Ssra is a good man and his work in reorganizing development is perhaps even more important, if less well known, than his contributions to DragonRealms' systems.
Ssra stepped up to the plate after the death of Jeremael, at a time when we were, more or less, lost. Jeremael was a great man and a supremely talented developer, which had unfortunate consequences when we suddenly lost him. There were systems that, literally, no one else had touched in years, and much of our internal infrastructure for design and proposals was gone as well.
While I know Ssra lamented that his time could not be spent on individual projects, his organizational work brought us where we are today. He fostered a system in defiance of some trends and attitudes that had prevailed in the years before him, centralizing development projects while at the same time decentralizing authority, and making the development process as transparent as possible. He is the reason we by and large no longer speak of "turf wars," and he is the reason that we will hopefully never have such a languished period ever again.
It's tired cliche in academics to say that the only reason an individual can perform great work is by "standing on the shoulders of giants," but this is a circumstance where it applies. If you like the overall direction DragonRealms has gone in the past few years, chances are you have Ssra to thank.
Godspeed, man.
-Armifer
<Kvlt> Step 1: Want stuff! Step 2: Be ambitious! Step 3: Believe in the ability of your fellow man to carry you to heights you are too incompetent to reach alone.
