Poll: Do you trust or fund kickstarters?

[Flames66]

I have only ever funded one Kickstarter campaign; The Dead Linger [http://www.thedeadlinger.com/info]. I researched the developers and what they were planning to do, and decided I wanted to be a part of making it happen.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

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

this is alot more like a contract than a standard "investment". Group A petitions to group B that they would like to make Game C and that they would get a copy when they are done, if they would like to contribute they can get added bonuses D and E if they give even more to it. Group B decides they like group A's effort, and in a contract Group A has to act in "good faith" which is what most of the good kickstarters do.

If you want to invest and see money from it, start joining investment groups (for gamers, essentially publishers.)

Nope, it's a bastardized investment as far as i can see. You need money to make a product that you can sell and you ask other people to give you that money so you can go ahead with the project. In normal circumstances it would be a small number of large investors and to do that you would need to offer them something (returns on the investment). With the kickstarter ideal though you get many small investors to basically purchase a product that doesn't exist yet and then use that to fund the manufacture of the purchased product. That is fine if the game sells the projected amount but if the game sells 10 times more than expected then the rewards should be higher...which they aren't.

It seems to me that kickstarter is just an even more ridiculous way to get people to pre-order and the target audience is people who make kneejerk decisions based on hype rather than cold hard facts...it's similar to judging a book by it's cover except in this case there isn't even a cover to judge it on, just a statement of intent that can change at any time.

So where do you draw the line between an investment and a contract? or are they always interchangeable to you? the people who are funding these kickstarters are the exact ones interested in the product, they couldn't give two hoots on how well it sells beyond getting their own copy, unlike an investor.

you realize a bunch of these games have been pitched to publishers before, and they said "no", which is why they went to kickstarter instead? While I still buy some AAA games every now and then, alot of the games I want aren't being made anymore, and kickstarter specifically makes that possible. I get the game, at a discounted price, and with most developers I get a say in what I do and don't like (alot of them have major feedback forums to discuss with the community) and they work from there.

While kickstarter isn't for everyone, and I don't have a problem with people waiting until it comes out and they can see it, most of these kickstarters aren't pre-orders on games that will get made anyway, without this funding they wouldn't have gotten made, hence the need for kickstarter in the first place, most times it cuts out the bullshit publisher middleman and works directly with the customer.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Nope. Kickstarter projects are, for me, even worse than pre-order 'bonuses' - at least with a pre-order bonus there is the opportunity to evaluate the beta quality and make an informed decision, but with a Kickstarter project all funds are based on nothing more than pure faith. I understand that in this cash driven industry few publishers are willing to fund experimental IPs but if a dev truly believed in their product there is a little thing called a bank loan. Kickstarters are basically selling hopes for real cash and although a few of them come to fruition most just leave their fans disappointed, either through a poor end product or a complete lack of end product.

TL;DR - At least pre-order customers are getting a more or less guaranteed product, Kickstarter funders aren't even getting that. No matter how well-meaning the cause Kickstarter is basically a way of getting people with more money than sense to part with their cash.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

Generally speaking, I neither trust nor fund Kickstarters. Most of the time, I'm just not interested in the product. The games that come up on that site almost never look interesting to me.

As for the non-gaming technology, I just don't trust it.

With all of that said, however, I did in fact give 50 dollars to Zack Danger Brown for his Potato Salad project. Funny things will always get my support. Also I really really want that recipe boo.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Only one I have backed is Mighty No9, and I just put enough to get a copy of the game. So not a lot, but I felt I could trust the creator of Megaman to make another game of his own.

 

[Jateca]

I've backed a few game projects:

Galactic Princess
Paradise Lost: First Contact
The Mandate
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Dreamfall Chapters
Project Godus
Double Fine adventure
Project Eternity
Star citizen

I'm aware in the inherent risk in backing them, and I've avoided several projects that seem a little ropey or unrealistic in their proposals.

So far all these projects seem to be progressing nicely, I'm very excited about Project eternity and Torment in particular since they are being produced by developers with excellent reputations and a proven track record.

All my pledges have been small amounts; usually just enough to obtain a downloadable copy of the game when finished. So far I have only played the first half of Double fine adventure, but I was satisfied with what they have produced so far

My only regret is with Project Godus. though that is more down to my own foolishness for buying into Peter Molyneux's over enthusiastic promotion... again.

Time will tell, but I feel confident that I'll get far more satisfaction that disappointment from these.

I also recently backed a local project where I live (Liverpool, England) to convert an old concrete flyover into a community park project. So far the organisers have been true to their word and have been publishing updates, plans and holding events so fingers crossed! http://spacehive.com/theflyoverliverpool