Even donations are capable of being taken to court for fraud. Kickstarter would probably file a suit of their own, as they could be indicted of supporting fraud in several states like California if they didn't, in good faith, attempt to prosecute fraudulent behavior.
That is, to say, if you donate 1000$ to a charity and they blow it on booze, you can press charges. Just because it's a donation doesn't mean the money is instantly theirs to do 'whatever' they want with it. Donations are just as legally binding in the, 'We're taking the money for X, we must make a goodwill attempt to perform X or be held legally responsible.'
That is why kickstarter isn't some big scary thing.
Hell even Amazon has claims you can go through to be reimbursed for fraud, and they would /definitely/ go looking for their money. Amazon doesn't play around.
The question would be who can prove that someone DIDN'T make a "goodwill attempt" at whatever they promised. Anyone can say "I wanna make an RPG with X, Y, and Z, features, give me 100K!" and I get it. Then 6 months later it's "well I bought 3 workstations and hired a coder and things didn't really work out, it's just not feasible with 100K and I couldn't do it, sorry but thanks for your support." and you really can't cry foul.
edit: I guess this point was already made several times on the last page and I missed it, my apologies.
The question would be who can prove that someone DIDN'T make a "goodwill attempt" at whatever they promised. Anyone can say "I wanna make an RPG with X, Y, and Z, features, give me 100K!" and I get it. Then 6 months later it's "well I bought 3 workstations and hired a coder and things didn't really work out, it's just not feasible with 100K and I couldn't do it, sorry but thanks for your support." and you really can't cry foul.
edit: I guess this point was already made several times on the last page and I missed it, my apologies.
This is basically what the Coppolla movie "Tucker: The Man and His Dream" is about.
*sarcastic remark* Maybe they realised that you need programmers to make a game. *sarcastic remark*
Or this is the only project that publishers took a notice to and decided to sign.
Yeah... no. Publishers aren't desperately looking for artists who can draw guys holding AK-47s and M-16s.
Sorry, I wasn't being completely serious. It would be a reason a project would be pulled and it would be funny that this is the type of project that happened to.
0
Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
Puzzle Quest Clone. The developer has the charisma of a potato, but they seem to have actually half made something and it all sounds good to me.
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
*sarcastic remark* Maybe they realised that you need programmers to make a game. *sarcastic remark*
Or this is the only project that publishers took a notice to and decided to sign.
Yeah... no. Publishers aren't desperately looking for artists who can draw guys holding AK-47s and M-16s.
Sorry, I wasn't being completely serious. It would be a reason a project would be pulled and it would be funny that this is the type of project that happened to.
I jokingly thought of making a compilation of the dozens of games that have come out this generation with guys in the cover holding assault rifles.
I think this might be the slightest bit broken, unfortunately. According to this, the double fine kickstarter managed to raise $59,281 on the first day with no backers, and then $65,558 on the second with 64,514 backers. It is rather cool however for when it (I assume) it doesn't mess up.
I think this might be the slightest bit broken, unfortunately. According to this, the double fine kickstarter managed to raise $59,281 on the first day with no backers, and then $65,558 on the second with 64,514 backers. It is rather cool however for when it (I assume) it doesn't mess up.
The site has to be told to track a given project; it didn't start tracking Double Fine until 2/24 or 2/25, by which point they already had over 2 million dollars. So that's showing 64,514 total backers at that point in the campaign and then should have accurate information for daily pledges the rest of the way.
1984 + Chrono Trigger sounds nice, and while the idea behind the art is good, the characters look... bleh. The pop culture references in the story! bit also made me roll my eyes. I might back this though. I just wished they released more proper game footage other than the tiny segments of the iOS gameplay.
My wallet hates Kickstarter. I just pledged 500$ for the Pinkerton Road kickstarter after they announced they'll be giving away original production sketches from GK1!
TheExAmGerrymandered your districtsRegistered Userregular
edited April 2012
Yeah, our funding is plateauing pretty badly. We even got a print article in a French gaming magazine by some miracle our lead coder brought about, but that doesn't seem to be helping.
We'd appreciate any contributions we can get.
Also, I'm still on deck for answering questions about the game if anyone wants to know.
Plus, our current prototypes are free to download, now. No invites needed, so if you were on the fence about asking before, you've got no excuses d:
Yeah, our funding is plateauing pretty badly. We even got a print article in a French gaming magazine by some miracle our lead coder brought about, but that doesn't seem to be helping.
