I agree that a lot of people are "abusing" Kickstarter and just cashing in on nostalgia. But ultimately it is up to the consumer (or backer) to determine what

I agree that a lot of people are "abusing" Kickstarter and just cashing in on nostalgia. But ultimately it is up to the consumer (or backer) to determine what they think is a farce and what is not. Garriott might be caching in on his legacy to some degree, but he has also clearly put hard work into this game, which many other veterans have not (they simply show concept art, or worse yet, nothing at all). If Garriott were just programming this himself in his basement, it might be a different matter, but he has team members that depend on him for salary/benefits, and he has already had to go through layoffs. It would seem kind of foolish to turn down "free" money in the name of being virtuous, and risking more layoffs.