5 ms·

Kickstarter still feels like such a grey area to me. Only a few of the games I've backed ended up in a product that I would've bought, if it was a regular relea

Kickstarter still feels like such a grey area to me. Only a few of the games I've backed ended up in a product that I would've bought, if it was a regular released game. Nowadays, I prefer waiting until the actual release version is available and then decide whether to buy it or not, but I'm not funding any more kickstarter games due to all the bad experiences.

jedikv 10y ago
That's the most pragmatic approach. I don't give money to something untested and with no guarantees of getting a working/high-quality product (which aren't covered by regular consumer rights).
LoSboccacc 10y ago
I've always been cautious on these sites since failure is always an option. I tend to fund mostly games that have no chance of being made otherwise, for being niche or part of my weird passions (I love logistic survival games, there were none good being produced, backed factorio) I prefer to back those even if they fail than back mainstream succesful projects that would have been made anyway.
Semaphor 10y ago
FWIW, I've had more successes than problems with games. 11 games I'd have bought anyway [1] (mostly RPGs), 1 failure (The Mandate. Should have known, overly ambitious) 4 that are way overdue but still active (Star Citizen, InSomnia, Popup Dungeon and After Reset), 3 that are still in planned development (Vigilantes, Stygian and D:OS2) and only 2 games I didn't enjoy at all and normally wouldn't have bought (Jagged Alliance: Flashback, Satelite Reign) [1] Wasteland 2, Shadowrun Returns, Pillars of Eternity, Antharion, Balrum, Torment: Tides of Numenera, Balrum, RimWorld, Lords of Xulima, Blackguards, Shadowrun: Hongkong edit: And 100% sucess rate with tabletop/card games
- on_and_off 10y ago
  The Mandate by Perihelion Interactive ? it's dev is still ongoing.
  - Semaphor 10y ago
    Oh wow, they posted an update. It's only kickstarter they are completely ignoring
    - on_and_off 10y ago
      It is very ambitious so I am curious to see if they will be able to pull it off but the development is still ongoing.
      - Semaphor 10y ago
        I honestly have very low hopes with the way they acted. Ignoring KS comments and messages and mails, not even posting updates to KS anymore…
- fapjacks 10y ago
  No, Star Citizen is not "way overdue". You can login and play it, and you've been able to for years now. That is disingenuous, because it's always been understood that the game would be under development for some time. As a November 2012 High Admiral backer, I think things are going extremely well for Star Citizen. Unlike a lot of other projects on Kickstarter.
  - anonemouse145 10y ago
    As an investor in Exxon, I disagree that you should criticize a company when one ship leaks a little oil.
    - fapjacks 10y ago
      What are you even talking about, leaking a little oil? This is exactly what they're supposed to be doing. I'm interested in what about Star Citizen development you think qualifies as "leaking a little oil".
  - HCIdivision17 10y ago
    I think if we're going to be fair, it's more accurate to say it's totally, unequivocally overdue. Large chucks are flat out late. But! That is fine. We can forgive a late game if it's good, and it looks to be awesome. Optimism invariably takes over at the start of project, and we all knew it was going to be a long haul. And I say that as a person with a few ships awaiting release, too. While I really want my Carrack, it's far more important that they make it good. The estimated release times have moved back a few time, but that's the expense of great work in the rest of the game. Backers seem to largely accept this as the cost of buying into an in-progress development: priorities must be fluid, and we have to make do. The trick to Kickstarter is to only invest what you can lose (like anything!) and then be patient. Starcitizen is stupendously ambitious, and is going to cost a fortune to develop. They successfully made the transistion to being nearly self-sustained, basically using Kickstarter to kickstart their development process.
    - fapjacks 10y ago
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
2muchcoffeeman 10y ago
Well, it's not a store. You're funding development of something that may not otherwise exist. They are pitching you their idea, you decide if it's something you're interested in and give them some of your money. I've never backed anything on Kickstarter. But if everything you have backed has delivered something to you, it sounds like you've chosen projects very well!
Kiro 10y ago
You're approaching it the wrong way. When I back I never expect anything and I most often forget about the game when it's actually released. I'm still happy backing and supporting the creators though.
retox 10y ago
>Only a few of the games I've backed ended up in a product that I would've bought I don't have any special insight but I get the feeling that this is how very many game development investments pan out. Generally I think it's safe to say that commercial software projects are hyped and oversold. It becomes most galling with games because they are software that people WANT to engage with, rather than being forced to.

jedikv 10y ago

That's the most pragmatic approach. I don't give money to something untested and with no guarantees of getting a working/high-quality product (which aren't covered by regular consumer rights).

