Dev Blog

Items are getting crossed off checklists and the website is closer than ever to functional. I would have assumed this would mean I would get to be excited, but I’m at a point where the work is giving way to ambiguity- in the sense that I just have SO many options to pursue. I am almost paralyzed with indecision as we come up on a rather important junction for the project, and nobody really has answers for what to do here. At the same time, if I’m not working on the website my mind turns into a whirlwind of concerns and worries about what I COULD be doing- What a mess!

This is compounded with my personal aversion to social media, and the fact that this cannot be reasonably successful without it, as it needs to be put in front of the people it can benefit most, and unless I have a few million bucks to spend on advertisements, social media is the way to go. But where do I start? Do I make a twitt- im mean, sorry, an X account? Do I start a patreon to fund a patreon competitor? Will that just get me blacklisted? Or do I post flyers around town about a project that needs attention? It's all just… “Yuck”

Personally, when I see an ad for anything, I usually just instantly hate the thing they are shilling. The sheer idea of them choosing to infiltrate my time or view with an interruption is mildly offensive. So what kind of ads don't I mind? What can I do to make my product not in-your-face and respectful of others' time and eyeballs? It's all questions and very little answers, but I’m hoping the ideas and solutions come to me before I lose my head and motivation. I honestly have thought of not advertising and hinging the entire thing on just pure “Survival of the fittest” and improving it until it's simply the fittest… but then I remembered even the coolest looking birds with the strongest genes are walking adverts for their compatibility as they dance and sing from the highest trees… so… crap.

And so, armed with my recent revelations of common sense and the unavoidability of being a little bit loud about what I think can genuinely help people, I am setting off (today) to make some skeletons of social media page. Let us not dwell on the fact I haven’t even made one of these for my IRL self, but instead on the potential things I should be focusing on. I need to ask some real people what they want from a site like this, what would be the biggest benefits to them, and then see if I can make it happen, even if it's at the cost of some sanity trying to integrate it.

Wish me luck, and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe (That's a joke, btw.)

Cheers.

“There are three ways to make a living in this business: be first, be smarter, or cheat. Now, I don't cheat. And although I like to think we have some pretty smart people in this building, it sure is a hell of a lot easier to just be first.” — Jeremy Irons as John Tuld in “Margin Call”

“First” was never an option for a bounty board, to be blunt; The concept of people needing something done and putting cash behind it is… OLD, even if we just narrow it down to programming and virtual content. The seventies and eighties had this type of bounty/reward system, and I’d wager that the earliest forms of web design had bets and incentives that never got widely shared enough beyond niche groups of friends and likeminded people. But, people are most familiar with the 1983 Bug Hunt Bounty that featured the reward of an ENTIRE CAR for a bug fix… a Volkswagen Beetle: A “Bug” for a “Bug”- Offered by… “Hunter and Ready”

This line of thinking, however, is just coping. I have had this idea to revive the bounty style of funding in a broader form for… years, but I simply was not capable of putting together the funds, nor the website on a whim. Hell, I’m not honestly capable of it now! Regardless, the nerves and stress of sitting on such an idea built as I watched AI scream to the forefront of every media site I visited, and I saw the artists around me get pushed out of niches that used to be their pride and joy. So, when I put pen to paper, officially, early March (2026) I was pleasantly surprised to see the only iterations of tangential websites to “my” idea were forlorn or derelict… or just standard bounty boards for code (which I adore, btw, the only reason this website has a working banner style hero on the console is because someone posted a bounty for a problem i was having, and publicly had it solved by a hunter). So I launched into the project, worked and learned and studied up on code, asked creators, and listened to those who were willing to sit through my rambings.

Thus, the alpha of the console was born! And it was $*@&(&$ glorious to see come to life. Buttons that navigated from page to page, real previews of bounties, and… some deepseated stress relieved that I had not let an idea fester and die without ever getting the fresh air it deserved. I was overjoyed and nightly thinking of how it would look, if people would appreciate it/even want the thing and- I mean, the fact no one else had even made a real effort to take the bounty style to its limit? I mean, it was such a novelty to feel like I was doing something new. Still, the stress ate at me, and while I couldn't sleep, I searched the web for bounty sites to go over the info I had seen a dozen times before… except this time was different.

An errant google search from my stressing lands me smack into a popup site from a crypto gambling app- and my stomach goes into knots. Bounties. Hundreds of posted bounties all being done for… well for clout and shoutouts and horrendous adverts, but… BOUNTIES, explicitly using similar language to what I’ve been developing and working on and… FUCK!

