It seems there's more and more splinter groups from big games companies, more and more are starting to use Kickstarter.. I guess its good in a way that they can break from the usual never-ending diet of repeats that are put out each December by the major dev houses - and set out to create the game they want - hands untied - but are they changing the way we think of kickstarter? When I first started backing game devs it would be for games that had a passion to be made and shared with the backers - (looking at you War of the Overworld & Folktale) - I've enjoyed reading the regular updates, taking part in the various beta's - and generally feeling like I've been taken along with the whole experience and had some sort of input. But recently it seems that the larger dev's are starting to use it more and change the way its used. It seems getting it out to the press parties and computer shows is the top priority. Personally.. I don't like that - I understand they need to raise as much publicity as possible.. but really?.. one of the first priorities to setup a booth at E3! As a sort of 'share holder' with an interest in the game I've backed to develop, I personally feel it should be about pleasing ME the person who's invested in it. I want to see the game evolve.. not pay their expenses - if they get the additional funding via interested parties - is the kickstarter funding nothing but a slush-fund or 'kitty'? - just doesn't sit well with me.. I want to see the game evolve with the money its been given, when the time is right.. then do the extra fundraising and publicity - ready for launch. So there ya go - my thoughts on it.. what do you guys think?
Thing is with kickastarter, WE choose to help or not. My choice is NOT when I think the money is used constructively.
That's true.. but recently there's been quite a few that start with one crowd funded platform - then once funded.. jump to another or even go straight into being commercially funded with the big boys. "Thankyou very much.. I've got your money - now move along!".. sorta takes it away from what kickstarter started as - a place for anyone with an idea to get their project funded and out there.. these days its just being used as a stepping stone. It feels like its becoming a 'pre-order' option.
I have seen a few I believe that once they hit full funding a bigger company has got involved. I can understand why the Dev's do this as it will most likely mean more money for them to sink into the game and do other things like booths at E3. But I do have seeing it as it looks like either a) the company is essentially saying thats for giving us some extra money That we will use for other things now that we dont read it. b) game companies are using kickstarter to find projects or teams to their books and expand the games they offer and by finding ones on kickstarter with funding they can either contribute no money and just the resources they have in distribution or marketing etc or contribute similar amounts of cash to the kickstarter fund and take over the final monetary rights to the game
In some cases though, it seems Game Devs do it to see if it would be popular or not, such as Elite, Star Citizen and Yooka-Laylee. Games that have be seen to have died and Devs not sure if its desired or not.
TBH I'm just as miffed with small indie studios using the paid-alpha/beta model. When only a handful of people were doing it things were good, Minecraft being a prime example. You got a decent game that was worth the money, it only got better from then on. But after that way too many people jumped on the bandwagon when really they shouldn't have. Cubeworld is a good example of this. Whilst it shared Minecraft's voxel aesthetic, it was in reality a completely different game, one that had massive potential. SO naturally people jumped on it (myself included) and paid into the alpha thinking we're getting a decent product as is, with time it'll only improve. Well, no. The dev turned out to be a recluse who hated community interaction and didn't even want people to mod the game. He later ran off with the funds by the look of things. Not cool. That destroyed most of my trust in that system as it didn't seem dodgy at all. Cubeworld was clearly a labour of love, it was well made and had a direction to it. It takes a lot to make me buy into a paid alpha title now, even a cheap one. Besiege is a good example of a fantastic little game. They got their pricing right, the sandbox right and their community interaction spot on. That game will last and stand proud next to similar projects like KSP etc. But there's so much crap out there now. One thing kickstarter's used for is market research too. Set a useful target and see if you reach it. If you do, then you can present that to potential investors to prove there's a market there and that your idea will sell. If you don't, then you've found out early and made minimal losses. I imagine that's what's lead to your current complaint.
Yeap.. that! - its lost a lot of its personal appeal.. as the projects are farmed out with a much bigger picture in place then originally sold to us.
couldn't agree more with everything you have said. As a marketing tool, Kickstarter is very powerful as you said, See if there's demand then go get more backing from the normal sources. I am not a huge fan of this use of it but there isnt alot you can do to stop it. If rules were added companies would find ways round it.
Never backed anything on these crowd funding sites, never plan to. I entertained the idea of backing Stronghold Crusader 2, but by the time I got around to saying yes the project had already ended falling short of its goal. I bought into Frozen Synapse and Prison Architect paid alpha/whatever and by the time the game launched I had had enough of it already.
Should big devs and publishers use Kickstarter? Why not, it's just the logical conclusion of the pre-order system. If EA used it, the world could have aborted Battlefield: Hardline while it was still a wonky parasitic foetus, instead of sitting through all those pop up adverts for that affront to coding wearing something else's skin that lurches around Battlelog today. Think about it, the opportunity not to buy the next big triple A release before it's begun, it's glorious.
I think they should do what Slightly Mad Studios did with Project CARS rather than go to Kickstarter. It just seems cheeky to me for an existing development company to beg people for money then hoard all the profits for themselves.
Just found out that Project Cars shafted me a bit. When I signed up for the game as a Junior I was going to be offered a free copy of the completed game. Now they've gone back on that offer and stated that all i will get is a 20% discount on the game. Won't be buying that game now.
I am a Junior member too and when I joined it clearly said junior members would get €10 off the game, it didn't say anything about a free game, that was for full members and up. Everyone gets a share of the profits though. http://www.wmdportal.com/projects/cars/ http://www.wmdportal.com/projectnews/tool-packs-perks-and-fees-101/
I was sure when I signed up it was for a free copy of the game. EDIT: When I signed up I was getting a free copy of the game, because it was a F2P game. Now it isn't they've taken that away.
The game was apparently supposed to be a free to play title but the community voted against it (thank god), so perhaps that's why you were told you'd get the game free. EDIT: Damn my slow typing
