Kickstarter - The Thread.

[schild]

Enough that there's real money involved. It's more likely a lawyer looks into Double Fine before they muck around with Kickstarter. The onus is not on Kickstarter to tell stupid people how to spend their money.

[Paelos]

Enough that there's real money involved. It's more likely a lawyer looks into Double Fine before they muck around with Kickstarter. The onus is not on Kickstarter to tell stupid people how to spend their money.

They may not believe the onus is on them, but Ebay went through a similar situation a while back in 2004. One of the reasons Ebay prevailed in the case was they had made prior policies and investments in policing counterfeit goods on their site. That's the direction KS will have to head with further policies and checks if frauds continue. They can't catch everything, but they can't just sit on their hands either.

[Trippy]

I don't see how the project Fabricated posted would be considered fraud. Expecting 100% of funded KS projects to succeed is delusional.

[schild]

Enough that there's real money involved. It's more likely a lawyer looks into Double Fine before they muck around with Kickstarter. The onus is not on Kickstarter to tell stupid people how to spend their money.

They may not believe the onus is on them, but Ebay went through a similar situation a while back in 2004. One of the reasons Ebay prevailed in the case was they had made prior policies and investments in policing counterfeit goods on their site. That's the direction KS will have to head with further policies and checks if frauds continue. They can't catch everything, but they can't just sit on their hands either.

And they don't. When things look like fraud, they shut them down.

[ghost]

They don't get them all though, and eventually there will be a lawsuit of some sort, I would imagine. 

[Chockonuts]

Anyone following this? Seems pretty weird as a Kickstarter project.

City of Heroes successor built on blood, sweat and Kickstarter

Technical director Nate Downes told Polygon The Phoenix Project is already about one quarter to one third complete and 20 percent of the game's code is done — but that's "being optimistic," as he put it. Downes said that the entire project is currently staffed by volunteers, many of them with other, equally-demanding day jobs.

Seems to be a sentimental undertaking (i.e. "We Miss CoH!") rather than an actual business project from what anyone involved says and based on a post by this guy, TonyVazquez:


City of Heroes spiritual successor plans Kickstarter for Sept. 8th

I'm one of the administrators of the Titan Network, and I've been a vocal supporter of these projects from day one.  I see some naysayer posts below, and I understand that it's a rather audacious and ambitious project.  But the potential payoff is simply too great  to ignore: having a game that is driven not by money, but by the developers, fans, and players of the game itself.  I could sit here and try to explain why, but fortunately, James Portnow of Penny Arcade's "Extra Credits" has already done a heck of a better job of it than I could.

PLEASE watch the video linked above.  As you do so, keep in mind NCsoft's exact reason they gave for shutting down City of Heroes: "Both NCsoft and Paragon Studios are incredibly proud of the success of City of Heroes, but unfortunately, the continued support of the franchise no longer fits within our long term goals for the company."


If you still don't want to fund this project, fair enough.  But what NCsoft has proven to me is that MMORPGs like this shouldn't be in the hands of big publishers who have no vested interest in the games but an unrelenting focus on profit.  For a $60 game that you can continue playing after it is discontinued, it's one thing.  But for games that ask for thousands of dollars of investment over years and that are simply gone at the drop of a publisher's hat, it's an untenable situation.


Personally, I believe that it's extremely important to fund this project not only for how fun the game will be, but to have a game that we own and we manage, a game that can't be interfered with because some new anti-consumer business model proves more profitable, or worse, winked out of existence completely because a publisher wants to move on to some other shiny thing.  I don't ever want to be told how proud some company is of me while kicking me to the curb because I no longer matter to them.

Maybe you never played City of Heroes.  If not, you should still fund this project because if you think for a second that the publisher of your favorite game wouldn't do the same thing, you're fooling yourself.  If successful, not only will City of Heroes players finally have a new home, but it will be a clear signal to other publishers: We may tolerate you, but we don't need you.  With this project's success, there will be a much stronger incentive for publishers to treat their customers better, which benefits everyone.

Anyone care to guess how this one goes.. and when does this whole CoH thing become 

[Ingmar]

In the miniatures game-to-digital game transition department:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/409030043/warmachine-tactics

[schild]

Anyone following this? Seems pretty weird as a Kickstarter project.

