New Guild - Sim Development and Public Review Process

[Jon Seattle]

[size=200:2tjwy22j]New Guild - Sim Development and Public Review Process[/size:2tjwy22j]

The following are my thoughts on how to organize the sim proposal process. A similar procedure could be followed for any significant redevelopment effort. Note that while this uses competition this is intentionally not a winner-take-all process. Stronger proposals are often the synthesis of multiple of points of view. The goal is to keep the public involved and providing feedback, not only on finished proposals but at every stage of the process.

Also we will, over time, need more than one sim proposal, so why not keep the ones we are not implementing immediately under development for future efforts?

[b:2tjwy22j]Phase 1.[/b:2tjwy22j]

1. The New Guild sponsors a competition for sim proposals submitted by one or more teams. These proposals must go beyond defining themes and include models of the landscape and architecture; concrete plans for implementation; initial project budgets and schedules.

2. Without evaluating individual, the faculty of the Guild provide feedback on the technical feasibility and issues in the implementation of each proposal. Proposers may change their proposals in response to this feedback.

3. The New Guild establishes an area for public display of the work being developed by each team.

[b:2tjwy22j]Phase 2.[/b:2tjwy22j]

1. All citizens are allowed to vote on the proposals over a period of several weeks. Proposers can and are invited to change their proposals in response to new ideas and public feedback. Voting is continuous during this period: citizens can move their vote token from one proposal to another.

2. Proposers can merge their proposals with that of others. In fact this may be one of the best approaches to gain votes. Collaboration and negotiation, not just competition is rewarded.

3. At the end of the process we select the most popular proposal(s) to implement. However this process is designed to allow more than one good proposal to emerge and that proposal can start off the next round.

[b:2tjwy22j]Phase 3.[/b:2tjwy22j]

Implementation may depend on RA approval. It is quite possible that the RA may not want to sponsor a proposal, in which case we can loop back and extend to phase 2 to make corrections.

During the third phase we will arrange for the financial resources needed for implementation, and also to flesh out any details needed to implement that plan. As the SPC did, the New Guild will look for people willing to loan us the funds needed to purchase a sim.

The goal in the phase is to do enough planning so that we can quickly complete the implementation of the build and get the sim to the point where we can start selling plots.

[b:2tjwy22j]Phase 4.[/b:2tjwy22j]

The forth phase is to actually do the build. The SPC is a good example of how an experienced project manager (Moon Adamant) and a collection of dedicated volunteers can work well in implementing the sim. Working with the RA the New Guild will appoint a project manager to organize the process. The project manager will report back to the administrative board.

[b:2tjwy22j]Phase 5.[/b:2tjwy22j]

Promotion. The New Guild needs to establish contacts and channels for getting out promotional material and resources for organizing events to publicize new sims.

[Claude Desmoulins]

A very quick thought.

The requirement for architectural and landscape models means in essence that no one who is not a builder need apply. Does this shut out those who are good at ideas and research but not at manipulating prims? I acknowledge that models are necessary at some point, but must this be a barrier to entry?

[Jon Seattle]

Claude,

1. We cannot evaluate a sim plan that does not include a least a few concrete specifications and models. How can we know what it will be like when implemented?

2. At some point, as we are an organization of volunteers, at least one builder will have to be involved or nothing will be built.

So, no, this does not lock out non-builders. It is just means that if you are a non-builder with a great idea for a new sim, you had better find a (at least one) builder who is willing to help you flesh out your plan. You are even invited, given this scheme, to bring your idea to an existing team and work on it with them.

In contrast, the winner-take-all approach might allow a non-builder to get approval for a plan that no builder would sign on to. If that were to happen, how would it get built?

I will add that the need to include people with a variety of skills is one of the strengths of this approach. Each team will, by the time they get a proposal approved, have shown that they can get people motivated and do the kind of consensus-building needed if the project is to be successful.

[Claude Desmoulins]

Your point about getting builders to latch on is well taken. Two questions.

How binding is the popular vote at the end of phase three? Particularly , what happens if the various reviewers indicate that a proposal is technically impossible or unaffordable and it wins the popular vote anyway? Are we obligated to build it out? Must the RA choose this proposal or no proposal at all?

To illustrate my concern about entry barriers, I'll draw an analogy with my entry into CDS politics. When I became a citizen, I saw many things which weren;t being addressed, so I wrote a platform and founded a faction. Because of the way our system works, those ideas, even though they weren't flushed out in great detail and even though I had few connections in the political class, saw the light of day.

I'm still concerned that proposals wouldn't get a public airing without a builder on board. What if you're new and don't know the builders, for example?

Let me be quite clear that I see a lot of merit in other parts of your proposal, this is the only component with which I take significant issue.