Face
Well-known member
I think it is high time to write a bit about the topic of virtual space agencies and their implicit desire to use a multiplayer framework.
Why I think so?
Well, it is a re-occuring pattern to have some new member join O-F and get the cool and original idea to start a virtual space agency. Most of the time, this new member is rather young and seems to have high ambitions to start his career right on top of the hierarchy (it is rocket business after all, isn't it?). And off he/she goes, inventing cool and original agency positions with such labels as "Administrator of manned space-flight (AMS)", "Chief trajectory coordinator (CTC)" and perhaps a "Grandmaster of Them All (GTA)" (hm, no, maybe we should forget that last one).
Of course, at first all of these positions are taken by the new VSA's creator. Hey, they are needed in the agency, aren't they? And of course, if you ask politely, the "Chief Administrator (CA)" will gladly assign you to one. Shiny...
But as always, someone will ask the inevitable question: "Sir, where are the pilots?" Well, the high admirals are certainly not too shy to get their hands dirty. Usually, CA is the first to "fly a mission", from its glorious news-flash (perhaps in the VSA announcement thread?) to its heroic end (mostly a shuttle-launch going haywire right from pad clearance). It will be the time CA releases a VSA report with the failed mission, that he realizes he maybe needs some experienced pilots. After all, high admirals don't do stick jockey, do they?
Anyway, sooner or later in the VSA's life-time (usually the day after it came to life), the active member search starts. Labelled with an equivalent of "VSA needs YOU to join the pilot team!", a new thread pops up on O-F, soon to be bashed by the regulars, and laught-off by old-timers (or is it the other way around?).
The CA - of course stunned by the negative reponses - will feel the urge to reply with: "But this VSA will work! It is different!"
Upon doing so, one of the next posts will certainly consist more or less of "AHA. How is YOUR VSA different?", just followed by "Oh, because WE use multiplayer!"
And so befalls it that a tour of pain was started:
:idk: First, the usual "Is there multiplayer in Orbiter?" thread.
:facepalm: Then, mentioning of OMP.
:facts: My usual cautious reply that it works, but not for VSAs yet.
:bananadance: The standard "First OMP <VSA> mission tomorrow!" announcement.
:suicide: The total chaotic fail due to typical NAT troubles and lack of organisation.
:thumbsdown: Even more bashing on O-F.
Again the CA - even more frustrated now - will report the fail, maybe start a second (sometimes even a third) attempt. This will of course fail, too.
Depending on the CA's character (and on how many folks already joined the VSA), the VSA will either stall now for something like 1 month or close. In the first case, it will most likely silently die or close anyway after the stall period. In the second case, chances are the CA will try to start a new one within some weeks. This will fail again, for all the same reasons.
OK... why am I so bold to prophesy this dark future for ALL VSA attempts? Here are my reasons:
No, sorry. If you are able to follow these points, you are no young hotshot anymore. You've become a serious Orbiter user. And do you see many serious Orbiter users creating VSAs and announcing them? To be honest, I only know one. And he did it more out of an experiment
.
Part of this is self-fulfilling, I know. If you get bashed at level 0 for doing VSAs, you'll almost certainly refrain from doing so if you ever reach level 1. But the majority is due to VSAs being useless to frequent and passionate Orbiter users. In fact, we already have a huge VSA of sorts: the Orbiter community itself. Here we have administrators, trajectory specialists, engineers, pilots, PR agents... heck, even some kind of nitpicker committee.
That said, I think I know why there is a demand for a VSA in new members: they want to fly with their friends, they want to be part of it, they "want in". It is just... you won't get that with a VSA.
But there is hope.
Stay tuned for the next entry where I'll try to outline an alternative to VSA for "flying with friends" and "being part of it". The "want in" is ridiculous, anyway...
Why I think so?
Well, it is a re-occuring pattern to have some new member join O-F and get the cool and original idea to start a virtual space agency. Most of the time, this new member is rather young and seems to have high ambitions to start his career right on top of the hierarchy (it is rocket business after all, isn't it?). And off he/she goes, inventing cool and original agency positions with such labels as "Administrator of manned space-flight (AMS)", "Chief trajectory coordinator (CTC)" and perhaps a "Grandmaster of Them All (GTA)" (hm, no, maybe we should forget that last one).
