I've backed several. Somebody said it above, but it comes down to disposable income on things I'd like to see come to fruition. I don't see it as any different than folks who contribute to a political campaign.
As for my reasons for backing a game. It seemed appealing to me. Pitched games like Chronicles of Elyria checked every box in the fantasy RPG for me. Obviously we now know it wasn't the game we thought. I backed Star Citizen, Pantheon, CU, Rulers of the Sea (which never even saw the light of day). I've also bought into several Early Access titles. BG3 is probably the best example of this.
I think if it's something you are interested in, and have the funds, why not. I do have a new rule though. If I can't see some sort of gameplay, I'm not backing it. I may follow development, but I've lost enough money on ideas. Backing a game isn't the same as investing in it. The only ROI you get from backing a game is the possible ability to play it some day.
I grew up playing Wing Commander, and when SC's kick starter began I was divorced and well employed, so had "extra" money, so I threw some at CIG because of the promise of SC. All of those promises are gone of course, but that's on me.
100s of systems, thousands of worlds? Nope, 3 at most
Private servers? Nope, game's "too big"
Possible to avoid PvP? Sure, "space is big"...well, not that big, it turns out, and if you want to actually land your ship, you're getting ganked.
I wouldn't do it again, and I'd absolutely take a refund if offered. SQ42 will launch in the next year or so and do abyssmally due to all of the issues. The PU will never really launch, it will just dribble out piecemeal while they continue with the cash shop to keep it funded.
I backed two, Zenith and Wagadu Chronicles. Why? Because I liked those ideas and presentations. Zenith was worth it, Wagadu wasn't. Zenith's team was up to the task to deliver a game, Wagadu wasn't. I never backed attempts to rebuild former glory. You will always get disappointed. We all did enjoy stuff 20 years ago, that we wouldn't even touch today. Other times, other habits and other preferences.
Would I back on again? Not a MMORPG. The crowd expects to much these days from a MMOPRG to make me think it could work. And all the hate in social media accompanying new projects won't make creating one as easy as it might have been years ago. These are pretty toxic times.
I backed two, Zenith and Wagadu Chronicles. Why? Because I liked those ideas and presentations. Zenith was worth it, Wagadu wasn't. Zenith's team was up to the task to deliver a game, Wagadu wasn't. I never backed attempts to rebuild former glory. You will always get disappointed. We all did enjoy stuff 20 years ago, that we wouldn't even touch today. Other times, other habits and other preferences.
Would I back on again? Not a MMORPG. The crowd expects to much these days from a MMOPRG to make me think it could work. And all the hate in social media accompanying new projects won't make creating one as easy as it might have been years ago. These are pretty toxic times.
Has a crowdfunded MMO even launched that was playable and was accepted as quality? At lest by some?
I backed two, Zenith and Wagadu Chronicles. Why? Because I liked those ideas and presentations. Zenith was worth it, Wagadu wasn't. Zenith's team was up to the task to deliver a game, Wagadu wasn't. I never backed attempts to rebuild former glory. You will always get disappointed. We all did enjoy stuff 20 years ago, that we wouldn't even touch today. Other times, other habits and other preferences.
Would I back on again? Not a MMORPG. The crowd expects to much these days from a MMOPRG to make me think it could work. And all the hate in social media accompanying new projects won't make creating one as easy as it might have been years ago. These are pretty toxic times.
Has a crowdfunded MMO even launched that was playable and was accepted as quality? At lest by some?
Albion Online.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
I backed two, Zenith and Wagadu Chronicles. Why? Because I liked those ideas and presentations. Zenith was worth it, Wagadu wasn't. Zenith's team was up to the task to deliver a game, Wagadu wasn't. I never backed attempts to rebuild former glory. You will always get disappointed. We all did enjoy stuff 20 years ago, that we wouldn't even touch today. Other times, other habits and other preferences.
Would I back on again? Not a MMORPG. The crowd expects to much these days from a MMOPRG to make me think it could work. And all the hate in social media accompanying new projects won't make creating one as easy as it might have been years ago. These are pretty toxic times.
Has a crowdfunded MMO even launched that was playable and was accepted as quality? At lest by some?
Albion Online.
