Dubious Kickstarter at $21,000 and [Edit] (Hopefully) Dropping

[TheProfessor234]

WTF! Rich people shouln't be allowed to scam

Just wanted to say, chances are that's how a good amount of rich people got rich, through things like this. They have a lot of money because they never spend their own cash.

Of course, not all rich and successful people are scammers. This just points out one facet.




__
On topic, I can't sympathize with anyone who funded this, even if it was/is true/pure. You're throwing money at a 9 year old girl. INVESTING MONEY IN A NINE YEAR OLD GIRL. If she came up to you on the street and asked for 21,000 dollars, chances are you would never give her a cent. It would just be irresponsible.

I am all for gender equality, don't get me wrong but money would be so much better spent elsewhere.

 

[teebeeohh]

I read this thing on Destructoid the other and it seemed dubious to me even without the whole "she is rich" thing.
And why do people keep giving money to projects hat are already funded? Unless they have some kind of master plan for more money you are probably doing more harm than good

 

[Frankster]

[
Just wanted to say, chances are that's how a good amount of rich people got rich, through things like this. They have a lot of money because they never spend their own cash.

So my parents keep telling me Hence why me and my family are poor, we believe too much in gifting and making others happy with what extra money we do have.

In other news.... Carlos Slim has started a kickstarter to scrap together some funds to afford a car for his soon to be 16 yr old son (if needed replace son with daughter for added dose of GRRRL power and Rawr! Fight the patriarchy!).
Stretch Goal: if 300k $ is reached, he will appear on MTVS sweet 16 when its his birthday and YOUR name as a loyal backer will be added to a thank you list at the end of the show! Hurry only 25 days left!

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

While I'm really glad you bring up the subject of Susan Wilson, I can't really contribute much at this point in time.

Just...

If I may suggest...

Do check her out. Google her, do some research, make up your own mind.

Check out her twitter. Check out her online presence.

Do not confuse her with Susan Wilson Solovic, though.

 

[Ashannon Blackthorn]

Makes me wonder if Kickstarter bothers to go through this shit and just start banning and removing the blatently obvious BS projects. I mean they must but odd things really obvious ones slip thorugh the cracks.

 

[FFP2]

My first reaction to the Kickstarter was: "Aww. this is the cutest thing ever!"

Then I read the Kickstarter page and did some research and realised that it's pretty much a scam.

The way the page was written made it clear that her mom is just using her to get pity pledges. Then I saw that bit about her brothers and it just felt like the mom was riding on the coat-tails of that thing called Sarkeesian.

Sorry if I come across as an asshole, I'm a bit upset/dissapointed over this.

 

[fletch_talon]

Well good news and I've changed the Title to reflect this. The project's funds have dropped from nearly $22,000 yesterday to just under $21,000 today.
Evidentally people are realising that their support would be better placed elsewhere.

The unfortunate thing is that Kickstarter has seemingly yet to respond to the project being reported. People who support Susan Wilson and this project are even in the comments section claiming Kickstarter fully supports the project which saddens me.

I realise people who back this project are responsible for their own money and what they do with it, but I just don't want this woman to have it. If we get some proof that all (or near enough to all) of the excess money ends up going to a cause or charity of some kind then it won't be so bad.

 

[Fire_Drake]

I sent a Report to Kickstarter reporting that this KS violates KS policy. I put a link to the image in the OP into the report.

Do any of you guys wanna get this thing taken down by doing the same? Got a KS account? Report this shit.

 

[NightmareWarden]

Thank you very much for the attention grabbing headline, I will gladly support the removal of that project from kickstarter. I admit I do not know exactly what guidelines should exist for what should or should not be crowdfund-able through kickstarter, however I do support any action from Kickstarter that could be seen as "cracking down". I do not think that the project should be removed simply because the child's mother is wealthy, but I do agree that her actions could be classified as "scummy".

Also, the amount of money in this project has dropped by a couple hundred since I first opened that page to report it. It is currently at $21,019. Oh, and will the word and context of the word "scummy" put me at risk of MOD wrath, considering this...situation?

 

[NoeL]

You know what... I'm going to go against the grain and declare this "not a scam". Yes, the project's nature and Susan's actions appear to be in violation of KS ToS and for that reason it's fair to report the project, but as for Susan's intentions themselves... I'm ok with it (except for her treatment of her sons - that's disgusting).

The woman's an entrepreneur, so you have to expect savvy marketing with practically EVERYTHING she's involved in - a cute project to help her daughter included. She only asked for ~$800 and has stated clearly that she WON'T be keeping the excess and is currently trying to figure out what to do with it all.

