I've been trying to address the BYOND community in general with my other posts. However, this one is intended to remove some confusion from the old guard of volunteers. The rest of you should probably feel free to ignore it. =)


Guru Venue is dead! Long live... Guru Venue?

We said that we'd "blow up" Guru Venue, but we're still hanging out there. Why? It's isolated, perceived as some sort of conspiracy and leaves people jaded when they can't get their ideas implemented.

If you're curious about a subject, Tom has been communicating in public forums. If you have an issue with the software or website, go ahead and place your request in the feature/bug trackers.

However, if you're just trying to get confirmation on an idea or how many people can help, stop waiting for Tom to micromanage you. I think you'd be better off here where there are blog and forum tools to help you find a wider range of support.


What makes running to you any better than Tom?

Nothing! I don't want you to run to me. The system itself is flawed.

Instead, I want to give you whatever rank abilities you're comfortable with. I'm hoping that we'll have enough people with the management abilities that someone will always be around to hand out further tools.


Can't we do this with separate sites already?

Of course! As a matter of fact, some of you are already involved in your own community efforts. For instance, I'd like to add a link to DevTalk on the side of the blog if there aren't any objections.

However, here are a few problems I see for new projects:

• If you try to form a new site then you will likely have to pay for it. If you want it to be permanent or have the illusion of authority offered by the BYOND prefix then you're going to have to bother Tom.
• If you try using your personal blogs and forums then you no longer have a space within the community to relax. If you get tired of the effort, you can't switch your site around without messing up the work of whoever is carrying on. (In case you haven't noticed, I can be a wee bit obsessive. I don't want that for you.)

Instead, BYOND Volunteers may offer a solution with a smaller barrier to entry and less need for commitment. If you're looking for people to get something started then you can just make a post. If you'd like to walk away, someone can just hand the necessary rank abilities to another person.


What about disruptive personalities in the more open system?

You're relatively free to work with who you wish and avoid everyone else. There's a general Volunteers forum where everyone should be able to communicate, but the rest can be handled by the forum permissions given to each rank. We can recruit whoever we want for each project without worrying about how they'll affect others.


What are the ranks you keep referring to?

I'm speaking of the contributor ranks available when managing a blog/forum.

• <whatever you need>: This place is a general purpose tool. Some resources, like the favorite lists, can only be manipulated by so many projects at a time. However, we can be relatively free with the rest.
• <task helper>: I suggest we make a rank for each project so we can adjust its forum privileges. For example, I plan on using "FG Reviewer" to keep those working on featured games from interfering with the rest of you.
• BV Handler: This rank has all of the abilities so you'll be aware of at least one which can pass them out.
• Volunteer: This rank should be able to read and write in all of the forums. Chances are that you won't want to pass this out, but it's there for recruits who need to work in multiple areas. We can create more limited permutations if we have to.
• Senior Volunteer: This is just a Volunteer who can submit blog posts. I wanted to set Gurus up with something low commitment.

...So what exactly are you asking us to do?

I'd like you to make use of this place instead of the old forums. It provides more tools and seems to be a decent compromise between both openness and a clean workplace. Do not be afraid to ask for rank privileges!

Other than that, I'm not going to tell you how to donate your time. The word "Volunteers" is in the name for a reason.

If you're really looking for some suggestions, various people have offered ideas over the years:

• Organize live tutoring sessions.
• Create a decent library of graphics or sounds that everyone in the community can use legally.
• Help Android Data moderate resources.
• Help me review featured games.
• Whatever community-owned project you have the initiative to organize.