Poll: Do you trust or fund kickstarters?

[The Madman]

If the company it's for I feel can be relied upon to deliver what they're promising then I've no problem donating to a kickstarter project or any other crowd-funding project.

With that said however there's only two I've ever actually donated to, which says a lot about just how trustworthy I find a lot of developers nowadays.

 

[LongAndShort]

If I think I can trust the person doing the kickstarter, than yeah. I've put my money towards a couple of things and haven't been let down yet.

 

[Lady Larunai]

When you pledge to kickstarter, you select a reward. For example, I pledge $30 and my "reward" is meant to be a copy of the game and some stuff in the game.

If time passes and I don't get that reward I was promised, then the guys running the campaign have committed fraud and can get in huge trouble. So you can't just go "changed our minds," take the money and run. That would be extremely illegal. Some people try, but it doesn't work out well for them.

I believe that Kickstarter now requires a prototype or samples of most products before allowing a crowd-funding campaign on their site.
Because they were having problems with boneheads who thought that they could just take the money and run.

So that guy made prototype potato salad?

 

[RandV80]

There's a number of factors one should take into consideration, two key ones being your disposable income and purchasing habits. People with money to spend can go for the higher tiers, and view it from a more charitable perspective supporting indy developers. People that are more frugal with their purchasing need to consider when/if they want to buy this game.

Shovel Knight is a perfect example for this right now. Just got released, is by all accounts an awesome game, and costs $15. Is it a must have for you at launch? I didn't see the kickstarter, but if you backed it I'd imagine you got a copy of the game if you paid $10. That was a smart purchase. Or is it a game that you can be frugal on and wait till it drops to $5? Then there was no point backing it. It's basically the Minecraft model, buy early and you get a discount. But unlike Minecraft these games are all going to go on Steam sales or indy bundles at some point.

As a frugal game shopper, there was a lot of hype when kickstarter first game out as it seemed like such a great idea, but eventually I had to step back and ignore some games that look very interesting. I got a big backlog to play, and even when they come out I likely wouldn't be in a big rush to play them. If I could spend more frivolously on games, I'd have gladly backed way more projects. Right now to get me interested it has to be something that looks very interesting adn comes very cheap, like Hyper Light Drifter, or something that I've been waiting for and absolutely must have, like Dreamfall Chapters.

 

[T_ConX]

I like how it kind of democratizes the game development scene. People who want to see certain kinds of games can put their money where their mouths are and fund the games they like.

I don't like how it's dragged the concept of the pre-order down another level...

Spoiler: A Brief History of Pre-orders

1998
"I better pre-order Ocarina of Time, just so I'm guarantied a copy on release day..."

2009
"Higher initial production numbers and the rise of digital distribution means I don't have to worry about not being able to find a copy of the hottest new game on release day... On the other hand, I better pre-order Dragon Age: Origins, just so I can get these exclusive pre-order items. Since I little knowledge and no experience related to the game-play mechanics, I effectively have no clue how useful or useless these items may be..."

2013
"Oh boy! A spiritual successor to Planescape Torment! Better pre-or... uh, I mean 'back' that. So what if it's over a year away! These guys are professional game designers, and my preor... backing will get me a finished copy of Wasteland 2 in a few months as well!"

2014
"Torment got it's release date knocked back a year. So did Wasteland 2, which is in early access. And I though Sarkeesian was bad with deadlines. Fuck this. I'm going back to spending my money on finished products, not lofty promises..."

 

[RedDeadFred]

I would never fund early access. It's like an even more risky version of pre-ordering (which is something else I would never do).

My favourite game of all time is Skyrim. If Bethesda announced today that they were developing the next Elder Scrolls game through Kickstarter, I wouldn't fund it. I don't care if it looks good or if the person developer has a good track record, I'm not giving someone money to make a game that I MIGHT enjoy.

 

[Kyrian007]

Not for games so far, but I've funded other Kickstarters. I threw some money at Fallout: Nuka Break. I liked the short film and season 1 and after finding out that Bethesda not only didn't serve them with a c&d, but offered to help them... I was on board. But games are not out of the range of possibility. Star Citizen sounds great, but they hit and surpassed their goal by so much I don't really feel the need to add to the money pool. I'll no doubt buy it when it comes out.

