259 lines
12 KiB
Markdown
259 lines
12 KiB
Markdown
<!DOCTYPE html>
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<html>
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<head>
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<meta charset="utf-8"/>
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<link type="image/png" href="assets/logo.png" rel="icon">
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<title>ReadySet Markdown</title>
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</head>
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<script src="https://www.w3schools.com/lib/w3data.js"></script>
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<body>
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<topbar style="display:none;">
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<item><a href="index.html">Overview</a></item>
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<item><a href="plan.html">Project Plan</a></item>
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<item><a href="index-all.html">Workflows</a></item>
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<menu name="Themes"><item><a id="settheme"><b>Current</b></a></item></menu>
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<toc></toc>
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</topbar>
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<xmp theme="readable" style="display:none;">
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<!-- Markdown content here -->
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# Project Proposal
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---
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##### Project:
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::[PROJECTNAME]">Readyset GFM</a>
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##### Project Time-frame:
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::2003/1/16 to 2003/3/19
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##### Summary:
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::2-4 SENTENCE SUMMARY
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##### Attached Worksheets:
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Project Proposal > [Target audience and benefits](target-and-benefits.html)
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##### Related Documents:
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- [Project plan](plan.html) > [Resource needs](resource-needs.html)
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- [Glossary](glossary.html)
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---
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**Process impact:** This proposal, along with drafts of related
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documents, will be used by management to determine whether or not to
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approve work on this project. A clear and precise project plan helps set
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expectations that will be used later to evaluate the success of the
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project.
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### Background and Motivation
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*TODO: Replace the example text below with text that describes your
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project. What are the needs or problems that you are trying to address?
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Why do these needs (still) exist? Why are these problems worth solving?
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Who is the customer? Write 2-4 paragraphs.*
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#### What is the setting and history behind this project?
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::Video games were originally designed and built as stand-alone
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systems with the user playing against the machine. Although many
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advances have been made in game AI, humans still tend to enjoy
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competing against other humans over a network. There is a social
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aspect to network gaming where people form teams that play and
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leagues that play at scheduled times and keep scores over a
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prolonged period. This is important to video game vendors because it
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can result in increased revenue and extend the sales life of
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their products.
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#### What is the problem to be addressed?
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::There are 100 million users on the Internet, and hundreds of
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websites dedicated to video game playing teams, called "clans". If
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users have to explore to find the good clans that they can join, it
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takes a lot of their time. There is a need for a faster way for
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users to find high quality clan websites that interest them and that
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will allow them to join.
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#### What are some current approaches to this problem?
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::Users can tell each other about clan websites, but that is not
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scalable because it depends on manual steps by people who may not be
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motivated or honest in their evaluations. There are already some
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clan directory web sites, but they are not automated so they are
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always out of date and do not rate the quality of the websites.
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- ::[Example of current manually maintained clan website](#)
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- ::[Link to existing competitor](#)
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#### Why is this problem worth solving or worth solving better?
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::A better clan directory service would be valuable because it could
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greatly increase player satisfaction and allow them to spend more
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time playing and less time searching. Implementing a better clan
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directory would cause players to use that website rather than the
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existing directories. The benefit to us could come in the form of
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revenue from advertising and service fees from video game vendors.
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#### How will this product be better than previous approaches?
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::We add innovative new features. Our affiliate directory will be
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larger an more detailed. We will offer built-in tools for managing
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membership and organizing events such as game nights or tournaments.
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::Our system will have similar functionality, but it will have much
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better maintainability, scalability, and security.
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::Our system will have similar functionality, but it is specifically
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aimed at a market segment that is not served by competing products.
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::This is a "me-too" product that will go head-to-head with very
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similar competing products in the same market. The market is large
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enough that we can be very happy with a share of it. Our unique
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competitive advantages are in non-product area of our business such
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as sales, marketing, partnerships, support, training, etc. The
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product will have some simple built-in "hooks" that leverage
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those advantages.
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#### Where is there more information on this problem?
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::The following pages provide additional background and motivation:
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- ::[Magazine article on this topic](#)
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- ::[Industry analysis's report on massive-multi-player game market](#)
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- ::[Quotes from game players](#)
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### Goal
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#### What is the goal of this project?
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::This project will produce an engine for clan directory websites that
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allows players to quickly find, evaluate, and join clans.
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#### What are the defining features and benefits of this product?
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- ::Reusable website engine with functionality for creating,
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editing, deleting, searching, categorizing, browsing, rating,
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and commenting on clans. This automates all clan operations and
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ensures that users will always find information that is
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automatically up-to-date.