So yeah, the project seems frivolous, I think a number of her actions are questionable, but I don't think it's a scam. If people are stupid enough to throw their money at such a cause, let them.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Kickstarter's great, but people have to understand: you're not buying a finished product, don't throw money around like you are. Admittedly, this is a little different - but it's still lying to you. And against policy.

EDIT: That page is horrific and I pity the poor fools it deceived. That said...they had to have known it was the mother writing pretending to be the girl. It takes determined ignorance to not see through it. [small]To say nothing of the blatant sexism[/small]

 

[an annoyed writer]

I think there is only one thing that needs to be said, and it's by our own lovely cynical brit himself:

THERE IS NO MIDDLE FINGER BIG ENOUGH!

Seriously, this has to stop. That's clearly abuse of the system, as well as the child. The parent is using their child for profit. Can you get any more greedy than that?

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I mean if you have a problem with it you can report the kickstarter. Other than that I think everything that needs to be said about it has been said.

 

[mooncalf]

I'd agree that this kind of thing is precisely not what kickstarter is for. Don't care if they're good or bad people behind it, it's a misuse of the service.

 

[barbzilla]

Few things, one she has stated that Kickstarter has approved this project being live, so no matter what happens (provided she isn't lying about that) this project is going through. As for her stating that she won't be keeping any of the extra money and she didn't ask for it, she clearly states "I asked my mom if I could stay at camp an extra week if we raise enough money, and she said if you raise enough money you can stay the whole summer." Then there is the laptop she has added to the costs (see the original project didn't break ToS, it was all the extra stuff that has happened). So she has been encouraging the extra funding, and due to the backlash she is back peddling (she realize she was reaching too far). She continues on to say we don't have a lot of money (yet she spent thousands of dollars on a pair of shoes, is the founder and CEO of a company that put her on the top 25 successful women list as well as being an integral part of a domain squatting, venture capitalism funded, sale that led to them making 100 million USD on the project Though that money didn't go to her, that went to the company she worked for I am sure) so this is to help my daughter go to a camp we can't afford (not a direct quote as the webpage crashed on me and I'm on my phone).

You know what this is going long so I'm just going to do a break down of my thoughts...

Pro: (if everything is true)
Helping to show that women can (and should) be an integral part of the gaming industry.
Potentially helping to fund some charitable program to increase gaming awareness (or some other gaming related charity)
Could produce a fun RPG made by a 9 year old, and that would be truly awesome
Could help to show that kickstarted can be used in ways that will help the future of the gaming industry

Oddities that make people think this is a con:
Video made far beyond the likely skills of a 9 year old (though I've seen some programming prodigies in my day)
Whole project written in the voice of the daughter, but with the vocabulary and language of a well educated adult
A Fortune Magazine Top 10 Female Entrepreneur of 2009 who is broke?
She claims she is unemployed, but is currently still listed as the CEO and Founder of Judgement Group
She tends towards the scummy side of business, so that is scary

Cons:
None, people willingly donated to this project and I think no matter what happens this girl will go to the RPG camp, so its a win all around (in my book).

I'm probably shouldn't continue as I feel it is fairly even right now and I honestly see no reason to take it down. If she is a scam artist then hopefully she will get her just rewards, whether it be through Karma or someone finding out she is actually scamming people and she gets sued. Either way it doesn't really hold any barring on me. The thing I think needs to stop however are the death threats and general nastiness I see towards her and her child. This is downright disgusting and only serves to make her look better in the eyes of the skeptical. If you have some issue with the project then use the report button and lay waste to her project by getting it pulled down. If you are only upset because someone said someone might be using the internet to scam someone else, either do your own research or realize that internet scams happen every second (possibly milliseconds) and get over it.


Note: This is not directed at anyone in this thread, I am just making a general statement of how I feel.

 

[Altorin]

I honestly don't care. If she's breaking a bunch of Kickstarter rules, then the Kickstarter will collapse by default.. I don't care how much money she has.. if it were a legit kickstarter (IE, one that didn't break a bunch of rules), then even if the starter could technically kickstart it themselves, I honestly don't care if they want people to foot the bill for them. I won't be paying for it, so why should I care?

All I want out of Kickstarter is some ingenuity and support for game genres and subgenres fallen out of favor by the zeitgeist that I happen to be personally fond of. That's it. Anything else, I don't care, scams or not. If people are stupid with their money, they deserve to get scammed, or whatever this is... it doesn't even seem like a scam as much as a misunderstanding about what kickstarter is meant to do.

and if it doesn't get kiboshed by Kickstarter itself, oh well, the rich get richer every single day, it's exactly what it's there for. I hope the girl enjoys her game design camp.