Like I said before I can understand this sentiment. For the last several years he had a steady job and is planning to bank on it for the next thirty years, why would he want to mess with that... Faster game development and/or focusing on specific will drain this ore vain faster and in this economy it would be hard to find on another such a niche hit, so that you can be your own boss with steady pay...
However, this suggestion is not about Tarn sensibilities with working with others or his paycheck, its about making the best game. Time constraints is a common brought up in suggestions and if time is an issue this is a way to make Tarn vision that much faster, without compromising. Many would want to see more time put in specific features, I would be happy to donate to help push several features, as opposed to current state where the new version change log is less exciting than many mods...
I agree. It is no real secret that the way Tarn develops the game is pretty inefficient and leads to more problems for us players in the long term. Personally, I would just love to see some bugs from the old 2D days finally fixed. But, that just isnt going to happen. What's next on the dev list depends on what Tarn wants and is interested in at that moment (night creatures, realistic geology, etc.). I just don't see Tarn having the same motivation to continue DF if he's working for donation pleas rather than his own will.
On the contrary, something like that will allow Tarn to focus on what he is motivated about, leaving others to help him maintain what he isn't e.g. bug hunting as you suggested or other aspects. As for the later, like I said
Also, I disagree with the notion that the DF project is about making the "best game possible". It's about making the game Tarn wants, first and foremost.
I didn't suggeted otherwise, like I said its just a way to make Tarn vision that much faster, without him compromising on it. Though, It should be noted, that even though this game is Tarn's baby, the reason for its success is in large part due to the community. People here supported the game and put up endless hours into testing, developing Mods/Tools, writing Guides/Wikia or simply sharing the fun on this forum.
Which is why I am not a fan of the 'time constraints' or 'just an alpha' excuses. Tarn said he has a thirty years development plan and lets be practical most people here will develop new interest and life constraints much much sooner than that. If development time can be shortened I support it, even if it means Tarn getting out of his comfort zone and working with others, after all the people here are more than just temp glorified alpha testers.
We just had a conversation about this.
Why oh why do folks get a hair up their butt, thinking they're delivering a divine truth and uplift the community and ToadyOne up the mud of ignorance that crowd sourcing exists and that other folks can code.
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=131456.0 Last post, 16 days ago.
For the same reason people are getting righteous indignant each time this topic is being brought up. If concerns over development brought up so frequently, maybe its time to stick one thread in discussion. (I came here through a link, after using search).