Weewar Forum

**McMonster** · This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 24/08/2011 09:43:20

Maximus wrote:I suggested elsewhere asking EA to donate the game to the commons as Open Source software. Even if they wouldn't, and insisted on selling, I would still suggest that whatever entity purchases it make it Open Source.

I would suggest that a nonprofit membership association, run by a board of volunteers, be formed, and that this entity oversee both the game's development and finances.

There is little profit potential in Weewar anyway, but so much to gain by donating it to the commons:

a) volunteer contributions (not just shiny new features, but bug-fixes too)
b) avoidance of ownership battles, not just of the software IP, but of the bank account.
c) subjugation of the profit motive within any individual involved

The first step is to say to EA: "Look, we have a nonprofit, we have $1,000 in our corporate bank account, we have a hosting contract with Rackspace, and we have a project maintainer who knows the application well and has committed to maintaining it for a 1 yr term at 10hr/week. If you Open Source the project, and give us the Weewar trademark, and we will give Weewar a good home."

Agree 100%! + EA gets the +ve press.

Does this mean you are volunteering to help us with co-ordination and business planning, and sitting on the board of the non-profit Maxi? I assume so and signed you up on the list in the first post of the thread. Please let me know if this is an inaccurate presumption!

....

Dear Weewarriors,

Please read the first post in the thread for background info and the rest to get caught up on discussion to date.

PLEASE KEEP YOUR COMMENTS AS BRIEF AND SUCCINCT AS POSSIBLE SO THAT OTHERS WILL NOT BE INSPIRED TO BREAK YOUR FINGERS. And try to avoid poo pooy naysaying in this thread - thoughtful critiques welcome however!

Please bookmark this webpage so that weewarriors can communicate about (buying) Weewar if the site crashes long-term or is shut down: http://saveweewar.wordpress.com/

Please VOTE in the poll at the top of the thread.

**Casaubon**

Maximus wrote:I suggested elsewhere asking EA to donate the game to the commons as Open Source software. Even if they wouldn't, and insisted on selling, I would still suggest that whatever entity purchases it make it Open Source.

I would suggest that a nonprofit membership association, run by a board of volunteers, be formed, and that this entity oversee both the game's development and finances.

What if this was the base (I like this approach very much) + to motivate some people who have skills but wouldn´t want to contribute without any financial reward, enhance the base weewar trait to such a modularity/API connectivity that it is very easy for external mobile developers to port their versions, which wouldn´t necessarily need to be open source.

Developer "Mr Example" creates Weewar on Android/Iphone/Win7Phone/whatever within the bounds of the entity´s rules they agreed on. He sell his Weewar on the app marketplace for 2$(whatever) keeps the profit, makes weewar more popular while the base team can focus on improving the game while he does all the work regarding the mobile porting.

could this be a win/win situation?

**kersplat**

I wonder how much open sourcing is necessary. I really like the idea of porting the WW "theme" over to the Warnet engine. I brought Balduran (creator of Warnet) into the conversation because he has been incredibly dedicated to Warnet and has built some excellent functionality into the back end. I know some people aren't into the Medieval theme. I think that is the beauty of using Warnet as an engine - Balduran is already working on the ability to use different themes, including independent scoring capabilities.

Pros: We get WW back in all its glory - graphics, scoring, community, etc.; we get a functional site that was architected with scalability in mind; we get stats, move indicators, FoW, brilliantly implemented chat functionality, and a whole lot more of the things the WW community has been asking for; we get a responsive developer again.

Cons: I'm having a hard time thinking of the downside. Maybe that the site doesn't look the same as we're all used to, but suck it up, things change. I'm sure there are others, but so far they don't outweigh the positives in my mind.

Personally I would rather have a fully functional game with a responsive developer and get used to a few changes, than have to deal with the "gears" message multiple times a day. I have largely migrated my game play to Warnet as it is. I still hang out with the WW gang and have a few games ongoing at one time, but that is solely for the community.

I know I'm not one of the more outspoken folks in the community (I'm no Darkbee), but I've been playing WW longer than most (I'm one of the few who date back to 2007) and I've seen all the good and the bad. I have some serious time invested along with a minor dollar figure and I would hate to see that all go away. If the issue of getting the rights from EA is going to be monumentally difficult, I say screw EA. They've done nothing to earn our loyalty (in fact, they seem to have done a great job of driving us away). If we can get basically the same effect by doing some minor tweaks after porting to Warnet, then by all means, I say we run with it and make it happen. Between what Balduran has created and Spadequack's intimate knowledge of WW, I think there is great potential to pull this off.

