4 ms·

CastAR will return $1M in Kickstarter money and postpone shipments

29 points by edroche 11y ago

beardicus 11y ago
I gave them a dollar, so I'm not terribly "invested", if you will. I can't get a handle on how people will react to this... but I'm assuming there will be a minority that still lose their minds with impotent rage. I think the majority feel this is a smart move and will have no ill will, even if they're disappointed they have to wait longer. It will be interesting to see how they compete and position vs. all the VR gear coming out. I hope it doesn't end up as "Dungeons and Dragons players over here, First Person Shooters over there".
- et1337 11y ago
  This sums up the VR market pretty well, it was at the top of /r/oculus the other day: https://i.imgur.com/Br3wCoU.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Br3wCoU.jpg
- 01Michael10 11y ago
  Why would any one lose their mind over this? You get your money back AND still get the glasses...
  - eveningcoffee 11y ago
    I think that too. The ones who pledged for hardware will get a fair return from their investment - free glasses or they will get even if CastVR still fails to deliver. Other supporters also managed to succeed as it looks like CastVR got a good traction.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
    You haven't been online long, have you :-)
  - mesozoic 11y ago
    Welcome to the internet of 2015. Here is your virtual picket sign and sharpie please use it to be angry about anything you like no matter how trivial and enjoy your stay.
- eveningcoffee 11y ago
  Only Backers who ordered hardware will receive their backings. from http://castar.com/kickstarter-faq/ http://castar.com/kickstarter-faq/
  - 01Michael10 11y ago
    Why would non-hardware backers expect any money back?
    - eveningcoffee 11y ago
      Yes, exactly. They actually still will get their benefits as updates and such.
    - Nexxxeh 11y ago
      As a non-hardware backer myself, I'm not hugely bothered. But many of us did a non-hardware-tier backing to receive the cool technical updates, which will now be scaled back or discontinued. Personally, I'm hoping we get a discount voucher when the hardware ships. Regardless, I'm happy enough. I just wanted to support their vision. CastAR has an interesting origin story, going back to Valve getting Jeri Ellsworth to effectively build a Valve hardware division. AR/VR is an exciting field for a spectator, and it'll be interesting to see how it shakes out. Edit: http://castar.com/kickstarter-faq/ http://castar.com/kickstarter-faq/ >In addition, many of our Backers were excited by the high level of technical communication we initially provided. However, as the project moved out of R&D and into commercial hardware development and production, that level of communication was no longer possible and the amount we communicated to our Kickstarter supporters had to change. We are sorry that the intense level of information is no longer possible, but we do still want to keep a channel open. Regrettably it can no longer be at the former level.
      - eveningcoffee 11y ago
        Actually you might be rightful to expect something as they do not plan to commit fully to their promise: You will continue to get news and updates, just not at the level of technical granularity as before. but as they actually did not specify at the beginning what the level of updates would be, then yeah, I think it is a fair game to not receive something. Edit: And if it does help - personal thanks from me for your support. I am not the backer but I think it is a very cool idea and Jeri is very a wonderful person.
eveningcoffee 11y ago
I am reading this and http://castar.com/kickstarter-faq/ http://castar.com/kickstarter-faq/ It is actutally more than just a refund: "Backers must complete and submit the Survey by February 15, 2016 to be eligible for this refund offer and a unit of consumer product at no charge. Backers who have completed the Kickstarter Survey will receive a message from PayPal with instructions on how to reclaim their backings along with a unique discount code that will be good for one free pair of consumer castAR glasses." This is a very respectful behaviour from CastAR because as it looks, they used the Kickstarter money to attract the VC investment. As such, giving only refund would mean that the only benefactors of the funding would have been CastVR and Kickstarter and not the people who took the actual risk. Edit: It looks like the only ones who would get burned are the people who ordered multiple classes and will now only receive one. They invested 272990, so about 1/4 of the campaign. I think that it is wrong that they will receive only one free pair of classes as their money was also used as the seed money.
- HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
  Sounds like they are receiving a set of glasses as an interest payment on a loan they made to CastAR. I don't see any problem with that.
  - eveningcoffee 11y ago
    Well, yes. Only problem I see is that the ones who invested less (ordered only one pair of glasses) will get better return from their investment. This sound a little unfair.
    - HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
      But they're all getting their money back: investment == $0 assuming opportunity costs are essentially zero. So everyone basically gets something for nothing.

