Hey, I appreciate the sudden enthusiasm about the Open Queue. So here's where we are at. First, the Open Queue isn't going anywhere so obviously we will ignore any suggestions of that nature.
Second, I do want to change the Open Queue! It was last reformed by Llama in 2014/2015. It is well overdue for a change!
But, while I certainly have the power to make unilateral changes, I will not. I will only make changes with heavy community involvement. I want to change the Approved Open Setups. I want to add new ones to the list! But I cannot do it without heavy community involvement.
I started asking for help on this back in August. The wiki group did some important work.
I also asked the Marathon Weekend crew to start testing Open Set-Ups. I also asked the folks who participate in the Open Setup Contest to try and run some of those set-ups. This is where enthusiasm died, and we've been stuck. So far no games have been run in an effort to test out any new set-ups for the Approved List.
Ultimately, I'd love to add new games to the Approved List and remove games people don't want to play. I cannot do that without help. So, if you'd like to help, I can use it. Join the Wiki Tiki usergroup, even if you don't know how to edit the Wiki.
As for other suggestions. Most likely we're not going to increase the games in sign-ups at once (full-time). Part of the function of the Open Queue is a service. I would like for people to view the Open Queue the same way they view the Newbie Queue, in that we are providing a place for first time Mods to get their modding experience, and potentially make some friends willing to play for them. Part of that of course will be to make the Approved Setup list better (as mentioned above). Maybe I can do more to advertise and support first time mods? I'd be happy to do so. Let's find a way to make that process better for players and Moderators.
I'd be happy to do more 'events' to create a 3rd lane for moderators on temporary basis (like I did for Blitz Month in the Mini Theme queue). Other than doing a Blitz month in the Open Queue, I am stuck for ideas.
I can end the self-automation. That isn't working and I should have ended it sooner.
Anyway, ultimately, whether we can make significant changes to the Open Queue or not will depend on community involvement. A lot of people have proposed some ideas, and I'd want to discuss them. But, I'm not willing to make unilateral changes to the queue on my own.
