In a private message on Monday (2022-01-16), I asked about some patches. Then, I was asked why I waited until the second half of beta testing. My reply was "(1) I recently shared some config with Thief players and some expressed interest in TDM. So, I decided to write a guide. (2) I've been beta testing a mission, so I've uncovered these recently. (3) I don't know the beta release schedule, so I don't know where we are in the process."
In a private message on Tuesday (2022-01-24), I was asked when I would be done with my patches for 2.11. I gave a list, and there was no definitive communication from the dev team that they would not be considered for 2.11. Just that patches would need to stop soon, because the dev team was deciding when to end beta testing. It seemed that I was given the go ahead. I didn't want to hold up the beta's (unknown) schedule anymore, so I put in extra time and effort to get all of my patches in no later than the next day (Wednesday) to give the dev team time.
In a private message on Wednesday (2022-01-25), I told a developer, "I've submitted all the patches that I've planned: 6241, 6231, 5892. I'm ready for feedback and fixing any issues with those patches. That'll be it from me for 2.11." I was given some feedback about (5892), and there was no mention that my patches would be excluded from 2.11.
This week's work getting into the next beta was going to be my personal triumph and moment to be proud of, because my hard work was going to be done for 2.11. My patches were already submitted, after all. Now, it's ending in a bust.
After my post yesterday, I found out that one of my patches that had already been accepted in SVN for both code and assets will be reverted and postponed until 2.12. No reason given. I had checked SVN to make sure it was applied correctly and made sure the core assets were correct. I've been playing with the latest SVN code and haven't encountered any issues with that patch. Now, I don't know the state of that code. (As an aside, I don't have read access to the assets SVN, so I had to request the changed files from a dev.) The patch is for (6242). That patch fixes a bug that can be read about on (thread). Does the dev team think those players are going to be happy that this patch was reverted and won't be available for an entire year? I fixed that for the players, not myself.
For (5892), a feature requested by Bikerdude. This was a reason given for not allowing mantle while carrying a body:
On Saturday (2022-01-21), the "tdm_mantle_while_shouldering" cvar was accepted and merged into SVN. Bikerdude replied:
Now, if I'm understanding right, that cvar will be removed and not included in 2.11.
Bikerdude is one of the most prominent mission authors, is he not?
Now, Bikerdude's feature is being taken away. A less prominent contributor, myself, is getting his contributions reverted.
It's a shame, because my fixes and suggestions mostly come from listening to the community and dev feedback. Submitting patches is a lot of effort, and I could keep those changes to myself instead. My work is for the players, not myself. Usually, I don't propose something or act on something unless I see other players having the same issue as I've experienced. I think TDM is mostly fine as is. It's not like I'm suggesting new arrows, how doors work, rewriting AI, or something like that.
I'm at a tipping point of losing trust in this project, because this situation is fixable. Miscommunication happens. How it's handled matters. I did my best to communicate and hold true to no more patches after this week. Also, the dev team could have told me something like "any patches submitted after X date will not be considered until after the beta cycle." From my point of view, the dev team suddenly changed course from Tuesday's "deciding when to end beta testing" to Thursday's "still unknown but sooner than before, I guess?", and the proposed solution from the dev team is "Tough. Deal with it." or "Don't like it? Fork it." instead of "Let's do one additional beta release" to get everything worked out (whether or not patches get included). I think one more beta release to get these completed or decided on is fair, because that's what the agreement seemed to be, as vague as it was. I'm doing this for free as well, and it sure doesn't feel good to see my work handled in this manner.