At risk of adding to the confusion, I'm more than willing to help coordinate. I'm an IT/Development Project Manager by trade and have years of experience managing this type of effort.

**Maximus**

McMonster wrote:
Does this mean you are volunteering to help us with co-ordination and business planning, and sitting on the board of the non-profit Maxi? I assume so and signed you up on the list in the first post of the thread. Please let me know if this is an inaccurate presumption!

Hah, I appreciate your enthusiasm immensely and hope for nothing but the best! But, I have to be very clear on this -- I am not volunteering for this project in any capacity, no.

I just don't have time. This is not an impossible project but it's a very serious one, mostly because it involves managing a bank account and paying vendors. Much time and effort would have be put into it by a good-sized group of people.

I'm already spread so thin that I force myself to play just one weewar game a time!

**Maximus**

kersplat wrote:I really like the idea of porting the WW "theme" over to the Warnet engine.

I love this idea -- so much simpler than trying to manage an entire software project out of a newly formed oganization.

To put it another way, Balduran has Fog of War right now!

**Maximus**

Casaubon wrote:What if this was the base (I like this approach very much) + to motivate some people who have skills but wouldn´t want to contribute without any financial reward, enhance the base weewar trait to such a modularity/API connectivity that it is very easy for external mobile developers to port their versions, which wouldn´t necessarily need to be open source.

Developer "Mr Example" creates Weewar on Android/Iphone/Win7Phone/whatever within the bounds of the entity´s rules they agreed on. He sell his Weewar on the app marketplace for 2$(whatever) keeps the profit, makes weewar more popular while the base team can focus on improving the game while he does all the work regarding the mobile porting.

could this be a win/win situation?

Causabon, it could be and to an extent it is among various Open Source projects. I work in the online software business and work closely with a popular Open Source project called Drupal. You might this post by the founder of Drupal interesting -- he compares his own project to Joomla, and Open Source tool which has a "features for sale" marketplace model similar to what you're envisioning. http://buytaert.net/joomla-vs-drupal-business-models-and-commercial-ecosystem

Mind you, I think a brainy game like Weewar has a pretty small marketplace.

**spadequack** · This message was edited 8 times. Last update was at 25/08/2011 03:07:14

I emailed Alex for an update. He says that he will make an effort to expedite this as much as possible and keep me posted, and that they are committed to resolving it ASAP.

It sounds like they are seriously considering an option or a few options and are working on the details, but it may be a little time before we hear anything concrete back.

I can also confirm that Alex is the head honcho of the studio for now, and knowing him and the fact that Weewar is his brainchild, I think he will push hard for a good future for Weewar and will be open to a variety of ideas.

Since we don't have much new info, I think we should start working out the details of one primary plan to pitch to Alex in case the option(s) that he is considering falls through or is unappealing to us in the community. In the case of moving to the Warnet architecture, what would need to be done?

Some questions:
1) Development - Balduran, are you willing to open source your code? If not, are you willing to take in external developers to build new features?
2) Business model - Would the Weewar clone be free to play? We need to consider server costs and compensation for developers and all others devoting time and effort.
3) Management - Would Balduran be in charge of overseeing the Weewar clone or would a new committee need to be formed?

**Balduran**

Hey guys

I am really glad to see that you like the idea of porting Weewar over to Warnet engine. I think it is definitely one of the best options to keep weewar going!

But there might be a few drawbacks for this idea, so let's open a little more concrete discussion.
Answers to spadequack questions
1) Opensourcing is not an option at the moment. Opensourcing warnet would create more clones and somewhat ruin the market. Another point to this is that I am running a small IT company and if this gets more serious I would prefer to hire local people, so we are much more efficient than with an international team.
2) This is a topic for discussion, but as you said, there are server costs and developer fees. At the moment for Warnet Inditel Meedia OÜ is paying running costs and will do so for weewar also at the beginning. But there should be something that generates income. I like weewar payment method and would recommend adding similar fee system. But what I do not like was that weewar was super limited for free accounts. I would like to introduce a little more freedom for free players.
3) I would prefer to be in charge. I think I would be quite a good candidate as I have a lot of experience in the field already (and playing weewar too. I was on top long time until you all guys decided to go over 2000 :p.) I am friendly and supporing for good and new ideas. I think this is a good point for discussion, problems, benefits?