City of Heroes successor built on blood, sweat and Kickstarter

Technical director Nate Downes told Polygon The Phoenix Project is already about one quarter to one third complete and 20 percent of the game's code is done — but that's "being optimistic," as he put it. Downes said that the entire project is currently staffed by volunteers, many of them with other, equally-demanding day jobs.

Seems to be a sentimental undertaking (i.e. "We Miss CoH!") rather than an actual business project from what anyone involved says and based on a post by this guy, TonyVazquez:


City of Heroes spiritual successor plans Kickstarter for Sept. 8th

I'm one of the administrators of the Titan Network, and I've been a vocal supporter of these projects from day one.  I see some naysayer posts below, and I understand that it's a rather audacious and ambitious project.  But the potential payoff is simply too great  to ignore: having a game that is driven not by money, but by the developers, fans, and players of the game itself.  I could sit here and try to explain why, but fortunately, James Portnow of Penny Arcade's "Extra Credits" has already done a heck of a better job of it than I could.

PLEASE watch the video linked above.  As you do so, keep in mind NCsoft's exact reason they gave for shutting down City of Heroes: "Both NCsoft and Paragon Studios are incredibly proud of the success of City of Heroes, but unfortunately, the continued support of the franchise no longer fits within our long term goals for the company."


If you still don't want to fund this project, fair enough.  But what NCsoft has proven to me is that MMORPGs like this shouldn't be in the hands of big publishers who have no vested interest in the games but an unrelenting focus on profit.  For a $60 game that you can continue playing after it is discontinued, it's one thing.  But for games that ask for thousands of dollars of investment over years and that are simply gone at the drop of a publisher's hat, it's an untenable situation.


Personally, I believe that it's extremely important to fund this project not only for how fun the game will be, but to have a game that we own and we manage, a game that can't be interfered with because some new anti-consumer business model proves more profitable, or worse, winked out of existence completely because a publisher wants to move on to some other shiny thing.  I don't ever want to be told how proud some company is of me while kicking me to the curb because I no longer matter to them.

Maybe you never played City of Heroes.  If not, you should still fund this project because if you think for a second that the publisher of your favorite game wouldn't do the same thing, you're fooling yourself.  If successful, not only will City of Heroes players finally have a new home, but it will be a clear signal to other publishers: We may tolerate you, but we don't need you.  With this project's success, there will be a much stronger incentive for publishers to treat their customers better, which benefits everyone.

Anyone care to guess how this one goes.. and when does this whole CoH thing become 

Anyone who loved City of Heroes that much is entirely too fucking suspect to be given a goddamn dollar for his work.

[ghost]

In the miniatures game-to-digital game transition department:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/409030043/warmachine-tactics

Won't work unless it's Warmachine: Tactics Online, and only then with three sided RvR.   

[Sky]

Anyone who loved City of Heroes that much is entirely too fucking suspect to be given a goddamn dollar for his work.

The game is not driven by money!

[Teleku]

I don't see how the project Fabricated posted would be considered fraud. Expecting 100% of funded KS projects to succeed is delusional.

Yeah, this was not fraud.  It was a project failure.  It's only fraud if you can prove they took the money with the specific goal to take it and run.  No evidence of that so far.  This is no different than when you invest into any other startup/company and it then fails.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1517270521/motorgun-return-of-the-auto-duel

Probably appealing to some here. Haven't seen a Car Wars type game in a while.

Wow, project already canceled due to lack of community enthusiasm.  They say they'll reformulate it based on feedback and try again later.  To bad, I really did like the twisted metal games.  Was interested in seeing what they could do.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1517270521/motorgun-return-of-the-auto-duel/posts

In the miniatures game-to-digital game transition department:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/409030043/warmachine-tactics

Ok, this project confused me.  Are they directly translating the rules of the table top game into computer form?  Or is this just a squad TBS game clone using Warmachine skins?  Never actually played the table top game (though I know it's gotten pretty popular).

[K9]

I think the idea of Kickstarter is so new that people still see it as a form of advanced purchase, rather than speculative investment. I imagine that will ease over time as the novelty wears off, and the platform matures.

In other project funding news: have you ever felt the need to open a bottle while holding something in your other hand, and have you longed for a solution that sounds like a sexual misdemeanour? Well this guy has just the product for you.

[Paelos]

I'd like KS a lot more if it offered a longer term return on investment, plus a product. That would make it a true speculative investment in a functioning company instead of just a financial black hole.

[Sky]

Yes, we need more speculative investment opportunities up in here.