29 points by edroche 11y ago

I gave them a dollar, so I'm not terribly "invested", if you will. I can't get a handle on how people will react to this... but I'm assuming there will be a minority that still lose their minds with impotent rage. I think the majority feel this is a smart move and will have no ill will, even if they're disappointed they have to wait longer. It will be interesting to see how they compete and position vs. all the VR gear coming out. I hope it doesn't end up as "Dungeons and Dragons players over here, First Person Shooters over there".

et1337 11y ago
This sums up the VR market pretty well, it was at the top of /r/oculus the other day: https://i.imgur.com/Br3wCoU.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Br3wCoU.jpg
01Michael10 11y ago
Why would any one lose their mind over this? You get your money back AND still get the glasses...
- eveningcoffee 11y ago
  I think that too. The ones who pledged for hardware will get a fair return from their investment - free glasses or they will get even if CastVR still fails to deliver. Other supporters also managed to succeed as it looks like CastVR got a good traction.
- HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
  You haven't been online long, have you :-)
- mesozoic 11y ago
  Welcome to the internet of 2015. Here is your virtual picket sign and sharpie please use it to be angry about anything you like no matter how trivial and enjoy your stay.
eveningcoffee 11y ago
Only Backers who ordered hardware will receive their backings. from http://castar.com/kickstarter-faq/ http://castar.com/kickstarter-faq/
- 01Michael10 11y ago
  Why would non-hardware backers expect any money back?
  - eveningcoffee 11y ago
    Yes, exactly. They actually still will get their benefits as updates and such.
  - Nexxxeh 11y ago
    As a non-hardware backer myself, I'm not hugely bothered. But many of us did a non-hardware-tier backing to receive the cool technical updates, which will now be scaled back or discontinued. Personally, I'm hoping we get a discount voucher when the hardware ships. Regardless, I'm happy enough. I just wanted to support their vision. CastAR has an interesting origin story, going back to Valve getting Jeri Ellsworth to effectively build a Valve hardware division. AR/VR is an exciting field for a spectator, and it'll be interesting to see how it shakes out. Edit: http://castar.com/kickstarter-faq/ http://castar.com/kickstarter-faq/ >In addition, many of our Backers were excited by the high level of technical communication we initially provided. However, as the project moved out of R&D and into commercial hardware development and production, that level of communication was no longer possible and the amount we communicated to our Kickstarter supporters had to change. We are sorry that the intense level of information is no longer possible, but we do still want to keep a channel open. Regrettably it can no longer be at the former level.
    - eveningcoffee 11y ago
      Actually you might be rightful to expect something as they do not plan to commit fully to their promise: You will continue to get news and updates, just not at the level of technical granularity as before. but as they actually did not specify at the beginning what the level of updates would be, then yeah, I think it is a fair game to not receive something. Edit: And if it does help - personal thanks from me for your support. I am not the backer but I think it is a very cool idea and Jeri is very a wonderful person.

eveningcoffee 11y ago

I am reading this and http://castar.com/kickstarter-faq/ http://castar.com/kickstarter-faq/ It is actutally more than just a refund: "Backers must complete and submit the Survey by February 15, 2016 to be eligible for this refund offer and a unit of consumer product at no charge. Backers who have completed the Kickstarter Survey will receive a message from PayPal with instructions on how to reclaim their backings along with a unique discount code that will be good for one free pair of consumer castAR glasses." This is a very respectful behaviour from CastAR because as it looks, they used the Kickstarter money to attract the VC investment. As such, giving only refund would mean that the only benefactors of the funding would have been CastVR and Kickstarter and not the people who took the actual risk. Edit: It looks like the only ones who would get burned are the people who ordered multiple classes and will now only receive one. They invested 272990, so about 1/4 of the campaign. I think that it is wrong that they will receive only one free pair of classes as their money was also used as the seed money.

HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
Sounds like they are receiving a set of glasses as an interest payment on a loan they made to CastAR. I don't see any problem with that.
- eveningcoffee 11y ago
  Well, yes. Only problem I see is that the ones who invested less (ordered only one pair of glasses) will get better return from their investment. This sound a little unfair.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
    But they're all getting their money back: investment == $0 assuming opportunity costs are essentially zero. So everyone basically gets something for nothing.