Poll of the Day > Crowdfunding is the great scam of our time...

(+) Yeah! (+)

(topic)
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Deny, but I don't like how major corporate publishers have co-opted crowdfunding to mitigate risk in some of their titles. Pretty much all major publishers use some form of crowdfunding now, or use sites like Kickstarter to scout for itles or devs that generate a buzz. I guess it is a good move from a business standpoint, but it sort of skews the original intent of the platform, imho.
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Twitch.tv is the scam of our time. I just watched a twitch channel get gift 500 subscriptions in the matter of an hour. The channel only had 80 viewers and 1500 followers. Said channel has 1000 subscriptions total.

Person made $2500 in the matter of an hour.
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I have had more hits than misses in getting games from Kickstarter, though I do see the potential for abuse. Patreon is the platform that makes me wary.
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I made this topic more because I have several hundred dollars tied up in two pieces of hardware that have yet to ship.

Though I'm also on the contribution books for two crowdfunded games as well (Indivisible and Shenmue III, both of which were delayed).
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Crowdfunding, in and of itself, is not a scam.

But it is definitely used for more scams or failures than successes.

Though the real problem is people who view crowdfunding as a preorder of a product that will DEFINITELY come out on time and as promised, which it isn't and has never been. What crowdfunding IS is a modern, grass-roots version of angel investing, which has been a thing for pretty much forever. You are basically investing in the IDEA of the product, and hoping that your investment will help it come to fruition, but you are in no way promised or owed anything, and if you're investment fails that was always a risk from the beginning.

Simply throwing money at something because you think it's "neat" or because it tickles your nostalgia isn't a wise business decision at the best of times.


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i did early access funding for the peregrine glove.

then they released a much better version not long after they came out with the normal one they sent me...
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Please stop making topics. I dont know why youve been making so many lately, but please stop.
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Agree and disagree. It can be good and I have seen a few really great projects happen that never would have if it weren't for it. Unfortunately more often then not it seems to be used for projects with no chance of succeeding or scams with little to no accountability for the people who try to make money off of them.
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I_Abibde posted...

Patreon is the platform that makes me wary.

Why?
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I've supported a handful of projects, only one (Grip) didn't meet its goal but it came out anyway a bit later than planned. The rest of the games including Shenmue 3 and Bloodstained are coming along, I don't feel like any will get abandoned.
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CacciatoPart3 posted...

Please stop making topics. I dont know why youve been making so many lately, but please stop.

I'm trying to get myself banned. I also want everyone to hate me.
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Deny. I crowdfunded Divinity: Original Sins 2, Wasteland 2, and Pillars of Eternity and they turned out well I thought. Larian have earned my trust given how well Divinity: Original Sin and D:OS2 turned out.

That being said, a few crowdfunded games, (i.e. Project Phoenix) have failed in my eyes so there are some bad ones out there. In my opinion I think one gotta look at the history of who is developing said game, product, etc. and whether or not they have something to backup their claim of being capable. Even then, sometime said folks are the "B Team" of the developers.
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So, uh, is Bloodstained canceled or what?

Questionmarktarius posted...

So, uh, is Bloodstained canceled or what?

Nope. They're one of the better projects in regards to communicating with backers. They share regular updates. I think at least once a month? Game looks great. If it plays half as good as it looks I'll be satisfied.
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it's somewhere in between the two extremes you listed, ok?
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Aculo posted...

it's somewhere in between the two extremes you listed, ok?

Not okay.
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Far-Queue posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

So, uh, is Bloodstained canceled or what?

Nope. They're one of the better projects in regards to communicating with backers. They share regular updates. I think at least once a month? Game looks great. If it plays half as good as it looks I'll be satisfied.

Neat.
Anything else that isn't an obvious moneyhole?