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General discussionKickstarter recently celebrated 10,000 funded game projects(72 posts)(72 posts)
(72 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted April 04, 2017
People have the power!

Crowdfunding is a controversial topic for some but a real godsend for others. What's indisputable, though, is that through the years Kickstarter has become an incubator for tons of cool game concepts, many of which gathered enough support to become a reality.

Over 10,000 of them in fact!

That's right, the Kickstarter-funded game projects (concerning video games and beyond) have recently reached this rather bewildering number as you can read <span class="bold">in their celebratory post</span>.
An impressive milestone and an excellent opportunity to look at some of the standout titles to come out of Kickstarter, both past and upcoming. See if you can spot any of your favorites:

-<span class="bold">Broken Age</span>: Tim Schafer's return to the point & clicks wasn't all smooth sailing, as illustrated in the <span class="bold">Double Fine Adventure</span> documentary. Still, this was the project that solidified Kickstarter as a perfectly viable platform for video game funding.
If you're quick you can get Broken Age now 80% off!

-<span class="bold">FTL</span> / <span class="bold">Darkest Dungeon</span> / <span class="bold">Hyper Light Drifter</span>: They all asked for humble sums of money but got heaps in return. Another thing they have in common? The released products were even greater successes, far exceeding everybody's expectations!
FTL is 75% off right now!

-<span class="bold">Shovel Knight</span>: Its funding campaign met with significant success but it still pales in comparison to the massive amounts of adoration it's received since.

-<span class="bold">Sunless Sea</span>: A modest crowdfunding campaign led to a beloved cult hit and an upcoming <span class="bold">sequel</span>, also funded through Kickstarter.
Get it now 67% off!

-<span class="bold">Pillars of Eternity</span> / <span class="bold">Divinity: Original Sin</span> / <span class="bold">Wasteland 2</span> / <span class="bold">Shadowrun Returns</span> / <span class="bold">Torment: Tides of Numenera</span>: After gathering millions of dollars in funding, these games heralded the glorious resurgence of isometric RPGs and we love them for it.

-<span class="bold">The Banner Saga</span>: The stunning art and the team's pedigree made this an easy Kickstarter success. The developers regretted not coming back to Kickstarter for the <span class="bold">second chapter</span> but rectified this mistake with The Banner Saga 3 which is going to conclude their turn-based epic.

-<span class="bold">Obduction</span>: Bringing the guys who made Myst out of semi-retirement is cause enough for celebration. This excellent puzzle adventure is just an added bonus.

-<span class="bold">STASIS</span>: Mark Morgan, the composer for classics like Fallout and Planescape: Torment, was so intrigued by this campaign that he asked to be a part of it. Same as 4000+ other people.

Kickstarter was also the spawning ground for some more recent and upcoming gems, like:

-<span class="bold">Rain World</span>: Unique, beautiful, and unforgiving. Just like its beasties.
-<span class="bold">Night in the Woods</span>: Superbly written, impeccably scored, critically praised. Gregg rules, ok?
-<span class="bold">Thimbleweed Park</span>: Less than a week after its release, it already has fans raving about its unmistakably retro charms. And if Monkey Island's legacy is anything to go by, this is just the beginning.
-<span class="bold">Pinstripe</span>: One man's mind-bending journey through hell, as conceived and executed by one man. And 3,780 backers.
-<span class="bold">Yooka-Laylee</span>: The charming return of the two-creature-team-up 3D platformers. Just look at all the colors!

So what's your relationship with Kickstarter? Are you a frequent backer? Which crowdfunded games have you enjoyed the most?
Post edited April 04, 2017 by maladr0Id
Posted April 05, 2017
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RadonGOG: I know there are many opponents of crowdfunding around in all the gaming communities, but just looking at the glorious list up here simply creates one question: Why?

