The title makes this announcement sound much more interesting than it really is.
Developments up until now
Many of you will have noticed that over the past 18 months or so the server has changed somewhat in the way it is run. In the past, EpicQuestz was led very top-down. The Admins (at various times different people, but by the end me, Steal, Gelek) basically decided what to do, and then told the rest of the staff with occasional consultation.
With Gelek’s retirement for a year or so it was more-or-less just me making major decisions with consultation with staff & Steal. That, in addition to all my other responsibilities (Empire War, leading projects, leading releases, social media, and just building too) clearly became too much.
Which is why a while back we introduced the “Lead” and “Manager” ranks, who have slowly taken on roles such as the Newsletter, Social Media, Textures, YouTube, and so on. This has progressed well, though I confess it’s not gone as far as I’d have liked. I still nominally hold some portfolios that I don’t want (Lead Builder, Lead Texturer, Website Manager), and I’m eager to hand on when I can.
Future developments
I’m going to be getting less time, not more. And, honestly, I will continue to get less interested, not more. Which means I’ll be ensuring the developments up until now continue, at as fast a pace as is reasonable. In many ways, the past year since the introduction of Leaders and Managers, and the next six months has been leading inevitably in one direction.
By the end of August, I intend to have stepped away entirely from almost all my remaining responsibilities, with 95% of what I was doing a year ago, being done by other staff & team members.
The reason why I don’t say everything is because the server accounts will still be in my name, and I will still control finances. Obviously I’ll also be still around to Build etc, but won’t be making decisions as to the future of the server.
So what will change actually
I still do the following which I don’t want to do:
- Lead map releases (PMC, coordination, timing, etc)
- Lead project oversight (What projects to do & when, final reviews pre-release)
- Collab with Steal on Administration decisions (plugin, storage, server type)
- Textures
- Project leadership
Most decision making power will pass to the new Admins, which will be those who hold the “Lead” ranks now, and obviously Steal too. Consider them similar to the Creators in the olden days.
Closing/TL;DR:
Over the next few months the transition will complete. The exact details will become clear. The key is, EpicQuestz was, and is, at risk of becoming ultimately a one-man kingdom. It is unacceptable that the fate of the server should depend on one person alone, since it should be, innately, a team effort. I realised last year that if I vanished for whatever reason, the server would be at high risk of following me - hence changes.
I’d love nothing more (for both EQ and EW) to, one day, retire and say “yes, I’m leaving these institutions in safe hands”. Clearly we aren’t even slightly there yet, but that’s the path.