We'd appreciate any contributions we can get.
Thanks for using the word "contributions".
It's kind of unfair to use the word "donation" for our Kickstarter, we are looking for solid investments to develop our game world.
And no, I don't mean "investment" in terms of capital. If gamers want to see certain game multiverses developed, then they can utilize the opportunity themselves. They already have that power now, without needing to beg and plead large studios and marketing entities.
Yogcast is known and that is who people are giving their money to. They might not be the ones making the game but they are the known entity that brought in the money.
Yogcast is known and that is who people are giving their money to. They might not be the ones making the game but they are the known entity that brought in the money.
That's a bad example if you're looking for someone other than a known entity. From the Forbes article linked from their kickstarter:
Proven track record: Eric Migicovsky and his team “have been designing smartwatches for 3 years. Their first product was the inPulse smartwatch for Blackberry. inPulse has been covered by Engadget, The Verge, Gizmodo, NYTimes and more,” according to the listing.
Yogcast is known and that is who people are giving their money to. They might not be the ones making the game but they are the known entity that brought in the money.
That's a bad example if you're looking for someone other than a known entity. From the Forbes article linked from their kickstarter:
Proven track record: Eric Migicovsky and his team “have been designing smartwatches for 3 years. Their first product was the inPulse smartwatch for Blackberry. inPulse has been covered by Engadget, The Verge, Gizmodo, NYTimes and more,” according to the listing.
You can't be serious. Proven track record = one product that very few people even knew about and failed to the point that the company had to resort to a kickstarter to push out their second? (Edit:They only sold some 1,500 inPulse watches) There is nothing to stop any game developer from pushing out a flash game and claiming the same "proven track record." The Allerta guys have a lot going for them due to the press coverage they've gotten (such as through Forbes) and it certainly helps that they've pushed out a previous product, but they're still getting millions of dollars on good faith unless you're seriously going to suggest they've made a name for themselves off their previous product.
Yeah they've basically sold somewhere around 52k watches at a slight discount. I'll admit I am REALLY curious and was tempted to put in on there myself. But considering they are estimating a retail of $150 for them. I'd rather wait til they are out and reviewed and just spend an extra $35. Not like they need the funding right now or anything.
$300,000 - We will commit to releasing an Ogre computer game, for some platform or platforms, by 2014. It might very well be sooner. This is totally separate from the record sheet app, which will be free and come out before the boardgame ships.
They are at $270k now.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Does anyone who has run a kickstarter or indiegogo project have any advice for a small indie development team about to launch one of their own?
Our project is about to go live and we have decided to break it down into smaller, more manageable pieces (ie. our first project will simply raise funds for more concept artwork).
Any advice from those who have been there would be rad!
Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
Your first project is going to just give people concept art?
No, that won't work.
Work on the project until you've got a prototype that you can make a trailer with. Make sure you've got a track record too, do you work in the industry? Or have you just got nice ideas?
You need to sell yourselves along with the project.
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
The only honest advice I can give as a consumer is that I have zero interest in paying to a project getting concept artwork. I want to be getting at least a finished product out of the deal and I want to see evidence (such as concept art) down beforehand to give me faith you have the chutzpah to follow the project through.
If your project is really so early in that concept art is a thing you still need then you'd better have a damn good artless prototype running or some impressive previous work to show off.
Thanks for such quick replies!
We are currently working on the prototype, but it will be a bit until it's ready to be put out there for people to see.
Also, we already do have some concept artwork that will be put on display as we launch our project. We just want to have more produced to help us (and those reading up on the game) a better visual of the universe we aim to create.
Our funding goal is small ($2,000) relative to some of the bigger and more far along games out there and our perks for contributing are mostly based around the art itself (posters, etc.). Our theory is that if people like the style of artwork they can contribute and own some of the pieces themselves.
Paul Reiche, one half of Toys for Bob, has apparently made the statement that they will not be pursuing a Star Control kickstarter, unfortunately.
Quoting the quote in the previously linked post:
Hi Anthony,
Fred and I have definitely talked about the Kickstarter phenomenon and, while it's super awesome to be riding the Skylanders Express Train to Mega-Hit-town, it's also driving us bonkers to know how successful a Star Control kickstarter project would be, but know that we can't pursue it simultaneously. I am literally holding my hands up in the air, clenching and unclenching my fingers in frustration... and somehow, also typing -- it's a miraculous gesture!