As you see my vision is a little different compared to how you see it at the moment. I think definite plus side would be a strict leadership and that I have resources and motivation to continue weewar right now. Making a huge team/board might slow things down. I do not plan to start changing weewar, the idea would be to keep it as similar to current as possible. New ideas would be discussed with everyone first.

To continue I totally agree with spadequack that we should start working with details. Maybe go and chat somewhere to work it out? Open google docs to start writing it down? Skype meeting?

Let me know what do you think

Oliver

**McMonster** · This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 26/08/2011 00:49:02

kersplat wrote:I wonder how much open sourcing is necessary. I really like the idea of porting the WW "theme" over to the Warnet engine. I brought Balduran (creator of Warnet) into the conversation because he has been incredibly dedicated to Warnet and has built some excellent functionality into the back end. I know some people aren't into the Medieval theme. I think that is the beauty of using Warnet as an engine - Balduran is already working on the ability to use different themes, including independent scoring capabilities.

Pros: We get WW back in all its glory - graphics, scoring, community, etc.; we get a functional site that was architected with scalability in mind; we get stats, move indicators, FoW, brilliantly implemented chat functionality, and a whole lot more of the things the WW community has been asking for; we get a responsive developer again.

Cons: I'm having a hard time thinking of the downside. Maybe that the site doesn't look the same as we're all used to, but suck it up, things change. I'm sure there are others, but so far they don't outweigh the positives in my mind.

Thank you for your engagement kersplat! you make good points here. i am going to start a new thread asking weewarriors to give input on the ideal business model for weewar. and i've added you to the list if this ends up being something we work on ourselves.

maximus wrote:I have to be very clear on this -- I am not volunteering for this project in any capacity, no.

I just don't have time. This is not an impossible project but it's a very serious one, mostly because it involves managing a bank account and paying vendors. Much time and effort would have be put into it by a good-sized group of people.

I'm already spread so thin that I force myself to play just one weewar game a time!

gotcha maxi - too bad, as you seem to have more experience and knowledge than the rest of us when it comes to open source projects. can we consult you for your wisdom at least if we end up going in that direction?

spadequack wrote:I emailed Alex for an update. He says that he will make an effort to expedite this as much as possible and keep me posted, and that they are committed to resolving it ASAP.

It sounds like they are seriously considering an option or a few options and are working on the details, but it may be a little time before we hear anything concrete back.

I can also confirm that Alex is the head honcho of the studio for now, and knowing him and the fact that Weewar is his brainchild, I think he will push hard for a good future for Weewar and will be open to a variety of ideas.

GREAT - thanks for the update Spade! Did you ask Alex about the open source idea? Can you please? What about selling to Balduran? Would they set up a competitor like that?

...

How much would you expect to pay Baldy/do you think would be a fair price for Weewar? Thank you, BTW, for clear description of where you'd like to take things. I will include this in a list of options for Weewarriors to vote on - when I get a few minutes to start a new thread!

**spadequack** · This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 25/08/2011 16:55:58

McMonster wrote:Did you ask Alex about the open source idea? Can you please? What about selling to Balduran?

Yes, I've mentioned both and I think they are both under consideration.

**McMonster**

spadequack wrote:

McMonster wrote:Did you ask Alex about the open source idea? Can you please? What about selling to Balduran?

Yes, I've mentioned both and I think they are both under consideration.

AWESOME - ty spade!

OK folks, how bout we vote on and debate alternative possibilities for the business model/org structure for Weewar in a new thread - please cut and paste this text/link into your game chats:

NEW FORUM THREAD: What "business model"/organizational structure should Weewar move towards? Please VOTE and COMMENT: http://weewar.com/forum/posts/list/1519.page

**jeye**

I might be able to contribute to game development and unit balance. But I don't have much time currently.

**Plasmablaster**

jeye wrote:I might be able to contribute to game development and unit balance. But I don't have much time currently.

Perhaps you could help discover and iron out any imbalance and other issues of all new ideas?