You are focussing to much on the fails and too less on all the wins.
Here's a list of a dozen "wins" out of ten thousand. How many "losses"? You can risk your money on a chancy investment. Not me.
Posted April 05, 2017
low rated
Lets see, this is probably a good opportunity to review my kickstarting activities. I have backed the following games:

Double Fine Adventure - enjoyed it
Wasteland 2 - enjoyed it
The Banner Saga - absolutely loved it
Shadowrun Returns - absolutely loved it
Two Guys Spaceventure - unreleased, very late, but am confident it will be released
Quest for Infamy - enjoyed it
Broken Sword - absolutely loved it
Hero U (twice) - unreleased, very late, but am confident it will be released
Mage's Initiation - unreleased, very late. not sure about this one...
Massive Chalice - enjoyed it.
Legend of Iya - unreleased. I have the least confidence that this one will actually be released.
Dead Synchronicity - enjoyed it
Shadowrun: Hong Kong - absolutely loved it
Order of Thorne and Roehm to Ruin - enjoyed Order of the Thorne, Roehm to Ruin not yet released.
The Bards Tale IV - unreleased but a relatively recently backed game
Battletech - unreleased but a relatively recently backed game
Banner Saga 3 - unreleased but a relatively recently backed game

So I have backed 17 games:

* I absolutely loved 4 of them.
* I enjoyed 6.5 of them.
* I didn't like 0 of them.
* 3 of the games are unreleased but not really behind.
* 3.5 games are unreleased and very late

So of the games that have been released or should have been released, I enjoyed 10.5 out of 14 of them (75%) and 25% of them are yet to be released. Not bad.

All the games that I have got through kickstarter, I have received gog keys.
Posted April 05, 2017
kickstarter is very better for games developers
Posted April 05, 2017
low rated

So what's your relationship with Kickstarter?
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ssokolow: I backed Broken Age, The Banner Saga, Underworld Ascendant, Bloodstained, and The Bards Tale 4, but my impression was soured after the Banner Saga devs decided to language-lawyer their promises for stretch backers in the lead-up to TBS2's release and Kickstarter was deafeningly silent when I asked them to rule on that behaviour.
What was the problem with the Banner Saga devs? I hadn't heard anything about that.
Posted April 05, 2017
high rated
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ssokolow: I backed Broken Age, The Banner Saga, Underworld Ascendant, Bloodstained, and The Bards Tale 4, but my impression was soured after the Banner Saga devs decided to language-lawyer their promises for stretch backers in the lead-up to TBS2's release and Kickstarter was deafeningly silent when I asked them to rule on that behaviour.
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htown1980: What was the problem with the Banner Saga devs? I hadn't heard anything about that.
I'm not a backer (I don't back on principle, I only buy finished games) but I have followed what happened there.

Their first kickstarter had a tier which would give you access to all three games of the trilogy. It also promised a DRM-free release.

And when Banner Saga 2 was finished the devs made a 180° turn. The game got a Steam-only release, citing high piracy rates after the GOG release of Banner Saga 1 as the reason. When they were pointed out that their kickstarter promised a DRM-free release and that would of course also extend to Banner Saga 2 and 3 since (at least some) backers paid for them in the first kickstarter they still insisted that the DRM-free promise was only for Banner Saga 1 and they were not going to do a DRM-free release of Banner Saga 2 or 3 on GOG or otherwise.

However, after initial Steam sales were poor and they had a veritable shitstorm at hand for breaking the promise of a DRM-free release they did another 180 and brought the game to GOG.

While it is nice to see that some devs do listen to criticism breaking their promise in the first place is not acceptable, trying to wriggle out of promises (which you were paid for to keep) is tasteless at best (and fraudulent at worst) and blaming GOG for piracy is complete nonsense as the Steam version of Banner Saga 2 was cracked on day 1.
Posted April 05, 2017
low rated
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Geralt_of_Rivia: I'm not a backer (I don't back on principle, I only buy finished games) but I have followed what happened there.

Their first kickstarter had a tier which would give you access to all three games of the trilogy. It also promised a DRM-free release.

And when Banner Saga 2 was finished the devs made a 180° turn. The game got a Steam-only release, citing high piracy rates after the GOG release of Banner Saga 1 as the reason. When they were pointed out that their kickstarter promised a DRM-free release and that would of course also extend to Banner Saga 2 and 3 since (at least some) backers paid for them in the first kickstarter they still insisted that the DRM-free promise was only for Banner Saga 1 and they were not going to do a DRM-free release of Banner Saga 2 or 3 on GOG or otherwise.

