From:	Ojaste,James [NCR] James.Ojaste@**.GC.CA
Subject:	Open Source SR (Was Re: Introduction. :-))
Date:	Mon, 8 Feb 1999 12:42:06 -0500

Adam J wrote:
> Here's a secret that's not a secret anymore. Remember the "Newbies Guide
> to Shadowrun" that Bull started up in 1997? I want to get that finished.
> And I want to start and finish MORE -quality- resources for Gamemasters
> and
> Players devoted to the game. (ObNERPSComment: Not stuff for the game,
> stuff
> about the game, so it doesn't overlap)
[snip]
> So now -- who has ideas for making a medium to large project about
> Shadowrun with multiple authors to work in a semi-organized and not Snail
> Slow manner? How should the project be planned? How should authors be
> assigned? Should deadlines be made and how strictly should they be
> enforced?
>
First off, don't build in terms of "issues" - you'll always have some
laggards, the issue won't seem big enough, it'll get put off until
some more stuff comes in... Downhill from there.

A continuous contribution mechanism would be my favourite, but I guess
it depends on exactly what you're trying to achieve. Newbie-type
info will have to be in prose form - easy to read, easy to understand.
It should explain everything they need to know gradually (ie, don't
give them *everything* about Seattle in one place - give them the
big details early on and fill stuff in later if necessary). The
big problem is that newbies don't know what they're looking for - you
need to know what they'll need to know, but don't.

Frequently, when something of interest comes up on the list, the
discussion boils down to a couple of distinct viewpoints (two
alternate mechanics for poison, say). It'd be nice to have both of
those viewpoints represented (obviously, this is more useful for GM
stuff). The shadowtalk format handles that sort of thing well. It's
just a pain to write code for (I guess I'd start by limiting comments
to following only complete paragraphs - you've got to be careful with
the interface, though)...

Which brings up another point - we end up discussing a lot of stuff
on this list that's generally useful. Somebody should be appointed
to comb the list and post stuff (with the author's permission, of
course) that's appropriate to the site.

James Ojaste