Unfortunately that's about as much as has been posted.
Thanks for such quick replies!
We are currently working on the prototype, but it will be a bit until it's ready to be put out there for people to see.
Also, we already do have some concept artwork that will be put on display as we launch our project. We just want to have more produced to help us (and those reading up on the game) a better visual of the universe we aim to create.
Our funding goal is small ($2,000) relative to some of the bigger and more far along games out there and our perks for contributing are mostly based around the art itself (posters, etc.). Our theory is that if people like the style of artwork they can contribute and own some of the pieces themselves.
be very careful with how you price out the rewards, there are a bunch of stories from small kickstarters that had to use up 70-80% of the funds they got just to send out posters/t-shirts/etc. Producing the items usually isn't the problem, it's the processing and shipping that quickly get out of hand.
and just my opinion but I wouldn't contribute to a kickstarter just looking to make more concept art for their project. I would suggest just keep working at it until you have a small beta, or really good trailer of gameplay, than launch a kickstarter to get the funds to finish the game.
Paul Reiche, one half of Toys for Bob, has apparently made the statement that they will not be pursuing a Star Control kickstarter, unfortunately.
Quoting the quote in the previously linked post:
Hi Anthony,
Fred and I have definitely talked about the Kickstarter phenomenon and, while it's super awesome to be riding the Skylanders Express Train to Mega-Hit-town, it's also driving us bonkers to know how successful a Star Control kickstarter project would be, but know that we can't pursue it simultaneously. I am literally holding my hands up in the air, clenching and unclenching my fingers in frustration... and somehow, also typing -- it's a miraculous gesture!
Unfortunately that's about as much as has been posted.
Well, the Skylanders thing can't last forever, right? Right? Eventually they'll have enough money that they'll be able to finance their own Star Control thing.
Leisure Suit Larry is the first Sierra kickstarter to reach its goal. Jane Jenson's Kickstarter is currently at around 75% and should reach its goal soon too.
So yeah, because someone’ll shout KICKSTARTER: I’ve said why in more detail in the upcoming issue of Continue Magazine, but (spoilers): basically as a solo dev I don’t want to toy with other peoples’ cash. If I die, or catch some horrible disease, no one else is going to make the game. That money’ll go to waste, the project will die, and angry people will probably wind up hounding my loved ones demanding their fiver back.
I’m also slightly wary of some of the alpha-funding horror stories I’ve heard: seems like people get a sense of entitlement with that kind of funding that I’m keen to avoid – I spoke to one sobbing indie dev who said he was in ‘perpetual crunch’ because being seen to take a single weekend off got him hatemail from his backers.
So that’s why I’m keen to try and stand on my own two feet. For as long as possible.
Posts
That is, to say, if you donate 1000$ to a charity and they blow it on booze, you can press charges. Just because it's a donation doesn't mean the money is instantly theirs to do 'whatever' they want with it. Donations are just as legally binding in the, 'We're taking the money for X, we must make a goodwill attempt to perform X or be held legally responsible.'
That is why kickstarter isn't some big scary thing.
Hell even Amazon has claims you can go through to be reimbursed for fraud, and they would /definitely/ go looking for their money. Amazon doesn't play around.
edit: I guess this point was already made several times on the last page and I missed it, my apologies.
This is basically what the Coppolla movie "Tucker: The Man and His Dream" is about.
Yep, that's the current rumour.
(although they had zero chance of making their goal, so it's strange they'd have been bought at this moment)
I really liked their aviator and backwards cap designs.
PSN: astronautcowboy 3DS: 5343-8146-1833
I have Sega, Nintendo and Xbox games and systems for sale. Please help me buy diapers.
Sorry, I wasn't being completely serious. It would be a reason a project would be pulled and it would be funny that this is the type of project that happened to.
I jokingly thought of making a compilation of the dozens of games that have come out this generation with guys in the cover holding assault rifles.
Twitter
This is still the best thing that came out of that Kickstarter. Shit got real: The picture.
I think this might be the slightest bit broken, unfortunately. According to this, the double fine kickstarter managed to raise $59,281 on the first day with no backers, and then $65,558 on the second with 64,514 backers. It is rather cool however for when it (I assume) it doesn't mess up.
