# FIREFROST GAMING — TASK REPRIORITIZATION (March 30, 2026)

**Conducted By:** The Versionist (Chronicler #49)  
**Context:** Preparing for soft launch - need to focus on critical path items only  
**Methodology:** Evaluated all 88 tasks against soft launch requirements

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## 🎯 CRITICAL PATH TO SOFT LAUNCH

**Definition:** Tasks that MUST be complete before accepting first subscriber payment.

### TIER S: ABSOLUTE BLOCKERS (Cannot soft launch without these)

**#87: Arbiter 2.1 - Subscription Cancellation System**
- **Why Critical:** Have onboarding, need offboarding. Can't take money without cancellation flow.
- **Blocks:** Everything subscription-related
- **Time:** 4-6 hours implementation + 2 hours Paymenter research
- **Status:** Architecture validated by Gemini, ready to build
- **Next Step:** Research Paymenter webhooks (when home)

**#52: Ghost CMS Homepage** (from Task #13 subset)
- **Why Critical:** firefrostgaming.com is the front door. Must be live before marketing.
- **Blocks:** All marketing, subscriber funnel
- **Time:** 2-3 hours (content exists, needs implementation)
- **Status:** Content ready at docs/planning/ideas/features/ghost-homepage-content.md
- **Next Step:** Build in Ghost using existing content

**#71: Paymenter Tier Configuration**
- **Why Critical:** Need 6 tiers configured (Awakened $1, Elemental $5, Knight $10, Master $15, Legend $20, Sovereign $499)
- **Blocks:** Cannot accept subscriptions
- **Time:** 1-2 hours
- **Status:** Tier structure documented, needs Paymenter implementation
- **Next Step:** Configure products in Paymenter admin

**#83: Paymenter → Pterodactyl Auto-Provisioning**
- **Why Critical:** Manual server creation for every subscriber is unsustainable
- **Blocks:** Operational soft launch (could manually provision for 5-10 test subscribers)
- **Time:** 4-6 hours
- **Status:** Four implementation options documented
- **Next Step:** Research Paymenter extension ecosystem

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## TIER A: HIGH PRIORITY (Should complete before soft launch)

**#2: Rank System Deployment**
- **Why Important:** Subscriber tiers need in-game ranks. Discord → LuckPerms sync.
- **Workaround Exists:** Can manually assign ranks during soft launch testing
- **Time:** 6-8 hours
- **Status:** Structure fully designed, MySQL backend plan ready
- **Recommendation:** Deploy AFTER Arbiter 2.1 (so ranks auto-sync)

**#88: Ghost Homepage Mobile Fix**
- **Why Important:** Mobile UX is professional first impression
- **Impact:** Low (5-10 minutes to apply CSS)
- **Time:** 5-10 minutes
- **Status:** CSS ready, just needs Code Injection paste
- **Recommendation:** Do immediately (trivial time investment)

**#69: Ghost Website Core Pages**
- **Why Important:** Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, How to Join pages
- **Legal Risk:** Accepting payments without ToS/Privacy is risky
- **Time:** 3-4 hours
- **Status:** Not started
- **Recommendation:** Complete before soft launch (legal protection)

**#85: Paymenter Support → Discord Redirect**
- **Why Important:** All support in Discord, not fragmented
- **Impact:** Medium (user experience consistency)
- **Time:** 30 minutes
- **Status:** Simple redirect configuration
- **Recommendation:** Do before soft launch

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## TIER B: NICE TO HAVE (Post soft launch)

**#1: Builder Rank & Holly Setup**
- **Why Deferred:** Holly isn't blocked on building (she has creative access)
- **Impact:** Quality of life for Holly
- **Time:** 1-2 hours
- **Recommendation:** First task AFTER soft launch

**#26: Modpack Version Checker**
- **Why Deferred:** Commercial product, not soft launch requirement
- **Revenue Potential:** $1k-6.7k/year
- **Time:** Unknown (needs Dev VPS first)
- **Recommendation:** Phase 2 (post soft launch revenue stream)

**#86: Whitelist Manager Panel Fix**
- **Why Deferred:** Workaround exists (use Panel console)
- **Impact:** Low (manual whitelist management works)
- **Time:** 1-2 hours
- **Recommendation:** Fix after soft launch

**#33: Paymenter Theme (Citadel)**
- **Why Deferred:** Functional > pretty during soft launch
- **Impact:** Cosmetic only
- **Time:** 2-3 hours
- **Recommendation:** Post soft launch polish

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## TIER C: DEFER INDEFINITELY (Not needed for operations)

**Tasks to Archive or Mark Low Priority:**

**Business/Planning (No immediate action):**
- #9: Fire + Frost Holdings restructuring
- #10: Staff recruitment
- #23: Department structure
- #27: Server sunset evaluation

**Documentation/Cleanup:**
- #24: MkDocs decommission
- #29: Frostwall vs Firefrost naming
- #30: Scope document corrections
- #31: Workflow guide review

**Infrastructure Nice-to-Haves:**
- #15: Frostwall Protocol (GRE tunnels)
- #16: Command Center hardening
- #22: Netdata deployment
- #66: Cockpit web terminal
- #67: NC1 security monitoring
- #72: Infrastructure health dashboard

**Content Creation:**
- #28: Ghost music player
- #32: Terraria branding
- #34: Consultant photo processing
- #35: NextCloud upload portal
- #36: Coming Soon video
- #59-64: Trinity imagery and Minecraft skins
- #76: Social media calendar
- #77: Community response templates

**Helper Tools (Quality of Life):**
- #73: Task dependency visualizer
- #74: SSH key auto-setup
- #75: Gemini consultation helper
- #78: Design system widget
- #79: Quick reference card
- #80: Task scaffolding tool
- #81: Memorial writing assistant

