Hi there everyone.
I just had an idea when I saw a topic about translating a handful of VN's.
What about making a donations system to encourage more translations.
I don't have all the details figured out, but I have the basics.
Creating Translation Teams/Groups
User generated wish list
User generated Donations towards the VN they want translated on the wish list
Teams/Groups can ask Mods or admins to work on a VN from the wish list
Teams/Groups get a small weekly payment from the generated donations for their work
Fuwanovel will be the only place to get/read the translated VN.
Team/Group Page
So, to start it there should be a way for users to create Teams/Groups specifically for translations. The Team/Group leader would have to submit a request to a moderator, or a admin to have it created. From there the Team/Group leader can add other members to it, as well as adding information about the Team/Group members, information necessary for admins or moderators to gage if that Team/Group is qualified for the task.
The wish list should be suggestions from the forum users that want a specific Visual Novel translated, either by having a monthly poll, or by having a thread where users can submit requests to the wish list. To make sure the requests are legit and not just spamming, they wont count as a submission until a starting donation by the one making the request on a reasonable amount.
When the wish list has a reached it's limit (maybe 5-10 VN's) users who wants a VN translated can make a donation towards it. The donations for said translation will then be handed out to the Team/Group that has been given the OK to work on it on a weekly basis on a agreed upon amount. If the VN donations stops coming in while the Team/Group is working on it, it will be up to them to continue working in hope that there will be more donations later on, or simply put it on hold until the donations comes back. To not let the Team/Group take too long on a translation the admin or moderator giving the OK should give the Team/Group a reasonable deadline to have it finished by. If it's not finished by the deadline the Team/Group will have to give all the work over to Fuwanovel for safekeeping, so that if another Team/Group wants it, they can continue on it.
When a Translation is finished, all the work will be sent to Fuwanovel for review. When the review is done a English patch will be made for the Visual Novel to install on top of the Visual Novel. Another way would be to build a VN emulator into the website to be able to read it, but I assume that would be illegal without the proper licenses.
The Teams/Groups should have a page with information about the members, who they are (usernames from the forum) and what they have translated earlier. Along with that there should be a Reputation widget where the admin or moderator will give the team positive Rep for good work on a translation along with a personal note about what he/she thought about the process, as well as negative Rep for missed deadlines, bad communication, etc.
I also had the same idea for Teams/Groups of artists, hackers, and so on.
I think this is a nice basis on something that could pull more attention towards Fuwanovel, and make it a much bigger place for all of us who have grown to love it here.
If it's a good idea, I can start working on the functions for it.
Kind regards, Xion.