Recruiting Modders and Mod Teams

[thePhilanthropy]

I don't want to be a spoilsport, even more so because I have already let you down once (but at least I told you that I would do so and why), but...

I don't think there's much interest. Seriously. With more than 1 mio. nexus users, you would expect more of them to stick around. But 95% of them are not modders. And those who do mod normally have their own projects. Most of the guys that comment on/rate my mods have about 1-3 posts. That puts things into perspective. Yes, there might be 1 mio. members, but for how long is each one going to stay? I bet many people only register to download a specific mod that is bigger than 2mb, just to leave after that.

What I am getting at is this: The nexus is not exactly a "hatchery" for modders.

 

But, what are the chances anyone is willing to help? You need to find modders with nothing to do. Bored modders. Pretty slim chances for that. If they're really bored with TESIV, they just leave the modding scene.

 

I'm sure you asked at many boards. But have you tried European ones? Or Asian ones? Most of the foreign modders are quite fluent in English (I like to think that I am).

http://oblivionmodgods.de/

those are German tech wizards. But maybe someone is bored enough to help out (no offense)

http://www.scharesoft.de/joomla/

another German board around Elder Scrolls.

http://www.ei-der-zeit.com/portal/

Yet another German board around ES

 

I'm just saying. With such a low percentage of people willing to help, you need to ask "everywhere". Try to get even more contacts (there are French boards, Italian boards, Spanish boards, Russian Boards, Japanese boards. Ask around for translators.)

(If you want, I can translate your requests to German)

 

Another problem is that it's a big project. Normally you'd expect them to die after about two months. I know how easy it is to ignore them while they are WIP. I've done it myself often enough. Actually, I only post here because it's you. And you're the only guy I know that's dedicated enough to pull something like this off.

Yet another problem is, of course, that you can only get most people interested if you already have something to show. No offense, but your average post is rather... wordy. I bet many people don't have the attention span to read half of your average post, even though they might be capable of helping out. Personally, I like your style, but I can only speak for myself. So, you might want to put up more pictures or condense your written posts.

 

These are just suggestions. Of course I can't promise that any of this will help, but it also can't make things worse, right?

 

I wish you and your project all the best!

[Vagrant0]

I don't speak German, and therefore A) Can't accurately explain what sorts of things I would want done B) Have absolutely no business posting there not being German. Same applies to Japanese boards, except less of A, more of B. English speaking peoples have their run of the web, non-English speaking peoples really only have their own communities. If a group of people were to come here and just start speaking their language here, chances are that both the modders and the members wouldn't like it much since they wouldn't know what is being said. In my opinion, it's a bit presumptive to go to a forum in another language, and speak your own, expecting everyone to just roll with it.

 

Part of the problem seems to stem from me being stretched between working on the mod, coordinating the mod, advertising the project, soon to be maintaining the project website, in addition to everything else. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do it all well. Admittedly, advertising hasn't been one of our strong suits, but as mentioned, advertising something when you don't have much to show tends to be a lost cause.

 

But, at the same time, the mod isn't complete enough to release yet. Several large projects have released partial betas in the past, and most were met with comments of "this is all?" "wow, that sucked", and similar. There is no sense in releasing a beta when much of the playtime of the mod still isn't there, and very little is explained. Although it is planned to get to where a beta can be released soon, it is still quite a ways off at current due to having only a few people on the team. People talk highly of my determination, this is a mistake. I have had frequent feelings of just saying "f' it!". I continue on not because of my own determination, but because this project is not my own, and other people have worked hard on it. I work and continue to push things onward because I want to see our work come to some result. I acknowledge that the project cannot be completed without a fairly large and active team, but at the same time want to make sure that the effort spent in this project isn't wasted like so many others.

 

It's not that there aren't modders out there who aren't interested in doing something new, or maybe joining up to pick up a few new skills and ideas, but that the pessimism about large mods, often very valid, tends to keep them from speaking up, or acknowledging that this big, massive thing can be done, if it's led by someone who knows how to manage it and break it up into smaller parts which are far easier to accomplish.

 

I don't lie, most of the work on this mod is simple stuff like placing clutter in an interior. I even posted a list on the forums explaining what the remaining work is before a beta release. Most of that work is interior cluttering, cave making, and similar stuff that anyone who has made a house mod can do. Most of the hard stuff I even assigned to myself. This is not to say that everything is easy work, just that a fair majority is.

 

As for images of the project. There was a movie which showed a bit of a preview done by Elraine, the website linked to my signature has a screenshot section, and more will be on the way. The problem isn't a lack of images, but that usually having images just calls forth a response of "I can't wait till this is done". While that's to be expected, it really hasn't ever led to "I want it to be done, so I want to help make it done". About all that has had any real effect was inadvertently guilting people to help because of all the help I give to them. But rather than stay with the project, they just help out till they can find some excuse, lose interest, or no longer feel guilty, leaving be back where I was.

 

It's friggin tough to find people who even respond back after a week, let alone turn anything in. And I'm running out of options short of "Hey everybody, this is what was done, none of you wanted to keep this alive, I'd upload it so that the work isn't wasted, but you'll probably just say it sucks, shame it wasn't completed, and still not care." I'm not planning on doing anything like that any time soon, but some days I just get that feeling. I imagine that this is no different from anyone else who has worked on a large project, and given that so many others have worked on the project, it wouldn't happen that way, but that doesn't stop the feeling.

[reaper9111]

The way you explain your self here Vagrant is totaly what a good team leader is to be expected... i can feel the true proud and disapointed leader that you are Vagrant,

shame on me, that i just quit without any word... :(

[thePhilanthropy]

I don't see what the problem is with looking around for a few nexus members to translate your requests. Or to ask them to make the requests on your behalf (Basically outsourcing xD) Other than that, I agree with you, and stand corrected.

 

That situation seems really frustrating. But I also think there's no real solution. It's 2009, and Oblivion is getting old, just like morrowind before it.

I don't want to preach here. Maybe I lack the experience to judge your actions concerning this project, but I justed wanted to throw in an idea or two.

 

Don't give up. And Good Luck!