Developers' Union?

good idea or not?

I am new to the boards, so I expect some to say, "go away newbie." (I do have a bit of experience, though) However; I have a modest proposal for the creation of a sort of team. I suppose you could consider it a "developers' union." We merely get some people to agree that they will contribute to eachother's projects (at least somewhat) if they're available. Thus, it is potentially beneficial to all. So please give some feedback as to whether this is a good idea or not.

I think some of this is partly instated with the "help needed" type pinned topics here, but it is a good idea anyway. To make some sort of a real team that will always help each other as part of an agreement is more like what a TC team would be, a huge group of devs that work on a plugin. Or it is a group of two people, one of which actually has internet and a computer that works. I think our (me and a friend's) TC is pretty dead for that reason... a union type thing is a good idea, but there is no need for a kind of formal instatement, really.

Welcome to the boards, by the way.

Sorry, dr neverhood, but in my experience, that's not how it works

There has been such a great number of projects that utterly failed that most people with some experience (be it in the graphics field, in writing, in plug-in encoding, ) wait to see something before they help in any material way.
Many have seen hours and hours of work wasted just because RealLife™ took over the time and availability of the main developer(s), or because interest waned.

Secondly, getting help from people who are completely external to the plug leads to many problems: they haven't a good idea what they're making, they might not even like the project, they won't be coordinated between themselves (e.g.: they might make graphics that bear no resemblance at all), something might suddenly come up in their lives (believe me, I've experienced that with the ATMOS graphics team :D),

To cut a long story short, it doesn't work. That's why the "Unemployment Thread" has yet to be of some use (though that's also a bit linked to the fact that not many people actually want to go through the few pages of the thread).

That's why my general suggestion to developers (in need of help) is to get something done, and then ask for help. It's what happened to me a year and a half ago. It's what got me loads of great graphics (and it's still getting me great graphics as we speak) and help from truly prominent members of the community.

Good idea, but no.

Good synopsis, Pace. It's a good idea, but in our collective experience, it hasn't worked.

@pace, on May 5 2006, 05:11 PM, said in Developers' Union?:

or because interest waned.

Ahem. Wait, what?

This webboard is a union of developers who help each other on projects. Isn't it?

Uhh... Yes, you could say that, Qaanol.

Higher wages! Fewer working hours! Paid vacations! Worldwide proletariat revolution!

Oops, wrong forum.

Alright... well I tried. Thanks for the responses.