Boot Camp of Valhalla: Kobolds of Idona Keep (Reworking)

[johnny139]

A timeline of events:

1) Kobolds are rejected by SoV.
2) Kobolds return for restructuring.
3) Issues of how to determine said restructuring arise (tweaks vs. drastic changes).
4) Concerns that the project is fundamentally misguided in method arise.*

The resulting question - whether a crowd-sourced custom is viable - was left open and, with no one really willing to tackle wholesale restructuring, things died down. I'm still willing to manage the thread if people are interested, but a solid decision about how exactly the BCoV should work has to be had and a clear direction has to be in place first.

*What I got from said discussion is that the management of VC holds the opinion that the final product of a community custom will always be worse than a more structured, smaller design team. I think there's some truth to that opinion (and I also think there are some criticisms), but whether it's valid or not, it'd be wrongheaded to ignore as the stated goal of the project is to get accepted into the Soldiers of Valhalla.

So, essentially - the project is inherently unstable, since its two goals (to create a custom that would be accepted to the SoV and to create a 100% community custom) are impossible to reconcile. So one of those two has to change before we can proceed.

[Evar-Scarcarver]

I think the problem was that we needed someone in charge to decide whether someone was in charge or not.

[Dad_Scaper]

Yup. Leadership and structure are important if a group isn't really small.

[dok]

Originally Posted by johnny139

What I got from said discussion is that the management of VC holds the opinion that the final product of a community custom will always be worse than a more structured, smaller design team

There isn't one person who can speak for "management" of either of the two projects that comprise the VC, but FWIW I don't consider that a fair characterization of my opinion. My opinion is that at some point a design needs a central thread to be decided on, and it's extremely difficult for a freewheeling group like this one to both agree to what that thread is, and stick with it through the necessary workshopping.

[Dad_Scaper]

I agree with dok, too. This group doesn't need to be smaller or less transparent. It just needs structure and leadership - even leadership that changes from design to design - to give direction to customs going through the pipeline. Again, just my .

[TREX]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

In the (possibly unwelcome) opinion of this outsider, it went cold because of a systemic absence of direction, and it died the death of a thousand cuts.

Not sure what to think of the "possibly unwelcome" opinion and "outsider". I get that if there isn't a good structure these things can fail. I can still hit the print button and have fun with these guys. I appreciate all you guys do at SOV and C3V, at any rate this was just a friendly question and should be taken as such. Carry on, this can die without me giving a care, just curious.

[Dad_Scaper]

My suggestions, which were not specific to this unit, were firmly rebuffed. I am an outsider to this project, though I do (as I do with all the customs projects) want to see it do well. So I offered my advice anyway. Hence "possibly unwelcome" and "outsider."

Edit: you should print and use whatever you want.

[Serenity]

I think that there was an inherent problem with the kobolds as a choice to push forward. Right off the bat, some people got the concept of non D&D kobolds, while others didn't care for it at all. Perhaps momentum can be regained by trying to focus on a different unit.

[TheAverageFan]

I think a major lack of theme is what's hurting this design more than anything--nobody can seem to agree on how the Kobolds could fit into Heroscape, so no one design can appease everybody.

~TAF, hypothetically