LoSboccacc 10y ago

I've always been cautious on these sites since failure is always an option. I tend to fund mostly games that have no chance of being made otherwise, for being niche or part of my weird passions (I love logistic survival games, there were none good being produced, backed factorio) I prefer to back those even if they fail than back mainstream succesful projects that would have been made anyway.

Semaphor 10y ago

FWIW, I've had more successes than problems with games. 11 games I'd have bought anyway [1] (mostly RPGs), 1 failure (The Mandate. Should have known, overly ambitious) 4 that are way overdue but still active (Star Citizen, InSomnia, Popup Dungeon and After Reset), 3 that are still in planned development (Vigilantes, Stygian and D:OS2) and only 2 games I didn't enjoy at all and normally wouldn't have bought (Jagged Alliance: Flashback, Satelite Reign) [1] Wasteland 2, Shadowrun Returns, Pillars of Eternity, Antharion, Balrum, Torment: Tides of Numenera, Balrum, RimWorld, Lords of Xulima, Blackguards, Shadowrun: Hongkong edit: And 100% sucess rate with tabletop/card games

on_and_off 10y ago
The Mandate by Perihelion Interactive ? it's dev is still ongoing.
- Semaphor 10y ago
  Oh wow, they posted an update. It's only kickstarter they are completely ignoring
  - on_and_off 10y ago
    It is very ambitious so I am curious to see if they will be able to pull it off but the development is still ongoing.
    - Semaphor 10y ago
      I honestly have very low hopes with the way they acted. Ignoring KS comments and messages and mails, not even posting updates to KS anymore…
fapjacks 10y ago
No, Star Citizen is not "way overdue". You can login and play it, and you've been able to for years now. That is disingenuous, because it's always been understood that the game would be under development for some time. As a November 2012 High Admiral backer, I think things are going extremely well for Star Citizen. Unlike a lot of other projects on Kickstarter.
- anonemouse145 10y ago
  As an investor in Exxon, I disagree that you should criticize a company when one ship leaks a little oil.
  - fapjacks 10y ago
    What are you even talking about, leaking a little oil? This is exactly what they're supposed to be doing. I'm interested in what about Star Citizen development you think qualifies as "leaking a little oil".
- HCIdivision17 10y ago
  I think if we're going to be fair, it's more accurate to say it's totally, unequivocally overdue. Large chucks are flat out late. But! That is fine. We can forgive a late game if it's good, and it looks to be awesome. Optimism invariably takes over at the start of project, and we all knew it was going to be a long haul. And I say that as a person with a few ships awaiting release, too. While I really want my Carrack, it's far more important that they make it good. The estimated release times have moved back a few time, but that's the expense of great work in the rest of the game. Backers seem to largely accept this as the cost of buying into an in-progress development: priorities must be fluid, and we have to make do. The trick to Kickstarter is to only invest what you can lose (like anything!) and then be patient. Starcitizen is stupendously ambitious, and is going to cost a fortune to develop. They successfully made the transistion to being nearly self-sustained, basically using Kickstarter to kickstart their development process.
  - fapjacks 10y ago

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

2muchcoffeeman 10y ago

Well, it's not a store. You're funding development of something that may not otherwise exist. They are pitching you their idea, you decide if it's something you're interested in and give them some of your money. I've never backed anything on Kickstarter. But if everything you have backed has delivered something to you, it sounds like you've chosen projects very well!

Kiro 10y ago

You're approaching it the wrong way. When I back I never expect anything and I most often forget about the game when it's actually released. I'm still happy backing and supporting the creators though.

retox 10y ago

>Only a few of the games I've backed ended up in a product that I would've bought I don't have any special insight but I get the feeling that this is how very many game development investments pan out. Generally I think it's safe to say that commercial software projects are hyped and oversold. It becomes most galling with games because they are software that people WANT to engage with, rather than being forced to.