Quote: "It does not work that way (normally). You actually have to send the money in for it to actually be counted, no pledges. The company then holds this money until the bounty taker completes the item and then they are paid.
Just think how much money would be raised if every member sent just $1 and you can imagine how much extra goodies we could get
Proper MP anyone ??"
I didn't know what to think when you said bounty, but it all makes sense now.
I guess the pledges would be made with the understanding that if no one accepts the task then the dollars may sit there forever and a day.
All in all though I think this is a wonderful idea, but there would be kinks to work out like when two teams invest months of work on a new feature.
Only one team would get the bounty and the others would get nothing but time wasted?
Or would a lock be put on the pledges once a team/individual accepted the task?
And if so, then what would prevent teams that will never finish their task to tie up features that others could have accomplished.
It would have to be first come first serve basis as far as who can complete the task and claim the bounty in order to be fair.
But again, that would leave a lot of unfinished projects for those who can't develop fast enough.
That however is ideal for the end user, because it would promote fast turnaround times for the completion of task meaning a lot of new features fast.
Well, as fast as the bounties can be raised high enough for the extra help to commit.
Very interesting concept though indeed.
Quote: "Proper MP anyone ??"
I think a test run on a single major improvement would be a good idea.
Much better than letting anyone and everyone post bounties for everything creating chaos.
TGC has pretty much said that any improvements to the multiplayer would have to come from third party mods because they are focusing on single player at the moment.
I think this bounty idea for improving the multiplayer is an excellent mix, and certainly the way to go.
I think this Bounty idea should be done as a third party mod venture and not managed or sponsored by TGC.
They have enough on their plate as it is, and if this multiplayer development is going to be third party then why not the bounty for it too?
Lindbergh flew the Atlantic non-stop to win a prize, and many great innovations have come from rewards for completion of tasks like the X prize.
History has proven that $100,000 of prize money can prompt millions of dollars of consolidated research from prospective winners.
This bounty idea is similar in nature to those prizes, and I think everyone pitching in on a bounty could pay off big.
Another advantage of doing it as a mod is that the donars could receive a free copy, and others could pay a small fee to raise a bounty for the next project.
