The Civ5 files announcements: Thinking about stoping them

[thadian]

I voted to keep it around - if you choose not to support civ 5, then you admit its a dull game.

If you keep it up despite low activity this site can say it did everything it could to provide support for this installment - even if that support is undeserved and under-used. as more mods are released more people will return, we saw this in civ 4 when warlords and bts came out.

There are still patches and the game is still "Live" so its best to leave it up so that as things improve/if they improve and as good mods are continuing to be released players will still have somewhere to congregate about them.

 

[The_J]

*dig* okay....first, i want to apologize that we never officially ended this here (we had some organizational chaos in between).
Like you can see, the announcements are still done, it was already decided before the last announcement, because the poll said so.

But if you guys take a look at the current one, it's really not that much, and that was now 1.5 months. So, i'd like to call for some help: If someone here, who cares about the announcements and the whole proceeding of the community, sees somewhere a new mod, maybe by a noob modder, and you see that he/she/it didn't announce it in the thread, then please give him/her a hint in his/her thread about the announcements.
I'm pretty sure there's much less posted there than the modders produced, and that's sad .
So please, keep an eye on the threads and give some hints, that would really be nice .

 

[Pazyryk]

Umm... I don't feel like a noob. However, remarkable as it seems, I cannot for the life of me figure out where this "Front-Page Coverage" is that Blue Monkey speaks of. (I have seen the sticky and I have this lingering sense that I should use it.)

Edit: Ah ha! http://www.civfanatics.com/. Funny I've never been there before...

 

[Spatzimaus]

So, i'd like to call for some help: If someone here, who cares about the announcements and the whole proceeding of the community, sees somewhere a new mod, maybe by a noob modder, and you see that he/she/it didn't announce it in the thread, then please give him/her a hint in his/her thread about the announcements.

I can't speak for others (okay, I CAN, I just shouldn't), but to me there's just a general question of how "done" things need to be before announcing them. Take my own projects; okay, the future-era content mod is basically done and ready to be announced, but it's better if I hold off until after I've restructured it to work with my other mods as it's part of a set. But take my Mythology mod; I'm going to be releasing the first version tonight, but it's not even close to "playable" yet, so while I might post something in this forum encouraging regular forumgoers to help me playtest it, that's not the same as a front-page announcement. A half-dozen versions from now it'll be far more playable, even without having custom graphics and such yet. So when should I announce this?

 

[The_J]

Umm... I don't feel like a noob. However, remarkable as it seems, I cannot for the life of me figure out where this "Front-Page Coverage" is that Blue Monkey speaks of. (I have seen the sticky and I have this lingering sense that I should use it.)

Would be great if you'd announce your mod if you're ready (sounds promising ).

Edit: Ah ha! http://www.civfanatics.com/. Funny I've never been there before...

o_O how did you come to CFC without ever visiting the main site?

I can't speak for others (okay, I CAN, I just shouldn't), but to me there's just a general question of how "done" things need to be before announcing them. Take my own projects; okay, the future-era content mod is basically done and ready to be announced, but it's better if I hold off until after I've restructured it to work with my other mods as it's part of a set. But take my Mythology mod; I'm going to be releasing the first version tonight, but it's not even close to "playable" yet, so while I might post something in this forum encouraging regular forumgoers to help me playtest it, that's not the same as a front-page announcement. A half-dozen versions from now it'll be far more playable, even without having custom graphics and such yet. So when should I announce this?

hhmm...hard question.
If you think you're ready ...okay, that's a bad answer, i know.
There are no technical requirements for being ready (besides having at least something to download). You should announce it, if you think that a random person who comes to CFC will not be totally disappointed AND will be able to install and use it without much hassle (or at least not more than normal).
If you're searching for early testers, i'd also say that this shouldn't be part of the normal download announcement. I think, if there are more people who have some early stage mods which needs testing, we might as well add a category for this, but i'd like to hear some opinions about that before.

 

[Spatzimaus]

If you're searching for early testers, i'd also say that this shouldn't be part of the normal download announcement.

I'd agree, but the problem in this case is something fairly unique to my mods. If I make a download announcement, then they'll go to a thread that has four mod files posted (and another file full of miscellaneous bits and pieces); one mod is a mechanical thing that they'd need regardless of which content mods they use, one's basically done (Ascension), one's just entering the Alpha stage (Mythology), and one's mostly a balance mod/content stub at present and won't get really fleshed out until we get the DLL (Empires). My worry is that people following the link in an announcement for the Ascension mod won't be able to tell the difference between these components. No matter how many big, bold warnings I put in the download thread, people keep doing stuff like this now.

