I think folks have been doing a surprisingly good job of practicing egoless suggestions, to be honest. That's one thing I've always been impressed with, but particularly in recent years. That said, the various processes can definitely do with improvement I'm sure.
The next game is definitely not ready for alpha yet, as there does need to be quiet time where I can focus on design and testing of my own without a huge load of distraction. That said, I have Misery and a couple of other folks helping out this go-round from the start, who are working on contracting for some things anyhow. And in terms of the alpha starting, that will start insanely fast, within 3 weeks or so.