I'd like to try and summarize my personal understanding of a number of key issues that are being debated, so that it is clear where I stand and how I feel. I speak only for myself and where other people are mentioned I am not trying to speak for them, even through I might speak about them.
1. A Little History
Here is my remembrance of what has happened in the last year. I am trying to capture here the theme of it all, less than the specific details, of course.
Just over a year ago I had been playing MP Aberration and really enjoying it. I decided I wanted to try and contribute to the mod and had lots of ideas, especially about the New World and the potential for Aberrating that. I started working on some material and contributing to the -then - very quiet Aberration forums. I posted my ideas and they received very little attention. The only person who wrote positively about them was The Archduke, who said it could be an optional element, but that he personally would play with it. I still appreciate that support, it was great for my confidence.
As the weeks went on, it was really only myself and Incompetant who were contributing in a serious way in the forums and the mod was clearly in a hiatus. (That is not a criticism). I approached The Archduke to see if he would permit a new creative team to take over the mod. His three word response was "Sure, why not." Note that there were no conditions attached here, or none that I read into this permission.
However, we quickly imposed those on ourselves. Incompetant and I became the main driving force, starting and debating a lot of issues in threads. One of the things we determined was that it wasn't appropriate to simply continue Aberration, because we were obviously ready to take it in a different direction. Not better, not worse, just different. So, we decided it would be Aberration II, a different mod, but clearly drawing upon its strong connection to the original. To this day the frontispiece clearly states that Aberration II is built on Aberration 1.07 by Thomas Mittelbach. If I have my way, whatever Aberration II becomes will always retain this 'honorific'. You gotta pay tribute to your roots.
The next few months saw a lot of debate while the initial material was being prepared. By July we had released beta 2 with a lot of new dramatically new material and ideas. Check the Beta Update thread if you want to know the list of the major items. Then things got really quiet in the forums. Basically, from August to December it was essentially myself, Calipah, mikl and a few occasional commentators. Incompetant had gone off to do other things (not a criticism) and it actually felt pretty lonely at times. But material was still being produced, and I believe that much of it was of very high standard.
Then, about a month ago, there was a sudden upswing in the forum debates and the number of people offering to contribute. Incompetant returned. Beta 6 was released. The mod seemed re-energized and I was really happy that we few had kept working on it those six months.
Now we find ourselves at a bit of a crossroads. More contributors, plus The Archduke has returned to the forums and to Aberration (I). There is suddenly a lot of tension in the postings, talks of mergers and schisms.
2. Aberration II, a separate mod
I have stated it elsewhere and again here, and let me re-iterate that I see Aberration II as a distinct mod from Aberration (the original one). I am not sure what it will be called, but it will be changing its name. And perhaps we ought to have done that originally. Aberration was and is The Archduke's mod. He assembled a talented team that even included Johan himself. He laid the groundwork, built many of the files, compiled it all and probably did most of the play testing and bug checking. He had final say over what went in and what didn't. And he still has that control over Aberration, but not over Aberration II, of course. Aberration II shares many elements of vision and many structural elements and there remain a lot of file content that is identical, and which remains properly credited (I hope). But I see some very very different approaches that are as much philosophical as they are about specifics, like events or leader stats.
3. Of Merging, and Schisms
Accordingly, I don't think it is possible to merge Aberration and Aberration II. Very few mods can - or should - be merged. The AGC and EEP are probably the big exception, because there is a greater master at work, called the real and actual history of the world. There they are debating how best to express the Hundred Years War, not whether it ought to be in the mod or not. There was still a huge spat over the merger, bad feelings, which probably remain for some, and people banned from the forums. A sad business, although the result seems to have been OK. The AGCEEP continues to build brilliantly, as long as a strict -and sometimes deterministic - historicity is what you want (not a criticism). I don't think that we have the luxury of such a common worksheet, and I think that Aberration II has gone in a significantly different direction. One that I prefer, but not one that is in-and-of-itself better. Each person can make their own minds up about that, and can play whatever they want.
While I think we can't merge, I also think we can't have a schism. Any more than AGCEEP and Aberration can have a schism. We have been different essentially from the beginning and have grown more so with each passing beta. The Archduke (and others) will continue to work on Aberration and those who want to contribute to Aberration II (whatever it gets renamed) will work on it, and no doubt we may continue to borrow from one another's mods. This is a good thing.
4. Direction and Leadership
First, I want to explain what I have tried to do in terms of leadership of Aberration II. It wasn't something I sought from the beginning nor something I expect to retain. But given that I have been the main contributor and principle compiler, bug-checking and forum writer, leadership fell to me. Remember that most of the last seven months has been myself, Calipah and mikl. Not to denigrate anyone else's forum contributions or criticize anyone at all. Seriously. But, at the end of the day, I was leading the project. However, I have tried to maintain the collegial intent and have never ever seen this as my mod. People post or send their material to me. I read it carefully and almost always send back the material with comments and alterations, ready to continue to debate the merits of each event and how a storyline is structured and plays out. Almost always the response from the original writer is "Cool" or "Fine". Sometimes people have objected to a change, and so it goes back in. I have really tried to not be a gatekeeper, though I have certainly tried to maintain certain standards, especially with regards cheap manufactories, troops, fortresses, cultures and cores. If I have been heavy handed in these changes then no-one has expressed that to me and I remain committed to a team approach, however imperfect it has been. I am particularly proud of the working relationship I have developed with Calipah and our work on the Islamic world. We continue to build some fantastic stories and challenges.
The merits of collegiality versus someone with a final declarative say are being debated here. That's a healthy thing in principle, but it is occurring within the broader context of The Archduke's return, his strong criticisms of elements of Aberration II, and his suggestions of a merger. Some people are interpreting his talk of merger as a thinly-veiled attempt to take over the mod (Aberration II, that is, Aberration IS his). I have seen no indication that he would accept someone else as the final arbiter in a unified mod, but perhaps he would and has simply not made this explicit enough for me. If Aberration II were to go to a structure like the one for Aberration, my personal involvement would be predicated on that leader being someone who has a longstanding contribution to the thematic development of Aberration II, for which there are (currently) really only four candidates: Incompetant (despite his long absence), Calipah, mikl and myself. Not that I think we need that structure, but that's only my opinion.
5. Onwards
The forum has become an un-fun place recently. I like lively debate but not the kind of acrimony that seems to be developing. I will continue to contribute as my limited time allows, building content, compiling, bug-fixing and writing on the forums. But if it continues to be unfun, then I will likely back away, as I do not enjoy confrontation and this is supposed to be a fun and creative outlet for me.
So, I look forward to all the positive debates that will occur and please keep sending in the ideas and material while we debate a name change.
Regards,
MattyG
