Leadership changes

[Stan`]

Hello everyone,

---

It is with great sadness and a little relief that I am announcing my retirement as project leader of both 0 A.D.: Empires Ascendant and Wildfire Games. It has been an awesome 12 years and 8 months, with its ups and downs. Making it to the team will remain one of my greatest achievements ever. After 6 years of 3D art struggles, getting the chance to join the team was unexpected (and, to this day one of my proudest moments), and two years later to be offered the leader job came even more as a surprise.

It has been an incredible opportunity to be the leader of such a project. I would not have met half of the awesome people I met if it were not for it, and I would certainly have not have had the opportunities to go to the places I went if it were not for it.  I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. Being able to spread the word about the game around the world has been an honor, and I hope the game will continue to shine at events.

Recently, I had less and less energy and motivation to give to 0 A.D. The delay followed by the cancelling of A27 was no exception; I simply could not give the same energy I gave for the previous ones. The lobby became a source of permanent mental load and anxiety, first because of it is lack of moderation, then because of it started becoming moderated, and now because mods splat the community even more and the cheating is rampant. And it went downhill from there, as I started the longest break I ever took from 0 A.D. Those of you that know me know I was not really far, but I was simply not there.

On the development side, I cannot seem to find any fun anymore. Everything feels more like duty than an actual desire, which can only work for so long until it breaks. The learning curve is just simply not worth the burnouts anymore.

There are so many things I wanted to add to 0 A.D to showcase the true potential of the engine, as it is just immense, look at all the mods have done, look at all the thing people learnt about history, programming, art, bugs.. But I don't feel I can carry that vision anymore.  I believe it is time for a change.

I am therefore, effective immediately, quitting my functions as programmer, artist, video editor, documentation manager, translator, human resources, moderator, social media manager, public relations, system administrator, mod signer and modder, (all my mods can be considered archived until further notice).

It is the only way for me to ever move on. I cannot just keep doing one thing for 0 A.D., unless I get a clean break I will continue feeling everything not covered by someone is on my shoulders, and it is a weight too big for a single person.

I would like to thank everyone that made some or the whole journey with me, I will miss you all very much. I hope we shall meet again. I would also like to thank all the players that took action in the balancing department it has not been an easy task.

I do not have ideas for the person who can or will replace me, nor do I know whether I should be replaced by a single person. I will leave it for the remaining people to decide what kind of leadership model they want to go for from now on.

As for what I'll do next I do not know yet, but I've been working on Godot tools to import 0 A.D. assets and it's been fun, so I might continue that. I'm still working with Activ' Design this year as well.

tldr; So long and thank you for the fish. May Wildfire Games and 0 A.D: Empires Ascendant live a long and healthy life after I am gone.

Best regards,

Stan

 

[Genava55]

Farewell Stanislas. You have been a fantastic leader and your involvement has been remarkable. We will miss you, but I understand your decision. I wish you the best and don't hesitate to come back to say hello on the forum.

[Freagarach]

I second @Genava55! Always welcome for a chat!

Farewell, to the truest of that word, to you!

[vladislavbelov]

It was a great time to work with you! You've done uncountable amount of things to improve 0 A.D. in many areas. It was taking a lot of time and energy, it wasn't simple for you but you've made much further than many others in that situation. Thank you for all you've done! I wish you a nice journey and to only do things you really enjoy  0 A.D. development is keep going and I'll be always glad to hear your feedback if you came to say hello

[Gurken Khan]

@Stan` Thanks for all you've done for the project. Hope you "recover" well and I wish you all the best for the future!

[Grapjas]

You've been a massive pillar for the project, and your energy did not go to waste. Thanks for teaching me the ways of 0 A.D. Senpai.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Grapjas

[leopard]

I thought that you might quit, I know I was annoying sometimes to you and community I apologise for that and I wish this is a joke but you sound dead serious.

You did a great job, you took 0ad to this level. hope the new project manager take 0ad to the next level.

[Lierbex]

Thanks for everything, you did a great job, i really enjoy a lot <3

take care.

[GunChleoc]

Thanks for all your work over the years, Stan!

[real_tabasco_sauce]

Thank you for all your work over these years Stan! I so appreciate your immense leadership on the project, and always coming in to help out even volunteers with very little experience like myself.

You always made everyone feel very welcome and I can't thank you enough for that!

Best regards for your future endeavors.

[chrstgtr]

I think I speak for everyone when I say--you will be missed. You oversaw a great development period for the game. 

Thanks for all that you've given and I wish the best. 

[vv221]

It’s sad to see you go, but not unexpected. No one can bear so many things by themselves for so long. I hope your replacement will be a team instead of an individual, to prevent people getting burnt out.

