but if you're determined...
That's an interesting perspective, Mantic. I'm rather curious as to which programmers have run away screaming for reasons directly related to Plan Z. Perhaps you'd like to cite some solid examples for us, so that we can address those concerns factually rather than theoretically? Certainly if people are becoming concerned about the brainstorming mode we're currently operating in, it's something that we'd want to hear about and discuss.
I'm a little bit curious as to your own experience in developing games of any kind - in my experience, which is fairly extensive, the brainstorming portion is rather critical to assembling a pool of *potential* tools, groups, and information to use. It doesn't necessarily mean that the process will be neat, and it certainly doesn't mean that everything suggested will be used or even workable. What it DOES do is provide the people who will be doing the bulk of the work, both writing and programming, a solid idea of what people would like to see in the game.
I understand that you've been fairly hostile to all of the Plan Z efforts thus far. Perhaps you're not aware that we've already been separated into several subgroups for quite some time, with people contributing at their level of expertise, in their areas of expertise. In some cases, that's extensive. In others, it's minimal and includes "things I really want to see" that are going to be completely impractical. We writers can write whatever we'd like - some of it will be used, some of it will be tabled for later, and some of it will be dismissed. That's part of what the Story Director does. The request here is simply a request to fine-tune the forum section that we're working in, nothing more.
I AM rather curious as to how you feel this is hijacking efforts to save COH, since every person who's posted about Plan Z on anything other than the Sunset forum has said that this is the absolute last resort to be implemented after ALL other efforts have failed. We've specifically said that we do NOT want people whose expertise is better used in saving COH to spend time working on Plan Z unless THEY feel that they can spare the time without drawing their attention away from the primary effort of saving COH. Please elaborate on this, as I'm not entirely certain how you're drawing the conclusion that we're trying to hijack efforts to save COH even after repeated statements that we do not want people to distract themselves from that task.
Perhaps you've missed the multiple times we've said that we are aware that the primary programming staff for Titan Network is busy with efforts to save COH, as they should be, and that we will not request assistance of them until and unless Tony says "Implement Plan Z"?
Can you address this in a calm, factual manner instead of a hostile, aggressive, un-substantiated manner, please? I haven't seen any input from you in the City Sunset forums, but perhaps there are threads you're reading that lead you to feel this way? Please do give us examples, as we are quite against any appearance of trying to hijack or reduce efforts to save COH. I'd much rather hand over the volume of material we've created to Paragon Studios and say "Here's some ideas for the next few expansions, have at it.", personally, and I believe that most of us working in those forums feel the same way.