That's actually most hackathons, including game jams, regardless of there being a prize or not.
Disregarding the purpose of a hackathon / jams, the actual expectation of these things is to meet people, collab, vibe checks, having fun, and maybe make something cool out of it, with the increased chance of a group continuing their project.
Side purpose: organizer's marketing push and talent hunt.
I could see that being the case when it’s organic, but as soon as you throw in decent rewards, this attracts the wrong kind of person imo - where the chances of all of those things you mentioned happening are much lower.
100%. Thats also why people who complain about bounty size arent really into the project intrinsically
Bounty sizes are typically very low though considering how much work needs to be done
if you are fixated on the bounty size, you are aiming at the wrong target.
sometimes you have the skillset to do something somebody is asking for, but no desire to work on the thing or have other things with higher priority on your list. if you actually enjoyed working on the task, many people would just do it for free. then the bounty is just a bonus.