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- ::The reusable website engine will have a highly configurable
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appearance that allows it to match the look and feel of the
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game. This allows the reusable website engine to have a
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high-quality appearance that is just as good as existing
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clan directories.
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- ::The website engine will be secure and only allow users with the
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proper permissions to edit, delete, or join a clan. This will
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prevent cheating or the submission of false information.
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#### Where are other documents that further explain the goal of this project?
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- ::[Mock-up](LINK-TO-MOCKUP)
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- ::[Early user stories](LINK-TO-EARLY-STORIES)
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- ::[Quotes from potential customers](LINK-TO-QUOTES)
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- ::[Comparison to existing competitors](LINK-TO-COMPARISON)
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- ::[Draft feature list](LINK-TO-DRAFT-FEATURES)
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### Scope
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*TODO: Replace the sample text below with a clear statement of the scope
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of your project. What are the high-level things that you plan to do, and
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that you will not do? What are your important simplifying assumptions?
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Try to guard against reasonable misunderstandings that might arise if
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you did not explain the scope. It can take the form of a paragraph,
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bullet list, in/out list, and/or UML context diagram.*
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::We want to focus on the web application itself, and the features of that
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application that help build a good gaming community.
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::See the [context diagram](LINK-TO-CONTEXT-DIAGRAM).
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- ::Work with common servers and browsers that we are already
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familiar with.
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- ::Allow easy customizations of fonts and colors, with the same basic
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page layout.
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- ::Enough security to greatly discourage abuse
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- ::The web site content discusses a game, but it will not need to
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actually integrate with any game software
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| In Scope | Out of Scope |
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|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| ::Building a web application for use with standard web servers and application servers | ::Building a new web server or application server |
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| ::Working the most popular browsers (IE6, NN7/Mozilla) | ::Working with uncommon or outdated browsers |
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| ::Security in the form of user accounts, passwords, and permissions | ::Special security against hackers. Finding or patching security holes in existing software components. |
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| ::One simple sample look-and-feel and instructions for customization | ::Our own high-quality look-and-feel. A library of look-and-feel options. |
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| ::Database and server load and data volume that can be handled by one computer. | ::Managing a cluster of servers. |
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| ::Keeping track of which users are in which clans | ::Tracking all user activity on the site and producing custom reports |
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| ::Displaying advertisements to visitors. Billing advertisers for impressions. | ::Automatically selecting ads that fit the visitor's interests. On-line management of advertising or real-time reporting to advertisers. Participating in existing banner advertising affiliate networks. |
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### Deliverables
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*TODO: Briefly list project deliverables. When you are done, what will
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you deliver to the customer? This can be copied from the draft project
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plan and simplified to reduce technical detail.*
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- ::Clan website directory engine
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- ::Customization guide
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- ::Sample look-and-feel
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- ::On-line help for end users
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- ::Command-line advertising configuration tool and report generator
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### Risks and Rewards
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#### What are the main risks of this project?
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1. ::There is a potential conflict between the goals of a
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high-quality appearance and one that is completely customizable.
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We can only succeed if players find the web site appealing, and
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game vendors can customize it with no more effort than would be
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needed to build a static website. We already have a design in
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mind that will address this risk and we will review it with a
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web site designer who worked for a game vendor site.
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2. ::There are significant technical difficulties in building a web
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site and web application. This will be a risk because one person
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on our team has much experience with the relevant tools
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and technologies. Although the others will learn, we will
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certainly make some mistakes and suboptimal choices. We will
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address this risk by scoping the project such that we have
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enough time to train and to review the design
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and implementation.
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3. ::The schedule for this project is very short. We will manage this
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by planning a conservatively scoped functional core and series
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of functional enhancements that can be individually slipped to
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later releases if needed.
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#### What are the main rewards if this project succeeds?
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::If we accomplish the elements of our plan, our clan directory
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website engine will replace existing clan directory websites and
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generate traffic which will result in advertising revenue and/or
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hosting fees paid by game vendors. Our ability to overcome the
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challenges above will determine time to market, the speed of
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adoption, the amount of web traffic, and thus the generated revenue
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over time.
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### Project Plan
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See attached draft of [project plan](plan.html) and [resource needs](resource-needs.html).
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<!-- End Markdown content -->
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</xmp>
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<div w3-include-html="_words-of-wisdom.html"></div>
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<div w3-include-html="_footer.html"></div>
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<script>
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w3IncludeHTML();
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</script>
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<script src="http://strapdownjs.com/v/0.2/strapdown.js"></script>
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<!-- Include it AFTER strapdown -->
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<script src="assets/strapdown/strapdown-topbar.min.js"></script>
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<script src="assets/logo.js"></script>
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<script src="assets/themeswitcher.js"></script>
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</body>
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</html>
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