Since last month I've had a lot of time to think of what could be done to address the issue we are currently facing on Innectis. Over that time, I have come across the same simple concept many times: community is a large reason why things are so successful. Innectis has lasted over 5 years because people have continued to come back time and time again. There may not be as much people anymore, but old timers still come back every now and then.
It is this element of a company, service or other type of group that shows the ultimate value of what is being offered. When you have people come back time and time again, that really means something significant. The community is there continually because of the content they love and enjoy. It's this aspect that we'd like to emphasize more of moving forward with this community. We would like to show the community the value that they have, and give them more opportunities to show that they really help keep the server going.
A method of development that is very common in the development world is known as open-source development. That is where the developers of a project allow others from the community and even outside the community to make their own contributions that can be applied to the project. This gives a community aspect to the project because the developers aren't the only ones who create the final product, but the contributors help as well. This is a great way of letting those with ideas know that they matter!
I certainly know first-hand the value of open-source development as I have contributed to Bukkit and CraftBukkit a few times, among other projects. Even Hretsam has contributed to World Edit (the pyramid commands). The idea of being open enough to allow contributions from people other than the developers of a project really shows their appreciation for other people.
However, we haven't had a lot of ways the community could help out without being a staff member themselves. They typically had to be active with the community and a respected person before we chose them to be a part of our team. We also have a suggestion board but that can only work to a certain extent. Not all suggestions end up being added to the server. There needs to be more ways for the community to show their value. That is where this initiative comes in, and it's really just the start.
With that said, We would like to introduce the Build-A-Feature community initiative, an initiative made with the community in mind. This is your opportunity to give back in a way that allows some future server features to have been driven by the community. While we have added suggestions from the community, very few if any have been added with direction by the community. We'd like to at least incorporate some features that have been idea-driven by the community.
We hope this change is one that really helps show the value the community really has to Innectis. This is just the start as we want the community to have more influence than what they've had in the years leading up to now. I actually thought of this idea to begin with. I know I have had a history of not really listening to the community, but after last month have really started to get myself together.
Moving forward, let's make this community what it should be. You can find more information about Build-A-Feature
here.