Steam // Secret Satan
The site has to be told to track a given project; it didn't start tracking Double Fine until 2/24 or 2/25, by which point they already had over 2 million dollars. So that's showing 64,514 total backers at that point in the campaign and then should have accurate information for daily pledges the rest of the way.
1984 + Chrono Trigger sounds nice, and while the idea behind the art is good, the characters look... bleh. The pop culture references in the story! bit also made me roll my eyes. I might back this though. I just wished they released more proper game footage other than the tiny segments of the iOS gameplay.
So this is me spreading the word. It looks like a cool little project. Take a look and consider backing it.
We'd appreciate any contributions we can get.
Also, I'm still on deck for answering questions about the game if anyone wants to know.
Plus, our current prototypes are free to download, now. No invites needed, so if you were on the fence about asking before, you've got no excuses d:
How-to
Battlemans: DiscoCabbage | Elite: Dangerous: Aleksandr Khabaj
Thanks for using the word "contributions".
It's kind of unfair to use the word "donation" for our Kickstarter, we are looking for solid investments to develop our game world.
And no, I don't mean "investment" in terms of capital. If gamers want to see certain game multiverses developed, then they can utilize the opportunity themselves. They already have that power now, without needing to beg and plead large studios and marketing entities.
Counter-point:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper-watch-for-iphone-and-android
That's a bad example if you're looking for someone other than a known entity. From the Forbes article linked from their kickstarter:
You can't be serious. Proven track record = one product that very few people even knew about and failed to the point that the company had to resort to a kickstarter to push out their second? (Edit:They only sold some 1,500 inPulse watches) There is nothing to stop any game developer from pushing out a flash game and claiming the same "proven track record." The Allerta guys have a lot going for them due to the press coverage they've gotten (such as through Forbes) and it certainly helps that they've pushed out a previous product, but they're still getting millions of dollars on good faith unless you're seriously going to suggest they've made a name for themselves off their previous product.
They are at $270k now.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1071240958/rx-a-tale-of-electronegativity/posts
Our project is about to go live and we have decided to break it down into smaller, more manageable pieces (ie. our first project will simply raise funds for more concept artwork).
Any advice from those who have been there would be rad!
-Jon
Computer Top Games
http://computertopgames.blogspot.com/
No, that won't work.
Work on the project until you've got a prototype that you can make a trailer with. Make sure you've got a track record too, do you work in the industry? Or have you just got nice ideas?
You need to sell yourselves along with the project.
If your project is really so early in that concept art is a thing you still need then you'd better have a damn good artless prototype running or some impressive previous work to show off.
We are currently working on the prototype, but it will be a bit until it's ready to be put out there for people to see.
Also, we already do have some concept artwork that will be put on display as we launch our project. We just want to have more produced to help us (and those reading up on the game) a better visual of the universe we aim to create.
Our funding goal is small ($2,000) relative to some of the bigger and more far along games out there and our perks for contributing are mostly based around the art itself (posters, etc.). Our theory is that if people like the style of artwork they can contribute and own some of the pieces themselves.
http://computertopgames.blogspot.com/
Quoting the quote in the previously linked post:
Unfortunately that's about as much as has been posted.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/698159145/atari-2600-star-castle?ref=recently_launched
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
be very careful with how you price out the rewards, there are a bunch of stories from small kickstarters that had to use up 70-80% of the funds they got just to send out posters/t-shirts/etc. Producing the items usually isn't the problem, it's the processing and shipping that quickly get out of hand.
and just my opinion but I wouldn't contribute to a kickstarter just looking to make more concept art for their project. I would suggest just keep working at it until you have a small beta, or really good trailer of gameplay, than launch a kickstarter to get the funds to finish the game.
Well, the Skylanders thing can't last forever, right? Right? Eventually they'll have enough money that they'll be able to finance their own Star Control thing.
Wow. "Kickstarter my crazy!" I love the state of our world.
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
steam | xbox live: IGNORANT HARLOT | psn: MadRoll | nintendo network: spinach
3ds: 1504-5717-8252
That is pretty friggin cool.
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
http://www.sizefivegames.com/2012/04/25/size-five-fund-drive/
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
http://odiousrepeater.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/dragged-kickstarting-and-screaming/
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
The comments are a lot more interesting to read than the article, due to the actual back and forth of it.