Broken Age

[Mr. GOH!]

I am well aware that KS is for lots of stuff. I'm talking about it when it's used by games companies to fund game development, specifically about how other campaigns did better than Broken Age. 

 

As far as Steven Dengler goes, I am certain he's not an investor, just a rich superfan. He's not making money on his donations; his matching was meant to cover failed pledges and initially did not count towards the KS campaign. But because there were so few failed pledges, his donations ended up counting towards the last stretch goal (or maybe it was the donation from Brian Fargo, I can't recall).

 

Legally speaking, the duties owed to backers should be clear; the products as promised by the campaign to the backers should be delivered, or the backers get their money back, modified by any disclaimers or waivers or releases the backer may sign on for when they pledge. Not sure about the legal regime in the UK.

[deanb]

Nah he's an investor, has this "Dracogen" company to invest through. Notch is the one that comes under "rich superfan" designation (though obviously had at one point been in talks to fund Psychonauts 2)

 

The problem with KS is so far it's just rewards, nothing promised. And there's certainly no obligation for the rewards to be products either. Even on a project scale I'm not sure how it would work if the project is unsuccessful. Assumedly you'd have spent the backing money and been unable to get off the ground with your project, so what money will be used to refund the backers?

[Mister Jack]

Also, people making games with kickstarter money are under no obligation to give you a copy. They all list a copy of the game as a reward because that's the best way to get backers, but that's all it is: a reward to say thank you. Technically speaking, it is not a preorder. You are not buying a copy of the game. You are giving someone money to help them get their project off the ground, and they are offering you a copy of the game as a way of showing gratitude. Obviously it is in everyone's best interest that they follow through, but I'm pretty sure you couldn't take someone to court over a kickstarter reward.

 

Edited July 14, 2013 by Mister Jack

[Thursday Next]

I think Kickstarter terms are pretty clear, you pays your money you takes your chances. KS keep at arms length as much as possible. If the project fails because your reach exceeded your grasp then you are under no obligation to return any money to your backers. The FAQ is just giving some PR advice. Legally, unless you have been doing something other than using the money to make the project then I don't think a backer would be able to recover their pledge.In the UK bringing a small claim will cost you £25 and going beyond that to actually recover your money you are looking at around £100 - £150, so unless you backed for £100 plus it's not even worth trying to recover your pledge, not that I think you'd succeed anyway.

 

That's why I think what DF are doing sucks so much. Beyond a bit of a dent to their reputation they have taken no risks themselves and have been careless with other people's money. Now, if you are going to be careless with the money of EA, or Activision or some other EvilCorp™ then fine. They're big enough and ugly enough to take care of themselves and can do stuff like sue DF to get at least some of their money back or take control of the IP themselves and finish it. In this instance though, DF have been careless with the money of their biggest, most loyal fans, I'm sure some of those fans considered the backing pledge to be a significant amount of money, but worth it to support a team they believe in.

 

 

The worst part of it is (to my mind) that having blown past several budgets DF don't even seem slightly apologetic. Instead they seem to be trying to suck in even more cash to throw down their apparently bottomless money pit, so I don't think any lessons are being learned along the way. I can just see this spiralling out of control until it is vastly over budget, massively delayed and has been gutted just to eventually get something out the door. Sadly, it's a ringing endorsement for overbearing, interfering publishers who would have kept a far tighter rein on expenses and ensured that some sort of dev schedule was adhered to.

[deanb]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-09-02-broken-age-to-feature-jack-black-and-jennifer-hale

 

So assuming they're not doing this pro bono I think might have identified where some of the budget got blown.