I know exactly how annoying it is to try and gather up suitable PR materials, but I also know - from a fan standpoint - that it never hurts putting up on the website, every now and then, a little "We're working on it! It's going good, slowly but surely. Dev #1 is doing this, dev #2 is doing that, and I'm doing something else."

Only takes 5 minutes and will make 20 people who frequent the site happy for a few months!

This is somewhat topical... I just noticed it still reads "1999-2006 Hero6 Development" on the project front page though... you might want to fix that one up I personally started using PHP to update any such dates on my own sites! Easy solution!

[compound]

Well, I have to repeat that I don't know the hero6 story.. and especially over the past year or so:  I haven't been in the development loop AT ALL.  But I've been a member of many other projects, and all of them have not had stories that I considered very cool... sometimes it's in the delivery?  A tale of two kingdoms was kind of fun, but I admit the story was boring enough that I skipped most of the dialogue, and hadn't interest in reading any back story....

I wholeheartedly agree with PHattiE here on what he's saying about (let me apply a tag to it:) "the engaging delivery of a message".

Yahtzee wrote about the importance of storytelling back in 2005. Although he's just repeating the obvious, obviously, I find it extremely important to stress this point whenever adventure games are being made or merely talked about: "We've got this medium we can use to tell and re-tell some of the greatest stories in the world; a medium whose interactive nature possibly adds even more artistic validity, and we're just using it to re-tread old ground and ESCAPE FROM MY HOUSE."

Like Yahtzee's, my personal interest in the adventure game as a genre is its all-encompassing nature. It can bring together "plot" and "narrative" in a way that also engages the spectator. Games are, to me at least, the best compound form of different media. And though games can be seen to be incredibly mature compared to the short history of the videogame, PHattiE's observation regarding the immaturity of the narratives found in adventure games is extremely valid.

My point is this: The word "medium" as a vehicle signifies transmission and conveyance. That's what the adventure game should be perceived as, a vehicle - not a means unto itself. Certainly some genres of games can stand alone fine, altogether without compelling narratives or storylines, but this is because their function is different. We need to educate ourselves of this difference in function and act accordingly. So far, very few of us really know how to make that distinction, we're not talking about it enough.

If we wish for games to be engaging, like art at best is, then us authors need to spread awareness of the true function of the adventure game. Wordsworth writes, in the "Preface to Lyrical Ballads", "Poetry is the first and last of all knowledge—it is as immortal as the heart of man." That's the "it" factor of all writing: We need to tap into that Immortal Heart of Man, turn to whatever "humanity" and "being human" denote (or alternatively, do not) and then convey something essential about it to our friends and players.

I mean, really, how many of us game-creating hopefuls really stop to ask, "Do I have anything to say?"

Ooh! Quite nice, though I hate to admit I've just grown to enjoy the current default theme

I will try to get in touch with daemious about this.  Isn't MAD the only opensource adventure game engine?  It'd be great to get some interest in the engine again outside of this project.

That would be an amazing way of both generating public interest and feedback about the engine's capabilities.

Anything playable really makes the day, be it for the developers or the players themselves, it's always such a relief when you get your stuff ingame.

[more]

I hope nobody in the team feels their trade secrets have been spilled out like beans - I just find it hard to contain myself whenever there is a possibility of talking about organizing workflow and team communications in general, it's fascinating!

I think with a project like Hero6 - one with an immense amount of history and work behind it, the most complications may occur in maintaining the whole, the entirety - everything that is potentially laying around (online, on hard drives, in the minds of team members). I'm happy to hear you guys keep on going. PHattiE's suggestion of "BeInSync", too, sounds like a very interesting application for any kind of project. I had yet to hear of this program and am excited about it, personally I feel the more a production environment resembles a local area network the better. A sense of immediacy is a great thing. In any case, the setup you guys have seems more than just potent! Man, I've never seen a web setup as lavish and customized as that, you guys are more than 100% equipped technically.

I'm sorry to digress so, but as far as wikis go, I personally adore Pie immensely. The developer is more hands-on than most and I've had several requests implemented in the software already, but for such a big project like you guys are running, it may prove too simplified. MediaWiki has come to be synonymous with wikis anyway, so I assume you guys are going for that?

