[arg_discuss] whitepaper:wiki, next version

[Adam Martin]

On 12/12/06, Colin Gehrig <colin at colin.com.au> wrote:

> version though. The Wiki version of the whitepaper can be found here:


Great work, Colin.


> What is the way forward with the whitepaper? In March there is both the

> Unfiction ARG-Fest-O-Con and Games Developers Conference. I think this

> is a good time to release version 1.5 to address some of the criticisms


There's no reason we can't do a new version for the Spring
conferences, assuming people step forwards and provide all the extra
content, and step forwards to edit, collate, and publish the paper.


> of the paper. For those who aren't aware of the criticisms see here:

> http://www.intellinuts.com/blog/?p=204

> http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17585


Unfortunately, very little of that is constructive criticism, and much
of it revolves around misunderstandings about the scope and basis of
the paper. There have been rebuttals on other blogs pointing out the
invalid assumptions and specious claims throughout the intellinuts
piece, but I would suggest focussing instead on whatever positive
changes people would like to add (and which they volunteer to
provide), rather than trying to resolve an individual's issues that
ultimately fell into ad-hominem attacks. Jackie has been asked several
times to volunteer for any future whitepaper, and it's entirely up to
her whether to do so.

There will always be someone who's unhappy with whatever is produced,
but since *everyone* is both free and heavily encouraged to
contribute, limited only by their own devotion of time and willingness
to adhere to an abstract and a schedule, there's no reason for them to
feel shut-out. As a purely volunteer effort, if people cannot make the
time and effort to get involved, there's not much we can do about it.

Adam