[crossfire] 2.0 release, was Re: Code restructuring

[Andrew Fuchs]

What I'm inferring, and my op pinions:

Summary:

While 2.0 should be a significant release, the majority opinion is
that it should not take years.  This makes it difficult to implement
what everyone wants, etc.

I think 2.0 should be the point at which most issues that we have
known about, but haven't fixed, should be fixed.  Additionally, the
game should be made easier to use (more graphical interfaces on the
client side instead of typing in commands constantly), and have a
significant amount of balance issues fixed IMO.  Another thing is
that, I think we should do something to encourage developers to join
the project.  Finally, a stronger community of players could help this
game gain popularity, which would result in more developers.

Gaining developers:

To get new developers, we first have to have them gain interest in the
game, this would fall under building a stronger community.  Second, I
think reorganizing/restructuring the code into a more logical form, as
it is been discussed, and revising/creating more documentation will
make it easier for anyone interested in contributing to the project to
contribute.

Strengthening the community:

On the community side, we need to encourage player interaction, both
in and out of the game.  One way to boost in game interaction would be
bolstering the player economy.  However, that will probably not be
done in time for cf2.0.  For the community out of game, make it easier
to find resources like the forums, and the wiki.  Additionally, make
it easier to join irc channels, possibly by putting a java applet
somewhere.  Another thing that could be done to aid the community,
both in-game and outside of the game, would be to setup a method to
connect to servers, just for the purpose of chatting with people who
are playing (oldsocketmode uses food iirc).  Another topic of
communication between players, would be the inter-server chat
discussed a while ago.

My opinion on release numbers:

Once we have more developers and enough are willing to volunteer, it
may be a good idea to appoint some people to maintain the stable
branches.

Micro releases: bug fixes, and addition of small features
Minor releases: Features involving significant changes
Major releases: Huge changes in game play, major overhauls, milestones
in development

Finally, i just want to note that our next release could be 1.10.0
instead of 2.0 if we need more time for cf2.0.

-- 
Andrew Fuchs