My idea of working collaboratively for game development is:

1. Introduce and dscuss new ideas
2. After discussion, decide which ones will get to be tested
3. Implement the changes on a test server
4. Players test the changes/additions
5. After testing ends decision about the future of the changes

Since you don't have much time the 4th part is where your input could be crucial, top players like yourself surely can discover possible problems/imbalances which are not obvious from the start.

**spadequack** · This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 27/08/2011 00:20:10

I just spoke with Alex. There is a definite plan in motion for the future of Weewar, which would empower the community to do much more than it can do now. I know the details, but unfortunately, Alex is binding me not to say any more until more of the details are worked out and cleared with the rest of EA. I can say, however, that the idea is a good and promising one and it may be a month, maybe two months or longer, before the plan goes into visible action.

Alex will keep me updated, and I will keep you all updated when I learn more.

**kersplat**

I know you're just the messenger spade, but I can't help but think of this posting by Alex almost a year ago; as well as more than a year of incredibly poor support and communication (not including your efforts) from Alex and the EA team since the acquisition. I had a very high opinion of Alex and Bert in the early days, back when they were playing alongside each of us and we could chat it up about features and issues. That seems like a very long time ago, and it just doesn't sit well with me. To tell us that big things are in store and we just need to sit tight is a slap in the face. I don't believe it and I won't until I see it this time. I don't say any of this lightly - I'm normally a very trusting person, but this has gone on for far too long. We have reached the point where the community is doing everything it can to save a much-loved game and seeing nothing in return. It's a bunch of BS in my opinion.

Sorry for the rant, but I have a feeling it's what a lot of people are thinking right now.

</rant>

Yes, and I'll pay to play	33%	[ 39 ]
Yes, and I'll help	22%	[ 26 ]
Yes, but it sounds impossible	14%	[ 17 ]
Maybe - depends on the price and the skills required/on hand	21%	[ 25 ]
No, bad idea - we'd just make a mess of it	5%	[ 6 ]
No, let it die	5%	[ 6 ]
Total Votes : 119

