$280,000 for this work for the next 2 years sounds alot. As a web developer and having a fair bit of experience in php and other programming languages I can safely say that it is something that can be easily automated (if not already) for the most part and the server requirements for running the scripts in the back end is not something that would need extremely powerful resources as it is just fetching the existing blockchain data.
3 people for graphic design for 2 years! that sounds excessive. All I see is apparently just pictures and banners of bees in cartoon format which appears to be designed by someone who is just starting the process of learning graphic design with very ordinary skills.
If it was in my hands to decide whether to approve it or not with 10x lower budget I would still say no. It is a big no from me.
Those who want to approve it with the proposed budget I want to say please stop abusing the DHF. Just because the community can financially afford it does not mean it should.
The project itself is fine the badges system I believe is already automated and I would like it to continue which should not be costing even 5% of the proposed budget cost.
RE: The Hive Gamification Proposal