I've funded a few other projects. But it's because I support the effort, not because I'm "buying" something. If I get something for the pledge... neat, but I've never funded something I wouldn't have just given the money to with no reward promised.

 

[PilgrimScott_III]

I've only ever backed "Exogenesis: Perils of Rebirth", and that's only because Kotaro Uchikoshi, director of the Zero Escape series (which was a big inspiration for the game and one I absolutely love) said on Twitter that he was looking forward to seeing it. Part of it was because I wanted to see another Zero Escape-style game, and another part of it was that if the game is successful, it might, however slightly, assist in Zero Escape 3 seeing the light of day. It's a long shot, but it's a shot I'm willing to take. The Kickstarter for it was successful already; now let's see if it succeeds as a finished product.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I put money down on a few yes, trust... well more like have faith these people aren't complete bastards. But at the moment I am at my limit, until all the games that are on order get completed I will be tossing money around no more.

 

[Phlakes]

One thing that a lot of people don't realize about KS is that most of the people running campaigns, outside of the ones that are actually horrible people or don't know what they're doing, are usually nervous wrecks that are praying to everything they do and don't believe that people will like them enough to fund them and allow them to do what they want while living comfortably. It's easy to be cynical about it, but really, very few people are using it just as a source of free money, most of them are trying to start their careers because it's something they really do care about.

Source: been there.

 

[Eleuthera]

People seem to focus on games on Kickstarter a lot. That's not really what it was set up for. I've backed 1 game, but also several artists/CDs. The latter is generally a safer investment (the songs tend to already be written they just need to be recorded), but other projects tend to have semi-working prototypes or alpha stage gameplay to show.

In case of games if there's nothing but an idea, I wouldn't back it.

 

[GundamSentinel]

It's not that I mistrust them (well, I mistrust some of them), it's just that I have never found a kickstarter worth putting money into up front. Personally, I like to see what I buy; I generally don't buy promises. Something has to be really damn awesome to get me to want to fund it and I've never found anything like that.

Same with early access. If I see that a potentially interesting game is still in early access, I usually just close the page.

 

[BrotherRool]

You have to be smart and aware of the risks (and actually accept those risks instead of acknowledge them but think 'but it will never happen') and I imagine everyone has their own set of conditions for how you do that. For me:

1. Never back large amounts of money. - I'm not really comfortable with the idea of it, Kickstarters shouldn't be a charity because there are a lot of real charities out there that could use your money if you're not using it for your own gain. If I made a kickstarter I'd be pretrified that no matter how good the thing, it can't be worth $1000 to someone.

2. Only back to the level where you actually want all those rewards for that price. - For the same reasons as no. 1.

3. Only back things that you really want to exist. - If I thought that it was only going to be an average product, why am I taking the risk to kickstarter it? On the other hand, I really want Obsidian to make more RPGs and I want more story-focused games in general (Dreamfall).

4. The scale has to be feasible - Making games is _really_ hard. A small idea is way better than a grand idea because the grand idea might never happen. The difficult bit with a game is actually making it and working out the ideals, not making the pitch. You see this problem a lot with people saying 'This feature in my MMO sucks, Star Citizen is way better because they're going to do this instead.' Star Citizen hasn't been made yet, it does jack all better than current MMOs. When it's made maybe that idea will turn out to have worked, maybe it won't.

5. There has to be a reason why the developer can make this game - Past experience is the best one here. Obsidian have been making fantastic RPGs for years and haven't made one so far that's been completely uninteresting. Or they might have already completed a large section of the game (Windforge). Or the game might be entirely writing focused and you know the writer.

6. You have to be prepared that the game might not be made. - see no.1

7. You have to be prepared that the game might be made and be completely average. - This is actually worse than no. 6 in some ways. I think everyone believes that if a kickstarter completes it's going to be fantastic, but it's much more likely that it's going to be the sort of game that gets 7 out of 10s. If the game has a hook that makes it interesting even when it's horribly flawed (Unrest) then that's good.

