The MMOSide Chat - Will You Ever Support A Kickstarted MMO Again?

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The MMOSide Chat - Will You Ever Support A Kickstarted MMO Again?

With the latest debacle of Kickstarter MMOs going belly-up, it begs the question: Why do you support Kickstarters and will you contribute to another project in the future?

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slowz2secret

Nope, these project only 1 of 20 ends finished and with a full working game

Ungood

Again.. would imply that I supported one the first time. LOL

mklinic

Never say never, but it'd be a hard sell for sure...

Not that I've jumped at many KS projects. I've only backed CU for a fairly modest amount. So maybe when/if that delivers...

xpsync

Never have, never will.

Right from its creation (to me) seemed to have far too much scam potential. Not against anyone whom does though, it's commendable actually, it's just something i would never do.

As in this case of Chronicles of Elyria as an example, he jacks up the price and pressure sells land or whatever (code for the last big cash in before he walks away) and then shuts it down, what a f'ing utter low life, i mean seriously people like that are so f'ing lucky there are laws that protect semi human lowlifes like that.

The community freaks and gets some attorney general or whatever involved and then it's like "Oh my bad, you heard me wrong i'm not shutting down" all he needs to do is say he is ("pretend") working on it and all is good right, money well spent, the whole concept is so exploitable, it's politician level almost.

Slapshot1188

A lot depends on how the case against SoulboundStudios goes. If the result is that I am comfortable that these companies cannot create and sell false depictions about the projects status then sure I will back games in the future.

We all know that there are risks and no outcome is guaranteed, but we need to be able to trust the information presented to us in the pitch to be reasonably accurate. You can't "forget" to mention that the amount asked for is just to create a demo. You can't show clips that support an ETD of 18 months when they are just mockups without clearly labeling them as something like concept art.

If I can trust that the information in the campaign is truthful then I will happily open my wallet.

Tokken

I supported two games and both are making progress. Legends of Aria (Shards Online) and Fractured. 

Legend of Aria changed their vision of the game several times.  I liked the original "Shards"  idea but I dislike the game now. They are currently offering (for sale) DLC in early release which I think is sinful.  I'm not sure the game will last long due to money issues.

I hope Fractured turns out okay. So far so good... but we will see what the future brings. 

Anyway, I won't support games again, too much can happen during the development of the game that can change the concept / idea of the title.

Greeka

Never again, supported one and it went belly up and went from an MMO to a stand alone PC game and then was trying to convince people to forgo the additional items that made up their pledge to get it out. I did a pledge after the kickstarter finished and was disappointed that the shadowrun mmo became a stand alone game Shadowrun Boston Lockdown. Now the games by Harebrain Studios (shadowrun and mech warrior) I have backed and they have proven to be a solid studio and kickstarter that you can trust. Also backed Bard's Tale 4 and Shenmue 3 (though that had controversy) but have had a few games that just never materialized or never delivered on their promises. I pretty much no longer back any video games what so ever, and will never back another MMO on kickstarter or any other platform. Also I have never done early access and will never do so as well.

Cuddleheart

Not really a fan of Kickstarter anything. It's all just glorified e-begging.

If you want to ask for investment money in exchange for some kind of profit sharing, we can talk...

NicoleC

Many gamers seem to think of Kickstarter as some kind of early pre-order. It's not, it's an investment which may or may not pay off. The questions people should be asking are, "is this a game I want to see get made enough to take a risk on it" and "does this appear to be a genuine effort to create said game from a team which has a reasonable chance of delivering."

CoE never met the smell test for me. It stunk to high heaven and none of the eventual pissing away of $8m surprised me.

Personally, I will continue to occasionally risk a bit on niche games that I want to see made which are not likely to attract a major studio. Kickstarter becoming less of a gold rush for gamer dollars is a good development, IMO. A more skeptical set of users means fewer CoE's even try to use the portal.

Stundar

I might although small chance, depends on how well the project is presented. Is there gameplay. Are the targets realistic. Is the scope of the game manageable and what kind of team is behind it? I think Kickstarter has to many flaws. Not enough protection.

I rather pledge or back after there is actual gameplay people can try out. Like with ashes of creation after the alpha 1 nda is lifted and peoples experiences are shared I would pledge into the beta.

There has to be a substantial amount of gameplay + behind the scenes footage a company needs to show to make me want to pledge

kertin

I feel like ppl here are easily baited on kickstarter projects, so yes, they will

hyllyh

never did and i'm happy this way!

but if ppl want to kickstart my project, to buy an island, i would be happy

Amathe

I will follow them online and discuss them. That can be a form of support.