I think, if there are more people who have some early stage mods which needs testing, we might as well add a category for this, but i'd like to hear some opinions about that before.

A sticky thread in here would work for that, but I'd bet that it'd saturate very quickly. Everyone making even a dinky little mod would want theirs to be on The List, but there's a big difference between needing someone with more experience to debug your nonfunctional custom civilization and needing testers to run through a (near-)total conversion mod that generally works but isn't balanced yet. Not trying to sound elitist or anything, but they're two very different types of testing.

Basically, I just intend to post an announcement thread in the general C&C forum once I release the key versions of my content mods, telling people to head on over to my project forum. While I'm happy to have my own project forum, it seems to have REALLY cut down on traffic compared to when I was in the Modpacks forum, so most people won't know when a key milestone is reached (unless they see my .sig somewhere else).

 

[Pazyryk]

Interesting topic. My own experience is that I dropped into Civ Fanatics in a rather random way. I think I was doing some unrelated search on octopuses, and somehow got to FFH. Now that I no longer have FFH bookmarked sad it seems a lot harder to find than it should be (still 1st in the list of Civ4 mods, but you kind of have to look around even so). Same can be said for the excellent Civ5 mods that now have their own subforums.

I wonder if the whole front page thingy is too "fair." Really, my little utility programs don't need advertising ... anyone who might need them will find them. The existing and working large-scale mods (in the current subforums and a couple others) should get some more prominent advertising. That might come at the cost of someone's little civ-addition (which might hurt someones feelings) but it might get more folks to the mods that are really ground-breaking.

Then there are the new and upcoming things (like Spatzimaus's Age of Mythology) that could use some hyping to help get alpha/beta testers, or just to draw in a bigger fan base to keep the modder motivated. Now, maybe it's unfair to promote this over other (theoretically) upcoming mods, but we all know that most efforts will fail long before we see them. This would require some judgement (which introduces subjectivity and the possibility of mistakes) but it would be nice if these could get promoted in some way.

 

[The_J]

I'd agree, but the problem in this case is something fairly unique to my mods. If I make a download announcement, then they'll go to a thread that has four mod files posted (and another file full of miscellaneous bits and pieces);

Here i have to say: Organize yourself better .
Why not just distribute that stuff over multiple posts in the same thread, and put a link to a single post in the announcement? That would work too.

A sticky thread in here would work for that, but I'd bet that it'd saturate very quickly. Everyone making even a dinky little mod would want theirs to be on The List, but there's a big difference between needing someone with more experience to debug your nonfunctional custom civilization and needing testers to run through a (near-)total conversion mod that generally works but isn't balanced yet. Not trying to sound elitist or anything, but they're two very different types of testing.

I'd not consider debuging the same as playtesting.
But yeah, not sure if a sticky would work :/.

Basically, I just intend to post an announcement thread in the general C&C forum once I release the key versions of my content mods, telling people to head on over to my project forum. While I'm happy to have my own project forum, it seems to have REALLY cut down on traffic compared to when I was in the Modpacks forum, so most people won't know when a key milestone is reached (unless they see my .sig somewhere else).

I know that this happens. If someone asks me if it's possible to get a subforum, and i have doubts about the activity would rather not allow them a forum, that's always a think which i emphasize there: A forum looks easily dead while a topic doesn't. And a dead forum is really crap.
It's sad to hear that the activity dropped so much here.
One way around this problem: In Civ4, most of the mods which have a subforum have in many cases additionally their main thread in the modpacks forum. Keeps the mod more in the focus of the people.

Interesting topic. My own experience is that I dropped into Civ Fanatics in a rather random way. I think I was doing some unrelated search on octopuses, and somehow got to FFH. Now that I no longer have FFH bookmarked sad it seems a lot harder to find than it should be (still 1st in the list of Civ4 mods, but you kind of have to look around even so). Same can be said for the excellent Civ5 mods that now have their own subforums.

If someone has suggestions for an improvement...
Putting mods + modforums one stage higher in a separate area might help, but not sure if this looks good at all.