[him- or herself]

Truth is, we're just a bunch of geeks that want to make a "quest for glory"ish adventure game.  I don't know why anyone would see the need to trumpet on about any specific member's abilities to the visitors.

Hahah, that's awesome! I was quite hesitant with posting (as you noticed, there was a three month gap between my post and the "press release"). It may not be an easy situation you are in right now, but it's superb that you have an easygoing view on it

The "creative dictator" who wrote that press release was booted from the team some months ago.  I feel like we've come back down to earth now that he's gone, but I think the project has never been in such a disarray.

Oh no, and nobody told us - that's horrible - and I mean the "creative dictator" situation, not the disarray

I blame the lack of public communication on distrust.  You can never tell the quality of each member. ... Large projects get complicated and do require some form of leadership.  Unfortunately, there are some leaders who like to toot their own horn rather than bring substance to the table.

Yea, and it's not always about major personality clashes, fighting and distrust either - getting to the point where a person can rely on him- or herself to turn out content as promised is just as much a private psychological situation. Some people learn how to motivate themselves right away, some need more practice. Some never learn, which is a shame. You surely know what I'm talking about.

Lastly, I hope you won't take any offense in me issuing forth an idea, though: As far as production workflow goes, have you guys ever experimented with a members-only wiki? It takes a while to set one up (this is usually the hardest part, as there's no wiki without materials and the manpower - could take months, easily), but once you get the materials set up, it becomes increasingly easy to introduce new members to the existing data - and better yet, to add new content. Similarly, the game vision slowly becomes etched in the minds of the readers and contributors. Hyperlinks really add that additional edge to normal storyboards and documents, for instance. It's so easy when you can just paste an URL to a newcomer instead of explaining everything from head to toes - and the time spent explaining rudimentary features can be spent on explaining something more important.

Are you guys in a position to talk about your current (and previous) team members setup? I'd be interested in hearing how you guys have been working like so far. If you think this is confidential (NDA! NDA! NDA!), it's okay

[not]

Hey guys - long story short, I've followed H6 for golly I don't know how long - probably for seven, eight years. Right about from the beginning. I was a young man and "you guys" (I'm sure there are few if any original members left here) and Fate of Atlantis 2 were at the top of the game. I guess I should apologize for not having an inclination to post before, but... I'm sure you all understand. Some of us are born to be lurkers... 

However, since there's clearly absolutely nothing to talk about around here anyway, I thought I'd stir up the beehive a tad. I noticed there was quite a bit of bickering earlier in this thread, and it is not on my agenda to quarrel or complain, just to bring up a few points I thought are important. The critique may come off as harsh to some of you, and for that I apologize, but even then I feel this is something that should be mentioned.

Namely, I'd like to know if there are there others who found the style and register of the most recent "press release" slightly misguided, to the point, really, where it can/could potentially damage the public's perception of the project? Phrases like "...appointed to the chief position of Creative Director in late fourth quarter of 2006" and "experience in managing online communities and some strong relationships with members of the gaming industry and media" definitely did not tickle my funny bone personally.

My point is this: Hero6 is not a commercial venture. You are not attempting to build capital by lubricating mindless worms like investors and publishers or trying to fool the public into thinking you have a really cool product for sale.

From what I understand, you wanted to inform the public of what was up. This is great, a positive change, especially when compared to the track record of the project. But I'm not sure this was the right way of doing it. I'm 100% sure that what you want is to tap into the goodwill and interest of your closest, most immediate fans. Some of these are going to be aware of the very competitive indie gaming community, some are not. In either case, hubristic "Press releases" in a commercial register, as far as I see it, are not going to work.

Let me elaborate: Why, exactly, are companies like Telltale or Valve so successful? They are hands-on and well-grounded. They send you little notes about what is going on, they have blogs: In other words, they utilize immediacy and friendliness. Thus, instead of emulating the scheming menace and alienating facelessness of the "corporate" gaming industry (Sony, EA, modern-day LucasArts), please embrace your humble beginnings and historical presence as a seminal community venture.

So what I'm essentially saying here is, right now you guys are coming off way too professional for your own good. Tone it down a notch guys, show us a background sketch, mumble a little about what's going on behind the scenes. That's what everybody does - and should do, in my own view. The difference between good PR and bad PR in the indie community is, you need to know when to speak and when to stay silent