Thats not just a good game, its a great game, its done things many MMOs have struggled to do.
Never backed a game and never will, if you want to make a video game you shouldnt expect the general puplic to foot the bill...
True story, I once knew a guy who thru panhandling lived in an upscale apartment and bought a brand new mustang, all while holding a sign that said homeless vet please help...he wasnt even a veteran
I tried to go to church for awhile and every sermon included give money...the pastor drove a bmw, most of the flock drove pintos or something low end like that
I think that crowdfunding depends on your generosity. It's like donations: if you want to help others, you will donate. If you don't, you will find the examples of where donations went wrong in order to justify to yourself why not to donate.
Personally, I think that if you back a game for up to $50 (the maximum I ever remember giving to a game), that's not much of a risk. Enough people do this, you get a chance of a game that would otherwise not have been released. Often these games are decent. I was happy to risk some money for the chance that they'd appear.
MMOs, the most I gave was to Zenith. I was never that enthusiastic about backing MMOs, but I was into VR and liked the idea of Zenith, felt that it was far enough along, and it was worth getting it finished. I did back a few other MMOs, but not with any significant money. Shadowrun Online at $9 was the max.
Never backed a game and never will, if you want to make a video game you shouldnt expect the general puplic to foot the bill...
True story, I once knew a guy who thru panhandling lived in an upscale apartment and bought a brand new mustang, all while holding a sign that said homeless vet please help...he wasnt even a veteran
I tried to go to church for awhile and every sermon included give money...the pastor drove a bmw, most of the flock drove pintos or something low end like that
I view crowdfunding in the same manor
Funny, when I was a child my mother took us to a church where the priest also drove a BMW.
Crowdfunding works fine for a variety of things such as movies or music. The few single player games I backed all launched.
It doesn’t seem to work with MMORPG’s.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
I've never backed any crowdfunding efforts. If I have disposable income that I don't need, I'll donate it to the local food bank or something.
I only buy games after they have officially released, and then I read the reviews and wait 6 months to let the initial bugs get ironed out. No paying for alphas, demos, or beta testing.
This also means I never ask for a refund. (one game simply wouldn't run at all, booted to a black screen. Got a refund. That was the exception; I actually paid for an alpha, but it has been in development for 12 years so I thought ...)
If a talented and well-led team comes up with an idea for a great game project, I expect real investors to step in and provide the funding and the impetus to actually release a working game.
Never backed a game and never will, if you want to make a video game you shouldnt expect the general puplic to foot the bill...
True story, I once knew a guy who thru panhandling lived in an upscale apartment and bought a brand new mustang, all while holding a sign that said homeless vet please help...he wasnt even a veteran
I tried to go to church for awhile and every sermon included give money...the pastor drove a bmw, most of the flock drove pintos or something low end like that
I view crowdfunding in the same manor
Funny, when I was a child my mother took us to a church where the priest also drove a BMW.
Crowdfunding works fine for a variety of things such as movies or music. The few single player games I backed all launched.
It doesn’t seem to work with MMORPG’s.
I think part of the problem with MMORPGs and crowdfunding is that most of the ones I have seen don't actually ask for the money required to build the game. They ask for a small fraction of the total costs, in order to "prove interest" or get a working demo.
They then still need to raise the vast majority of capital to get the game finished.
Given that these games failed to get investment from traditional sources the first time around, it doesn't seem to be much easier the second time, even after proving interest and building a demo.
That said, Star Citizen did raise enough money, and they still haven't managed to build their game, so funding clearly isn't the only issue.
Currently Playing: WAR RoR - Spitt rr7X Black Orc | Scrotling rr6X Squig Herder | Scabrous rr4X Shaman
Never backed a game and never will, if you want to make a video game you shouldnt expect the general puplic to foot the bill...
True story, I once knew a guy who thru panhandling lived in an upscale apartment and bought a brand new mustang, all while holding a sign that said homeless vet please help...he wasnt even a veteran
I tried to go to church for awhile and every sermon included give money...the pastor drove a bmw, most of the flock drove pintos or something low end like that
I view crowdfunding in the same manor
Funny, when I was a child my mother took us to a church where the priest also drove a BMW.