But I will not pay them any money.

bentrim

Never have, NEVER WILL. If a company has not secured finances from a source before they start, either it is not a good idea or a good prospect for a profitable business model. Starting up a failure, is not good business!

vegetableoil

I'm just a consumer, why would I want to support kick starter? I don't get any profit sharing, and the product sometimes is just a scam like CoE. I would rather stick to being a consumer, much safer that way.

GladDog

I've looked into several kickstarters over the years. Quite honestly, I still believe until there is a breakthrough on what AI can produce for mission systems and unbounded landscapes, big studios will be mostly staying away from themepark style MMORPGs. So the only way we will see new ones is via kickstarter. The existing ones will stay around, they already have the investment in place.

Its not that they don't make money, its just they take so damn long to recoup the investment. Big studios don't have investors that are willing to wait for ROI any more. As an example, lets take SW:TOR. This game sold a TON of boxes, but it took a long time to recoup its investment, 5 or 6 years I believe. I'm sure the stockholders and investors were thrilled with that. A game from the Metal Gear Solid or Halo series will recoup their investment in a few days.

The only kickstarter I was involved in, for Ship of Heroes, failed. I've since invested in the game via their donation portal. The thing is, that's an unusual situation. The CEO is making that game work with almost no funding. It's a tireless task that he is pretty passionate about, which is why he is putting so much into it. Would he like to have a pile of cash to use to finish the game faster? No doubt. But he also does not want to have investors pressuring him into releasing too early, or getting overly involved in the development, where it just becomes WoW in tights.

Groqstrong

I dont think i would support any mmo Ive done 2 Crowfall and SC. They just take too much time.

Ungood

The idea of buying a game that is not even begun to be built, is not appealing to me.

When they have a Playable Alpha or Beta, then I will look into them, even consider buying the game. 

Kyleran

mklinic said:

Never say never, but it'd be a hard sell for sure...

Not that I've jumped at many KS projects. I've only backed CU for a fairly modest amount. So maybe when/if that delivers...

Yep, this is my take on it.  I told MJ about 3-4 years ago I'd consider backing another KSer MMO right after CU launches.

So clearly all his fault that I haven't since, right?  Or, perhaps I should thank him?

 

Kyleran

Ungood said:

The idea of buying a game that is not even begun to be built, is not appealing to me.

When they have a Playable Alpha or Beta, then I will look into them, even consider buying the game. 

Considering their track record on the time to create, indie or AAA, no way can I justify following, much less backing a new one right from the start, especially since I am not interested in early access "fun and games," only after the final wipe do I consider it worth my time.

I'm racing the deadpool here folks....

  

Mendel

There's a massive belief that "supporting" a crowd-funded project is somehow analogous to an "investment" or a "donation".  It isn't.  Investments have rules and regulations governing transfer of ownership, and the law provides some protection from the flim-flam artists looking to invade your wallet.  Same with charitable donations, the legitimate ones have a series of reporting regulations and legal hoops they must jump through to keep the outright money-grubbing to a minimum.

The closest analogy really is "panhandling".  If you're willing to give money to someone holding a sign at the interstate off-ramp that reads "Will develop MMORPG for $$$", then no one can help you.  There's too many entrepreneurs willing to bet that a large number of people might.

These mendicants appear to be winning, but still there aren't games worth playing.

Elvoc

I use to support a lot of kickstarter projects but its gotten as bad as Steam Early Access, there is no responsibilities put on the developers to ever release or finish a game, its become a basic " GO FUND ME PAGE"..Sad because many good developers used it and made some great games, terrible that so many took advantage of it and abused it..

Nilden

Not a chance.

When there are so many games that are actually finished that I could buy I see no point in spending money on something that isn't finished.

xpsync

Elvoc said:

I use to support a lot of kickstarter projects but its gotten as bad as Steam Early Access, there is no responsibilities put on the developers to ever release or finish a game, its become a basic " GO FUND ME PAGE"..Sad because many good developers used it and made some great games, terrible that so many took advantage of it and abused it..

That's the biggest issue/problem, sure they can put up all the target dates they want, but in the end who will enforce them or put the pressure on to complete anything by deadline.

They get their treat before the trick, what's the incentive anymore?

It's like making a donation to the Human Fund, har har

Ltldogg

Never again for me. I don't enjoy giving money to a development team while in return they can carry on without accountability to me and everyone else who pledged. They hold all of the power with minimal risks.