 

[Paelos]

Yes, we need more speculative investment opportunities up in here.

 

Whatever your point was, it's not clear.

[tazelbain]

He's talking about Hex. At Hex felt like an investment as opposed to 99.9% kickstarters that are charity to rich/entitled people.

[Paelos]

Ah yes, investing in digital cards.

[tazelbain]

More value than giving money to Spike Lee.

[Paelos]

A kick in the crotch is better than a bullet to the face.

[schild]

Oh man, that's a fantastic metaphor that makes zero sense in this context.

[Margalis]

He's talking about Hex. At Hex felt like an investment as opposed to 99.9% kickstarters that are charity to rich/entitled people.

The only difference between Hex and any other KS is that people here like Hex.

[schild]

Well, other than the fact I can sell my accounts right now for twice what I paid for them and no one has even gotten to play the game yet. Yes, it's exactly like every other Kickstarter.

[Sky]

I wasn't talking about Hex.

[Furiously]

Well, other than the fact I can sell my accounts right now for twice what I paid for them and no one has even gotten to play the game yet. Yes, it's exactly like every other Kickstarter.

Sell it now...think about Hellgate Schild.

[UnSub]

Anyone following this? Seems pretty weird as a Kickstarter project.

Anyone care to guess how this one goes.. and when does this whole CoH thing become 

It's already there.

The Massively thread is hilarious with Golden Girl (who is / was in charge of another attempt to remake CoH/V that also started at the Titan Network) passive aggressively attacking the project for using Kickstarter, TonyV is in an argument about how he's not a plant for the project despite being a massive part of the Titan Network and CoH-promotion actions... good to see the "if only NCsoft hadn't been involved in CoH/V, it would have been the greatest game EVAH!" meme continues in that part of the web.

This is part of a group who tried to get Disney to buy CoH/V through a letter-writing campaign and last I checked had started to go down the same path with Google. CoH/V is dead, gone, that's it. Time to let go.

A team of 136 volunteers (who, if successful, are going to become volunteers with Kickstarter money) aren't going to create something like CoH/V, or even its "spiritual successor".

[ezrast]

Ha, I remember Golden Girl from the CoX forums. She, uh, did not strike me as leadership material.

[schild]

I feel like anyone with a notable/memorable persona on official forums for a game they aren't already leading in some capacity (designer, dev, etc)  isn't leadership material.

[luckton]

Well here's some providence for ya...

http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/cryptozoic-brings-cancelled-122874-board-game-kickstarter-to-life-will-ship

Let's walk through this whole mess to get everyone up to speed. A company raises over $100,000 to release a board game, but instead uses the money to start an entire company. That doesn't work out, and backers are told that the game is cancelled, and they may get their money back. Some day.

That's pretty crappy, but then the creators of the board game step up to make sure backers get a print and play version of the game. This is better than nothing, but it's still not what people paid for. Still, it's a solid move on the part of the people who designed the actual product, and reportedly had no say in the business decisions.

Now the story comes to a close, with Cryptozoic producing the board game itself, while also shipping the physical product to backers, free of charge. Well, free of any addition charge outside of the Kickstarter backing. This is an incredibly gracious move, especially since the money to print and ship those copies is coming out of the company's own pockets. Still, the good press and publicity may be worth it.

We don't get a lot of happy endings in stories like this, so this is a pretty nice win.

[schild]

I would say "yay Hex," but like, I don't want that company dicking around with crap like that.

[Ingmar]

I like Keith Baker a lot, and I like CZE, so anything that could lead to future collaboration seems like a good thing to me.

[schild]

I was referring to the fact the game didn't look interesting.

I have more insight into this situation than I'm letting on but eh, I'll leave it alone.

[Velorath]

I get the feeling it's more about the publicity than it is about CZE thinking this is a game that just needs to be made. When the game was canceled the story made the rounds, and I even saw articles about it on non-game sites. CZE's very public rescue of this project essentially buys them a lot of goodwill from the board game community for what was probably a pretty inexpensive price.

[luckton]

Inexpensive, at least, when compared to Hex dollars 

[lamaros]

Inexpensive, at least, when compared to taken from Hex dollars  

[MournelitheCalix]

This has awesome written all over it.  I am kind of surprised that these guys are having trouble getting the funding as the ideas seem really popular and a good mix of Left for Dead, Fallout, and minecraft.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/7daystodie/7-days-to-die-zombie-survival-game