Keep The Ball Rolling

[Nighthawk]

Greetings, everyone.
As you no doubt read last month, Ares is dancing on the precipice of discontinuity.

I don't normally make news posts, but times are calling for it. Simply put, without support from the community, there will be neither enough manpower to muscle out a release of Ares in a reasonable timescale, nor a reason to even continue developing it.

After all, why spend hours coding, testing and debugging a product if no-one's going to use it.

Therefore, this post is a Kitchener-esque call requesting applicants for the following positions on the Ares team.

Documentation Maintainer:

• Basically, you'll have to update, append to and correct the manual.
  
• You should be able to write in clear and readable English, as the manual will be read by any user of Ares, and it needs to be understandable.
  
• You should have an idea of what HTML is, since the manual is an HTML document. Help on this can be given, however.
  
• You should also be active both on the forums and on the IRC channel, as the manual will need updated quite often.

Promo Material Creator:

• Basically, you're the people who make screenshots, videos, creative crop circles, anything needed to spread the existence of Ares to the masses.
  
• Knowledge of image editing would be an obvious necessity, and preferably you'd know how to create and edit videos.
  
• Constant activity is not as pertinent a requirement here as it is for documentation maintenance. However, when it comes close to a release time, we will expect you to be able to turn out material quickly and on time.
  
• Expect to be issued with deadlines, and we will in turn expect you to meet them. However, you can take pride in having your work on show around the community to advertise Ares.

Project Ambassador:

• Public Relations. PR. Whatever you want to call it. You'll be the people who drum up support for Ares among the general proletariat.
  
• This will involve posting news on community sites, creating the odd teaser topic for a modding forum, and generally spreading information and answering inquiries on Ares on sites around the community.
  
• You should ideally be friendly people who can communicate well with random members of the community. To this end, a good command of English is preferred, as almost all major community sites operate in English.
  
• You will work with the Promo Material Creators to help devise interesting news posts for display around the community.
  
• Basically, Ares needs support and attention. You will be the people who will go forth and bring it.

User Support Agent:

• Not everyone is a brilliant modder. Some need a little bit of help to get going. That's where you come in.
  
• User Support Agents should have a good working knowledge of the latest stuff in Ares - after all, how can you give advice on a product without knowing how to use it yourself?
  
• Basically answer any member queries about how to accomplish something in Ares, how to get it installed, how to make mods compatible with it, etcetera.
  
• Again, a friendly and approachable persona is preferred. Being able to communicate well is also recommended.

Active Testers:

• We've had an endemic problem with testers throughout Ares' lifetime - they simply can't be bothered.
  
• Out of the many testers currently on the roster, only a minutely small fraction of those do any regular testing. This will change - inactive testers will be culled, and we will be looking for replacements.
  
• Do not think of this as easy access to Ares. You will be working with potentially unstable beta versions - not the best thing to base a mod on.
  
• Your holding of the "tester" title is entirely dependent on your activity. If you behave like our many previous testers, i.e. appear for a week, test some issues you have interest in, then bugger off and don't show up again, we will fire you. Simple as.
  
• As an active tester, you will be expected to be active. Additionally, you will be required to test all and any issues to their fullest and to the best of your ability. Don't just stick a couple of values in rulesmd and observe the result - push those values to their limits, observe the effects, make sure we've got our theories correct.
  
• Modding experience is a necessity, and preferably you've used Ares before.
  
• Keeping a frequent presence on our IRC channel is recommended.
  
• Ares development will halt if we do not have a quorum of active testers.
  
• Do not apply to be an Active Tester if you will not be able to live up to the title. We will not look back if we have to cut you loose.

I know I'm hardly selling these positions, but I'm not going to hide the facts from you.

And in a similar vein, without these people, Ares 0.2 will be the final release of Ares.

If you're interested, send me a PM with some information about who you are, what you're applying for, and why you'd be good for the role.
We may be in need of people, but that doesn't mean we're opening the floodgates - applications will be strictly vetted: if we don't think you're suited for the job, we're not going to give you it.

The existence of a 0.3 version is entirely dependent on whether anyone steps up to the plate.

The ball is in your court.

Nighthawk.
Ares Project Manager.