Builder Council

Dalvyn · Post by **Dalvyn** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:17 pm

Technically, the Builder Council will have the same "ranking" system as the Code Council, that is: Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert, Master, Grandmaster. But, currently, I have no idea what duties and priviledges each of those ranks will be associated with. Unlike the Code Council - where no real structure existed except for the bug slav... erm... bug testers -, something already exists for builders, and anybody who wants to build (and has a reasonable idea for an area) can already become a builder.

One thing I would like to change though is to open the Builder forum (and Council) to more people. Currently, you have to want to build an area (more or less all by yourself) to be given access to the forum and Council. I would imagine there are some people who do not feel like building a whole area, but who would readily agree to help with some descriptions, or coding some quests, or doing similar smaller "jobs".

I would also like to introduce a distinction between what I would call Soft builders and Hard builders (two categories of builders, but you can belong to both). Soft builders would be builders willing and able to contribute things like item ideas, room and mobile descriptions, area ideas, and so on. Hard builders would be builders willing and able to code areas, code quests, write mob/object/room programs, and so on.

The idea behind this classification is to set up a registry for people seeking help. You have an idea for an area but do not feel like coding it? Check the hard builder list and get someone to work with you. You want to make an area, but you would like help with descriptions and ideas? Check the soft builder list and get someone to work with you. Note that some might be both soft and hard builders.

Soft builders would also be called for projects like revisiting an area. An example would be Waterdeep, one of the first areas to come to FK. Some of the descriptions - especially street descriptions - could do with an upgrade (some mention subareas that have disappeared, like a temple of Cyric; others focus on seagull's droppings more than on what people there would see; and so on).

Hard coders could be called for projects aiming at reworking the code aspects of some areas (e.g., turning a quest into a group quest, adding a quest to an area, modifying the mobs in an area, and so on). They might eventually be asked to review submitted areas too, but nothing is set in stone yet.

Another idea - which requires new hard code - would be to allow interested (soft) builders to reword room and mob descriptions online. They would be able to fix typoes in room descriptions in-game, add descriptions to mobs who do not have one, and so on. The prospective system would be two-tiered, with (for example) apprentices being able to suggest modifications online and experts being allowed to authorize those modifications (i.e., each modification would have to be reviewed by an expert, to make sure that the new description fits the area).

So... if you are interested in helping with a project or an area, in having your name on the list of soft/hard builders, send a mail to builders@forgottenkingdoms.com with the name of your forum account. (Since it's supposed to be the name of one of your characters, that should be enough for me to find your account name ingame).

Question and comments welcome!

Scylere · Post by **Scylere** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 4:24 pm

I think the soft/hard coders idea is great. I was just talking to someone last night about this, and now all my answers were provided right here:D

Dalvyn · Post by **Dalvyn** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:37 am

By the way, the idea is that you only have to send in a mail if your are NOT yet a builder (i.e., for example, if you are offering to help with writing descriptions for rooms or helping with the updating of some area descriptions, but do not yet have access to the builders forum).

Dalvyn · Post by **Dalvyn** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 11:29 am

Note that only those who have already submitted at least one area can be classified as "Hard builder". Having some (or a lot of) programming experience or having built on other muds does not suffice to "qualify" you, since the code we use here is specific (in some aspect) to FK.

Larethiel · Post by **Larethiel** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:15 pm

Is the option to become a soft builder/hard builder still open?

Dalvyn · Post by **Dalvyn** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:38 pm

Everybody can apply to become a builder.

They just need to send a mail to builders@forgottenkingdoms.com describing the area they would like to build.