Outsourced Development of Dodian

**Nozemi** · 11-01-2022

Hello, Dodianers!

The way I see it, Dodian's future (unless we settle for what we have now), depends on us as a community being able to outsource the development.
As we all know, I will probably never find the time to deliver us anything, at least not alone.

Stepping Away or Sharing the "Wheel"
If serious, and being in line with the visions we have for Dodian, I'm willing to discuss "handing the wheel over". I'm also willing to discuss sharing the wheel.
Also for clarification; I'm not the owner of Dodian, and thus decisions on how Dodian is run etc is also to some degree decided by, Fabrice L (the owner of Dodian).

For me to consider this possibility, you'll need to check one or more of these points below:

Experience running communities
Experience with programming (preferably RSPS and/or Java/Kotlin)
Decent understanding of what Dodian has been through, what will work, and what won't
To some degree be on more or less the same page as me and/or Fabrice L, when it comes to running Dodian

I will remain in a position where if someone decides to stab us in the back, be able to overthrow them.
That being said; I don't overthrow anyone in this position over some personal drama.
We'll discuss the details if it becomes relevant.

I'm not going to gate-keep Dodian or remakes of it, and will to the best of my abilities contribute towards partnerships, cooperations, etc.
So if anyone wishes to make their own remake, I will happily share the spotlight with them.

What I won't do however, is compromise Dodian, and let it be run for reasons to monetize for someone's personal gain.
This is voluntary work towards persisting childhood memories and prolonging whatever nostalgia is left.
Lastly trying to put an effort towards advancing in a direction that doesn't stray too far away from it actually being and feeling like Dodian.

This joint community effort will result in a server base that'll be ready to go for any type of RSPS you desire.
It'll be open source, so you can just take it and run your own way if you so choose.

Disclaimer! This funding goes to external developers. I will not ask the community to pay me to develop Dodian.

How Much Funds Are Needed?
This question depends how far we want to take it and where we want to go. But we'll start as small as we can.

The first milestone will be to get the new server base in a state that allows us to implement content, and have the most essential/fundamental features implemented.
I've reached out to a developer I know in the scene, asking to help me estimate the costs of reaching this milestone.

Reaching the first milestone will more than likely cost at least €1,000 (EUR), if everything is outsourced.
I will of course to the best of my abilities contribute towards development myself as well, but I don't see it as realistic for me to do much meaningful, especially not alone.
However, to get the ball rolling, I will personally contribute €200 of my own money, maybe more - depending on what's needed and how close we get etc.

From the first milestone, it'll be a lot easier for us to do the rest of the work, as that's mostly a matter of porting content over to the new server base.
The plan is to recreate Dodian, as close as we can to what it was in the good old days, and go from there. Which is the second milestone.

See below for more details on milestones.

Development Milestones
I will split the development up in milestones, to make them more easy to overcome.

1. Server Base With Essential/Fundamental Features Implemented
Right now the new server base is very barebones. So we'll need to get that to a state where things such as trading, banking, interfaces, etc are in place and working.
The last thing I was working on before I stopped, was the interface system - which is necessary for the interfaces in game to actually work.

2. Server Beta, Implementing Dodian's Content, & Completing Essential Functionality of the New Website
Second milestone is to get the server ready for public beta and get Dodian's main content implemented.
Somewhere along the way we will need to squeeze in time to make the new website ready to replace the old one - which isn't all that far off if I recall correctly.

3. Launching The New Server & Website - Of Course Keeping Current Stats & Items
At this point we'll have tested it enough to be comfortable launching a Dodian remake into a stable (non-beta) state.
This is also when we can start thinking about advertising, when we will implement voting, and start working towards growing the community.