Crowdfunding works fine for a variety of things such as movies or music. The few single player games I backed all launched.
It doesn’t seem to work with MMORPG’s.
I think part of the problem with MMORPGs and crowdfunding is that most of the ones I have seen don't actually ask for the money required to build the game. They ask for a small fraction of the total costs, in order to "prove interest" or get a working demo.
They then still need to raise the vast majority of capital to get the game finished.
Given that these games failed to get investment from traditional sources the first time around, it doesn't seem to be much easier the second time, even after proving interest and building a demo.
That said, Star Citizen did raise enough money, and they still haven't managed to build their game, so funding clearly isn't the only issue.
It’s either “building interest “ or they just don’t have a clue OR they truly believe they’ll be able to make raise additional money down the road but don’t mention it to backers.
The problem (I believe) with Star Citizen is feature creep as well as attempting some very challenging stuff.
I did recently back a single player game called Wayward Realms that claims it will be a spiritual successor to Daggerfall and it’s made by two of the original developers of Daggerfall. They have been working on the game for several years and ran a successful kickstarter with the intent that they will get to early access and “entice other funding.”
Backed it even though my spine locked up while doing so. It was one of those gambles where I thought they could do it, They showed in game footage but I also knew they could fail.
One of those things where, if someone asked me if they should back it I would just tell them no.
Generally don’t like that tack where developers are aiming for something to use to get more money.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Not something I will ever do...I usually wait at least year after the game launches before I take much interest....Too many years of too many disappointments.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I backed two, Zenith and Wagadu Chronicles. Why? Because I liked those ideas and presentations. Zenith was worth it, Wagadu wasn't. Zenith's team was up to the task to deliver a game, Wagadu wasn't. I never backed attempts to rebuild former glory. You will always get disappointed. We all did enjoy stuff 20 years ago, that we wouldn't even touch today. Other times, other habits and other preferences.
Would I back on again? Not a MMORPG. The crowd expects to much these days from a MMOPRG to make me think it could work. And all the hate in social media accompanying new projects won't make creating one as easy as it might have been years ago. These are pretty toxic times.
Has a crowdfunded MMO even launched that was playable and was accepted as quality? At lest by some?
Embers Adrift has launched and has a small but apparently sufficient following.
Never backed a game and never will, if you want to make a video game you shouldnt expect the general puplic to foot the bill...
True story, I once knew a guy who thru panhandling lived in an upscale apartment and bought a brand new mustang, all while holding a sign that said homeless vet please help...he wasnt even a veteran
I tried to go to church for awhile and every sermon included give money...the pastor drove a bmw, most of the flock drove pintos or something low end like that
I view crowdfunding in the same manor
Funny, when I was a child my mother took us to a church where the priest also drove a BMW.
Crowdfunding works fine for a variety of things such as movies or music. The few single player games I backed all launched.
It doesn’t seem to work with MMORPG’s.
offtopic: A base BMW isn't much more expensive than any other vehicle on the road unless it's an Alpina or M. Honestly a full size heavy duty pickup can come in at almost 100k, even more by the time you add a lift kit, wheels and tires.
Did Albion and Shards Online. Albion was great! Shards took everyone's dough, made a completely different game and sold it for profit. Brinkmann is a sus dude...
I like isometric crafting mmos like UO which is why I donated. I also was too idealistic to understand all those kickstarters were a grift...
Did Albion and Shards Online. Albion was great! Shards took everyone's dough, made a completely different game and sold it for profit. Brinkmann is a sus dude...
I like isometric crafting mmos like UO which is why I donated. I also was too idealistic to understand all those kickstarters were a grift...
I forgot if you were into Fractured Online yet or not. I think they've a free 9 days of play starting this weekend.
Did Albion and Shards Online. Albion was great! Shards took everyone's dough, made a completely different game and sold it for profit. Brinkmann is a sus dude...
I like isometric crafting mmos like UO which is why I donated. I also was too idealistic to understand all those kickstarters were a grift...
I forgot if you were into Fractured Online yet or not. I think they've a free 9 days of play starting this weekend.
Comments
This style article has been here since the sites inception. They just keeping the community engaged.
