Project Philosophy

General Project Principles

Life first

Work on this project whenever possible but don't sacrifice the studies/job/work/partner/friends or your family. A game is a game. Your life is more important. Always be honest and tell us when you need more time or plan on taking a longer break. In the open source communities it is sadly very common to see people that are super engaged and put down hundreds of hours in a project in a very short amount of time. The result is usually that they get burnt out or loose interest in it for various reasons, or go on a leave that will turn out to be of the more permanent kind. To prevent this from happening it is important that you plan your work with the project and that you see it in a long term perspective. See the project as a hobby that you will have for a long while, instead of a fire that you need to suffocate as fast as possible. It will take both you and the project much further.

Truly free

Free in every sense of the word, meaning it is libre as well as gratis. The project uses a copyleft license that ensures that one of the main goals with the project - to deliver a truly free game to the world and empower its community to develop it - can be achieved. The game will always be copyleft and open source no matter what.

Release often

Small releases, often, instead of massive releases very seldom. We need to do it this way to keep getting funding via donations and also being present and seen as a project that is alive and healthy. It also creates more of a hype, and it gives us more flexibility and a more incremental approach to development and debugging. While this doesn't mean that there may never be huge releases it does entail that the goal is to have a clearly measurable development process that is result centric.

Recycle Goodies

Don't reinvent the wheel. Follow the working customizable card game conventions and create a CCG that can easily be identified as such a game. We're aiming for a perfect game, not a landmark of innovation or creating a game that isn't a CCG. While creativity is welcome in this project originality has no intrinsic value for us. This particular attitude may come as a surprise for some and can easily be mistaken for conservatism or a sign of low ambitions, while it in reality makes perfect sense and is a sound approach to any endeavour: To learn from what others have already done and improve upon it is something we value greatly. Our goal is to create a free CCG - not to create a game genre the world has never seen before or a game that is as strange and "unique" as possible.

Actions, not words

Lead by example. You want something done? Then do it yourself or pay somebody else to do it. Pressuring, begging or nagging others that help out with the project does not work. Keep others in the community motivated by leading by example. The project needs people that can take both the responsibility and actions needed to move it forward. Simply put, move your ass, and others will follow. While mingling and planning is nice, please don't stay around to just do that - it is counter productive and just takes up everyones time if you never plan on contributing with any type of actual work. Your actions is the main measurement and currency within the community - the more you work and contribute, the more likely it is that you will influence the project and become a tone giving voice within the community.

Code of Conduct

Friendly

We want a friendly environment where people feel free, safe, respected and where they aren't the subject of rudeness, bullying, ridicule or harassment of any kind. Please choose your words and actions carefully when moving around in the community. Although we are a very small one, we are all but humans and it is easy to misunderstand each other, especially when we unite using a single language that in many cases isn't our own and also use words very differently as a result of our socio-economic background and level of education. Always be friendly and polite. The project doesn't need jackasses that constantly make other people feel bad or insulted somehow.

Communication

English is the only official language of the project throughout all means of communication. We use VoIP, IRC, private mail, mailing lists and/or forum all depending on what parts of the project we're working on and what our needs happen to be. In addition to those channels we are open to explore others if there is a need. Should you want to communicate in another language you are of course free to do so in private. The exception to this is of course every translation team and their work which should take place in dedicated sections/channels.

Dialectics

Constructive criticism is always welcome and good. We recognize it as the only way to improve & ever develop the game, ourself and the community. We believe in a dialectical approach. Development comes to us by working together towards common goals. Most of the discussions should somehow help to support the productivity within the project, answer questions and solve specific related problems. There must never exist any kind of social prestige or status when it comes to the participants in such a discussion. While we sometimes have clearly defined roles and fields of expertise that allow some parties to have the final word, public discussions are open to anyone that wants to join them and all that is suggested should be considered. The main objective is never to prove that a person is right. The main objective is to accomplish the common goal by evaluating any and all information known at a given time, to debunk, deconstruct and reconstruct theories, methods and other tools that will improve the quality of what we do.

Professionalism

We're creating a high quality game. Every aspect of it must be top notch. Be a professional, and ask yourself how one would behave if this would have been a company or a university. Being pro means that you can realize that you are wrong some times, and even more important, that you learn from the experience and can handle it. The project is at its core a meritocracy. A pro understands the difference between a good and productive discussion and one that is leading to nonsense, takes up time and is demoralising for the project. A pro sets aside personal prestige, glory and goals for the overall good of the project.

Conflicts

Conflicts don't arise between professionals. At least not serious ones or of the type that they can't be self-solved. In the unlikely event there are unsolvable or escalating conflicts between project contributors the involved parties should consult with the project management for a ruling in the matter.