I my honest opinion, using KS to start a MMORPG is a bad idea period.
I myself have been through the wringer a few times on starting and stopping a project and until a project has, as a minimum, a funtional working model I feel it best developers keep it under the radar and out of sight.
If i pledge to a kickstarter idea its infact not for the rewards but for the hope to make something a reality if it fails atleast everyone tried. Now if there proof they just sat on there fat ass and done nothing towards making a dream come true they need to be sued beyond belief.
I think people who are expecting to get something out of Kickstarter really fail to see what Kickstarter is.
Kickstarter isn't a place where you pre-order a game. Kickstarter is a place where you pledge monetary support for projects that you are interested in seeing completed. Games are currently their biggest sell but there is tones of music and art all over the place.
If you pledge support to the Make a Wish Foundation it does not allow you to make a wish. If you send a pledge to a child in Africa you get a picture of a child in Africa.... not an African slave child.
So when people pledge to these games they can't be too shocked when they don't get what they expect. A lot of these games create unrealistic goals in order to get funding... but so do all charities.
By the way if you pledge $20 to me you will get world peace, $40 will get a raging economy, $100 will solve world hunger.
Its only a matter of time before the howling that "Government should DO SOMETHING!!" starts up... Thats all we need is some government agency to get its ham fisted mitts on this. All in the interest of "protecting" people of course...
Heaven forbid that people use some common sense, and do their own research before becoming involved. One of the first things one should learn about such things, is you *never* invest more than you can afford to lose.
I can totally understand why Kickstarter takes the hands off position that they do. Once a project is funded, its between the group and its backers, as it should be. Kickstarter is simply a focus point for prospective projects and backers to meet.
Oh my goodness, I feel really special! I about jumped out of my skirt when I saw my name lol! Great article! It is really scary that kickstarter has no responsibility and just gives the developer the money with out any contract or obligation. People should really be catious about kickstarter campaigns.
Money should be held in escrow pending the full 'goal' being met and auto-reimbursed if the goal is not reached. I would happily support some of the indie games but the way KS is, anyone with some good PR/HR skills and a bit of creative 'skulduggery' can make a project 'seem' possible.
Not saying that is what happened here but there are no checks and balances.We're conspicuous consumers (for example shows on TV making chunks of revenue on people texting votes). Spending $5 here and $10 X100K or X500K makes this a viable option for projects whether legit or not. With no 'checks' in place the bad can creep in with the good.
Money should be held in escrow pending the full 'goal' being met and auto-reimbursed if the goal is not reached. I would happily support some of the indie games but the way KS is, anyone with some good PR/HR skills and a bit of creative 'skulduggery' can make a project 'seem' possible.
Not saying that is what happened here but there are no checks and balances.We're conspicuous consumers (for example shows on TV making chunks of revenue on people texting votes). Spending $5 here and $10 X100K or X500K makes this a viable option for projects whether legit or not. With no 'checks' in place the bad can creep in with the good.
The problem with that is, how do you define what the goal is and how its achieved, take pathfinder/greed monger for instance, they produced a tech demo, ok "goal reached", but was that really a tech demo that showed what someone would expect from a tech demo, to me tech demo means playable and contains most of the functionality you would expect in the finished game (not full content).
The only real tangible information we have from any kick starter is, Who's making it ? What's their track record ? what did they last make ? Are they currently making other things ? and even then we have to make judgement calls with all this information.
Money should be held in escrow pending the full 'goal' being met and auto-reimbursed if the goal is not reached. I would happily support some of the indie games but the way KS is, anyone with some good PR/HR skills and a bit of creative 'skulduggery' can make a project 'seem' possible.
Not saying that is what happened here but there are no checks and balances.We're conspicuous consumers (for example shows on TV making chunks of revenue on people texting votes). Spending $5 here and $10 X100K or X500K makes this a viable option for projects whether legit or not. With no 'checks' in place the bad can creep in with the good.
No. That places the definitions of the goal on Kickstarter, and thus makes them legally liable for any mistakes. The system works fine as it is. People simply have to be responsible for doing their own research and making their own *choices* about what to back, and what not to back.
No doubt, as this becomes more popular, people of a certain mentality will start howling for "Government to DO SOMETHING!!" to "protect" the poor benighted people involved from themselves... Thats the usual course of action, in these things.
Originally posted by LadyEuphei Oh my goodness, I feel really special! I about jumped out of my skirt when I saw my name lol! Great article! It is really scary that kickstarter has no responsibility and just gives the developer the money with out any contract or obligation. People should really be catious about kickstarter campaigns.
funny, this gives me kind of an idea.
someone should actually start a legally binding version of kickstarter.
you know, basically jst like kickstarter now only the developers in question sign some legally binding agreement, if such and such deadline is not met then x amount of pledges will be refunded etc, etc.