24/08/2011 08:52:25 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
McMonster Tank Offline	Maximus wrote:I suggested elsewhere asking EA to donate the game to the commons as Open Source software. Even if they wouldn't, and insisted on selling, I would still suggest that whatever entity purchases it make it Open Source. I would suggest that a nonprofit membership association, run by a board of volunteers, be formed, and that this entity oversee both the game's development and finances. There is little profit potential in Weewar anyway, but so much to gain by donating it to the commons: a) volunteer contributions (not just shiny new features, but bug-fixes too) b) avoidance of ownership battles, not just of the software IP, but of the bank account. c) subjugation of the profit motive within any individual involved The first step is to say to EA: "Look, we have a nonprofit, we have $1,000 in our corporate bank account, we have a hosting contract with Rackspace, and we have a project maintainer who knows the application well and has committed to maintaining it for a 1 yr term at 10hr/week. If you Open Source the project, and give us the Weewar trademark, and we will give Weewar a good home." Agree 100%! + EA gets the +ve press. Does this mean you are volunteering to help us with co-ordination and business planning, and sitting on the board of the non-profit Maxi? I assume so and signed you up on the list in the first post of the thread. Please let me know if this is an inaccurate presumption! .... Dear Weewarriors, Please read the first post in the thread for background info and the rest to get caught up on discussion to date. PLEASE KEEP YOUR COMMENTS AS BRIEF AND SUCCINCT AS POSSIBLE SO THAT OTHERS WILL NOT BE INSPIRED TO BREAK YOUR FINGERS. And try to avoid poo pooy naysaying in this thread - thoughtful critiques welcome however! Please bookmark this webpage so that weewarriors can communicate about (buying) Weewar if the site crashes long-term or is shut down: http://saveweewar.wordpress.com/ Please VOTE in the poll at the top of the thread. This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 24/08/2011 09:43:20
24/08/2011 09:49:11 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
Casaubon Tank Offline	Maximus wrote:I suggested elsewhere asking EA to donate the game to the commons as Open Source software. Even if they wouldn't, and insisted on selling, I would still suggest that whatever entity purchases it make it Open Source. I would suggest that a nonprofit membership association, run by a board of volunteers, be formed, and that this entity oversee both the game's development and finances. What if this was the base (I like this approach very much) + to motivate some people who have skills but wouldn´t want to contribute without any financial reward, enhance the base weewar trait to such a modularity/API connectivity that it is very easy for external mobile developers to port their versions, which wouldn´t necessarily need to be open source. Developer "Mr Example" creates Weewar on Android/Iphone/Win7Phone/whatever within the bounds of the entity´s rules they agreed on. He sell his Weewar on the app marketplace for 2$(whatever) keeps the profit, makes weewar more popular while the base team can focus on improving the game while he does all the work regarding the mobile porting. could this be a win/win situation?
24/08/2011 20:02:09 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
kersplat Raider Offline	I wonder how much open sourcing is necessary. I really like the idea of porting the WW "theme" over to the Warnet engine. I brought Balduran (creator of Warnet) into the conversation because he has been incredibly dedicated to Warnet and has built some excellent functionality into the back end. I know some people aren't into the Medieval theme. I think that is the beauty of using Warnet as an engine - Balduran is already working on the ability to use different themes, including independent scoring capabilities. Pros: We get WW back in all its glory - graphics, scoring, community, etc.; we get a functional site that was architected with scalability in mind; we get stats, move indicators, FoW, brilliantly implemented chat functionality, and a whole lot more of the things the WW community has been asking for; we get a responsive developer again. Cons: I'm having a hard time thinking of the downside. Maybe that the site doesn't look the same as we're all used to, but suck it up, things change. I'm sure there are others, but so far they don't outweigh the positives in my mind. Personally I would rather have a fully functional game with a responsive developer and get used to a few changes, than have to deal with the "gears" message multiple times a day. I have largely migrated my game play to Warnet as it is. I still hang out with the WW gang and have a few games ongoing at one time, but that is solely for the community. I know I'm not one of the more outspoken folks in the community (I'm no Darkbee), but I've been playing WW longer than most (I'm one of the few who date back to 2007) and I've seen all the good and the bad. I have some serious time invested along with a minor dollar figure and I would hate to see that all go away. If the issue of getting the rights from EA is going to be monumentally difficult, I say screw EA. They've done nothing to earn our loyalty (in fact, they seem to have done a great job of driving us away). If we can get basically the same effect by doing some minor tweaks after porting to Warnet, then by all means, I say we run with it and make it happen. Between what Balduran has created and Spadequack's intimate knowledge of WW, I think there is great potential to pull this off. At risk of adding to the confusion, I'm more than willing to help coordinate. I'm an IT/Development Project Manager by trade and have years of experience managing this type of effort.
24/08/2011 23:40:24 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
Maximus Trooper Offline	McMonster wrote: Does this mean you are volunteering to help us with co-ordination and business planning, and sitting on the board of the non-profit Maxi? I assume so and signed you up on the list in the first post of the thread. Please let me know if this is an inaccurate presumption! Hah, I appreciate your enthusiasm immensely and hope for nothing but the best! But, I have to be very clear on this -- I am not volunteering for this project in any capacity, no. I just don't have time. This is not an impossible project but it's a very serious one, mostly because it involves managing a bank account and paying vendors. Much time and effort would have be put into it by a good-sized group of people. I'm already spread so thin that I force myself to play just one weewar game a time!