However, after initial Steam sales were poor and they had a veritable shitstorm at hand for breaking the promise of a DRM-free release they did another 180 and brought the game to GOG.

While it is nice to see that some devs do listen to criticism breaking their promise in the first place is not acceptable, trying to wriggle out of promises (which you were paid for to keep) is tasteless at best (and fraudulent at worst) and blaming GOG for piracy is complete nonsense as the Steam version of Banner Saga 2 was cracked on day 1.
Thank you!!!!

I think I remember some of that now. Having only backed the first game, I didn't realise the extent of the issue.

I am glad that the devs listened to criticism and I feel that mistakes get made and we should reward those devs that eventually do the right thing (as that should be encouraged) rather than punishing them for doing the wrong thing initially - as then there would be no incentive for them to rectify their mistakes.
Posted April 05, 2017
99% of those are probably shovelware garbage.
Posted April 05, 2017
So 985 garbage games and about 15 good ones. Cool.
Posted April 05, 2017
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GOG.com: ... What's indisputable, though, is that through the years Kickstarter has become an incubator for tons of cool game concepts, many of which gathered enough support to become a reality.

Over 10,000 of them in fact! ...
Hmm, the 10,000 is surely only the total number of fully funded concepts. However the number of good released, relatively bug-free games is probably much, much smaller. A couple of hundred maybe.

Anyway, I totally enjoyed the experience of Wasteland 2, which is also on GOG. Brian Fargo and inXile managed that superbly. The rest is so-so.
Posted April 05, 2017
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GOG.com: ... What's indisputable, though, is that through the years Kickstarter has become an incubator for tons of cool game concepts, many of which gathered enough support to become a reality.

Over 10,000 of them in fact! ...
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Trilarion: Hmm, the 10,000 is surely only the total number of fully funded concepts. However the number of good released, relatively bug-free games is probably much, much smaller. A couple of hundred maybe.

Anyway, I totally enjoyed the experience of Wasteland 2, which is also on GOG. Brian Fargo and inXile managed that superbly. The rest is so-so.
Unfortunately InXile is unrealiable and shady.
Posted April 05, 2017
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Geralt_of_Rivia: While it is nice to see that some devs do listen to criticism breaking their promise in the first place is not acceptable, trying to wriggle out of promises (which you were paid for to keep) is tasteless at best (and fraudulent at worst) and blaming GOG for piracy is complete nonsense as the Steam version of Banner Saga 2 was cracked on day 1.
Actually, the language they used in the backer-only comment threads in the end implied that the lesson they learned was "we need stronger DRM for TBS3".
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Trilarion: Anyway, I totally enjoyed the experience of Wasteland 2, which is also on GOG. Brian Fargo and inXile managed that superbly. The rest is so-so.
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MIK0: Unfortunately InXile is unrealiable and shady.
Wasteland 2 was actually the only thing I initially backed, then pulled out of before the Kickstarter campaign ended.

After backing, I realized that they were planning to ask whether I was a Windows, Linux, or MacOS user and hadn't said the DRM-free release would be serviced through a platform like GOG or Humble.

When I asked for assurance that it wasn't so they could offer me ONLY the DRM-free version for the platform I named (ie. that my DRM-free license would have SteamPlay-like transferrability across platforms, should I decide to start on Windows and move to Linux later or vice-versa), the only response I got was derision from the other backers.
Post edited April 05, 2017 by ssokolow
Posted April 05, 2017
Congrats everybody!

I myself can't complain, I've mostly funded games that turned out to be pretty good.
Posted April 05, 2017
low rated
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stryx: I only buy games after they've been released and reviewed.
A good policy, I also only buy games when they have been released.

