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[DwarfMeister]

For when a bridge gets dismanted because it was lowered on something that it shouldn't have...

Narrator: Are you TIRED of poor cellular reception?
Narrator: Switch over to Armokular Wireless and enjoy the crystal clear quality of our phones over the nations LARGEST cellular network.
Narrator: Starting prices as low as $29.95 a month for Unlimited talking and texting. Even on weekends!!!
Narrator: What are you waiting for? Sign up now!!!

[Murgy]

To be fair, I would buy Dwarf Fortress Brand socks.
~They menace with spikes of comfort.~

[KoboldWarmonger]

Let's all take a minute to point and laugh at the people who stopped by to give a serious answer as to why this is a bad idea.

However, I would buy the shit out of dwarf fortress merch.

[Viking]

Have you seen the latest Bay12 report? Professional software developers are lucky to average that much a month! I don't think we have an urgent need for an alternative revenue stream here, even if I really want to see some official Dwarf Fortress merchandise.

Now there is a good idea!!! Advertising would be very difficult as someone said. Not every advertiser wants to be associated with a game like Dwarf fortress either. See the recent threads about impaled babies and efficient ways to atom smash dozens of children.

Weenog said: "Everything that makes Dwarf Fortress good stems from being an indie game, unfettered by corporate considerations.  Even if you don't mind advertising in games in general, a connection like that would kill DF."

Indie games are great and I'm glad they are around but I don't think a game is better just because its indie. If dwarf fortress were being developed in a large studio I suspect more effort would probably go into making the UI more accessible even if at the expense of some depth which in my mind would be a good trade off sometimes. As everyone knows, right now mastering the military part of the game takes considerable dedication!

I totally agree that connections like that would severely hurt DF!

[weenog]

Attention to gameplay being a much higher priority than attention to user friendliness is one of the things that makes DF good.  Not giving a puddle of vomit whether the studio wants to be associated with dead babies, kittens, etc is another.  Making sacrifices and restricting behavior to appease other entities than Armok is bad, m'kay?

Let your DF run wild and free.  Because, as the Good Book says, let your DF run wild and free.

[Cusi]

Urist McDowner has been feeling discontent lately, he admired the Ikea bed he made bought, had an excellent McCafe, had a good talk with a close friend over Facebook, was bothered by pest lately [Buy Terminix for 20% off!], and saw death recently [1-800-CHARTER], lost a child [Adopt a Child from Somalia!], and was recently injured by a Gillete Razor.

Would be fun if someone modded in ads :p I can see people paying for things like:

Urist McMoody needs Rough Gems [buy for only .06 cents!] but no, I don't think they will ever do it, it seems thier doodles for dough campaign works out well, along with their creatures for cash program.

[Mrhappyface]

That would be neat in adventure mode and trading in fortress mode.

[khearn]

Have you seen the latest Bay12 report? Professional software developers are lucky to average that much a month! I don't think we have an urgent need for an alternative revenue stream here, even if I really want to see some official Dwarf Fortress merchandise.

I just looked at the May report. Based on the income for the 5 months listed, he's making about $80K per year. But remember, that includes February, when 34.01 came out, which was probably his biggest month ever. I'm a professional software engineer, and if someone offered me that I'd laugh at them. Especially since it doesn't include anything like healthcare, which isn't cheap, or other benefits. My base salary is more than 50% higher than that, plus I get full health care, free meals, an annual bonus, stock grants, 401K matching, and other benefits. Even looking at February, his best month due to the 34.01 release, he still falls short of what I make, considering the benefits. And his January number is equivalent to what I made my first year out of college, 20 years ago. I think my company pays interns more than that per month.

Actually, I just looked at past Bay12 reports. In the  year from May 2011 to April 2012, he received $58,460.05. That's less than $5K per month, and I don't know too many professional software developer who'd feel lucky to make that much, even if it included benefits. It may sound like a lot to a student, but it's far less than half what he could be making.

I'm not saying that Toady should put ads in DF, I'm just pointing out that he's not making nearly as much money as he could if he was working professionally.

That's why I've already contributed as much for DF as I'd pay for a commercial game, and will continue contributing more in the future. I'm willing to pay more for DF than I would for other games because I understand the sacrifices he is making to create it. Plus, it's a better game.

But I wouldn't quit playing if my dwarves were drinking Captain Morgan Dwarven Rum, if that's what it took for Toady One to keep going. But I think he'd have a hard time getting it to work.

[Girlinhat]

Thing is, Toady doesn't need what most other programmers need, because he's an android because he's just some guy with a compiler.  There's no corporation, no middlemen, no fuss.  Just him sitting at his computer taka-tak away because he enjoys what he does.  My father works networking and I figure about 3/4 of his pay is dealing the the company he works for.  He could do things so much simpler if the bosses would just let him do things.  Toady has no such issues.

Would you take top rate salary to sit in meetings for 7 hours, program a game for 1 hour, and go home, or would you like to make Toady's average salary to do what you love and report to no one?

Either way, I imagine that flak vests would find their way into DF Marketing.

On the issue of DF Merchandise, any suggestions there? :3  Socks are obvious, earrings aren't bad either.

[slink]

Those chainmail bracelets would work.   

[DwarfMeister]

Thing is, Toady doesn't need what most other programmers need, because he's an android because he's just some guy with a compiler.  There's no corporation, no middlemen, no fuss.  Just him sitting at his computer taka-tak away because he enjoys what he does.  My father works networking and I figure about 3/4 of his pay is dealing the the company he works for.  He could do things so much simpler if the bosses would just let him do things.  Toady has no such issues.

Would you take top rate salary to sit in meetings for 7 hours, program a game for 1 hour, and go home, or would you like to make Toady's average salary to do what you love and report to no one?

That, my friend, is the true meaning of "success".

[weenog]

I imagine they could easily do some cross promotion with The Beardly.  Seriously, beard-measuring shirts? That's got dorf written all over it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Girlinhat]

Those chainmail bracelets would work.   

I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Viking]

Attention to gameplay being a much higher priority than attention to user friendliness is one of the things that makes DF good.  Not giving a puddle of vomit whether the studio wants to be associated with dead babies, kittens, etc is another.  Making sacrifices and restricting behavior to appease other entities than Armok is bad, m'kay?

Let your DF run wild and free.  Because, as the Good Book says, let your DF run wild and free.

Well for the advertising all I'm saying is it isn't the easiest thing to sell necessarily which is different than whether the game is good or not. I think it is obviously. You could have the same gameplay and depth but with easier accessibility. Both take time and money but my point is that if DF were produced somewhere concerned with selling the game to the general public user interface accessibility would be a higher priority. As it is right now, learning to play DF takes quite a bit of determination on the end of the user. We'll never know how many people try DF but give up on learning its idiosyncrasies. I'm not saying the game will always be that way as it currently is in development or that it is easy to clean up. Hopefully things will get a little streamlined in future versions.

[Viking]

Hey khearn,
is your experience pretty common for software engineers? If I may ask, what company do you work for?