Should the simutrans project accept donations?

[afransen]

Look at it this way: presently, the hardware to support Simutrans is being donated by only a few individuals. Allowing donations for a server/hosting would spread that burden over a few more people. Effectively speaking, people are already lending their property to simultrans.

What is wrong with accepting donations? Maybe as a North American I don't understand the cultural issue. It's not as if you'll be holding out your hat next to the 'download here' button. You would have to go out of your way to donate...

And I'm thinking we're only talking a thousand dollars tops? Over a thousand members, that isn't a whole lot.

[Colin]

I'm with Joker on this. This is my last comment on the subject.

It seems to me that members who have only just joined and have no idea what the Simutrans Forum, or it's family of long time members, are all about, are putting in their twopennyworth, which is why I thought that this discussion should not be held on an open forum. It's starting to sound like any other forum. Stop the discussion now! and re-open it if needs must.

[Ashley]

As an aside to this non-issue of donations, we need to be careful that the devotee group doesn't descend into elitism and that we take into account the aggregate contributions of the rest of our community. Allowing new people to contribute to discussions of the direction of the game encourages them to contribute by making them feel a bigger part of it, it brings in fresh viewpoints and alternatives from people that we might not have considered for devotee-ship.

Given that Simutrans is now an open community project and we actually lack contributions in many areas we really should be doing as much as possible to keep discussion in the public domain and remember that Simutrans is neither exclusively made by or for the devotees... Remember that we were all newbie members once, looking for a way to contribute.

[juhis]

Because my username was get lost when this forum has did go on other server, but now I'm here to stay!

Asking for donations, I will really support this idea, to keep this forum alive!

[Spike]

Allowing new people to contribute to discussions of the direction of the game encourages them to contribute by making them feel a bigger part of it, it brings in fresh viewpoints and alternatives from people that we might not have considered for devotee-ship.

I agree that things must be discussed openly. So it's good to have this discussion public for all. And it already showed very different views on the issue of donations, also a whole lot of misunderstandings.

I've also encouraged Prissi in another thread to talk more about the development on public boards, so that more people get an idea where the project is heading to, what kind of problems exists - also organisational problems.

[isidoro]

Newbie as I am, I agree that in taking a decision a more experienced user must have a bigger importance.  That's natural: my vote is not worth the same since I don't have all the information and baggage, among other things.  An issue apart is discussion.  In my opinion, we can do more or less the same with our brains (even more now that we know that the 10% use of the brain is known to be a myth  ).  I feel reasonable that this votation is only a guide and that the final decision should be taken at the "elite" forum.

It's true, perhaps, that we here don't have all the variables and, if that is really important and that information is not convenient to be made public, it makes no sense a topic like this one.  But talking makes no harm, I think.

Following up and now that the first and second possibility are more or less even, should there be a second round with only the two winning possibilities?