I tend to forget to post periodic dev blog entries, since I see most of the team in IRC every day.  But for those not present, things have been continuing to progress well, if not as quickly as we would like.  (Which means that they'll progress even better if you volunteer to help out . :)  Speaking of volunteers, slight change of policy coming regarding volunteers for the reasons given in the ensuing mini-rant.  The change will be posted in a separate article shortly.

<mini-rant>

The majority of volunteers still prove themselves to be an untrustworthy lot, disappearing as soon as they're required to actually produce something as opposed to merely getting advanced access to information about the project.  (What me, bitter? Noooo.)   This is most evident among testers and area artists -- as a result, the remaining areas to be built are proceeding at a staggering crawl.  

Does it really never occur to these people that this is a cooperative project?  That if they say that they will do somethng, actual plans are made based on the assumption that they will be keeping their word?  And that if they don't keep their word, and even worse don't say anything about it, parts of the project literally grind to a halt as we try to figure out if people have disappeared or are just overwhelmed with work or life?

Is it too much to ask for someone to drop a one line PM that says, "I'm not helping out anymore"?  Then again, I suppose it's easier to vanish while people are depending on you than to admit to the uncomfortable fact that you're not going to keep your word. Always easier to hide from one's shortcomings than own up to them, hmmm? 

Look, people - I know life happens.  Work gets busy, school gets busy, hell sometimes we just need a break from NWN2.  But there's no excuse for not taking a minute to notify the people depending on you that perhaps your tasks need to be assigned somewhere else.  Just a little common courtesy is all that's required, and remembering that even though it's "on the Internet" and "just a game", the project is as real as any 'real-life' project you may be involved with. 

</mini-rant> 

Alright, now that that's out of the way -- what's been going on lately?

• another few bug fixes and areas have snuck there way into the currentmost build
  
• server is now running 1.10
  
• the first component of the Khalidine World Manager System (kwms) is online: the dialog editor.  This will eventually be released to the public as part of the larger WM package - useful not just for PWs, but quite possibly for authors as well.
  
• The writers have been building some great static quest ideas
• NPC population is slowly getting built
• The first encounters should be getting added this week. 

Things are still moving forward, though at this point I think our Oct 31 open beta date is looking unlikely, due to turnover among volunteers.