As for my reasons for backing a game. It seemed appealing to me. Pitched games like Chronicles of Elyria checked every box in the fantasy RPG for me. Obviously we now know it wasn't the game we thought. I backed Star Citizen, Pantheon, CU, Rulers of the Sea (which never even saw the light of day). I've also bought into several Early Access titles. BG3 is probably the best example of this.
I think if it's something you are interested in, and have the funds, why not. I do have a new rule though. If I can't see some sort of gameplay, I'm not backing it. I may follow development, but I've lost enough money on ideas. Backing a game isn't the same as investing in it. The only ROI you get from backing a game is the possible ability to play it some day.
100s of systems, thousands of worlds? Nope, 3 at most
Private servers? Nope, game's "too big"
Possible to avoid PvP? Sure, "space is big"...well, not that big, it turns out, and if you want to actually land your ship, you're getting ganked.
I wouldn't do it again, and I'd absolutely take a refund if offered. SQ42 will launch in the next year or so and do abyssmally due to all of the issues. The PU will never really launch, it will just dribble out piecemeal while they continue with the cash shop to keep it funded.
Long since replaced by skepticism and doubt.
Yet still I feel the pull to Crowdfund each time a new project is announced.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
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Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
Would I back on again? Not a MMORPG. The crowd expects to much these days from a MMOPRG to make me think it could work. And all the hate in social media accompanying new projects won't make creating one as easy as it might have been years ago. These are pretty toxic times.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Most of Florida is a swamp, some is just better for gater hunting.
True story, I once knew a guy who thru panhandling lived in an upscale apartment and bought a brand new mustang, all while holding a sign that said homeless vet please help...he wasnt even a veteran
I tried to go to church for awhile and every sermon included give money...the pastor drove a bmw, most of the flock drove pintos or something low end like that
I view crowdfunding in the same manor
Godz of War I call Thee
Personally, I think that if you back a game for up to $50 (the maximum I ever remember giving to a game), that's not much of a risk. Enough people do this, you get a chance of a game that would otherwise not have been released. Often these games are decent. I was happy to risk some money for the chance that they'd appear.
MMOs, the most I gave was to Zenith. I was never that enthusiastic about backing MMOs, but I was into VR and liked the idea of Zenith, felt that it was far enough along, and it was worth getting it finished. I did back a few other MMOs, but not with any significant money. Shadowrun Online at $9 was the max.
Crowdfunding works fine for a variety of things such as movies or music. The few single player games I backed all launched.
It doesn’t seem to work with MMORPG’s.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I only buy games after they have officially released, and then I read the reviews and wait 6 months to let the initial bugs get ironed out. No paying for alphas, demos, or beta testing.
This also means I never ask for a refund. (one game simply wouldn't run at all, booted to a black screen. Got a refund. That was the exception; I actually paid for an alpha, but it has been in development for 12 years so I thought ...)
If a talented and well-led team comes up with an idea for a great game project, I expect real investors to step in and provide the funding and the impetus to actually release a working game.
------------
2024: 47 years on the Net.
The problem (I believe) with Star Citizen is feature creep as well as attempting some very challenging stuff.
Backed it even though my spine locked up while doing so. It was one of those gambles where I thought they could do it, They showed in game footage but I also knew they could fail.
One of those things where, if someone asked me if they should back it I would just tell them no.
Generally don’t like that tack where developers are aiming for something to use to get more money.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I supported it due to CoH having been recently closed so I was hoping as it would be a decent spiritual successor.
You aren't missing anything.
Now that CoH: Homecoming has a NCSoft blessing, the element of desperation that kindled my flagging hope for the game has been snuffed out.
I'll check it out should it ever be released. Perhaps by then it will be substantially improved and I've already paid for it anyway.
Embers Adrift has launched and has a small but apparently sufficient following.
offtopic: A base BMW isn't much more expensive than any other vehicle on the road unless it's an Alpina or M. Honestly a full size heavy duty pickup can come in at almost 100k, even more by the time you add a lift kit, wheels and tires.
I like isometric crafting mmos like UO which is why I donated. I also was too idealistic to understand all those kickstarters were a grift...
I think they've a free 9 days of play starting this weekend.
Excellent. I wanted to give it more a go.