Hello everyone,
I have a terrible announcement to make. Due to horrible, insane, and very expensive things that have been happening in my life, much of which I have little to no control over, I'm forced to retire as lead developer of VP.
Circumstances have gotten too bad and I don't see myself being able to fulfill my responsibilities here within a reasonable timeframe. In a worst case scenario, I might never return here, or only after many years. By the time I return, for all I know, this site may not exist anymore.
It's not impossible for me to get out of this situation (though not without substantial costs), but it will be a vigorous fight that requires my undivided attention. I can't do that and manage Vox Populi simultaneously.
It is unfair for me to continue to be a bottleneck to progress, and the show must go on.
As a result of this, as my final act as Lead Developer, I am making the following changes to the community's structure:
1. I hereby appoint @axatin as my successor for the position of Lead Developer. The Lead Developer has final say over what goes into the mod, serving as the curator for everyone else's contributions. The Lead Developer is also in charge of making new releases. @axatin has done extensive, high-quality work on Vox Populi for years, has mastery of all facets of the code, and has shown good judgement repeatedly. I'm confident the community will be in good hands with him running the ship.
2. I hereby appoint @hokath as my successor for the position of Vox Populi Congress Host. This position has the following responsibilities:
@hokath has a very good grasp of balance, experience in the practical side of modding, and enthusiasm for the role, so I think he will be a great pick as well.
As @hokath is currently serving as one of the three Magi, he will need to appoint a successor. I will leave that up to him.
3. The positions of Lead Developer and VP Congress Host are now split, which should hopefully make the responsibilities for them more manageable.
4. I have asked site administration to grant @axatin the same limited powers that the Magi have in the VP Congress subforum, but for the entire Community Patch Project subforum, to facilitate new releases and general community administration. @leif erikson has told me he will do his best to assist the VP community during this transition.
5. I hereby appoint @L. Vern as the Grandmaster of Graphs, Charts, and Other Dark Arts, because it sounds cool and I think he deserves it for all his work with statistics. This doesn't carry any practical advantage, but anyone who dares defy this order shall suffer the mild inconvenience of stepping on a Lego.
6. I will grant additional moderator abilities to some of the top devs on the Discord server so that they can handle any troublemakers, including appointing @hokath as another full Moderator.
7. While @azum4roll has expressed a desire to continue working behind the scenes, I do at least want to give him a shout out for the enormous amount of work he's put towards making 4UC a reality, and the vast internal improvements he's made before that, which have made the project far more accessible for future modding. Additionally, at his request, I want to remind the community that anyone who can code is welcome to contribute to Vox Populi - it's an open source repository. If you don't know how to contribute, feel free to ask one of the developers.
8. From this point onwards, @axatin is in charge for development, and @hokath is in charge for balance, until and unless they themselves retire or are subject to a successful revolt (manage your key supporters, you two). I wish them and the rest of you a spectacular Version 5.0 and a vibrant community for years to come. I will facilitate the transition over the next few days.
I may continue to contribute to Vox Populi here and there, since I will likely have some spare time, but I need to pass on the metaphorical torch because there's massive uncertainty ahead of me.
I will keep my CivFanatics Moderator position for now, but I will retire from that if a worst case scenario happens.
Maybe I'll return one day when my life is in better shape, if I manage to survive the upcoming ordeal. We will be seeing...
VP has been part of my life for about 7 and a half years now, and I'm happy to have made the impact on it that I did, particularly in regards to the Diplomacy AI and the establishment of the VP Congress. But neither of these would matter without all of you. Thank you all for making Vox Populi the community it is, and I hope you all continue to polish what is already a beautiful project.
All the best,
Recursive
EDIT: A number of you have been asking if you can help me through my situation, see here for my response.
I have a terrible announcement to make. Due to horrible, insane, and very expensive things that have been happening in my life, much of which I have little to no control over, I'm forced to retire as lead developer of VP.
Circumstances have gotten too bad and I don't see myself being able to fulfill my responsibilities here within a reasonable timeframe. In a worst case scenario, I might never return here, or only after many years. By the time I return, for all I know, this site may not exist anymore.
It's not impossible for me to get out of this situation (though not without substantial costs), but it will be a vigorous fight that requires my undivided attention. I can't do that and manage Vox Populi simultaneously.
It is unfair for me to continue to be a bottleneck to progress, and the show must go on.
As a result of this, as my final act as Lead Developer, I am making the following changes to the community's structure:
1. I hereby appoint @axatin as my successor for the position of Lead Developer. The Lead Developer has final say over what goes into the mod, serving as the curator for everyone else's contributions. The Lead Developer is also in charge of making new releases. @axatin has done extensive, high-quality work on Vox Populi for years, has mastery of all facets of the code, and has shown good judgement repeatedly. I'm confident the community will be in good hands with him running the ship.
2. I hereby appoint @hokath as my successor for the position of Vox Populi Congress Host. This position has the following responsibilities:
@hokath has a very good grasp of balance, experience in the practical side of modding, and enthusiasm for the role, so I think he will be a great pick as well.
As @hokath is currently serving as one of the three Magi, he will need to appoint a successor. I will leave that up to him.
3. The positions of Lead Developer and VP Congress Host are now split, which should hopefully make the responsibilities for them more manageable.
4. I have asked site administration to grant @axatin the same limited powers that the Magi have in the VP Congress subforum, but for the entire Community Patch Project subforum, to facilitate new releases and general community administration. @leif erikson has told me he will do his best to assist the VP community during this transition.
5. I hereby appoint @L. Vern as the Grandmaster of Graphs, Charts, and Other Dark Arts, because it sounds cool and I think he deserves it for all his work with statistics. This doesn't carry any practical advantage, but anyone who dares defy this order shall suffer the mild inconvenience of stepping on a Lego.
6. I will grant additional moderator abilities to some of the top devs on the Discord server so that they can handle any troublemakers, including appointing @hokath as another full Moderator.
7. While @azum4roll has expressed a desire to continue working behind the scenes, I do at least want to give him a shout out for the enormous amount of work he's put towards making 4UC a reality, and the vast internal improvements he's made before that, which have made the project far more accessible for future modding. Additionally, at his request, I want to remind the community that anyone who can code is welcome to contribute to Vox Populi - it's an open source repository. If you don't know how to contribute, feel free to ask one of the developers.
8. From this point onwards, @axatin is in charge for development, and @hokath is in charge for balance, until and unless they themselves retire or are subject to a successful revolt (manage your key supporters, you two). I wish them and the rest of you a spectacular Version 5.0 and a vibrant community for years to come. I will facilitate the transition over the next few days.
I may continue to contribute to Vox Populi here and there, since I will likely have some spare time, but I need to pass on the metaphorical torch because there's massive uncertainty ahead of me.
I will keep my CivFanatics Moderator position for now, but I will retire from that if a worst case scenario happens.
Maybe I'll return one day when my life is in better shape, if I manage to survive the upcoming ordeal. We will be seeing...
VP has been part of my life for about 7 and a half years now, and I'm happy to have made the impact on it that I did, particularly in regards to the Diplomacy AI and the establishment of the VP Congress. But neither of these would matter without all of you. Thank you all for making Vox Populi the community it is, and I hope you all continue to polish what is already a beautiful project.
All the best,
Recursive
EDIT: A number of you have been asking if you can help me through my situation, see here for my response.
Spoiler :
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