I finally have enough resources to actually go ahead and work part-time on my projects  .

However my current home office is horrible, a single desk with all my equipment on it in a semi-usable fashion. I have no other desks/shelves to put my supplies/books/my server/ etc...

So what would be a good way to go about making my home office space better?

From what I know on these things

1.) Most ad networks require many, many views/plays before you are sustainable.
2.) Not that good, only about ~1%-0.25% donate anything.
3.) Great, many success stories.
4.) Ditto. However the cost of porting to both might be more time consuming than you would care to get into.
5.) Works fine, but I don't have much information on it.

^ Sounds fun! 

[extreme]

Speaking from experience and being in the 'AppHub*' community for years, you will not see many sales (maybe, at best, about 10 people earn a living, 1-3 with 6 digits a year... those guys are an extreme rarity, you will likely get about the low-mid 3-4 digits in a year from a single project, people tend to get the money for their submission back but not much else) but getting the game on XBLIG is a great learning experience and easy on beginners to submission processes. Also the joy of seeing YOUR game running on a home console and on the digital distribution service is immense.

In short: Pros: Joyous, simple, fun Cons: Not monetarily worth the effort for most games made.

* To me AppHub is still the Creator's Club, and Kinect is still Natal.

[Peggle + Edutainment game]

Peggle + Edutainment game

Physics classroom game, you have to input the angles and initial force by hand.

  Thank you!
I never thought of that aspect before, but you guys are completely right! Please, please, keep the conversation going, I'm getting very good information here.

First up what I want to know, then why the hell I'm tackling something so big (totally suicidal in other words).

What I want to know:
1.) What are some musts in your opinion for a 4X?
2.) What are some things that must never, NEVER be included in a 4X?
3.) How long would it take to make for someone with n years experience in programming?
4.) What graphics be desired for this here genre?
5.) Is it worth the effort?

Why the hell I'm thinking of doing this:
I have done small mini projects for years now, I am afraid of failure, and I want to get over that fear by plunging into something that I know I will fail badly. I hope to gain knowledge that can't be gained from micro projects. The final thing is that my idea has been stuck in my head for months, I want to kill it... and make sure it never comes back. So that I can turn my attention to more valuable things.

Also I have a few years free time, which might be wisely utilized.

[Braid + Tabletop Game]

Braid + Tabletop Game

Better keep VERY good records of what happened on the last few cycles.

Kill one of them, let word get out, they'll get the message.

Anyways, I agree that if you made a contest you would see some good games made and that would promote the site.

First, what I mean by Non-Aesthetic player game object customization is when a player customizes something in a fashion that actually has an effect on gameplay/game mechanics.

This could be as simple as letting choosing branching level-ups (BoDVII, Fallout), or as complex as letting them design their own machinery and mechanics (Dwarf Fortress, Minecraft). However I am more concerned about complete creation of things (such as designing a new sword, ranging from controlling its length to its metal construction: _{I am not planning something like this, I am curious what ideas get made by the TIGS hivemind}), but these questions apply to all types of customization.

1.) What are the Pros/Cons for allowing a player to forge their own path?
2.) Does non-aesthetic customization have any value for gameplay over just having a more varied selection?

I have folders of fonts depending on theme... so if I go into the same theme I have a large collection of fonts to use. (I went on a font creation/downloading binge a few months back).

I'm no expert, but to me the Electric jolts moving through the letters look out of place, like they were added with MS paint, but that is all I can find fault with.

It also looks like it comes from the late nineties. Which is a plus for me.

[QWOP + Mirror's edge]

QWOP + Mirror's edge

 :concerned:Would it even be possible?

  I'll be watching this thread... as all my XNA PC games have been distributed via disk with no Auto-Update.

Primarily XNA, Dabbling in Unity3D though.