I wonder if the whole front page thingy is too "fair." Really, my little utility programs don't need advertising ... anyone who might need them will find them. The existing and working large-scale mods (in the current subforums and a couple others) should get some more prominent advertising. That might come at the cost of someone's little civ-addition (which might hurt someones feelings) but it might get more folks to the mods that are really ground-breaking.

Then there are the new and upcoming things (like Spatzimaus's Age of Mythology) that could use some hyping to help get alpha/beta testers, or just to draw in a bigger fan base to keep the modder motivated. Now, maybe it's unfair to promote this over other (theoretically) upcoming mods, but we all know that most efforts will fail long before we see them. This would require some judgement (which introduces subjectivity and the possibility of mistakes) but it would be nice if these could get promoted in some way.

You're right here, with pro and contra arguments.
But one thing to add first: There's currently barely anything to advertise. So please, announce everything which is new, it shows activity and it's not possible to really neglect anything at the moment.

About the ...let's say "lack of promotion" in some areas, yes, also true, but no idea how to improve it.
I already mentioned the new subforum in the main announcement, but can't do really anything more.

Some time ago (...er...pretty long IIRC), there was the idea about mod reviews. The idea itself is a good one, but we don't have the capacities to organize that and to ensure some quality there in a bigger scope like e.g. for the war academy.
What comes to my mind (...came...somehow 5 seconds ago)...is that we could include a minireview (10, 15 lines, not more) of a mod in the main site announcements, but that again would need someone external (meaning neither me nor the mod creator/team members themselves) to write one.
And if there were multiple suggestions, there'd also be the problem how to choose which one...*scratch*...the whole thing is a bit of a problem.

BUT: If anyone thinks anything about the whole thingy here, please say/write it. I'm open for suggestions.

 

[Spatzimaus]

Why not just distribute that stuff over multiple posts in the same thread, and put a link to a single post in the announcement?

The way I've been organizing the Files thread in my subforum is that the first post contains the latest and greatest files, while all later posts are basically patch notes, giving the changes in each mod since the last version (since versions are incremented simultaneously for all components, at least for now). Since all four mods are modified at the same time, and given that I went through thirty or so "alpha" versions of my Alpha Centauri mod before it was even close to ready for a v1.00 level (suitable for announcement), it just felt more appropriate to split the posts chronologically instead of by mod.

I'd not consider debuging the same as playtesting.
But yeah, not sure if a sticky would work :/.

It probably wouldn't, but I don't think there's really an objective way to separate the smaller mods from the bigger ones. It never makes a modder happy to be told that his work is just not important compared to someone else's, no matter how justified that might be. The only really objective criterion in this whole process is the one you mentioned: whether it's "done" enough to be posted on the front page, and that's not very applicable to this. So it's probably best to just stick with the usual begging for help.

A forum looks easily dead while a topic doesn't. And a dead forum is really crap.
It's sad to hear that the activity dropped so much here.

It's not just a reduction in comments, there's a clear decrease in the number of casual viewers (which isn't always a bad thing, but in the context of advertisement it is); I host my files in my thread, instead of through the in-game browser or the CivFanatics database, and I've tracked download numbers for each version.

When I had a single thread, I'd pretty consistently get ~100 downloads a week for each new version, meaning in the 2-3 weeks between updates I'd get almost 300 downloads. You'd get a burst of ~50 folks in the first day or two, clearly the active forumgoers, but then you'd get a fairly smooth increase after that, implying that a lot of casual players downloaded it during a one-a-month sort of delve into the modding forums.

In my own forum, in 26 days I've had 118 downloads, with about 20 of those coming in the last day since your mention of my mod on the front page (and thanks for that, by the way). Now, maybe the solution is to place the files for the next version into the main CivFanatics database, where people can see it without coming into the forums at all, but to me that falls into the same category as the announcements this thread was about: something that is used when it's ready for prime time (which the Mythology content clearly isn't).
(I could always upload to the in-game browser, I suppose, assuming no one tries to sue me for copyright infringement on the Alpha Centauri content I used. I'm sure it'd greatly increase downloads, but I didn't want to do that until at least the base content is in place for all four components. So maybe next month.)

One way around this problem: In Civ4, most of the mods which have a subforum have in many cases additionally their main thread in the modpacks forum. Keeps the mod more in the focus of the people.