24/08/2011 23:43:08 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
Maximus Trooper Offline	kersplat wrote:I really like the idea of porting the WW "theme" over to the Warnet engine. I love this idea -- so much simpler than trying to manage an entire software project out of a newly formed oganization. To put it another way, Balduran has Fog of War right now!
24/08/2011 23:46:21 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
Maximus Trooper Offline	Casaubon wrote:What if this was the base (I like this approach very much) + to motivate some people who have skills but wouldn´t want to contribute without any financial reward, enhance the base weewar trait to such a modularity/API connectivity that it is very easy for external mobile developers to port their versions, which wouldn´t necessarily need to be open source. Developer "Mr Example" creates Weewar on Android/Iphone/Win7Phone/whatever within the bounds of the entity´s rules they agreed on. He sell his Weewar on the app marketplace for 2$(whatever) keeps the profit, makes weewar more popular while the base team can focus on improving the game while he does all the work regarding the mobile porting. could this be a win/win situation? Causabon, it could be and to an extent it is among various Open Source projects. I work in the online software business and work closely with a popular Open Source project called Drupal. You might this post by the founder of Drupal interesting -- he compares his own project to Joomla, and Open Source tool which has a "features for sale" marketplace model similar to what you're envisioning. http://buytaert.net/joomla-vs-drupal-business-models-and-commercial-ecosystem Mind you, I think a brainy game like Weewar has a pretty small marketplace.
25/08/2011 02:50:17 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
spadequack Heavy Tank Offline	I emailed Alex for an update. He says that he will make an effort to expedite this as much as possible and keep me posted, and that they are committed to resolving it ASAP. It sounds like they are seriously considering an option or a few options and are working on the details, but it may be a little time before we hear anything concrete back. I can also confirm that Alex is the head honcho of the studio for now, and knowing him and the fact that Weewar is his brainchild, I think he will push hard for a good future for Weewar and will be open to a variety of ideas. Since we don't have much new info, I think we should start working out the details of one primary plan to pitch to Alex in case the option(s) that he is considering falls through or is unappealing to us in the community. In the case of moving to the Warnet architecture, what would need to be done? Some questions: 1) Development - Balduran, are you willing to open source your code? If not, are you willing to take in external developers to build new features? 2) Business model - Would the Weewar clone be free to play? We need to consider server costs and compensation for developers and all others devoting time and effort. 3) Management - Would Balduran be in charge of overseeing the Weewar clone or would a new committee need to be formed? This message was edited 8 times. Last update was at 25/08/2011 03:07:14
25/08/2011 10:53:02 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
Balduran Heavy Trooper Offline	Hey guys I am really glad to see that you like the idea of porting Weewar over to Warnet engine. I think it is definitely one of the best options to keep weewar going! But there might be a few drawbacks for this idea, so let's open a little more concrete discussion. Answers to spadequack questions 1) Opensourcing is not an option at the moment. Opensourcing warnet would create more clones and somewhat ruin the market. Another point to this is that I am running a small IT company and if this gets more serious I would prefer to hire local people, so we are much more efficient than with an international team. 2) This is a topic for discussion, but as you said, there are server costs and developer fees. At the moment for Warnet Inditel Meedia OÜ is paying running costs and will do so for weewar also at the beginning. But there should be something that generates income. I like weewar payment method and would recommend adding similar fee system. But what I do not like was that weewar was super limited for free accounts. I would like to introduce a little more freedom for free players. 3) I would prefer to be in charge. I think I would be quite a good candidate as I have a lot of experience in the field already (and playing weewar too. I was on top long time until you all guys decided to go over 2000 :p.) I am friendly and supporing for good and new ideas. I think this is a good point for discussion, problems, benefits? As you see my vision is a little different compared to how you see it at the moment. I think definite plus side would be a strict leadership and that I have resources and motivation to continue weewar right now. Making a huge team/board might slow things down. I do not plan to start changing weewar, the idea would be to keep it as similar to current as possible. New ideas would be discussed with everyone first. To continue I totally agree with spadequack that we should start working with details. Maybe go and chat somewhere to work it out? Open google docs to start writing it down? Skype meeting? Let me know what do you think Oliver
25/08/2011 14:42:54 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
