Kickstarter Complaining Thread

[treismac]

Since complaints about Kickstarter inevitably spills out into every thread about a new video game kickstarter, I thought I'd create this thread where general/generic complaints about Kickstarter apart from the actual project could be redirected.

[Bazoo]

In my opinion, there isn't much to complain about it in general.

I am sure most people love Kickstarter as a general idea. It is a way for many products to be produced that would otherwise never be considered. Consumers not only get to choose unique projects to be funded, but also how *much* those products are worth it to them. The products extend beyond the sphere of gaming and into budget films, books, toys, etc.

I might "complain" about the saturation of projects appealing to retro gamers, that seem ultimately kinda worthless. But at the end of the day that just means, "Don't donate to it." I'll donate for Shantae 2 and maybe Might No. 9 but not River City Ransom sequel. Short of anything hateful or divisive, there's not much reason to hate on it or people who donate to it, I'll just express my opinion that the product won't be worth it, BUT other products could be.

[Tanooki]

I don't hate it, but I don't like it and I won't support it.

It's nice to see what people have planned out and want to happen, and because many can't get support in loans or a rich entities backing it's an option. That said, it's just a digital version of pan handling. My issue with them usually is that you see a want to bring X and then maybe a date a year away and they want your cash and a promise to do 'something' to meet the terms of kickstarter, what will that something be down the line?

I've seen stuff I'd definitely buy if it came out like Inafune's project, but I refuse to put up cash with that much of a wait as being witness to that dragged out possible sham going with Nightmare Busters/Super Fighter Team makes me even less likely to trust.

[goob47]

I believe it's way overused on video games, but for other projects, I totally support it. I've seen a lot of neat inventions that have succeeded from Kickstarter.

[wiggyx]

My only complaint is people complaining about it. Otherwise I think it's a great tool that is made possible only by way of the web and has helped out a ton of people with great ideas, but not much in the way of bringing them to fruition.

[TheRedEye]

My only complaint is people complaining about it. Otherwise I think it's a great tool that is made possible only by way of the web and has helped out a ton of people with great ideas, but not much in the way of bringing them to fruition.

This. You guys complaining that it's messed up for a company to go on Kickstarter (in the RCR thread, not here) don't seem to understand the realities of business. Being a business doesn't automatically mean you have a war chest full of money to fund games with. A company like Wayforward has the new Shantae on Kickstarter because there is no other way to fund full production on a legit Shantae game; they should know, they've been trying to SINCE THE GAMECUBE DAYS to find the money to make it, and no publisher wants to take that risk (and, I assume, they haven't been able to save up enough money to do it on their own). Video games are REALLY EXPENSIVE to make, and if you don't have a hit on your hands, they can lose you a lot of money.

The beauty of Kickstarter is that you can bring risky games that would otherwise not exist to life because the investors you attract are more interested in playing your game than they are in making money off of it. For the first time ever you can get paid to make a game that makes $0 in profit, and that's amazing.

[Bojay1997]

This. You guys complaining that it's messed up for a company to go on Kickstarter (in the RCR thread, not here) don't seem to understand the realities of business. Being a business doesn't automatically mean you have a war chest full of money to fund games with. A company like Wayforward has the new Shantae on Kickstarter because there is no other way to fund full production on a legit Shantae game; they should know, they've been trying to SINCE THE GAMECUBE DAYS to find the money to make it, and no publisher wants to take that risk (and, I assume, they haven't been able to save up enough money to do it on their own). Video games are REALLY EXPENSIVE to make, and if you don't have a hit on your hands, they can lose you a lot of money.

The beauty of Kickstarter is that you can bring risky games that would otherwise not exist to life because the investors you attract are more interested in playing your game than they are in making money off of it. For the first time ever you can get paid to make a game that makes $0 in profit, and that's amazing.

I would argue that the team behind RCR doesn't understand the realities of business either. Just because something is funded through crowdfunding isn't an excuse to conduct yourself in a less than professional or transparent manner. In fact, crowdfunding is premised on more transparency and better communication than traditional businesses because you are seeking money from the general public and those financiers are not entitled to compensation beyond delivery of the product promised.

You also seem to have ignored the fact that Warforward has actually released several games in the Shantae series in the past few years and has another one coming out shortly on the Nintendo eShop and they only chose to use Kickstarter because they wanted to give it a shot. They had the financial means and the publisher lined up had they wanted to simply take the traditional publishing route but they decided that crowdfunding would be an interesting experiment.

Kickstarter may be amazing for video games. The unfortunate part is that nobody has really delivered an amazing Kickstarter video game yet, so we don't know if it's really amazing or not. I have backed over 40 successful video game projects at this point through Kickstarter and other than Leisure Suit Larry and a few other beta versions of other games, there haven't been many major releases yet despite it going on 18 months since some of these things funded. In the meantime, I don't think there's anything wrong at all with being skeptical of crowdfunding as a viable means of financing video game development nor being skeptical of specific projects and the teams behind them.

[Metalwario64]

The only time I can complain about Kickstarter or Indiegogo and such is when people use it to line their pockets such as Channel Awesome's recent Indiegogo, which doesn't even offer real incentives.

When it's used for things like Mighty No. 9, it's friggin awesome! Wish Crapcom had used Kickstarter for Legends 3...

[MarioMania]

I think KickStarter takes some money for fee's

[badinsults]

Kickstarter definitely has its place, provided the person or company asking for money has an adequate plan for the timely completion of the objective. For instance, I put my money into the history of Japanese gaming kickstarter, and the reporter is already there getting interviews done. However, you see so many half-baked ideas out there that it really isn't worth my time to investigate very many. I am relying on the members of this forum to filter them out!

[Kiddo]

Whhhyy did so many Kickstarts for indie games happen on this exact month?

I know everyone wants to ride on Mighty No. 9's success and all, but for crying out loud, I can't support you all at once! Hold your horses!