This'd probably be a good idea, but the question would be what should go into that modpack thread, if the content-specific stuff all has its own thread. Or conversely, if everyone starts posting into the modpacks thread again, then what's the point of the separate forum threads? So maybe make a locked, stickied thread for each Project at the top of the Modpacks area, with the text of the thread consisting only of a quick summary and a link to the corresponding Project area.

It might just be me, but I'd prefer if the Projects forums themselves were placed/linked at the top of the Modpacks area, so that any casual mod-user going into the Modpacks area can't help but see them there. (It'd really be best if it could exist in both places simultaneously, but I don't know if the board software can handle that.) The current arrangement, with it placed after the less-used forums like Utility Programs and Map Scripts, separates it a bit too much from the comparable content IMO. People who have been here a while will know where the projects are, but the new folks won't venture far from the Modpacks area.

 

[The_J]

It probably wouldn't, but I don't think there's really an objective way to separate the smaller mods from the bigger ones. It never makes a modder happy to be told that his work is just not important compared to someone else's, no matter how justified that might be. The only really objective criterion in this whole process is the one you mentioned: whether it's "done" enough to be posted on the front page, and that's not very applicable to this. So it's probably best to just stick with the usual begging for help.

Not nice, but probably true :/.

But like said, if someone is really desperately seeking for some playtesters, it can always be mentioned together with the main site announcement (if it's not too much).

This'd probably be a good idea, but the question would be what should go into that modpack thread, if the content-specific stuff all has its own thread. Or conversely, if everyone starts posting into the modpacks thread again, then what's the point of the separate forum threads?

Sure, good point.
In Civ4, the modders normally link to the specific threads if a discussion comes up, so that they continue there. Doesn't always work though.

It might just be me, but I'd prefer if the Projects forums themselves were placed/linked at the top of the Modpacks area, so that any casual mod-user going into the Modpacks area can't help but see them there.

I think the main reason why it isn't is that
a) it would be lower in the index ("deeper" in the forum)
b) will be a problem if there are too many (take a look at Civ4, would look ugly)

If no one has a problem with a), i could suggest moving the
Civ5 - Project & Mod Development to the modpacks subforum, until we have a bigger amount of projects.
But it would need some comments here please. If an admin asks why, i'd like to answer "because X people think it's a good idea".

 

[Spatzimaus]

I think the main reason why it isn't is that
a) it would be lower in the index ("deeper" in the forum)

The method I was thinking of wouldn't do this. Modpacks would have one subdirectory for VEM, one subdirectory for NiGHTS, and one for mine (plus anyone else that thinks they need a project area). So they'd all be visible from the main area as subdirectories, just like they are now, and would be just as deep as before. But instead of being three subdirectories of the Projects area, they'd be subdirectories of Modpacks.

b) will be a problem if there are too many (take a look at Civ4, would look ugly)

Yeah, that IS a problem. I've been in forums where they'd stickied so many threads that almsot nothing else would be on the first page; obviously you wouldn't want to go that far.

Personally, I think the situation would be improved somewhat if you were to just move Modpacks and Mod Components so that they appear last on the directory list, just below Projects. That way, the three directories containing complete mod files (for casual readers) are together at the bottom of the list, while the References forum (obviously important) bookends the other side, with the "asset" directories (like Unit Graphics or Map Scripts) in between. Just so that Projects isn't basically off on its own. But maybe I'm overestimating the problem.

 

[The_J]

The method I was thinking of wouldn't do this. Modpacks would have one subdirectory for VEM, one subdirectory for NiGHTS, and one for mine (plus anyone else that thinks they need a project area). So they'd all be visible from the main area as subdirectories, just like they are now, and would be just as deep as before. But instead of being three subdirectories of the Projects area, they'd be subdirectories of Modpacks.

This would then again mean, that you'd see three subforums ontop of the modpacks area.
I suggested the movement of the Civ5 - Project & Mod Development to the modpacks forum, because this would be one subforum, and you could still see the single projects in the modpacks area.
I sure see your point.

Personally, I think the situation would be improved somewhat if you were to just move Modpacks and Mod Components so that they appear last on the directory list, just below Projects. That way, the three directories containing complete mod files (for casual readers) are together at the bottom of the list, while the References forum (obviously important) bookends the other side, with the "asset" directories (like Unit Graphics or Map Scripts) in between. Just so that Projects isn't basically off on its own. But maybe I'm overestimating the problem.

mmhhh...new people might then not find the whole area anymore .

Difficult.
And i'd like to hear some more opinions. Might be that i have to drop a PM to Thal + MarkusBeutel (if they don't come to hear alone) to see what they have to say.

 

[Spatzimaus]

I suggested the movement of the Civ5 - Project & Mod Development to the modpacks forum, because this would be one subforum, and you could still see the single projects in the modpacks area.

That'd definitely keep the Modpacks real estate from getting clogged up with projects; obviously, I like the fact that I can go straight to my mod's area from the base C&C forum, which you'd lose in that sort of arrangement, but that might be a small price to pay.

And i'd like to hear some more opinions. Might be that i have to drop a PM to Thal + MarkusBeutel (if they don't come to hear alone) to see what they have to say.

Definitely. My mod's not even close to having the level of traffic that their mods have, so it's much more important to not inconvenience the VEM and NiGHTS users than to worry about the lack of traffic within my own.

 

[CivOasis]

Well, personally, the only reason I go into the project subforums is to track Spatz's mod. So, yeah, I can see everything getting more views if relocated.
Arguably, lack of mods is a good reason to keep announcements running- it might inspire new modders, due to not seeing a mod they want.

 

[Thalassicus]

Does it take much time to move sub-forums? I'd suggest a phased approach if they are easy to move. The projects can be sub-forums within modpacks to improve their visibility, for now, as Spatzimaus suggested:

Modpacks would have one subdirectory for VEM, one subdirectory for NiGHTS, and one for mine (plus anyone else that thinks they need a project area). So they'd all be visible from the main area as subdirectories, just like they are now, and would be just as deep as before. But instead of being three subdirectories of the Projects area, they'd be subdirectories of Modpacks.

At a later time, if more than ~10 projects or so have subforums there, new options can be considered like returning to the Civ 4 method of a separate forum. I think the biggest problem is just raising awareness that there's many excellent mods for Civ 5. I've seen many posts in the general forums and elsewhere that people are unaware of the fantastic variety of deep and gamechanging mods out there, despite announcements on the front page.

 

[The_J]

Well, personally, the only reason I go into the project subforums is to track Spatz's mod. So, yeah, I can see everything getting more views if relocated.
Arguably, lack of mods is a good reason to keep announcements running- it might inspire new modders, due to not seeing a mod they want.

Thanks for your opinion .
For the second part, yes, sure, but the problem is then "what to announce"? If there's nothing...

I thought for tomorrow (30th for me) about a themed announcement, but i don't think we have already enough material in civ5 :/.

Does it take much time to move sub-forums? I'd suggest a phased approach if they are easy to move. The projects can be sub-forums within modpacks to improve their visibility, for now, as Spatzimaus suggested:

At a later time, if more than ~10 projects or so have subforums there, new options can be considered like returning to the Civ 4 method of a separate forum. I think the biggest problem is just raising awareness that there's many excellent mods for Civ 5. I've seen many posts in the general forums and elsewhere that people are unaware of the fantastic variety of deep and gamechanging mods out there, despite announcements on the front page.

No idea how easy or difficult it is :/. If it's too difficult, it will probably not get done. But i don't assume that the difficulty is high.

For the phased approach, yes, had thought about something like that.
What right now comes to my mind is that also forum links (looks like a forum, but is only a link) might be a possibility (so a quasi "duplicate" at the top of the modpacks forum). That might be the most preferable option atm. So a subforum on top of the modpacks forum, which has forumlinks to every normal modprojects subforum.
Would not clog up the modpacks forum, would directly be in the face of the users, but the accessability is still the same, because the forums are not really moved and can still be seen from the main C&C forum (because they are still there, at the bottom).
Does this sound good?


Any suggestions about bringing some more attention to the mods? Can't think of anything really big :/. Normally i'd say that putting something on the main page should be enough, but we know here, it's not that heavily used :/.

 

[Putmalk]

Any suggestions about bringing some more attention to the mods? Can't think of anything really big :/. Normally i'd say that putting something on the main page should be enough, but we know here, it's not that heavily used :/.

Do a monthly mod spotlight. Let people submit mods, review them, then put up a poll (like 10 choices). Users can vote which mod they want to see a spotlight done on, then do a front-page article on it where somebody reviews it. After a mod has been chosen, it's ineligible for 3 months for another spotlight.

