@c023-Dev: Thanks! My motivation is back anyway.
@oldblood:
Just My Personal Perspective: If you're a part-time or hobby developer (IMO meaning you're not a legal business entity with income), then it's hard to draw a line in the sand of people helping you achieve your dreams. If you're not paying them to work for you, you don't have much you can say to them (other than maybe "thank you").
Well, here's my opinion which is also very personal. It's not as a contradiction of yours, it's just me talking about the same topic.
I don't think volunteering for something should automatically imply that you don't have to keep your word or do something sub-par. Now I'm talking about people contacting me to contribute to the game on their own volition.
If a person contacts me to say: "Hey, I'll build your website for free! I just want to participate!" I was undecided about getting a website until then because I didn't have the time or the desire to work on it. This contribution makes me decide to get one. I then invest in buying a domain. Said person then says he changed his mind. Sure, he was doing it for free, but does it mean he can just say he will do something and then quit at the drop of a dime?
I mean, sure, he could, we didn't sign any contract, so legally, he can. I do think it's wrong on his part of offering something if he doesn't end up doing it. Yes, I have done the same thing before so I'm not holier than thou. It did made me realize how much it sucks for the person on the receiving end however.
As I manage the project, I base my decisions on what people tell me. If someone tells me he will do something, I can't start not taking into consideration what that person said because that person isn't getting paid (of their own decision). I have offered certain people a sum of money for their services only for them to refuse even if I insisted and then quit (or actually never ending up doing anything).
I guess the reason why because a person would refuse to get paid is because they didn't want to really commit to anything and that should've raised a red flag but I didn't see it coming.
To work long-term, you need partners. To create partners, you're going to have to give up some control. If you don't want to do that, you really need to pay contractors. Once you find good partners, you stick with them for as long as you can both handle (which is easier said than done). Not saying these are the only two ways to make it work without being a full-time developer, but it's damn near impossible if you treat people you're not paying as employees when they're not...
Totally and that's what I learned. I don't agree with the rhetoric of: "I'm doing it for free so I can do whatever I feel like doing" and the best way to prevent this kind of attitude (which is or isn't justified depending on your viewpoint) is to just pay contractor (which is what I'm currently doing).
Just to give one last example:
If someone sees that my fence needs painting and offers to do it for free, in my opinion, it doesn't give them the right to rush/mess up the job because it's voluntary. Nobody asked you to volunteer. If you offer your services, I think you should still have the same work standards (i.e. doing your best).
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