I didn't get much sleep, not saying I normally do, but…

First, now, really isn't an option- and cheating aint an option either. So… what do I have left? Well, I thought about that a while and it took me a good bit to figure out why I felt so GROSS looking at this other platform… and eventually I figured it out- Why their Idea isn't even remotely what I'm trying to build:

This platform is being made to see real things borne of the desire of sponsors and the sweat of creators. This project isn’t for clout, or gambling, or… temporary splurges designed to humiliate people. I’m making something because I want to see others do the same. I want to see projects birthed and grow from the ideas of those who seek people capable enough to make DREAMS into reality. I want art and music and songs- tangible things that we can look back on proudly- and that feel worth the hard earned money that funded them.

Bounty HTR is an homage to systems and people that have created the art and programs all around us- projects that required real people, real skill, and real soul to even have a prayer of working, and seeing the system I’m attempting to refine pop up (successfully I may add!) has given me equal doses of drive and despair, but more importantly: It has given me a defined desire for what this site, and it's components should do.

Bounties should build things.

So, let's get Ready to Hunt!

The Goal

• Provide a platform that allows Bounty Hunters to browse for bounties that fit their capabilities and assist those who need help, products, advice, even inspiration.
• Provide a platform that allows sponsors to source a range of creative assistance.
• Create a virtual marketplace of requests and services, one that doesn't gouge sponsors, and one that provides a real income for active creatives.
• Create a significant pool of bounties for two reasons:
  • Creatives can browse and find work between targeted bounties.
  • The website can “keep the lights on” using expired bounties that are never collected, nor do their original sponsors reclaim the cash.

The main frustration comes from a lack of power on the side of those giving funding. Every patreon, kickstarter, even gofundme—the individual or group receiving the funding can do so without actually producing CONSISTENT results. Kickstarter backers get some minor rewards, but the end goal is a product/service that really is up to the person receiving the cash. They can edit the terms, provide something different than described, and what is the result? The people funding it would have to go through a different legal system to correct the funding result, and likely never get what they wanted in the first place—wasting time, money, and… well the excitement for the project.

Patreon is worse. Patreon SHOULD be a “donate and get some updates” but instead has become a virtual money farm where the creators try to garner as many paying subscribers as they can, promise results/a product/a continual service, and then the creator does the most logical thing: they drag their work out for YEARS, as their clientele are paying monthly to fund someone dragging ass instead of fulfilling promises… and WHY WOULD THEY? (they being the patreon creator) they have unlimited funds as long as they never produce a result/drag their subscribers on for as long as possible… and then the kick in the teeth is so SO much money goes to fees, website take, taxes, and a nightmarish number of small hidden costs that cause even the most good intentioned creators to get shorted a solid chunk of the money.

One side is getting slightly screwed, and the patrons are getting raked over the coals in this arrangement. Bounty hunter was conceived to fix this.

I wanted a place where Creators have every reason to hit certain goals, landmarks, and to LISTEN to the wants and requests of their audience, provided the money is paid out when they actually fulfill their end of the arrangement. It's not even a new concept, it's how work has been done for… well, forever. Somehow, via online marketing, the process has been reversed. Creators scramble around to find people who want their work done, instead of paying businesses/Sponsors posting virtual “help wanted” and freelancers being able to hit as many jobs as they have time for. I mean, since when does a business owner start leaving letters on creative’s doors saying “hey can you help us with this?” Why is it suddenly the main model for online commissions?

YES, I see potential shortcomings.

“What if people rush the final product due to the reward being only paid upon completion”

That's totally a valid concern, but the alternative is giving them the money FIRST and hoping they take it seriously when they already have most of the cash. At least with the proposed system of Bounty HTR, one can set payment systems that pay at landmarks/significant milestones; Hell money, eventually, will be offerable at any stage if the sponsor wants to throw cash out to incentivize people just taking the job on. And if the result isn't desired? This is the ONLY platform with extensively thought out and built in moderation—a system designed to make disputes end in a logical and straightforward solution that meets both parties' expectations while providing a—I'm getting ahead of myself more on that later.

“But bounties aren't going to be fast, especially at first”

Yeah, it's the biggest downside, by far. It's a huge risk for the initial stages of the website and something I want to be forthright on—Bounties being placed when the website is in its infancy are bound to be at risk of not being completed, or only being completed after a more significant creator base is established. It's for that reason I want the bounty refund system to be extensive and forgiving. An unfulfilled bounty will be instantly ready to be recouped by the poster the moment it expires AND we will offer them zero fees and ZERO TAXES on their next posted bounty, provided it's of equal or lesser bounty than the original. This refund and offer will be available for a YEAR. not a measly 90 days, or 6 months. We want results for our sponsors, and we want to treat them right if their asks are off to a rocky start. Our moderation team and creator (me) will be there to assist and provide visibility and exposure to get everyone what they want.

“Wait, so what happens to money if they don't collect it?”