 

[Spatzimaus]

Any suggestions about bringing some more attention to the mods?

Not sure how much you'd like this, but I'd say a "State of the Union" sort of thing. PM the creators of all of the large, active modpacks, and ask them to make one definitive, as-stable-as-possible version by some common deadline (say, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, in preparation for the long holiday weekend), and then do one big announcement post on the front page with links to all of them. It might just be the same as the usual announcement format (i.e., you'd just be asking people to submit something to the announcements thread instead of waiting for them to do it voluntarily), or you could do it as a themed thing. This wouldn't stop anyone else from listing their mods, but it'd be good to have all of the big mods listed at once, in the sort of stable forms that new folks would want. The anniversary of the game's release would have been ideal, but we've obviously missed that, so going with a holiday is probably best.

I know, the underlying problem is my own fault. I've never listed my mods in the Announcements thread, and I don't expect anyone else to do the advertising for me. But a single post with the latest versions of Thal's mods, NiGHTs, CtP, Hulfgar's, CSD, InfoAddict, etc. all in one place? That's the sort of thing that'd convince folks that Civ5 mods are worth looking into, if anything could.

 

[The_J]

Do a monthly mod spotlight. Let people submit mods, review them, then put up a poll (like 10 choices). Users can vote which mod they want to see a spotlight done on, then do a front-page article on it where somebody reviews it. After a mod has been chosen, it's ineligible for 3 months for another spotlight.

The problem here is to get some people who are willed to do a review. And these people should probably not exactly be noobs. Or if so, you'd have to get multiple people for one mod.
short version: Involves some heavy organization.
Due to the fact that we're currently reorganizing/new organizing some other parts elsewhere, i don't think we'd currently have time to do that, so has to be at least postponed.

Not sure how much you'd like this, but I'd say a "State of the Union" sort of thing. PM the creators of all of the large, active modpacks, and ask them to make one definitive, as-stable-as-possible version by some common deadline (say, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, in preparation for the long holiday weekend), and then do one big announcement post on the front page with links to all of them. It might just be the same as the usual announcement format (i.e., you'd just be asking people to submit something to the announcements thread instead of waiting for them to do it voluntarily), or you could do it as a themed thing. This wouldn't stop anyone else from listing their mods, but it'd be good to have all of the big mods listed at once, in the sort of stable forms that new folks would want. The anniversary of the game's release would have been ideal, but we've obviously missed that, so going with a holiday is probably best.

I know, the underlying problem is my own fault. I've never listed my mods in the Announcements thread, and I don't expect anyone else to do the advertising for me. But a single post with the latest versions of Thal's mods, NiGHTs, CtP, Hulfgar's, CSD, InfoAddict, etc. all in one place? That's the sort of thing that'd convince folks that Civ5 mods are worth looking into, if anything could.

In general a good idea, but i don't think we could synchronize that.
A list which is not necessarily updated would probably have to do it here :/.
But again the question: Which ones do you consider "big"?

Edit: I guess that sounds too negative, so to add: I will probably do exactly that the next time, if there's again not a really big list to be announced.

 

[Spatzimaus]

But again the question: Which ones do you consider "big"?

Well, the active people in this forum know who the big mods are. But that's why I phrased the suggestion the way I did; all you'd be doing, really, is asking the people who've developed large mods to please submit their mod to be part of a themed announcement post by a specific date. It wouldn't stop anyone else from submitting theirs as well, so if you wanted to be overly generous on the definition of "big", it wouldn't harm anything.

Part of the problem is one of timing; I mean, look at it from my side as an example. I'm developing a mythology mod. Right now, it's not even close to ready to announce, but in a month or so, maybe. You do announcements on a fairly long timescale (not a criticism, just a necessity of the system). I wouldn't want to submit v.0.03 of a mod, and have it already be up to v.0.11 by the time the announcement actually gets posted, so I'd want to wait a while before submitting it (and possibly missing the next deadline as a result). But if you said "we'll be posting the next announcement on November 25th, and anything put into the announcement thread by the 22nd will be included", then that's a very different situation. It'd encourage people to finish up whatever major changes they're making in time to be part of that big announcement, finalizing a stable version that new folks can be encouraged to try out. And by encouraging all of the major mods to do this at the same time, it'd allow you to have a big Civ5-centric update post that shows people the variety of what's been done.