We need to address several issues with the Create-A-Pokemon Project in the Policy Review period between now and the start of BW CAP 5. Unlike some of the more recent Policy Review periods, I will be taking the lead role in driving those PR threads. I have been discussing many of these issues with CAP moderators and working on the PR threads behind the scenes for several weeks. This period of Policy Review will likely be one of the most significant and in-depth CAP reviews we have had in years.
Some of the upcoming policy review proposals are very, very long. I will bring up a lot of CAP history, dating all the way back to the very beginnings of this project. I will be going into a lot of detail about past and current CAP operations, dissecting what I believe to be key elements contributing to our problems, with the hope that it will give us a better foundation to figure out how to address those problems. I tend to write a lot anyway, so I apologize in advance for slamming you with some large walls of text!
Here is a summary of the Policy Reviews that are upcoming:
CAP Leadership Compendium
This is not a normal policy review, because it doesn't contain any proposals per se. It lays out a LOT of information that has never been presented before about CAP leadership at all levels. I document the founding history of the CAP project and my role as head administrator of the project. I also lay out many of the key operating principles that we try to follow when leading Create-A-Pokemon as a whole community. This thread is intended to serve as a base for anyone interested in understanding how to lead CAP or why CAP leadership is the way it is today.
Topic Leadership
Most of you don't know this, but me and the CAP moderators do -- CAP 4 topic leadership was a big, complicated mess. In this PR thread, I go through all the problems and complications in exacting detail. I also summarize the history of various CAP topic leadership policies to date. I end with several proposals to make significant changes to CAP topic leadership, including the possibility of abolishing the position of Topic Leader entirely.
Recruiting
CAP has a big problem with the current inflow of new talented project participants and new potential CAP leaders. I will explain what I think are some of the key reasons for this, and explain the negative impacts to the project if we don't do something about it. I end with a few proposals to try to turn things around and get more high-quality contributors involved in Create-A-Pokemon.
Abilities
CAP Ability discussions are a big shithole, and I'm sick of it. Many other people feel the same way I do. I intended to do this PR after BW CAP 3, but I procrastinated too long and missed the window. CAP 4 ability threads were predictably terrible, and they added a few additional problems to the already large pile of ability issues to be addressed. I will present a few proposals to improve things, and I suspect new proposals will be added during the discussion.
Flavor Steps
We need to change the way we organize all the flavor steps in Create-A-Pokemon -- Art, Sprites, Name, and Pokedex Entries. This has some overlap with the Topic Leadership PR thread, but I didn't want to muddy that already complicated PR with a bunch of flavor proposals. So I pulled this into a separate Policy Review. I will make proposals to codify some previously "traditional-but-not-documented rules" for how we handle flavor steps, and I will propose a few new ideas too.
Leadership Structure
Leadership is obviously a recurring theme of many of these PR threads, and this one will wrap it all up. I'd like to change up the CAP leadership structure, add some new positions, and clarify the roles of all the different leaders in CAP. In the early days of Create-A-Pokemon, we had a diverse leadership structure that accomodated a variety of talents and personalities. In recent years, we seem to have lost a lot of that. I have some proposals to try and create a new hierarchy that follows on some themes from the early days of CAP, but acknowledges the practical reality that CAP is different than it used to be.
I am not posting this to start any of these discussions here. I'm just giving you an idea of what to expect. If you want to participate in these discussions and you think you have the appropriate experience and background to contribute positively to the policy reviews, then sign up here to be a member of the CAP Policy Review Committee. I look forward to everyone's involvement as we chart the path ahead for Create-A-Pokemon.
Some of the upcoming policy review proposals are very, very long. I will bring up a lot of CAP history, dating all the way back to the very beginnings of this project. I will be going into a lot of detail about past and current CAP operations, dissecting what I believe to be key elements contributing to our problems, with the hope that it will give us a better foundation to figure out how to address those problems. I tend to write a lot anyway, so I apologize in advance for slamming you with some large walls of text!
Here is a summary of the Policy Reviews that are upcoming:
CAP Leadership Compendium
This is not a normal policy review, because it doesn't contain any proposals per se. It lays out a LOT of information that has never been presented before about CAP leadership at all levels. I document the founding history of the CAP project and my role as head administrator of the project. I also lay out many of the key operating principles that we try to follow when leading Create-A-Pokemon as a whole community. This thread is intended to serve as a base for anyone interested in understanding how to lead CAP or why CAP leadership is the way it is today.
Topic Leadership
Most of you don't know this, but me and the CAP moderators do -- CAP 4 topic leadership was a big, complicated mess. In this PR thread, I go through all the problems and complications in exacting detail. I also summarize the history of various CAP topic leadership policies to date. I end with several proposals to make significant changes to CAP topic leadership, including the possibility of abolishing the position of Topic Leader entirely.
Recruiting
CAP has a big problem with the current inflow of new talented project participants and new potential CAP leaders. I will explain what I think are some of the key reasons for this, and explain the negative impacts to the project if we don't do something about it. I end with a few proposals to try to turn things around and get more high-quality contributors involved in Create-A-Pokemon.
Abilities
CAP Ability discussions are a big shithole, and I'm sick of it. Many other people feel the same way I do. I intended to do this PR after BW CAP 3, but I procrastinated too long and missed the window. CAP 4 ability threads were predictably terrible, and they added a few additional problems to the already large pile of ability issues to be addressed. I will present a few proposals to improve things, and I suspect new proposals will be added during the discussion.
Flavor Steps
We need to change the way we organize all the flavor steps in Create-A-Pokemon -- Art, Sprites, Name, and Pokedex Entries. This has some overlap with the Topic Leadership PR thread, but I didn't want to muddy that already complicated PR with a bunch of flavor proposals. So I pulled this into a separate Policy Review. I will make proposals to codify some previously "traditional-but-not-documented rules" for how we handle flavor steps, and I will propose a few new ideas too.
Leadership Structure
Leadership is obviously a recurring theme of many of these PR threads, and this one will wrap it all up. I'd like to change up the CAP leadership structure, add some new positions, and clarify the roles of all the different leaders in CAP. In the early days of Create-A-Pokemon, we had a diverse leadership structure that accomodated a variety of talents and personalities. In recent years, we seem to have lost a lot of that. I have some proposals to try and create a new hierarchy that follows on some themes from the early days of CAP, but acknowledges the practical reality that CAP is different than it used to be.
I am not posting this to start any of these discussions here. I'm just giving you an idea of what to expect. If you want to participate in these discussions and you think you have the appropriate experience and background to contribute positively to the policy reviews, then sign up here to be a member of the CAP Policy Review Committee. I look forward to everyone's involvement as we chart the path ahead for Create-A-Pokemon.