Split from "RE for BG1"

[Kulyok]

If you are not misreading, and that's indeed Kulyok's opinion, she is very alone in feeling that way. The less we resemble a snake pit of friends where everyone tries to take a pot-shot at everyone else, the more time we all will have for creating cool stuff and having fun.

 

"Snake pit of friends" is a five. I prefer jcompton's term "frienemies" - it's even cooler.

 

But, seriously, when I think of cmorgan and berelinde's involvement in BG1 NPC, "ugly" and "sloppy" are the first words on my mind: they've been doing nothing but mangling the already existing material(especially with these ugly passback lines), and as one of the results of their involvement, Branwen Romance hasn't been working for half a year. Half a year. After that, all talk about "improving BG1 NPC coding" and "respecting the work of the authors" is pure claptrap. I don't care for them personally one way or the other: it's their work on BG1 NPC I'm speaking of.

 

And from discussing that with other people, I'm definitely not alone in this, though it wouldn't matter to me if I were. Yes, I'll probably receive yet another abusive PM from cmorgan, or Ascension64 calls me a bitch one more time, or berelinde puts in a snide comment about me advertising my mods(since my reply about her and BG1 NPC was a retort to her comment in the first place), whatever. But it's cmorgan's and berelinde's responsibility to maintain BG1 NPC, and so far they've done a complete mess of it.

 

And as for making fun projects, well, let's see. There're all these mods in my proverbial signature, and I've had enough time for coding two mods for completely different people and contributing my writing to the third besides. So I rather think I'm all right in this department.

[CamDawg]

And from discussing that with other people, I'm definitely not alone in this, though it wouldn't matter to me if I were.

And yet, you seem to be the only one compelled to register your complaints in this fashion. I'm sure you'll chalk up objections to any reason but yourself, as you've done every other time you've been called out. The common element to all of your fights on the forums is you--I offer this not as an attack, but as an opportunity for some critical self-examination.

 

Yes, we get it: you're not happy with BG1 NPC. The disconnect comes from those of us who agree and also want to see BG1 NPC issues addressed, but manage to convey our wishes without grandstanding.

[Kulyok]

The problem is, grandstanding or not, it's critical that the issue _is_ addressed. "We get it, and we'll do nothing about it, because you suck" is not an answer.

 

And, yes, obviously I enjoy it. "Every crime must be punished", as Scar says, and if my work of two months has been and is treated as toilet paper, I'll make as much fun of letting others know about it as I can.

Besides, it adds drive, adrenaline and creativity - but, like I said, I'll gladly have the old boring days when romances worked, and people were busy with their own projects or out there in limbo, instead of destroying mine.

[CamDawg]

"We get it, and we'll do nothing about it, because you suck" is not an answer.

Good thing no one has said that, then.

 

They've been falling prey to the 'just one more thing' syndrome since December. I'm not happy about it, nor am I defending it, and I've made this known already. That this is somehow an effort to destroy your work or treat it as toilet paper is, at best, disingenuous.

[Kulyok]

But the issue is here - good intentions or not. Whatever the reason, spending thirty minutes and repackaging the version is not simple - it's very simple. Not wishing to spend these minutes is just that - treating the work - my work, in this case - like crap.

 

(I'd like to ask jastey(Domi), how would she react if Ajantis'(Dynaheir's) romance was disabled for six months? And what if she was told that it was done with the best of intentions? But then again, that's their personal business, and this is mine.)

 

When it's one's own mod, and the critical error's not been fixed for many months(BGT or whatever), to me it looks like treating users similarly, and I usually speak out, too, especially if the mod is popular. It should be spoken about, because the more bugs in popular mods we have, fewer users play our mods, it's that simple.

[CamDawg]

I agree that public bug reports are important so that players can make informed choices. I also agree that bugs are bad.

 

However, you've made several claims that BG1 NPC is "destroying" your work, and that they've been doing nothing because "you suck". This naturally leads to two general follow-up questions: how does this hyperbole help resolve the issue at hand? Particularly in public?

 

I do not question your complaint, as I happen to share it. I am, however, questioning your methodology. A public post about how the bugs in the current version are longstanding and easily fixed, sans grandstanding and hyperbole, would have served the same purpose--and, likely, far more effectively.

[Kulyok]

All right, I agree. You're right, I'm wrong.

 

Only: I've been silent for three months; after month four was over, I posted this: http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showtopic=13039

 

Polite? Neutral? Yes. Two months later, did anything happen, bar a scandal in a playtesting room over berelinde made moderator? No.

 

[gertjanvh]

First, "frenemies" is a term conceived in a Sex and the City episode.

 

Second; it should be made policy to discuss such things only through PM or a private workroom.

[CamDawg]

I was unaware of that post. Yes, that's exactly the type of post that I was suggesting, and kudos for making it. Sorry it did not gain the traction that it should have.

 

I'd like to suggest two things from here. The first is to remind everyone that an adversarial tone in this discussion--and mind, I mean all of you--benefits no one. (I'd also like to suggest that we kiss and make up or, barring that, at least apologize for previous snark or, barring that, at least agree to be respectful of one another or, barring that, at least keep it in private.) The second is to encourage everyone to put their egos aside and get a new version out with the big bugs fixed, even if it has other warts.

[cmorgan]

If someone, perhaps CamDawg, could please move this to a more relevant forum, that would be great - perhaps BG1NPC?

 

I will happily admit to everyone present that we have been trying to squash as many bugs as possible, tackling the last big problem with overlapping content blocking other author's interjections from firing as intended on I_C_T2s and finalizing cleanup. Several NPCs have had blocked content which never worked rebuilt, for the players to enjoy. Hours of playtest and repair have covered aspects of code which has never ever worked, because the project was too large to be compared against itself in all situations, and I am darned proud to be associated with the folks making it all possible, donating time and energy for the many (over 100) authors, coders, and testers who built the mod in the first place.

 

I definitely am glad that we have not closed up shop and locked the doors for bugfixes, as many mature mods seem to have done. I appreciate the support and code cleanup that has resulted by both BGT and Tutu communities checking and rechecking existing code. I suspect that a realistic timeframe for any future fixes will probably rely on a much longer timeframe for addressing such issues; and I take full and sole responsibility for determining the pace and rate of release, based on my own evaluation of the mod's readiness.

 

Most of all, I am happy to report that the movement to modern conventions, like renaming legacy globals with project variables, updating code to follow WeiDU syntax, and many other cleanups all discussed internally, has resulted in a new audience and a much more stable mod on both Tutu and BGT.

 

With any luck at all, the last of the repairs we expect to test will be in hand by the end of the weekend, and if I am lucky and my wife does not object strenuously to the amount of time I am spending on this, I would think we could hand you a release candidate by Monday evening, CamDawg. It will not incorporate all of the reports and suggestions in the workroom, of course, as I will have no time to do so. But I am comfortable with our progress, and know that good results are the product of time, detail, and caring.

 

If anyone feels that they have been singledout or mistreated in some way, they are welcome to PM me as one adult to another, and discuss whatever they feel they need to discuss.