Well.. first of all:
Have a clear vision of what the mod will be like and stick to it!cRPG is a good a example of what process and time can do. It works and is fun because we have a common understanding of what it means to us. It is made step by step, with game mechanics always in the front seat. The mood is unique because it is made by the players themselves.
Now all that is good, and take these experiences into cRPG2.
Having a collaborative spirit and a semi-open process like we have is also great, as it gives great loyalty to the playerbase, and allows mixing of thoughts and resources between devs and players.
But.
Please try to imagine some more specific "world" or vision for cRPG(2). A concrete collection of ideas to what it will
FEEL LIKE to play the game. Connect with an artist like Kajia, send her pictures, poems, texts, films, music, whatever is close to your vision, and make her draw 20 versions of the same image until it's exactly what you feel. Then show this picture to others, and see if they get it.
Now, the great thing is that you can imagine whatever the fuck you want. You are not bound to try and replicate the feeling of the "classic romantic" medieval times, or the standard current "classic romantic, BUT GRITTY!" that we see in movies these days.
It could be a filthy FILTHY version of medieval, with dirty and smelling, unhealthy as fuck characters (and armor and weapons). Fighting in a similar dirty world.
It could be a kind of Valhalla where fighters from all over the world die and live to fight every day with their armies. (My fav..
)
It could be an ultra violent game, where you put great effort into modding the graphics and
sounds. It could be a complete parody of the medieval genre, with focus on humour.
It could be whatever the fuck
But it should be Original of course. Maybe you should even ask the players for their ideas. All of us should go to bed, stare into the roof, and imagine our dream game.
So basically. I'm not worried that cRPG2 would have great gameplay and understanding of game. This is what irc has proved they have already. I'm more worried about lack of creativity and strong vision.
Cook up a vision, and sell it to us.
We will come along.
Oh.. and this process can start Now.