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[commondragon]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/magazine/the-brilliance-of-dwarf-fortress.html?_r=2&ref=technology&pagewanted=all

Linky Linky

[Pan]

Eh, was about time.

[Ieb]

So Toady's gotten a 300k offer to license DF?
Damn. That's a lot of cash. I know I would have probably caved in, because hey, 300k.

Good for him to stay strong though. He's got balls.

[jmancube]

Seemed like a pretty good article. Was nice to get a little more info about the behind-the-scenes of dwarf fortress.

So Toady's gotten a 300k offer to license DF?
Damn. That's a lot of cash. I know I would have probably caved in, because hey, 300k.

Good for him to stay strong though. He's got balls.

300k seems like a lot as a lump sum but isn't all that much over time. Even if we assume toady only makes 30,000 a year off of donations, that 300,000 would be surpassed in ten years. And that's assuming that it doesn't go up. As it sounded like the licensing would cause him to lose donations, it would in the end hurt him. So while he has balls, he also has brains.

[Ieb]

True, but how many people are able to think ahead when they basically have 300k dangled in front of 'em and told that just by signing this paper here it's all theirs.

[Aerval]

Nice finding. Very good information of the background of df. _{(Feel a bit sorry for Tarn.)}

[thvaz]

This is big.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

He grew depressed and, in his only encounter with drugs, snorted meth.

0_0
Holy shit.

But the game’s profile is slowly growing on Tarn’s own terms. This week, the Museum of Modern Art will include Dwarf Fortress in a major design exhibition called “Talk to Me,” which Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design at MoMA, describes as being about the “communication between people and objects.” Antonelli selected several simulation games for display in the show but was struck by the combination of “beautiful aesthetics” and “mind-boggling” complexity in Dwarf Fortress. “When you are playing Dwarf Fortress, you are God, and the world is talking back to you,” Antonelli said. Then she added, with a laugh, “And you are a very anal god.”

Wait, what the hell? DF is getting into a real museum!? The rise to true popularity begins!

[Yolan]

A beautifully written piece. I especially appreciated learning a little more about Tarn and Zach. I love that their grandma helps appraise the crayon drawings that go out to donors. ^^ I worry a little about their health what with the late hours and sugar water, but I'm happy to know they love what they do so much.

"Men have called me mad, but the question is not yet settled,
whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence -- whether
much that is glorious -- whether all that is profound -- does not
spring from disease of thought -- from moods of mind exalted
at the expense of the general intellect. Those who dream by
day are cognizant of many things which escape those who
dream only by night"

-- Edgar Allen Poe

[MonkeyHead]

A very enjoyable read. Although I am stuck between thinking that this article is a good short term thing, but possibly a bad long term thing...

[Capntastic]

I am stuck between thinking that this article is a good short term thing, but possibly a bad long term thing...

Why?

[MonkeyHead]

Well, short term, greater interest cant be bad - media awareness, player numbers and so on. Long term? Just have foreboading that the DF project will become unsustainable in the longer term, and with too much awareness from the gaming industry comes greter pressure to take the money and run.

[thvaz]

After reading the entire article, I'm kind of depressed.

[Yolan]

Well, short term, greater interest cant be bad - media awareness, player numbers and so on. Long term? Just have foreboading that the DF project will become unsustainable in the longer term, and with too much awareness from the gaming industry comes greter pressure to take the money and run.

Run and do what? These brothers are already doing what they want to do. They aren't wage slaves. 

[MonkeyHead]

Yes, but I worry there is a big difference between saying no to a job at a high profile company or the $300,000 sum mentioned at the current time (when the lifestyle described in the article, whilst not what I would consider my cup of tea, seems to suit Tarn at the moment), and a greater sum down the line which might seem more appealing considering there is a possiblity of circumstances being different.