--------------------------


So far I've backed
*2 print editions of Unsounded - a webcomic I want to own
*The final season of Loading Ready Run - which has been completely worthwhile. I've already watched them for years, backing them one more year was no risk and their content is worth money to me.
*The end of the season of Doraleus and Associates - This one felt like it wasn't going to get completed, but it did and it was brilliant.
*Pillars of Eternity - I've loved every Obsidian game I've ever played. I'm confident I will love it even when it's buggy and incomplete, just like I loved KotoR 2
*Wasteland 2 - I only backed this one when Chris Avellone came onboard to write it. The guy is a fantastic writer. By other people's accounts this game is turning out much better than it should.
*Tides of Numeria Torment - Chris Avellone and George Ziets
*Unrest - small project, fantastic concept, written by a guy whoo I've been following for a while. I want more games based in other cultures.
*Dreamfall Chapters - This was actually I really stupid one for me to back, because I'd never even played Dreamfall. But I wanted more story focused PC games and went for it. Luckily I have since played Dreamfall and it's one of my favourite games now. I can't wait for this one.
*Windforge - Already practically completed, the developer just needed to get across the last hurdle. When it came out, my PC couldn't handle it and it was buggy.

*Bloom, Dyscourse, The Long Dark, The Mandate - To be honest I regret backing these, although there's no reason to think they'll be bad games yet. I was in a bad state of mind and my willpower was low. They've all got great concepts, but I have no reason to believe the developers have the ability to pull off what they're promising. (I have no reason not to believe it either, but that's not good enough). Of all of them, I love the Mandate's design aesthetic and even though it's promising way too much to pull it all off, I'll be happy to have a game with that kind of theme.


All of these I backed at the level basically enough to get the product I wanted.

 

[Saulkar]

I find it very difficult to talk about kickstarter since one of my paychecks comes from it. I have backed a grand total of 4 projects, Star Citizen, M.A.V., Planar Statue, and Nomad Satchel, and each one seems to be on schedule to deliver something awesome but, like everything, there are always the chance for things to go horribly wrong or cause delays and experience backlash.

Our own project that was funded by kickstarter is delayed by 4 months but simply giving a detailed description was enough to get the thumbs up from our backers, showing that we still had their trust and respect. I cannot say the same for every project but my boss has been lucky. Personally, I think he earned it.

 

[william12123]

For the most part, I'm cool with it. Then again, I try to do my research to know if they know what they are doing. So I fund, but I dont REALLY trust.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

Nope...when i buy something i want it in my possession once money has changed hands and any other option is exposing me to risk that is completely worthless to me. Also, when i make an investment i want my share of the profit not just a copy of the end product...that is a shit investment for idiots with more money than brains

 

[Idlemessiah]

I backed a game called Spintires. They had a solid demo, realistic goals and all the rewards seemed like ones they could deliver on. It turned out to be a good bet because exactly a year later they released the game and it is awesome.

I've also backed Potato Salad because all the wat.

 

[scotth266]

I haven't yet, but there are some Kickstarters that look legitimately great. There was some Kickstarter for dungeon tiles or whatnot that was essentially commissioning a production run, and I was incredibly tempted to spring for it, but the prices were... well... okay they were completely absurd, but DAMN those tiles were pretty.

 

[Tayh]

Sure, I've helped fund a few.
Pledged to 7 projects. Two didn't make it, but one of them, Frozen State, found an alternate source of funds and have just recently put out a limited beta.
Of my supported projects, one(Expeditions: Conquistador) has been succesfully released and was everything I hoped it to be.

The AAA industry doesn't care for old-school rpg's anymore. I see kickstarter as one of the only ways to bring back that type of games again. I pledged 100$ to Wasteland 2 and 50$ to Project Eternity(Pillars Of Eternity) and Torment: Tides of Numenera each. So far, I haven't felt even the slightest ping of regret, and if the developer logs and screenshots are anything to go by, they all seem to be turning out great.

The only project I'm slightly disappointed in is Castle Story. Partly because of the expected release date of 2012, partly because of the lack of updates and feedback on their kickstarter page for the first 2 years - though, lately, they've gotten better at sharing their blog updates with their kickstarter supporters. And partly because the game still looks nowhere close to being ready for release.

Spoiler: On the other hand: