Bitttymacod (atys)
The coder enthusiasts at Ryzom Core go where their muse leads them, but they are not paid and they are not actually part of the Ryzom game. Some of their stuff is used in Ryzom, but they aren't really devs.
So this is kind of a sore point for us. I don't think we get enough credit in the Ryzom arena for what we do for the game. Your point at the surface really is that we don't have any decision making power within Winch Gate, which is true. But what we work on impacts the game you play. The code we write and bugs we fix get pushed to your game. We're developers even if we don't work for or volunteer for Winch Gate. That being said I think I get the "spirit" of what you were saying as it is often frustrating for us when we put in new features (camera animations and guild missions, for example) which aren't used in the official game. Those of you who want to make a difference but don't necessary want (or can't be) part of the "Ryzom Team" can come and learn from us and contribute and make a difference.
Bitttymacod (atys)
The only paid employees that I know of in Ryzom are the dev(s). CSR's are not paid, nor are Event Team members. In addition, while I am sure about the CSRs and ET members (because we have been told as much), I am not even sure that the dev(s) are paid. It may be that all our money simply pays the rent on the servers.
Do not forget the sizable loan that must have been necessary to purchase the intellectual property necessary to keep this wonderful game alive. The fine people at Winch Gate care about the game but I have to imagine they have to answer to people whom gave them the money necessary to care. Who knows how much that is.
Bitttymacod (atys)
What can we do? What we do in game -- make new things happen. If you have skills in 3-D modeling, in model skinning, in animation of models, in graphic design... are you willing to work for free? If you are, send your resumes in to Ryzom. You could probably use the well known support@ryzom.com address; I'm sure the CSRs will pass the volunteers on.
So I'm going to say forget sending in your resume. Come to Ryzom Core if you're willing to work for free. I know that there's a lot of "forgotten knowledge" within Winch Gate on content creation. This is because no one has focused on creating fresh 3D content for Ryzom in a very very long time. It's not always simple. We provide the exact same platform that the real game does and you can get your feet wet and work on your proof of concept or whatever it is you want to work on with our help. I can promise you that you won't get the same level of help from the Ryzom development team - we don't and we're already part of the "meritocracy".
The work you could do on Ryzom Core is directly portable to Ryzom - so if you come up with with a really awesome continent idea you can submit it to Winch Gate and go through the whole ordeal. If not run it yourself and enjoy it with your friends and share the knowledge of how it was accomplished with the community.
Who knows - maybe if we get decent documentation on core content creation Winch Gate might say, "hey, that's not that hard. Lets comission an artist to get a new <whatever> in the game."