This time I'll do this a little bit differently. I asked on Bat-channel from players what they would like me to write about. Actually I didn't get that many ideas, but Lotheac suggested I'll write about version control so here it goes!

I was a bit hesitant to choose this topic, because we don't exactly have a version control system in use at the moment which to many might sound a bit surprising. A few years ago we had that, but maybe it's easier to start the whole thing from the beginning. Since it has been a few years, I might remember some things wrong but I'll try to explain as I remember it happen.

When I wizzed in 2005, we didn't have version control. While it is a good way to maintain quality and see the changes there are, it needs to be pointed out that all wizards do not have read or write access to every file. Here in BatMUD we basically have archwizards who have full access and then approvers who usually have a larger access to lib files. To put it brief, we basically have a system where more experienced coders monitor and take some responsibility over newcomer's pieces of code. We also have many backups so in case something goes really wrong, we can usually put the old functional file in place quite quickly.

So why not version control? There's no harm right? Well, in theory I'd say that no, but in practise it proved to be something different. We actually tried some kind of version control system and technically it worked quite alright. The problem wasn't the system though. In this voluntary-based developer team the problem was that many people weren't that familiar to it and some people basically chose not to use it and this way it didn't really suit to its purpose. It would have required commitment from everyone, but since only few people used it, it was eventually forgotten.

So at the moment we don't have a version control. We operate quite like before, but a few changes have happened. We have a channel where we can inform any bigger changes in lib code. In all honesty we are not necessarily as professional with our working ways, but somehow we seem to get things done. While I do understand we could do many things more professionally, we also need to accept the fact that sometimes people who take the time to develop during their free time cannot always be forced to do something. That is probably the biggest difference between a paid job and a voluntary hobby.