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Posting a WIPz thread for new mod...how soon is too soon?


syscrusher
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I'm leading a team working on a large town/quest mod that we plan to release in early October; work started last November. I'm interested in posting a WIPz thread for discussion and status updates (in the appropriate forum section, of course, not this section...this is a "metathread"). The question is, how soon is too soon? Should I wait until I have a public beta ready, or would people be interested earlier than that? Right now, all I'm really ready to share is some screen shots. I've got a few already in the gallery, but could release more.

On the plus side, having a thread would allow interested parties to follow the mod progress and/or volunteer as team members. On the minus side, too early would risk cluttering the forum with what is now basically vaporware on everyone's system except mine.

So...what's the community etiquette standard for this?

Thanks!

Syscrusher

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If you have work finished and screens to post and you want to start a WIPz thread, go for it. The ones that get in trouble are the big dreams modders with huge TC ideas, no work done, and are usually recruiting help. They're just flame fodder. So long as you have something to show and a clear outline of where your headed, a WIPz is overdue. XD

Some folks never post WIPz, you should know that once you do there are two extremes to contend with. You may get no posted interest, which can be hard on morale if you're hoping for steady community feedback. And you may get so much interest that the pressure mounts and you really lose the fun of the project. Only you can decide if that's water you want to wade into though. ;)

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Too early and you won't have anything to show for it. Too late and you won't have anything to say but "Fixed a few more bugs today". That gets boring fast when there's no real development going on. I like seeing screenshots from a WiP mod as it's being built (Not coded, scripting screenshots aren't much fun to look at unless you're into that kind of thing).

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[success=Moved Topic]Moved to Modding General, folks may feel more inclined to reply if it's outside of our offical info forum. [/success]

My mistake. It seemed to be kind of a meta-topic. Given my recent history of forum posts, I conclude that my brain's organizational patterns must be dissimilar to the ones on TESA. Apologies for being a problem child; I'm not trying to be difficult. At least I should get my project thread into the right place, since the site docs clearly indicate where that should be. :)

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My mistake. It seemed to be kind of a meta-topic. Given my recent history of forum posts, I conclude that my brain's organizational patterns must be dissimilar to the ones on TESA. Apologies for being a problem child; I'm not trying to be difficult. At least I should get my project thread into the right place, since the site docs clearly indicate where that should be. :)

No apologies needed, it wasn't the "wrong" place exactly, but forum information is not the best place to get input from modders. You should have known whatever forum our Rules thread is housed in is probably the least visited place :rofl: I just wanted you to get more opinions. :smug:

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You should have known whatever forum our Rules thread is housed in is probably the least visited place :rofl:

Hey! We read the rules - doesn't mean we follow them though :lol:

Back to the topic at hand: Post as soon as you have progress to report and you're sure the mod will get done. The next challenge is updating your WIPz post regularly. I know we've been too damned busy :rofl:

Edited by AndalayBay
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Good advice, all, and thanks.

At this point, I definitely *do* have things to show (almost 300 screen shots), and there is no question the mod will get finished (barring major real-life catastrophes). But right now any WIPz thread would be more for sharing progress reports and/or communicating among the team. I estimate we're about a month away from an alpha release, and two to three months from beta. So I'll probably wait just a little bit longer to do the formal WIPz thread, perhaps when I'm ready to share more than the few screen shots I've posted so far. I've held back on posting too many because things are subject to change, and because a fair number of those 300 are spoilers. (I made them for sharing info with the team, not intending the spoilers for publication.)

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Ahem... :whistle:

[info=Hosted Forums!]VIP members still qualify for free hosted project forums until August and likewise, the custom skinning service is also free until August 1st! A project forum can be public or private for just you and your team. Might want to give it some consideration! ;)[/info]

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