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The Future of Scenario League - a Proposal
Fellow Scenario League members:
In the last few months, the new management of Apolyton has been working to remake the site. Much great work has been done, but in the process, Apolyton has had to downsize somewhat and establish new priorities. The result is that some of the supports that Scenario League has depended upon are no longer available. Hosted sites like the SL wiki and graphics on the forums are a couple of examples.
In the last month, a group of eight of the more active SL members has been discussing the situation and trying to figure out what to do about it. SL members have contributed hundreds of thousands of hours producing scenarios, graphics, articles and how-to tips over the last ten years or so. It's essential, in our opinion, that these resources remain accessable and secure. Unfortunately, we no longer believe that this is the case.
We considered 3 options: stay with Apolyton, create our own site, or seek another host site. The first option, staying with Apolyton, was rejected because of the difficulties outlined above. The second, creating our own site, was considered and ultimately rejected because of the lack of a connection with the Civ community. A group as small as ours needs to be plugged into the larger group to survive. So we decided that affiliation with a new host offered the most advantages.
The largest Civ site by far is the Civilization Fanatics (CFC) site. It has a large data base, more threads and forum activity, and many more active members than Apolyton. We approached CFC about hosting Scenario League, on the same terms as our existing arrangement with Apolyton: hosting the SL wiki site (we have saved a copy of the site) and our own SL forum, with the right to elect our own moderators. Scenario League has always been an autonomous group within Apolyton, and we asked CFC to respect that as well.
After some negotiations, CFC has tentatvely agreed, pending a discussion amoung all the members. To ensure that everyone has a say, we are initiating this discussion thread. Whether you are currently active, or were in the past, we hope you will participate and support our proposal. We feel that CivFanatics will offer a secure new home for SL and will expand our exposure to the broader Civ Community. Based on our discussions so far, we believe the CFC management is competent, stable and will respect our work and our autonomy. If there is overall agreement among the membership, Bill Schneider (Harry Tuttle) will lead the work to re-establish the SL wiki site. Ciaran Slavin (CurtSibling), Drew Shortis (McMonkey) and Martin Olofsson (Arthedain) will continue for the time being as the forum moderators.
We have emailed Robert Plomp to inform him about our proposal. His response was very professional and cooperative. We appreciate his understanding.
Thank you for considering our proposal. We will be happy to answer any questions.
Sincerely,
Bill Schneider (Harry Tuttle),
Ciaran Slavin (CurtSibling),
John Slankis (AGRICOLA),
Drew Shortis (McMonkey),
Martin Olofsson (Arthedain),
Gareth Birch (Fairline),
Vincent Frachbourg (Cyrion),
Brian Mason (techumseh).
Note: a "member" of SL is anyone who posts on the SL forum or who has contributed to the SL site by uploading scenarios, graphics, articles or other files. Previously active members are welcome to participate.
In the last few months, the new management of Apolyton has been working to remake the site. Much great work has been done, but in the process, Apolyton has had to downsize somewhat and establish new priorities. The result is that some of the supports that Scenario League has depended upon are no longer available. Hosted sites like the SL wiki and graphics on the forums are a couple of examples.
In the last month, a group of eight of the more active SL members has been discussing the situation and trying to figure out what to do about it. SL members have contributed hundreds of thousands of hours producing scenarios, graphics, articles and how-to tips over the last ten years or so. It's essential, in our opinion, that these resources remain accessable and secure. Unfortunately, we no longer believe that this is the case.
We considered 3 options: stay with Apolyton, create our own site, or seek another host site. The first option, staying with Apolyton, was rejected because of the difficulties outlined above. The second, creating our own site, was considered and ultimately rejected because of the lack of a connection with the Civ community. A group as small as ours needs to be plugged into the larger group to survive. So we decided that affiliation with a new host offered the most advantages.
The largest Civ site by far is the Civilization Fanatics (CFC) site. It has a large data base, more threads and forum activity, and many more active members than Apolyton. We approached CFC about hosting Scenario League, on the same terms as our existing arrangement with Apolyton: hosting the SL wiki site (we have saved a copy of the site) and our own SL forum, with the right to elect our own moderators. Scenario League has always been an autonomous group within Apolyton, and we asked CFC to respect that as well.
After some negotiations, CFC has tentatvely agreed, pending a discussion amoung all the members. To ensure that everyone has a say, we are initiating this discussion thread. Whether you are currently active, or were in the past, we hope you will participate and support our proposal. We feel that CivFanatics will offer a secure new home for SL and will expand our exposure to the broader Civ Community. Based on our discussions so far, we believe the CFC management is competent, stable and will respect our work and our autonomy. If there is overall agreement among the membership, Bill Schneider (Harry Tuttle) will lead the work to re-establish the SL wiki site. Ciaran Slavin (CurtSibling), Drew Shortis (McMonkey) and Martin Olofsson (Arthedain) will continue for the time being as the forum moderators.
We have emailed Robert Plomp to inform him about our proposal. His response was very professional and cooperative. We appreciate his understanding.
Thank you for considering our proposal. We will be happy to answer any questions.
Sincerely,
Bill Schneider (Harry Tuttle),
Ciaran Slavin (CurtSibling),
John Slankis (AGRICOLA),
Drew Shortis (McMonkey),
Martin Olofsson (Arthedain),
Gareth Birch (Fairline),
Vincent Frachbourg (Cyrion),
Brian Mason (techumseh).
Note: a "member" of SL is anyone who posts on the SL forum or who has contributed to the SL site by uploading scenarios, graphics, articles or other files. Previously active members are welcome to participate.
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