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
Originally posted by LadyEuphei Oh my goodness, I feel really special! I about jumped out of my skirt when I saw my name lol! Great article! It is really scary that kickstarter has no responsibility and just gives the developer the money with out any contract or obligation. People should really be catious about kickstarter campaigns.
funny, this gives me kind of an idea.
someone should actually start a legally binding version of kickstarter.
you know, basically jst like kickstarter now only the developers in question sign some legally binding agreement, if such and such deadline is not met then x amount of pledges will be refunded etc, etc.
Yeah, there's issues with that and game development, game development is a beast at the best of times, generally the rule of thumb is, ( time you think you can create something ) *3 . Some times it can finished under time, and other times it takes alot longer especially if its something the developer(insert role here)(insert infancy technology here) has never done before.
For me personally, i would suggest, is a playable tech demo, that allows users to actually play test before they choose to back the project. This would make a system similar to paying for a beta (such as many people did with minecraft and other games), just you get to test before backing.
Just wanted to make the point that in Pathfinder Online's second Kickstarter they indicated that they were already fully funded through other investors. The KS money was just to create the game faster and bigger, which seems to be contrary goals.
Comments
Good write up.
I my honest opinion, using KS to start a MMORPG is a bad idea period.
I myself have been through the wringer a few times on starting and stopping a project and until a project has, as a minimum, a funtional working model I feel it best developers keep it under the radar and out of sight.
If you are interested in making a MMO maybe visit my page to get a free open source engine.
I think people who are expecting to get something out of Kickstarter really fail to see what Kickstarter is.
Kickstarter isn't a place where you pre-order a game. Kickstarter is a place where you pledge monetary support for projects that you are interested in seeing completed. Games are currently their biggest sell but there is tones of music and art all over the place.
If you pledge support to the Make a Wish Foundation it does not allow you to make a wish. If you send a pledge to a child in Africa you get a picture of a child in Africa.... not an African slave child.
So when people pledge to these games they can't be too shocked when they don't get what they expect. A lot of these games create unrealistic goals in order to get funding... but so do all charities.
By the way if you pledge $20 to me you will get world peace, $40 will get a raging economy, $100 will solve world hunger.
Website: http://www.thegameguru.me / YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/users/thetroublmaker
Its only a matter of time before the howling that "Government should DO SOMETHING!!" starts up... Thats all we need is some government agency to get its ham fisted mitts on this. All in the interest of "protecting" people of course...
Heaven forbid that people use some common sense, and do their own research before becoming involved. One of the first things one should learn about such things, is you *never* invest more than you can afford to lose.
I can totally understand why Kickstarter takes the hands off position that they do. Once a project is funded, its between the group and its backers, as it should be. Kickstarter is simply a focus point for prospective projects and backers to meet.
Money should be held in escrow pending the full 'goal' being met and auto-reimbursed if the goal is not reached. I would happily support some of the indie games but the way KS is, anyone with some good PR/HR skills and a bit of creative 'skulduggery' can make a project 'seem' possible.
Not saying that is what happened here but there are no checks and balances.We're conspicuous consumers (for example shows on TV making chunks of revenue on people texting votes). Spending $5 here and $10 X100K or X500K makes this a viable option for projects whether legit or not. With no 'checks' in place the bad can creep in with the good.
The problem with that is, how do you define what the goal is and how its achieved, take pathfinder/greed monger for instance, they produced a tech demo, ok "goal reached", but was that really a tech demo that showed what someone would expect from a tech demo, to me tech demo means playable and contains most of the functionality you would expect in the finished game (not full content).
The only real tangible information we have from any kick starter is, Who's making it ? What's their track record ? what did they last make ? Are they currently making other things ? and even then we have to make judgement calls with all this information.
No. That places the definitions of the goal on Kickstarter, and thus makes them legally liable for any mistakes. The system works fine as it is. People simply have to be responsible for doing their own research and making their own *choices* about what to back, and what not to back.
No doubt, as this becomes more popular, people of a certain mentality will start howling for "Government to DO SOMETHING!!" to "protect" the poor benighted people involved from themselves... Thats the usual course of action, in these things.
funny, this gives me kind of an idea.
someone should actually start a legally binding version of kickstarter.
you know, basically jst like kickstarter now only the developers in question sign some legally binding agreement, if such and such deadline is not met then x amount of pledges will be refunded etc, etc.
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
Dwight D Eisenhower
My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.
Henry Rollins
Yeah, there's issues with that and game development, game development is a beast at the best of times, generally the rule of thumb is, ( time you think you can create something ) *3 . Some times it can finished under time, and other times it takes alot longer especially if its something the developer(insert role here)(insert infancy technology here) has never done before.
For me personally, i would suggest, is a playable tech demo, that allows users to actually play test before they choose to back the project. This would make a system similar to paying for a beta (such as many people did with minecraft and other games), just you get to test before backing.