I dont see donations being able to bring in anywhere near as much money.
i can't change your mind here. i believe it wouldn't be the case, since pirating is so easy now i think we're already partly there, where whenever someone buys software they're already making a donation.
Ontop of that I am not sure where these investors would get the money to invest in projects if the end result is available free of charge.
these investors would be end users and organizations that make money off of distributing donations plus the sale of merchandising and physical goods like cd's, manuals, magazines, etc.
Games can cost millions,
bad games, often. good games are generally much cheaper, and those that are good and expensive aren't good because they were expensive. Nevertheless, i think millionaire productions would still exist.
and while it is possible to get this money through some means, it is much harder. If they were subsidised by the state, that could work. But you would still then be paying for the game (even if you dont want to play it).you'de be paying an amount adjusted to how much you can pay
Your idea to use games as part of a portfolio still suffers from the same problem, I am still relying on these organisations to approve my project and provide the money, rather than being able to request money from individuals who are interested in using my completed product.
these organizations would be varied and represent the interests of their investors, you could pitch to a few narrow organizations that cater to the specific niche you're targeting. if you can't convince them with a finished game you'd have a hard time selling it either. all they're interested in is to be able to boast to have financed a lot of quality games so they can attract more donors interested in more games being made
Advertisement funded games could work to some degree, but again rely on an external organisation to provide the funding. Also, What incentive does the advertisement company have to listen to polls and surverys?
a lot. polls and surveys help them decide on which games to invest based on public demand, and which type of adds are more appropriate for which type of game, but when i mentioned polls and surveys i was talking about "advertisement free" game sponsors that gather investors by promising to listen to input and forfeiting advertisement
But in the end, I don't see why a person shouldnt be able to request money for something they have spent time and effort to create in a way that suits them. If you think what they want is outrageous, you can just ignore them.
as i said, i think it is sad to deny someone access to culture or knowlege, or anything that isn't scarce.
another argument is that the current system awards good marketing instead of awarding good work, in my proposed system creators would be awarded based on the popularity and reviews of their work after people have played said work, instead of tricking people into buying a buggy and\or shitty game