The Stomping Land, another Kickstarter/Steam Early Release gone bad?

[Steelgrave]

This is the kind of thing that makes Kickstarter problematic at times. The game is currently still listed for sale on Steam. I didn't buy it despite the repeated pitches Steam made at me to do so. Another reason to invest our gaming dollars wisely.

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-stomping-lands-dinosaur-modeler-gives-up-moves-to-a-new-game/

https://games.yahoo.com/news/raising-114-000-kickstarter-dev-121600333.html

[Steelgrave]

BTW, the Kickstarter campaign raised five times what was asked and the early access version of the game has been selling on Steam for some time now. Meant to add that to my original comments but instead somehow created a separate post. More coffee!!!

[Slick Wilhelm]

It's interesting that the people who got the money, don't seem to be under contract to actually produce what they got the money for.

Caveat emptor!

[Huw the Poo]

These no longer surprise me at all.  That Kickstarter can't guarantee anything is the reason I've never backed anything.  I have to say that it's incredibly irresponsible of Valve to be selling the game though.

[bayonetbrant]

I've had 3 Kickstarters I've backed and all 3 have come thru fine.  I've got 1 more out there now, and I already have another game from them thru KS, so I'm OK with it.

There are some companies that you can trust, but some I'm not 100% sure about.  We try to focus on the more reliable ones in GARPA

[Rayfer]

These no longer surprise me at all.  That Kickstarter can't guarantee anything is the reason I've never backed anything.  I have to say that it's incredibly irresponsible of Valve to be selling the game though.

+1...never have and never will get involved with Kickstarter.

[Steelgrave]

Yeah, I'm not anti-Kickstarter but I pick my projects very carefully. Of the three projects I backed, two turned out great and one was "meh", but they all made it to the finish line at least. I do think it's a shame there is no kind of fail-safe for backers when it comes to what is essentially fraud by a developer.  And I think it's essential to publicize these events when they happen so the same developers can't keep going back to the well.

[BanzaiCat]

I have never backed anything on KS, but that's just because I don't have enough disposable income to go do it. So I'm not all that aware of how things work with it. If you back something, you spend your money immediately, correct? And then it's gone?

A friend of mine told me I should try it to try to finance the book I'm writing, but I'm in limbo with that so I never looked into it seriously. I couldn't possibly put anything out there like that without a definite plan to finish something and deliver on things promised. I guess it blows my mind a little that people put shit out there and then go 'oh well, we can't finish it, we're pulling the plug' and take all that cash and move on to something else.

[Boggit]

I do think it's a shame there is no kind of fail-safe for backers when it comes to what is essentially fraud by a developer.  And I think it's essential to publicize these events when they happen so the same developers can't keep going back to the well.

I suppose a breach of trust action isn't totally out of the question, but if the litigant's contributions are small it's probably out of the question. However, with large sums involved it might be worth it. There are no guarantees, as unlike a contract action, this relies on an equitable solution based on the intention to act in breach of trust (good faith) by a developer. It'll be interesting to see if a dodgy developer gets an action on that basis, but I guess it all depends whether they're still solvent. If they've blown the KS money on booze and fast women you're stuck.

[LongBlade]

I have never backed anything on KS, but that's just because I don't have enough disposable income to go do it. So I'm not all that aware of how things work with it. If you back something, you spend your money immediately, correct? And then it's gone?

Sorta, but not quite.

Brant's more up on this than I am, so I'll defer to him correcting anything I say here that's out of date.

From what I gather, Kickstarter doesn't have to deliver. If an electronic game company starts developing a game, spends all your money, and then folds...too bad.

There are sites, however, like Idiegogo which allow for some wiggle room - mostly if you pledge money but the amount gathered isn't met. However, if the campaign is flagged under "Flexible Funding" then whatever is taken in can be spent, even if they've only funded, for example, 10% of their goal.

It is very much a Caveat Emptor (Buyer Berware) environment.

[bayonetbrant]

When someone sets up a Kickstarter campaign they have to specify their minimum funding level. Once they make the funding level, they'll charge cards at the end of the campaign timeline. If they don't make the minimum, no one gets charged anything.
You can set up different pledge levels to give people options for bonuses/extras, like hardcover vs softcover books.
You can also set up "stretch goals" that add extras to a project if you go way over the funding you were sitting for.

So no one gets charged if it doesn't make minimum funding, but once you're charged it's all on the company. One of my campaigns that I backed actually sent supporters the GPS tracking info for the boat with the shipment on it so you could watch it coming from China.

[Steelgrave]

I think the dude behind this title is on a boat heading towards China. I'll continue to support Kickstarter, but only for folks with a good track record.

[Nefaro]

I've only Kickstarted three projects.

Two of them are tabletop games, one of those which is a reprint of a title that had already been released and sold out a couple years before.

I've seen many Kickstarters I would like to fund but I don't like gambling.

[Tpek]

One of my campaigns that I backed actually sent supporters the GPS tracking info for the boat with the shipment on it so you could watch it coming from China.

Neat! Which KS project was it?