**Already Complete or Superseded:**
- #3: Panel update ✅
- #4: PteroStats update ✅
- #6: Ghost security update ✅
- #7: Whitelist Manager ✅
- #8: Command Center cleanup ✅
- #21: Self-hosted AI (superseded by Codex #19)
- #68: Ghost theme migration ✅
- #82: Plane decommission ✅
- #84: Infrastructure audit ✅

---

## 📊 SOFT LAUNCH CRITICAL PATH

**Phase 1: Core Infrastructure (4 tasks, ~12-16 hours)**

1. **Arbiter 2.1** (4-6 hours + 2 hours research)
   - Research Paymenter webhooks
   - Build cancellation flow
   - Test thoroughly

2. **Ghost Homepage** (2-3 hours)
   - Implement existing content
   - Apply mobile fix (Task #88, 5 min)
   - Verify desktop + mobile

3. **Paymenter Tiers** (1-2 hours)
   - Configure 6 tier products
   - Set pricing
   - Test checkout flow

4. **Ghost Legal Pages** (3-4 hours)
   - Terms of Service
   - Privacy Policy
   - How to Join
   - Contact page

**Phase 2: Automation (1 task, ~4-6 hours)**

5. **Paymenter → Pterodactyl** (4-6 hours)
   - Research extension options
   - Implement auto-provisioning
   - Test end-to-end

**Phase 3: In-Game Integration (2 tasks, ~7-9 hours)**

6. **Rank System** (6-8 hours)
   - Deploy LuckPerms MySQL
   - Configure all ranks
   - Test Discord → in-game sync

7. **Support Redirect** (30 minutes)
   - Paymenter → Discord redirect
   - Test ticket flow

**TOTAL TIME TO SOFT LAUNCH: ~24-32 hours of focused work**

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## 🚨 WHAT CHANGED FROM PREVIOUS PRIORITY

**Previous Priority (Task #1):** Builder Rank & Holly Setup

**Why Deprioritized:**
- Holly can build in creative mode already
- Not blocking soft launch
- Quality of life, not critical path

**New Priority (Tasks #87, #52, #71, #83):** Subscription infrastructure

**Why Reprioritized:**
- Cannot launch without offboarding flow (legal/operational risk)
- Homepage is the front door (marketing blocked without it)
- Need tier configuration to accept payments
- Manual provisioning doesn't scale past 10 users

**Philosophy Shift:**
From "make Holly happy" → "ship subscription infrastructure"

**Holly understands:** Soft launch revenue enables hiring help for her. Getting to revenue faster = more builder support faster.

---

## 🎯 RECOMMENDED EXECUTION ORDER

**Week 1: Core Infrastructure**
1. Ghost homepage (2-3 hours) - EASY WIN, unblocks marketing
2. Ghost mobile fix (5 minutes) - TRIVIAL, do immediately
3. Ghost legal pages (3-4 hours) - Legal protection
4. Paymenter research (2 hours) - Prerequisite for Arbiter 2.1

**Week 2: Subscription System**
5. Paymenter tier configuration (1-2 hours)
6. Arbiter 2.1 implementation (4-6 hours)
7. Arbiter 2.1 testing (2 hours)
8. Support redirect (30 minutes)

**Week 3: Automation & Polish**
9. Paymenter → Pterodactyl research (2 hours)
10. Auto-provisioning implementation (4-6 hours)
11. Rank system deployment (6-8 hours)
12. End-to-end testing (4 hours)

**Week 4: SOFT LAUNCH READY** 🚀

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## 💡 TASKS THAT CAN RUN IN PARALLEL

**While waiting for Paymenter webhook research:**
- Build Ghost homepage
- Apply Ghost mobile fix
- Write legal pages
- Configure Paymenter tiers

**While waiting for Arbiter testing:**
- Deploy rank system
- Configure support redirect
- Research auto-provisioning options

**Philosophy:** No idle time. Always have a task ready that doesn't depend on blocking work.

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## 📉 TASKS TO EXPLICITLY DEFER

**These are valuable but NOT on critical path:**

**Deferred to Month 2:**
- Builder rank (#1)
- Whitelist Manager fix (#86)
- Paymenter theme (#33)
- Modpack version checker (#26)

**Deferred to Month 3+:**
- All infrastructure hardening
- All helper tools
- All content creation
- All business planning

**Philosophy:** Ship first, polish later. Revenue enables everything else.

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## 🔥 THE HARD TRUTH

**88 tasks documented. Only 7 block soft launch.**

**Previous mistake:** Treating all tasks equally. Building tools before product. Optimizing before shipping.

**New approach:** Ruthless focus on revenue-generating infrastructure.

**Everything else waits.**

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## ✅ IMMEDIATE NEXT ACTIONS

**Tonight/Tomorrow:**
1. Apply Ghost mobile fix (5 minutes) - you can do this from phone
2. Review Ghost homepage content
3. Plan week: Ghost pages (Mon-Tue), Paymenter research (Wed)

**This Week:**
4. Build Ghost homepage (2-3 hours)
5. Write legal pages (3-4 hours)
6. Research Paymenter webhooks (2 hours)

**Next Week:**
7. Configure Paymenter tiers
8. Build Arbiter 2.1
9. Test subscription flow

**The Goal:** Soft launch by April 15, 2026 (15 days)

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**CRITICAL INSIGHT:**

You've been building infrastructure for "children not yet born."

**But you need revenue to KEEP building.**

Ship the subscription system. Get 10 paying subscribers. Use that cash flow to hire help for Holly, buy better hardware, expand faster.

**Everything else is a distraction until revenue flows.**

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Fire + Frost + Foundation = Ship It 💙🔥❄️
