Nobody can object that the actual game world integration speed has slowed down tremendously. But I have to disagree that the new website and forum were unneeded. Especially the asset development section has turned out to be very productive so far and I think we’d all agree that it looks far better and more professional.

The fact that less claims were put up and worked on started long before the website and forum were even remade. I think one of the real reasons is that the lead devs no longer have specific functions. It’s hard to tell who is leading what right now. But we also have to acknowledge that simply less and less people show interest in modding Morrowind and that our high quality standards mean that of those few ones that show any interest in helping us out around 80 % or so drop out before they get their showcase approved.

Tamriel Rebuilt has a history of not implementing much in the way of quests. The scripting knowledge needed tends to be uncommon among devs, and it’s also the last thing done to a region, as we try to build quests around the worldspace instead of worldspace around the quests. So a good deal of TR_Preview has had its exteriors or interiors done, but not so much in the way of NPCs, dialogue, or quests.

As far as the main post, something to keep in mind is we’re a volunteer project, so what we have the manpower and skillsets to do is often quite a bit less than what we want to do. A good deal of the slow-down is also lack of active developers, but some of it is also a bit of a traffic-jam as we go back through guidelines and plans and get those straightened out. As someone else pointed out, the increased overhead is a response to the somewhat hodge-podge style of earlier TR development that led to some things being scrapped or overlooked, which is discouraging and something we want to avoid moving forward.

We’ve been putting a lot of creative effort into finalizing our vision of the Dres and their worldspace. I think once we get the latest organiational kinks worked out, we can start actually driving on the roads we’ve created and see more activity again. 

TR has also always been one of those things that you get out what you put into the project. I don’t know what it is that you want to work on or what challenges you’re facing in doing so, but I’d be glad to problem-solve with you or point you towards the things that need the most work, if you want to make a meaningful difference.

Ah, okay, thanks. I’d figured that might be the case, but I wasn’t sure.

I just read this, and there are at least two (or three ;-) ) questions I have. What were the problems the old leadership had? And why did they abandon the project? Is there something like an official statement or a place where I can read about that?

What kind of outreach does TR have? It’s well-known within the community, but maybe a lot of other Morrowind modders simply assume that it’s a closed shop, or is merrily plugging along. Do you think there might be benefit in calling for more modders, particularly quest designers?

I recently joined the TR forums, but I’ve been following this incredible project for a while now.  I hope my experiences might shed some light on what others might be going through as well.  

Before signing up and really digging into the resources and forums, I couldn’t really tell what progress had been made and where TR was in respect to its goals and in development of mainland Morrowind.  There are maps, true, but they do little to help explain the extent of TR.  For example, the two 16.09 maps that jump out to visitors upon visiting the main page show TR’s plans for a fully fleshed-out mainland, rather than highlighting the recent exterior changes.  One might even believe at first glance that TR is “complete.”

There’s a lot of great information surrounding TR, but, in my opinion, very few posts or YouTube videos that clearly and succinctly say “This what we have accomplished so far on the mainland, this is what has changed in 16.XX, and this is what is planned for the next release.”  Honestly, one could even limit these “TR in Review” videos to something like 1 or 2 minutes long with pictures of the TR map with highlights for each corresponding topic.  Each video could end with a call to modders explaining that TR is looking for content contributors in the specific areas of ____.  These smaller videos would be great for sharing on reddit, Nexus, Bethsoft, and other forums.

Additionally, I believe that almost every TR media release should start with a quick sentence or two describing TR, or even be entirely geared towards the person who has never heard of the project.  I might be completely off-base here, but at 15+(?) years old, TR can't really afford to continue to post simple changelog-esque updates as they mean almost nothing to potential modders out there who were possibly born after the project started.  If I've been following the project for a few years, I'll know how 16.09 differs from 16.03 which differs from... etc., but potential new contributors have very little basis for understanding the significant progress that has been made.

Edit: Here’s a rough example of boilerplate that could be added to every media release.  
”Tamriel Rebuilt is an ambitious project tasked with creating all of mainland Morrowind in TESIII.  The game world has been more than doubled in size with the addition of eastern Morrowind and development will begin soon on the southeastern region.  TR is an open development project and is always looking for more contributors.”

The statement could be anything, really, but it should quickly explain the project, attract the attention of Elder Scrolls players (doubled size of the gameworld), and get creators interested (open development, always looking for more).