Of course, at first all of these positions are taken by the new VSA's creator. Hey, they are needed in the agency, aren't they? And of course, if you ask politely, the "Chief Administrator (CA)" will gladly assign you to one. Shiny...
But as always, someone will ask the inevitable question: "Sir, where are the pilots?" Well, the high admirals are certainly not too shy to get their hands dirty. Usually, CA is the first to "fly a mission", from its glorious news-flash (perhaps in the VSA announcement thread?) to its heroic end (mostly a shuttle-launch going haywire right from pad clearance). It will be the time CA releases a VSA report with the failed mission, that he realizes he maybe needs some experienced pilots. After all, high admirals don't do stick jockey, do they?
Anyway, sooner or later in the VSA's life-time (usually the day after it came to life), the active member search starts. Labelled with an equivalent of "VSA needs YOU to join the pilot team!", a new thread pops up on O-F, soon to be bashed by the regulars, and laught-off by old-timers (or is it the other way around?).
The CA - of course stunned by the negative reponses - will feel the urge to reply with: "But this VSA will work! It is different!"
Upon doing so, one of the next posts will certainly consist more or less of "AHA. How is YOUR VSA different?", just followed by "Oh, because WE use multiplayer!"
And so befalls it that a tour of pain was started:
:idk: First, the usual "Is there multiplayer in Orbiter?" thread.
:facepalm: Then, mentioning of OMP.
:facts: My usual cautious reply that it works, but not for VSAs yet.
:bananadance: The standard "First OMP <VSA> mission tomorrow!" announcement.
:suicide: The total chaotic fail due to typical NAT troubles and lack of organisation.
:thumbsdown: Even more bashing on O-F.
Again the CA - even more frustrated now - will report the fail, maybe start a second (sometimes even a third) attempt. This will of course fail, too.
Depending on the CA's character (and on how many folks already joined the VSA), the VSA will either stall now for something like 1 month or close. In the first case, it will most likely silently die or close anyway after the stall period. In the second case, chances are the CA will try to start a new one within some weeks. This will fail again, for all the same reasons.
OK... why am I so bold to prophesy this dark future for ALL VSA attempts? Here are my reasons:
- (Public) VSAs are mostly created by young folks with tremendous enthusiasm and close to zero experience. Expectations are very high, therefore there can only be frustration if reality hits again.
- The timescale is just too fast most of the time. You can't build an organisation (even a virtual one) out of nowhere in a week or two. It takes time to grow, and it takes hard work to make it even start to grow.
- No focus. It seems like most of the time the reason for the VSA is that there is a VSA. It's like starting a company to have a company. At least some ideas what your VSA does, what it is not doing, and how it works is necessary.
- Multiplayer. No, seriously, please stop using OMP for VSAs in their infancy. Don't do it. If you started your VSA yesterday, please forget about OMP, pretend you never heard about it, it is vapourware, can't work, is physically impossible, whatever makes your day. Just keep your hands off of it until the VSA is at least a year old and had something like 20 missions succeeding.
- Persistence. If you throw the towel after some regular O-F members bashed your announcement to death, you won't go anywhere here. Instead, learn from the feedback, go back to the drawing board and enhance your project. If it works for you and some friends, it may work for up to 10 people as well. If it worked for 10 people, go public.
No, sorry. If you are able to follow these points, you are no young hotshot anymore. You've become a serious Orbiter user. And do you see many serious Orbiter users creating VSAs and announcing them? To be honest, I only know one. And he did it more out of an experiment
.Part of this is self-fulfilling, I know. If you get bashed at level 0 for doing VSAs, you'll almost certainly refrain from doing so if you ever reach level 1. But the majority is due to VSAs being useless to frequent and passionate Orbiter users. In fact, we already have a huge VSA of sorts: the Orbiter community itself. Here we have administrators, trajectory specialists, engineers, pilots, PR agents... heck, even some kind of nitpicker committee.
That said, I think I know why there is a demand for a VSA in new members: they want to fly with their friends, they want to be part of it, they "want in". It is just... you won't get that with a VSA.
But there is hope.
Stay tuned for the next entry where I'll try to outline an alternative to VSA for "flying with friends" and "being part of it". The "want in" is ridiculous, anyway...