It goes to internal bounties, after staff and basic fees are paid, it will go to fund the next set of features the community wants. Pure number based voting will be available shortly after launch (or maybe even before) to allow interested parties to express the features they want to see. Big fish can even post bounties on specific features they want ASAP, but the voice of the majority will also receive a kick from expired bounties—in the form of the top voted suggestions getting funded AS INTERNAL BOUNTIES to incentivize those features being implemented. So now, even our code monkeys are rewarded when we help fulfil the wants of the community—leading to a cycle of the website’s creators and designers getting benefitted when we put our faith in the style of service we are building the site around.

“Whats the deal with AI”

Woof, what a rough one. To be completely honest, this site couldn't have been made for someone like me without AI assistance… mostly because I didn't know who could help me, who could provide the services I needed, the code, the art, the design the…. Everything. The creation of bounty hunter was me banging my head against a wall as AI vomited up the least helpful things over and over and I desperately wanted to be able to put an open bounty for actual people to talk with on the things that needed ACTUAL SOUL. But, with time and me reaching out to real creatives and people, the design and basic ideas came together… and AI filled in the gaps. Especially with networking.

Now I'm spending most of my days scrubbing traces of AI art and relics of vibe coding from every corner of the website—and I still have a lot of scrubbing to do. But I want it gone. I want all the work to be humanized and real and traceable to talks and negotiation and support for real artists… because once this thing is built I want the stance to be clear.

“IF WE CAN TELL IT'S AI, YOU WILL BE WARNED AND IF IT REPEATS, YOU WILL BE BANNED”

Yikes, now before you go running for the hills at my profound hypocrisy, I want to elaborate. This does not mean you cannot use AI. This does not mean AI cannot exist in your final products. This means one simple thing—If your content clearly took the sponsor’s request, plugged it into an AI model, and you provided zero to minimal effort in translating that work into a real human product, YOU DID NOT COMPLETE THE BOUNTY AND ARE WHY CREATORS ARE STRUGGLING.

Some of the most talented creators and programmers I have been introduced to during the creation of this website utilize AI—but the things they produce are their own—and it's usually not hard to distinguish those who use the profoundly helpful systems in place to assist creation of wonderful things—and those who bastardize the process and are no more than misguided bots who have strayed from what it means to be human. Dramatic? Yeah, but to live is to create, express, and change the world around you. AI being your main form of expression removes the very soul of the work and I believe it degrades the expression one is capable of.

Aaaanyway—AI use is allowed, but not how you’re thinking. Blanket banning the use of AI would mean no photoshop, no autocorrect, no suggested code libraries… it's simply impossible to even navigate to this website without triggering AI use, so how the actual #@$% am I supposed to ban its use? SO this will be controversial, but it's up to creators, sponsors, and moderators to reach a happy middle ground here—one that I believe will fit within this…

“The final result must be indistinguishable from human workflow”, as long as the suspicions of AI usage are just suspicions, we will keep an eye on it. If you want a guarantee that AI isn't being used in the creation of your sponsored project—ask for a screen recording or SPECIFY that a timelapse of the work being done should be included in the files for the bounty.

Now if you manage to circumnavigate that and Model Jockey your way into completing bounties, dodging moderation, and making sponsors happy without complaints… congratulations, you know what you are, and… I will do what I can to make sure bastions of real creators are established and verified to encourage and ensure beautiful forms of self expression remain valued and pursued.

“Crowfunding… using your competitors?”

It's a longshot to say I’m even a blip—sorry, that this PROJECT as a whole is even a blip on these juggernaut’s radars, but until Bounty HTR gets off the ground and puts its name next to the big guns, we, sadly, plan to utilize any form of funding platform I can get my hands on. I want something like this to exist, for my sake even, and without a sponsor of my own… I’ll use whatever it takes to secure the future of this project—one that puts results, real creators, and tangible HUMAN interaction above all else, so the next time someone wants a beautiful picture of a tree, they don't go to CHAT GPT—instead, they open a portfolio of an artist, or scroll through public bounty results featuring already posted art… and if none of those fit, they make their specific request open to the world, for free, for money, or just for fun… and they see what the community has to offer.

I know this won't be fast, and the idea may die in a world where instant results and jingling keys equivalents are muttered all over—adverts for “results now” and “Fast satisfaction” dominate, but I want to try. I want to see if there's a small crowd of people who are willing to wait—or willing to pay at least for true works of art and products. And maybe if that community isn't big enough, this can seed a reminder that there are people willing to fight for artists and creatives, and people who are willing to put their hard earned cash up to find those people instead of throwing it into the most recent robot request page. Or maybe I'm a relic—a dreamer in a world of digital brains that no longer sleep—and I'm too slow to recognize where things are headed. Either way—I'm infatuated with the concept of trying. I want to try. And I want to see who else is willing to try with me.

Cheers. Let's see where this goes…