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If annoying ads will get Toady money, then YES!

47 (36.4%)

No matter what, ads suck - NO!

16 (12.4%)

Only if there are no popups.

66 (51.2%)

Total Members Voted: 129

[Warlord255]

A simple question.

As I understand it, one is paid on a regular basis for using a website of their ownership as advertising space; this payment may or may not be dependent on users following the advertised links.

If Toady were to sell out some blank space on the forum to appropriate advertisers - proliferators of  webcomics, computer goods, nerd stuff, etc. - there's a good chance some kind of deal could be struck to boost his potentially unstable donation-dependant revenue stream, and thereby help add some needed security to the future of our beloved game and its developer.

What say you, forumgoers? Were this to come to pass, would it adversely affect you to the point of forsaking Dwarf Fortress, or would you be alright with it?

My vote, personally, swings yes; as long as the advertisements were relatively aligned to the general interests of the forumgoers (no "Which Twilight character are you?" quizzes or Axe bodyspray posters), I would gladly suffer the minor indignity of advertisements for Toady's benefit.

(Should you, Toady, be thoroughly opposed to the idea, feel free to state so and/or delete this thread; I have no intention of aggressively trying to impose this or any other suggestion upon you.)

[Creamcorn]

I kinda like the empty spaces.

Although if it's for the good of DF, I'd say go with it!

[Karlito]

Hopefully they can be formatted in a way that isn't annoying. 

[Christes]

If it is of tangible benefit for Toady, and therefore, DF - absolutely!

If it just gets him like a couple bucks a month, then nah.

[Hectonkhyres]

How annoying? If we are talking popups I will react with napalm and hurtful words. And more napalm. I would, however, gleefully accept the presence of a tasteful banner at the top of the page. And I am praying for the existence of a button link to amazon.com even if it has to be relegated to some backpage in the ass end of bay12games.

[winner]

I say have them be ads for the dwarf fortress merchandise toady will get fat royalties from.

[DarkCloud]

Click-Through-Ads don't really generate that much cash.

But I've wondered, why hasn't Toady set up a CafePress merchandise shop with T-Shirt and Hoodie designs based on Dwarf Fortress; those would certainly sell well.

[Karlito]

This has come up before and I believe the reason is that Toady is unwilling to market a game he considers to be for the most part unfinished.

[Warlord255]

Added an option for "only if no popups", if that affects anyone's decision. I assume that popups would not be on the table at all.

[Xgamer4]

I have absolutely no issue with things like the basic Google Ad-Sense ads. Those are about as useful and unobtrusive as you can get.

[Jackrabbit]

I wouldn't mind if there were no pop ups.

[Capntastic]

Click-Through-Ads don't really generate that much cash.

But I've wondered, why hasn't Toady set up a CafePress merchandise shop with T-Shirt and Hoodie designs based on Dwarf Fortress; those would certainly sell well.

It's been suggested before, and it's been brought up that CafePress is low quality product.   And the idea of managing sales and such could theoretically detract from programming time.

Also:  I think ads are a terrible idea as any money they generate would barely cover the bandwidth Toady uses.   And though the offset may be useful, consider how annoying and, well, annoying ads are.

[Footkerchief]

I'd totally be fine with it, and I've heard Google Ads is really easy to set up and maintain.  I don't know what kind of returns he'd get from it, though.

[Warlord255]

Click-Through-Ads don't really generate that much cash.

But I've wondered, why hasn't Toady set up a CafePress merchandise shop with T-Shirt and Hoodie designs based on Dwarf Fortress; those would certainly sell well.

It's been suggested before, and it's been brought up that CafePress is low quality product.   And the idea of managing sales and such could theoretically detract from programming time.

Also:  I think ads are a terrible idea as any money they generate would barely cover the bandwidth Toady uses.   And though the offset may be useful, consider how annoying and, well, annoying ads are.

I agree on the merchandising; it would be more of a hassle than he needs right now, and the material cost would negate the profits somewhat; while we might FEEL like paying $20 for a shirt is good, it rally nets Toady a profit of half that after production, shipping and the costly loss of programming time spent doing the whole thing.

If the ad revenue is negligible, I would also probably nix the idea... on the other hand, Google Ads searching our thread wording could yield some hilarious results.

"Find great prices on Elf bones!"
"Great Kitten recipies!"

[Hectonkhyres]

If the ad revenue is negligible, I would also probably nix the idea... on the other hand, Google Ads searching our thread wording could yield some hilarious results.

"Find great prices on Elf bones!"
"Great Kitten recipies!"

You have just sold me on the idea of google ads regardless of how much money it nets Toady.