[Soviethooves]

Title:
Complete Development Roadmap

Description:
Add a completely viewable roadmap with update estimates, deadlines, release dates for future updates
and so forth. Want an example? 

Limelight - Link watcher

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Tower Unite Roadmap

We seriously need some transparency into what is actually going on with the development.
We got a changelog? Awesome. We can see what has happened.
But what about what is going to happen in the future? I know we got updates from devs
from time to time, but having an overall clean view with straight to the point information
would be beneficial.

Why?:
So that players like me know if they can just leave the server for good and uninstall gmod,
or if there are new updates coming out the upcoming months.
Yea, of course, I know there will be new updates, but if you want to hype people up,
you need to let them know when to expect it, even if that is an estimation (e.g. Q4 2018).

NOTE: This was written by @Markus and the suggestion was denied for being denied previously in August 2016 in a seperate suggestion. @Daley overlooked that the Suggestion Guidelines permit dupe suggestions after 4 weeks of the original suggestions denial. Therefore, the suggestion was removed without valid reasoning.

[Markus]

I approve of this.
+Support

[Jono]

Few issues with this, most are obvious so won't outline them.

Main thing is lack of coordination which is primarily caused by lack of sustained activity within the team. This is mostly unavoidable due to the nature of the work.

It would be good to have a system in place, with an ultimate 'end point' of sorts. Would be more of a team vision thing rather than releasing information to the public.

I'm not against the idea but there are numerous problems based on our current structure. Maybe this would be a catalyst to change that.

+/- support

[Taylor]

+Support

[Montyfatcat]

+support better than learning new updates as they come out

[Kvatch]

With the last major update being the Sea of Green update (if you can even call it major), I think it's fair to say that it's been a very long time since we've seen anything big and new come to Limelight. For some, that isn't a problem, but for a lot of people, it makes the development team look like they're not even working on anything at all. Even the changelogs have slowed down recently due to GDPR (quoting Doctor Internet). This leaves a few people wondering if Limelight is going downhill or not. Is this not worrying for the development team even in the slightest? We haven't seen a development blog in a while either.

We were promised HUD updates, F1 menu updates, and all the works, but no sort of information has been given out regarding these types of things, and it's quite demotivating for players, especially those who have players for a good 1000 hours now and don't really have much else to do. Sooner or later, if things aren't changed, these people will start to leave due to the gamemode becoming stale and repetitive. We haven't heard anything about map updates in a while either, and the majority of the server are just "putting up with" Rockford for the time being, probably hoping that the map will be changed soon.

For these reasons I think a roadmap would be great, even if it is just a visionary thing. The Trello (if that's what you would use) could have card categories called "Inactive Discussion" and "Active Discussion" to let people know what's being internally discussed, and if the development team decide it's feasable to work on that thing at that time, the card is moved to "Being worked on". From there, it takes the standard road to completion, going through "Finished", "Being tested", and "Completed/Implemented". This way, we know what's being discussed and what isn't, what's being worked on and what isn't, and what's actually being released major update wise.

I think this kind of system would be more beneficial over the current commit/changelog system because it's a bit more in-depth. Like the OP said in the post, we know what's been done, not what's being done. Like, yeah, we have a new bug fix that only 2 people ever experienced or the odd rule change but that's about the extent that the players know and it's a little demotivating for those who have spent a while playing, like I previously mentioned.

TLDR: people think LL is stale, it'd be good to know where it's headed for the future or people will start to leave. Sea of Green was the last "major" update and that was October last year.

+Support.

[Brin.]

+support @Kvatch said it perfectly. Limelight seems like it’s on the decline a lot of the high hours and good rpers are spending less time on here. The new players that come are just here to minge. Would be great to see what’s actually in the works. Pretty sure a new game mode has been in the works for 2 years? Just sad to see a good server slowly die.

[Cole]

I am going to have to -support this. Now you're probably wondering why?

The reason I have -supported this is due to the fact that there is simply no point. All the roadmap would consist of is thousands of suggestions and bug reports. In the future if Limelight gets more developers, who can code Garry's Mod lua in specific, then maybe this might become something I'd see being useful but until then it'd be utterly useless as we already know they're fixing bug reports and working on suggestions.

[ForceGhost]

I am going to have to -support this. Now you're probably wondering why?

The reason I have -supported this is due to the fact that there is simply no point. All the roadmap would consist of is thousands of suggestions and bug reports. In the future if Limelight gets more developers, who can code Garry's Mod lua in specific, then maybe this might become something I'd see being useful but until then it'd be utterly useless as we already know they're fixing bug reports and working on suggestions.

[Brin.]

I am going to have to -support this. Now you're probably wondering why?

The reason I have -supported this is due to the fact that there is simply no point. All the roadmap would consist of is thousands of suggestions and bug reports. In the future if Limelight gets more developers, who can code Garry's Mod lua in specific, then maybe this might become something I'd see being useful but until then it'd be utterly useless as we already know they're fixing bug reports and working on suggestions.

Okay what if Bug Reports weren't included but big main project like that new gamemode they are supposedly working on?

[Quest]

I am going to have to -support this. Now you're probably wondering why?

The reason I have -supported this is due to the fact that there is simply no point. All the roadmap would consist of is thousands of suggestions and bug reports. In the future if Limelight gets more developers, who can code Garry's Mod lua in specific, then maybe this might become something I'd see being useful but until then it'd be utterly useless as we already know they're fixing bug reports and working on suggestions.

What if players wanted to know which order they're going to sort through all of it; or what specific bug or suggestion they're working on now?

Whenever contribs/devs talk of stuff to make for the server they act like it's some sort of secret forbidden taboo; I'd rather it be open to the community who will actually benefit ( or suffer ) from the work that devs/cotribs do.

[Cole]

I have no clue where you got a new gamemode from lol but none the less. In regards to what I, and other contributors as well as developers say should be kept a secret as it means no one will be pushing those people to do those certain updates, and trust me I can think of a few people who'd such a thing. If you're basing the fact of whether you should stay on Garry's Mod or playing Limelight because of updates then that's only something you can fix, not a roadmap.

[Monkey]

+support

Would be a great thing for Limelight. People love transparency and to give it to them, after many years of not giving it to them, it is well overdue. The roadmap doesn't have to be majorly detailed, just major changes. Why should LL be so worried about releasing information anyway? If the developers are smart enough, which I know they are, they will know what they can and can't release to the public. I use trello, and I believe it is a very good resource to use for development, and/or using it for informing the public.

[Jokhah]

-support

Fail to meet deadline = bitchfest

Deadline unenforceable

Check approved suggestions for a preview into new features

[Markus]

-support

Fail to meet deadline = bitchfest

Deadline unenforceable

Check approved suggestions for a preview into new features

So if people complain because you fail to meet a deadline, the best solution is to not tell them anything and remain in the mist?
If you fail to reach your goal and people become sad, you think the solution is to not put goals in front of yourself at all?

Or would you agree that having long and short-term goals while promoting civil discussion is the optimal solution?

Deadlines may be hard to complete, but not having any goals or pressure results in the lack of motivation.

"Preview" is not the same as "set goals" in the same way as a factory visit is not the same as ordering from a factory.
The former is showing off the capabilities and the latter is taking advantage of them.