Anyway, it’s good to see you have other projects now, I hope we will soon find some time to discuss these with a cold beer

[wraitii]

As an eternally sometimes active and sometimes burned out dev, I relate to the struggle. Thanks for all the years of leadership and support, thanks for all the events you attended, all the mods you carried and updated, and all the releases you shipped ! 

Enjoy the rest

[BreakfastBurrito_007]

Thank you Stan, you're a champ!

[rossenburg]

Your dedication and leadership have been instrumental in shaping this project over the past 12 years. Your decision to step down is both respected and understood, and your contributions will always be remembered and appreciated! Wishing you the very best in your future endeavors Stan'!

We may have never discussed it before, but now is the perfect time to make it happen! Let's break the tradition and have that 1v1 match.  

[alre]

farewell Stan. Be back sometimes.

[phosit]

Thank you for all your time. You always had the overview but still commented on many small things. I apreciated that.

[real_tabasco_sauce]

Since the sole role of leadership seems very taxing, I wonder if a leadership 'committee' would be better suited for a project like this. There could be 3 (or more) positions: Engine development lead, Multiplayer and lobby lead, Volunteer organization lead, and/or maybe outreach and public relations lead.

[Norse_Harold]

Stan, thanks for the monumental effort that you put into helping WFG. If I had to sum up your attitude about WFG, it would be "I care." Period. You did the tasks others weren't willing to do.

You never said "that's below my pay grade," when I brought an issue to you that I couldn't solve myself. You intervened when other staff were being petty. You were nearly always "on duty" and available.

I agree that no one person can replace you. In fact, it's not fair for one person to do as much as you took responsibility for. Other staff were ignoring certain responsibilities and allowing you to take care of too much. That only works for so long, and now they see the consequences. Anyone in Stan's position would get burnt out. The work that Stan did should be done by a team of people, unless Stan would be paid for it of course.

17 minutes ago, real_tabasco_sauce said:

There could be 3 (or more) positions: Engine development lead, Multiplayer and lobby lead, Volunteer organization lead, and/or maybe outreach and public relations lead.

I mostly agree with this idea. I would instead structure it like this: there is a team leader who has authority to delegate. He has three subordinates who do tasks assigned by the team leader. The team leader is a supervisor who verifies that all necessary tasks have been assigned and are making progress. He also does work on these tasks, but he's not the only one doing that work.

Maybe that's what was originally intended, but the subordinates just didn't do the tasks because they didn't feel like it or something along these lines. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the impression that I got. Anyway, maybe a new structure and agreement can be reached.

Meanwhile, we have even more of a need for volunteers. It's not only programmers that we need. There are documentation, bug reporting, testing, artwork, scenario and map making tasks available for volunteers here. Contact your nearest dev or WFG staff to discuss how you can help.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Norse_Harold

[plumo]

Thanks Stan for everything (is it already 12 years? My god). Your contribution to 0 AD cannot be measured nor understated. 

On a personal level, I have fond memories of after-FOSDEM dinners and beers. Take good care and all the best. 

[0 calories]

Dear @Stan`

You've been our last standing man, driving the project forward in its darkest hours. Lack of developers, unpaid work, and your commitment to listening and addressing issues defined your legacy. I wish the project will go on, carrying your spirit.

Sincerely,
sanafur

[Emperior]

Stan,

I thought hope dies last. Well, with you going seems like 0ad may not live for long. Sad too see but also signs has been given. I have talked in the past about lack of moderation and the main issue was lack of trust in some of us. The cheaters, should be excluded by giving the hosts to allow and disallow hosts to allow external modifications or sort of a plan to fight it back.

Thank you for your time and work which you have done for 0ad.

Regards,

 

Emp

[andy5995]

@Stan`Enjoy a rest! Good luck on future undertakings, I know you'll succeed with anything you put your mind and heart to!

[leopard]

@Stan` I pray you win a big lottery or something that makes you so happy and strong and come back to work for 0ad,

You might think I am being childish but I was thinking a lot how to get money for 0AD development somehow, but my life is kicking me here and there my Computer that can run 0ad with out annoying other players is dead, I can't even play now.

I can with my laptop but will be dead slow and others will ban me

Edited October 17, 2023 by leopard

[Mentula]

Stan,

thank you for the outstanding job you did. Besides the remarkable commitment and contribution to the project development, I have admired your patience, tolerance, responsiveness and involvement demonstrated to every member of this community, from the newest forum user, to the ones claiming they know better. Even more so, considering the responsibility and high pressure that the role demands.

2023 has been a tough year for 0AD and the project is more fragile today than it was one year ago. My wish for the future is that the new leadership will successfully tackle the "few can ruin the experience of many" problem, that so deeply harmed the game and the community.

Fair winds Stan. Whatever you'll do from now on, it'll be a success.