We will also at this point be ready for the next milestone, which is heavily impacted by what we envision as a community at this point.
I have discussed some ideas with the staff before, and will present some of them in detail when we're much closer to this point.
But to mention some ideas briefely:

"View Only" World - Original Dodian.com Stats (if we can get our hands on that database - I know someone in the community has it).
"View Only" + Playing Worlds (2 separate worlds) - Current State of Dodian.net as it is at the time of retiring the old Dodian server base (the one live right now).
Fresh Start World - Let's everyone start from scratch (this will of course be announced ahead of time, giving people time to prepare and hear about it).
Seasonal World - A seasonal Dodian instance that will run for X duration, with certain conditions decided by the community.
Conditons can be with or without certain content, with certain XP rates, certain starting items, certain goals, etc.
Will need to discuss the details for this much more when it's closer.

Make sure to remember the above points are just ideas, they aren't set in stone - however, it's getting a little bit into what I've planned and envisioned.
Also each world (including seasonal) will have their own instance of the highscores, making it possible to view them separately, as well as retaining history.

Community Involvement
With a new server base and website, we will have much better means to enable community involvement, in multiple ways.
Such as contributing code, with assets (models, animations, maps, interfaces, etc). Also of course ideas and opinions about changes and content.

I've always expressed my wish for community contributing code-wise, but also known that in its current state, that's not feasible.
This will change with a new server base. I've already starte documented a tiny bit in regard to getting the server up and running locally,
and this documentation will be expanded so it's much easier for anyone to get their own server up and running (either locally or on a VPS).

Changes - Such as Buffs/Nerfs Done Willy-Nilly
With the new server base, I will enforce a policy that makes sure changes outside of bug fixes or other critical incidents,
will have to go through a review process. This process will be public, and you as a community will get to voice your opinions.

This isn't the case right now, and has caused some frustration among community members - which is understandable.
However, with Arch (Pro Noob) being much more familiar with the current state of the game,
I haven't involved myself much in these decisions for the current server.

Public Voting For Content/Changes
I will ensure that most things are polled, so you as a community get to make a vote for or against something.
However, some stuff could still be left as a gauge to see where the community is, and help us make considerations,
but despite majority vote being for or against, still decide it's in Dodian's best interest long term to do something else.
It's a little complicated to put in words if I'm being honest - sounds pretty bad on paper, but I hope you keep an open mind.

What Do You Get For Contributing Towards Funding?
I'm sure some of you would want something in return for helping the funding. However, there is little we can guarantee in return,
other than a promise to spend the money wisely towards the development of Dodian.

What is guaranteed:

We will never monetize Dodian to pocket profit for ourselves!
- Any decision revolving around any sort of monetization of Dodian will be carefully considered,
  and will not be done against any majority votes, or similar.
- Only monetization I see realistic would be a cosmetics store to fund further development.
  This is also yet to be decided, and would need to be vetted by the community in its entirety.
  Including what cosmetics should or shouldn't be introduced in such a shop.
New server base offering a smoother playing experience.
New foundation to build new and more exciting content off of.
Documentation/guides for how to work with this new server base, so you can add your own content to it.
This content can then be requested/suggested for the live game, or you can host your own RSPS off of it.
- This means we could consider community provided game worlds using the same game client, and having world hopping etc. Just an idea.
Server base will be in a state that's a lot easier to maintain and add content to.
Which will help Arch, me, or anyone else actually doing meaningful stuff for Dodian, and consider actual content ideas.
My guarantee that Dodian remains online as long as that's legally and financially possible.
- I don't see it financially being a problem ever, though it's worth stating.
- Same with legally - not likely, but there is always a chance we are legally obligated to shut down for violation of copyright laws.
More organized community involvement (see section above).
Access to any closed beta/alpha servers - if we choose to have any.
It's not unlikely we do, because not everything will look particularly promising during a phase like this.
However, with Dodian being for the community, by the community, we might decide to make it all public as well.

I'm trying my best to stay true to the vision of Dodian being a server for the community by the community.
In a perfect world, everyone would have equal access to the infrastructure, decision making, etc.
However, we all know that wouldn't end well.

I've tried my best to ensure community gets a say in decisions that are being made, however, that's not easy.
It won't be easy in the future either, but I will work towards it to the best of my abilities.

You can message me privately on Discord, or reach me in our community Discord server.