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[blue emu]

Building on the success of the "sponsored animals" campaign, what do people think of "sponsored bug fixes"?

I know someone who would pay good money to see the "contaminants on clothes, fingers, teeth, etc" bug fixed... it's a major cause of slow-down, which in turn is a major cause of abandoning community forts.

[ZioAnthros]

I agree that something should be doe to manage fps death sooner than later.

[blue emu]

I have added this suggestion to the stickied DF Eternal Suggestion Voting Tracker. Vote for me!

Link: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/eternal_voting.php#vote257

[telesien]

You've got my vote, sir

[NW_Kohaku]

If you put something on the ESV, it's a good idea to link to that position in the ESV from your thread.  There are quite a few entries in the ESV, and convenience makes votes more likely.

Honestly, I think that something more general, like a means of saying what sort of features or bugfixes or whatever you most want to see added to or fixed from DF would be more illustrative.

[blue emu]

If you put something on the ESV, it's a good idea to link to that position in the ESV from your thread.

Thanks. Done.

[NW_Kohaku]

You should check that link, it doesn't actually link to a specific voting item.  I've noticed that sometimes the links are broken by the numbers of the suggestion being incrimented up or down.

Also, again, I would say that it should be something more general, like "prioritize bugfixes over adding new features" or "adding these specific large features over adding small, quick features" rather than a "pay money, this bug is fixed now" system, which I don't think Toady will ever support. 

Donations tied to "I would like more Adventure mode features added soon" versus "I would like the hauling improvements implimented soon" versus "just fix the hospital bugs as soon as possible" are just ways of telling Toady what players see as a highest priority. 

Donations tied to "I demand this bug fixed NOW if you accept this money" means that Toady is just voluntarily putting himself in a position where he's setting himself up to have donators scream at him for their money back when he can't fix bugs in a swift enough manner for their liking.

[blue emu]

You should check that link, it doesn't actually link to a specific voting item.

I've just checked it again... it works for me, taking me straight to the item.

Also, again, I would say that it should be something more general, like "prioritize bugfixes over adding new features" or "adding these specific large features over adding small, quick features" rather than a "pay money, this bug is fixed now" system, which I don't think Toady will ever support.

Possibly so... but I'd like to hear Toady's own views on the suggestion before changing it.

[JimboOmega]

As someone who had suggested this idea (on another forum), my thought is, really, it'd be cool to pay my money and have, as a result, the notion that certain bug fixes are prioritized.  I don't need it to be conditional, but there are certain bugs (like the aforementioned splatter issues, #296 in the tracker) that I would really like - and pay - to see fixed.  At present I have no idea if they are even on Toady's radar. 

[NTJedi]

I believe this would really help the community feel some love regarding minor bugs which feel soooooo very important. I have a personal attachment with the broken dungeon master bug and worried he might be pushed aside for a year or two or three before being fixed. 

I would also like to expand on this idea:
 
A}   14 days out of a month Toady works on whatever or goes on vacation or does whatever he wants, because we never want him to feel bored or burnt out.

B}    7 days out of a month Toady works on the game bug fixes which the community has given the most attention where the voting donations range from $1.oo to $100.oo .  I feel this would allow the community to feel more attached to the game.

C}    7 days out of a month Toady works on whatever game bug brings the most money where voting donations are placed.  If a specific game bug is too annoying Toady can politely deny the request providing a refund of whatever was donated and review the next game bug which brings the most money.  This is mainly to improve financial security so Toady can safely focus on game development.

** Naturally Toady could adjust any of the number of days within a month to better match his events in life, but each category provides a useful purpose.

[Aachen]

Not all bugs are equal. How much bang can one get for a buck? Some of the persistent ones could require many hours to tease out.

 At any rate, we've had three (well, two (well three)) fix-releases already! I'm feeling positively celebratory! 

edit: Woah. Just caught the necro

[King Mir]

I'm not in a position to donate money, but if I were this is the way I'd do it. Or in absence of a formal sponsorship drive, I'd donate when Toady fixes a major bug.

Adding new features is fun, fixing bugs is less so. But for gameplay, bugs can be a major detriment. I support giving Toady more incentive to fix bugs.

This doesn't even have to be organized by Toady. We could simply run a bug fix commitment fund, where people would pledge to donate some quantity of money for each major bug they'd like fixed. Once Toady fixes the bug, and releases the new version, the pledged donors would be expected to pay up. Having a organized place to do this would allow Toady to see what bugs people care about.

I'd start a thread for this, but I'm not in a position to put my money where my mouth is.

[Aachen]

Now that seems a bit more reasonable. However, in that case, can't anyone who really, really dislikes a bug just pony up w/o fanfare when it's  resolved?

[King Mir]

Now that seems a bit more reasonable. However, in that case, can't anyone who really, really dislikes a bug just pony up w/o fanfare when it's  resolved?

Yes, but there are a few benefits to the fanfare.
1) Pledging money would give better incentive to Toady. Ponying up after a bug is fixed, doesn't give an intensive to fix the bug since it's already fixed.
2) Pledging money would allow a donor to encourage fixing the bugs he considers major, as a opposed to a general request to spend more time on bug fixes.
3) While an individual could say that some money is in thanks for a specific bug, a single small donation isn't much incentive to fix bugs. But if multiple people make the same pledge, then the incentive is greater.
4) As a different revenue model to supplement the current system, it could encourage more donors. People may prefer paying for Toady to do specific things, instead if paying in appreciation of the game.

[Watsst]

Also, again, I would say that it should be something more general, like "prioritize bugfixes over adding new features" or "adding these specific large features over adding small, quick features" rather than a "pay money, this bug is fixed now" system, which I don't think Toady will ever support. 

Yeah I agree with this. As long as its kept general it could work, or maybe only have a 'work one week a month on donation bug fixes'. This way toady can still cater to larger crashes and problems that only a handful of people are having but is game breaking first, which is far more important than a bug that more people have but is only a mild annoyance.