But how many games have you backed on Kickstarter or similar?
Posted April 05, 2017
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Geralt_of_Rivia: While it is nice to see that some devs do listen to criticism breaking their promise in the first place is not acceptable, trying to wriggle out of promises (which you were paid for to keep) is tasteless at best (and fraudulent at worst) and blaming GOG for piracy is complete nonsense as the Steam version of Banner Saga 2 was cracked on day 1.
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ssokolow: Actually, the language they used in the backer-only comment threads in the end implied that the lesson they learned was "we need stronger DRM for TBS3".
Oh, I remember that. I was a backer of TBS1 and I backed TBS3 only because they clearly stated Steam or GOG ( but no linux) in the pledge. They cannot work around that and I also wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. But I clearly remember how they circumvent their previous word and willingly witheld information they owned to their backers. And I somehow expect to be let down again. An great issue in kickstarter is how authors can ignore backers after they have collected their money and don't need them anymore. There are no easy mean to enforce the correct behavior of the author and legal actions are not for everyone.
I also remember your comments and blog posts about that and I still have to thank you for how you put in word what many wanted to say.

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MIK0: Unfortunately InXile is unrealiable and shady.
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ssokolow: Wasteland 2 was actually the only thing I initially backed, then pulled out of before the Kickstarter campaign ended.

After backing, I realized that they were planning to ask whether I was a Windows, Linux, or MacOS user and hadn't said the DRM-free release would be serviced through a platform like GOG or Humble.

When I asked for assurance that it wasn't so they could offer me ONLY the DRM-free version for the platform I named (ie. that my DRM-free license would have SteamPlay-like transferrability across platforms, should I decide to start on Windows and move to Linux later or vice-versa), the only response I got was derision from the other backers.
Exactly. InXile is shady, they ignore backers, don't provide requested information, use convenient wording when describing pledges and later take back part of what was promised. They seems to ignore what backers want and expect and the fair information they need.
I backed Wasteland 2, The Bard's Tale, Torment:Tides of Numenera and Wasteland 3. Wasn't so sure after Wasteland 2 was released, but near Torment release, when it was clear that a lot changed since the initial pitch and that backers wasn't correctly informed during the developement and the lack of communication still to this day, I decided to ask a refund for The Bard's Tale and Wasteland 3. I kept Torment as it was near release and I wanted to see the end of it, but I didn't want to be involved in the development of their game and their lack of communication anymore.

There are good developers that use crowdfunding wisely and with fair respect to their backers, so at least is better to put money on them and discard company like InXile that didn't understand the principles of crowdfunding.
Posted April 05, 2017
Personally, not all projects I've backed (both with money, and sometimes with my personal time ie: testing, bug reports, etc) have completed, it's true. But, this is the same gamble that publishers deal with, and to suggest they don't have this problem is not being honest. I'm not against sharing in that gamble if I feel comfortable with the people behind the kickstarter or other crowdsourced funding method.

Unfortunately, as many have and will continue to point out, unscrupulous people will continue to exist who will violate this position of trust. You also have a different type of person: the failure. They may give themselves enough money to live for a year or two tops, to 'focus on the game', but 3 months in, they have a family emergency and it just takes priority; sometimes it is the stress that eats away at them.

Sometimes, it is that moment right after release when they have nearly a hundred players on their server with only 10 purchased copies. (true story, 9 private testers and 1 mystery person, someone leaked it shortly after release; what it did to the guy was awful, it was way before kickstarter.) It can be heart-shattering for developers and backers alike. Some developers continue to work on the project long after they are making money because they feel they 'owe' their fans.

Personally, I think that is a mistake. When I backed you, I didn't back you so you could kill yourself working for free. I wanted to pay you to produce a product I wanted to play. If you fail to deliver, but have good enough reasons, I might even back you again in the future. You'll be wiser, have better goals/milestones, but only if you TALK back to your COMMUNITY is this possible.

Nothing is worse in my mind as a backer, than a developer or group of developers who go 'dark' and stop communicating. Weekly status updates are NOT wrong to do, and they help keep the developers honest about what's going on, and any difficulties they encounter, always remember your players want you to succeed, and some of them might even be able to help. (Some backers are developers themselves.)

(Edited for grammar and missing punctuation.)
Post edited April 05, 2017 by Makkenhoff
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionKickstarter recently celebrated 10,000 funded game projects(72 posts)(72 posts)
(72 posts)