An Update from The Homecoming Team

[starro]

11 hours ago, RogerWilco said:

I work in Astronomy, I only think in UCT timezone, but I understand that it's about 16:00 then.

You're a space janitor.  Get back to scrubbing toilets.

[RogerWilco]

25 minutes ago, duane said:

You're a space janitor.  Get back to scrubbing toilets.

Exactly.

Astronomers need to do their business safely and cleanly as well, especially now with this virus going around.

And we don't want to accidentally contaminate Mars either.

 

Please put down the toilet seat before you flush, and wash your hands

 

Edited May 29, 2020 by RogerWilco

[starro]

On 5/29/2020 at 7:03 AM, RogerWilco said:

Exactly.

Astronomers need to do their business safely and cleanly as well, especially now with this virus going around.

And we don't want to accidentally contaminate Mars either.

 

Please put down the toilet seat before you flush, and wash your hands

 

I am crazy in love with Roger Wilco.  I think the Sierra line of products was my first computer gaming love lost to the progress of time and tastes in the gaming industry.  

[Ohioknight]

On 5/28/2020 at 11:51 AM, Abraxus said:

Well, as it happens, Saturday (May 30) is the next opportunity! 

 

Typically the window opens around noon ET/9-ish PT.  There is an announcement in the Homecoming Discord, and here on the forums, and they accept donations until the pre-established goal is met.  In the past, that has taken anywhere from 2 to 3 hours.  Sometimes a little longer, depending on the goal.

Yeah, if I ever get the CHANCE I'll pay.  Every time I've checked the donations have been closed ... which I guess is good?

[Patti]

I can't wait to start donating for new stuff.   Could the devers like do the work and put it up for sale on an asset distribution website, and then the community pitch in to buy those assets which by coincidence and up in this game?

[ImpousVileTerror]

That's actually exactly the idea I had, but I hesitated to share it publicly, since that could theoretically be used as evidence of foreknowledge if the Homecoming Team ever -did- decide to use it.

Cat's out of the bag, now, so . . . what's the practical feasibility on this?

If totally anonymous, unrelated content producers created third-party assets for sale to the public, and those assets ended up being used by the Homecoming Team after donations were raised by the community to pay for said assets . . . how problematic would that be?  How "for profit" would that be considered, particularly under conditions where the individual content producers were not associated with anyone within the Homecoming Team beyond the purchase of said assets?

[Troo]

Dollar driven decisions would favor those that really really really want something.

 

I'll bid $1500 to revert Energy Transfer back to it's old form & then Johny A. Hole bids $1800 to give it a new animation.

 

Super Groups able to pool resources could get a little extra leverage in driving the games direction.

 

..oh wait, that's not gonna work. It is a non profit, isn't it?

[ImpousVileTerror]

That rather misses the point of asset stores, but you do raise a valid concern.

What I was suggesting, however, was more about a method to ensure that people who have done work that DOES end up in the game can be reimbursed for the work they've done.  It's not the same thing as a for-profit or the theorized bid-based development methodology.

[Troo]

as long as it is different.

 

[Doc_Scorpion]

On 6/5/2020 at 3:07 PM, ImpousVileTerror said:

 How "for profit" would that be considered, particularly under conditions where the individual content producers were not associated with anyone within the Homecoming Team beyond the purchase of said assets?

It wouldn't be considered "for profit" at all, any more than the things they already purchase (such as server space or legal services) are considered "for profit".  There actually doesn't need to be any dodges that result in the assets "just happening" to be used by the Homecoming team.  They could pay a member of the team to produce the assets without harming their status.  They could contract out the production of the assets without harming their status.  About the only thing they need to be careful of is not paying unusual amounts - that'll raise red flags if the IRS ever audits them.

All "non profit" and "not for profit" means is that there are no shareholders, owners, partners, or others who receive the profits of the non profit or not for profit.  All funds raised or received must be spent on the purposes of the organization.

[FrauleinMental]

3 hours ago, Doc_Scorpion said:

All "non profit" and "not for profit" means is that there are no shareholders, owners, partners, or others who receive the profits of the non profit or not for profit.  All funds raised or received must be spent on the purposes of the organization.

This.  It's less about the IRS than licensing negotiations, and right now that means it can't look like anyone is making money.  That probably precludes any sort of paid work (even flat fee/contract for particular coding) aside from basic operating costs (e.g., legal expenses).

[RogerWilco]

On 6/6/2020 at 1:21 AM, ImpousVileTerror said:

That rather misses the point of asset stores, but you do raise a valid concern.

What I was suggesting, however, was more about a method to ensure that people who have done work that DOES end up in the game can be reimbursed for the work they've done.  It's not the same thing as a for-profit or the theorized bid-based development methodology.

It can get iffy, if parts of that work would be based on things for which NCsoft owns the IP.

Then the HC team might be in the clear, but the asset creators could not.

 

This could be an issue for new costume pieces for example.

 

For now I'm just happy to play i25 and the game as it is.

 

In the longer term, some kind of mod engine could be devised, maybe even linked to a Steam Workshop, if a legal CoH could be put on Steam. Then servers could publish which mods they run, and those would be automatically downloaded and put into /data

[ImpousVileTerror]

I would strongly recommend against any kind of Steam integration, personally.  That's a whole different layer of worms in tin cylinders.

And we're now in I26.5 here on Homecoming!