McMonster Tank Offline	kersplat wrote:I wonder how much open sourcing is necessary. I really like the idea of porting the WW "theme" over to the Warnet engine. I brought Balduran (creator of Warnet) into the conversation because he has been incredibly dedicated to Warnet and has built some excellent functionality into the back end. I know some people aren't into the Medieval theme. I think that is the beauty of using Warnet as an engine - Balduran is already working on the ability to use different themes, including independent scoring capabilities. Pros: We get WW back in all its glory - graphics, scoring, community, etc.; we get a functional site that was architected with scalability in mind; we get stats, move indicators, FoW, brilliantly implemented chat functionality, and a whole lot more of the things the WW community has been asking for; we get a responsive developer again. Cons: I'm having a hard time thinking of the downside. Maybe that the site doesn't look the same as we're all used to, but suck it up, things change. I'm sure there are others, but so far they don't outweigh the positives in my mind. Thank you for your engagement kersplat! you make good points here. i am going to start a new thread asking weewarriors to give input on the ideal business model for weewar. and i've added you to the list if this ends up being something we work on ourselves. maximus wrote:I have to be very clear on this -- I am not volunteering for this project in any capacity, no. I just don't have time. This is not an impossible project but it's a very serious one, mostly because it involves managing a bank account and paying vendors. Much time and effort would have be put into it by a good-sized group of people. I'm already spread so thin that I force myself to play just one weewar game a time! gotcha maxi - too bad, as you seem to have more experience and knowledge than the rest of us when it comes to open source projects. can we consult you for your wisdom at least if we end up going in that direction? spadequack wrote:I emailed Alex for an update. He says that he will make an effort to expedite this as much as possible and keep me posted, and that they are committed to resolving it ASAP. It sounds like they are seriously considering an option or a few options and are working on the details, but it may be a little time before we hear anything concrete back. I can also confirm that Alex is the head honcho of the studio for now, and knowing him and the fact that Weewar is his brainchild, I think he will push hard for a good future for Weewar and will be open to a variety of ideas. GREAT - thanks for the update Spade! Did you ask Alex about the open source idea? Can you please? What about selling to Balduran? Would they set up a competitor like that? ... How much would you expect to pay Baldy/do you think would be a fair price for Weewar? Thank you, BTW, for clear description of where you'd like to take things. I will include this in a list of options for Weewarriors to vote on - when I get a few minutes to start a new thread! This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 26/08/2011 00:49:02
25/08/2011 16:55:53 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
spadequack Heavy Tank Offline	McMonster wrote:Did you ask Alex about the open source idea? Can you please? What about selling to Balduran? Yes, I've mentioned both and I think they are both under consideration. This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 25/08/2011 16:55:58
26/08/2011 05:11:38 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
McMonster Tank Offline	spadequack wrote: McMonster wrote:Did you ask Alex about the open source idea? Can you please? What about selling to Balduran? Yes, I've mentioned both and I think they are both under consideration. AWESOME - ty spade! OK folks, how bout we vote on and debate alternative possibilities for the business model/org structure for Weewar in a new thread - please cut and paste this text/link into your game chats: NEW FORUM THREAD: What "business model"/organizational structure should Weewar move towards? Please VOTE and COMMENT: http://weewar.com/forum/posts/list/1519.page
26/08/2011 06:27:22 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
jeye Tank Offline	I might be able to contribute to game development and unit balance. But I don't have much time currently.
26/08/2011 07:25:28 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
Plasmablaster Heavy Trooper Offline	jeye wrote:I might be able to contribute to game development and unit balance. But I don't have much time currently. Perhaps you could help discover and iron out any imbalance and other issues of all new ideas? My idea of working collaboratively for game development is: 1. Introduce and dscuss new ideas 2. After discussion, decide which ones will get to be tested 3. Implement the changes on a test server 4. Players test the changes/additions 5. After testing ends decision about the future of the changes Since you don't have much time the 4th part is where your input could be crucial, top players like yourself surely can discover possible problems/imbalances which are not obvious from the start.
27/08/2011 00:19:41 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
spadequack Heavy Tank Offline	I just spoke with Alex. There is a definite plan in motion for the future of Weewar, which would empower the community to do much more than it can do now. I know the details, but unfortunately, Alex is binding me not to say any more until more of the details are worked out and cleared with the rest of EA. I can say, however, that the idea is a good and promising one and it may be a month, maybe two months or longer, before the plan goes into visible action. Alex will keep me updated, and I will keep you all updated when I learn more. This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 27/08/2011 00:20:10
27/08/2011 04:04:05 Re:Can/should the wee-community buy and develop Weewar?
kersplat Raider Offline	I know you're just the messenger spade, but I can't help but think of this posting by Alex almost a year ago; as well as more than a year of incredibly poor support and communication (not including your efforts) from Alex and the EA team since the acquisition. I had a very high opinion of Alex and Bert in the early days, back when they were playing alongside each of us and we could chat it up about features and issues. That seems like a very long time ago, and it just doesn't sit well with me. To tell us that big things are in store and we just need to sit tight is a slap in the face. I don't believe it and I won't until I see it this time. I don't say any of this lightly - I'm normally a very trusting person, but this has gone on for far too long. We have reached the point where the community is doing everything it can to save a much-loved game and seeing nothing in return. It's a bunch of BS in my opinion. Sorry for the rant, but I have a feeling it's what a lot of people are thinking right now. </rant>

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