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Have we had enough of Kickstarters and Remakes ?

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Oscar - 22 July 2014 01:57 AM

Is anyone sad TAC is gone?

Not in the least. They are responsible for many adventure developers going bankrupt due to non-payment of royalties as was contracted. TAC only published games and occasionally helped fund some, like the Agatha Christie games. TAC was not a developer. Detalion, Galilea, Microids Canada (developer of Syberia and Still Life, not to be confused with the current Microids), Kheops, and others are gone because they weren’t paid the royalties for their work. Frogwares and the developer of the Dark Fall games may be the only developers that survived. Back then few developers said anything about it, and what they posted in game forums is mostly gone, perhaps still available in the web archive somewhere, but impossible to search for.

Maybe at one time TAC was a decent publisher—back when it was still Dreamcatcher and before it split into Dreamcatcher and TAC (The Adventure Company)—maybe back before that when they still only published adventure and puzzle games and didn’t try to “maximize profits” by publishing other genrss. But that was a long time ago—before year 2001.

More recently, Lace Mamba did the same kind of thing and were sued for it. Digital Jesters, GMX and other publishers were also guilty of bilking developers, as was mentioned in this archived thread at Adventuregamers where Wael Amr (of Frogwares) described all the “funny business” publishers were pulling in order to avoid paying the people who actually made the games. Martin Gantefoehr (from House of Tales) backed him up, giving the reason so few developers said anything about it back then:

More often than not, publishing contracts have a non-disclosure paragraph regarding the publication of business practices and processes, and put you under the risk of getting sued for “letting loose”.

Check posts from “wael” in the above archived Adventuregamers thread.

Anyway, it’s not surprising that some developers turned to crowdfunding when they couldn’t find an honest publisher. Instead of receiving development funds from publishers, they receive them from end users. And even if you’re disappointed with the game you receive for your donation, or if it’s delayed (or not completed) due to a developer’s inexperience with budgeting, at least the money isn’t lining the pockets of corrupt management at some publishing house that had nothing to do with actually creating the game.

     
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Called it , it was a scam


Hello,
This is a message from Kickstarter’s Trust & Safety team. We’re writing to notify you that the Areal (Suspended) project has been suspended, and your $x.00 USD pledge has been canceled. A review of the project uncovered evidence that it broke Kickstarter’s rules. We may suspend projects when they demonstrate one or more of the following:

A related party posing as an independent, supportive party in project comments or elsewhere
Misrepresenting support by pledging to your own project
Misrepresenting or failing to disclose relevant facts about the project or its creator
Providing inaccurate or incomplete user information to Kickstarter or one of our partners

Accordingly, all funding has been stopped and backers will not be charged for their pledges. No further action is required on your part.

We take the integrity of the Kickstarter system very seriously. We only suspend projects when we find strong evidence that they are misrepresenting themselves or otherwise violating the letter or spirit of Kickstarter’s rules. As a policy, we do not offer comment on project suspensions beyond what is stated in this message.

Regards,
Kickstarter Trust & Safety

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1577656602/areal

 


Good call by the authorities will keep Third degree Frauds at bay.

     
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Joined 2011-04-01

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crabapple - 22 July 2014 01:57 PM

TAC only published games and occasionally helped fund some, like the Agatha Christie games. TAC was not a developer.

I did know that, but I feel the lines between developer and publisher are somewhat blurred sometimes. From what I understand (very little), publishers control development a lot more than the name implies: their power means they can demand content be removed or included, and choose not to publish certain games at all. This of course depends on the publisher, but you only have to look at the consistency of certain publishers’ output to know how much influence they wield over development.

Interesting to know about the financial side of it anyhow.

     
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Joined 2013-03-14

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Recently there’s been a couple of, I won’t call them notable, but at least a bit bigger KS projects, lead by people with industry veterans, which seem to be unable ot rack in peoples interest. At the same time some bigger KS projects have already delivered or are about to do so and some of those projects have even been very well received, like Divinity: Original Sin for an example. And yet, it looks like, people are not as willing to pledge anymore, which would indicate, that the honeymoon perioid is over.

And it’s not just the fault of game projects taking too long. There’s some notable scams that have been around, then there’s those games that have disappointed people, when the developer team hasn’t been up to the challenge. A lot of technology based KS projects have disappointed people and while some have not, it generally seems like that doesn’t translate well outside the small backer circle. Then there’s also the question of unfilled rewards, which seem to haunt some projects that have been done for ages. That is also a huge thing for people, as if you don’t get what you paid for, you’ll propably won’t be backing again in any project.

For some while now I’ve been thinking about the lack of actual quality control in KS. Kickstarter has claimed that they do check out the projects and set standards to them, but as far I can tell, the projects like Potato Salad show, that there’s no real quality or content monitoring. This is something, that is already hurting Kickstarter a lot. I do think in the future they’ll pretty much have to start screening the projects better, as I’ve noticed that KS, and the whole notion of crowdfunding, has beceom somewhat unappealing to me.

Don’t take me wrong though, I am glad that I’ve backed some of the projects I did. It has been a learning experience, as I also now know whom I’d back again if it would come to it. But, as there’s always one, I’ve noticed that how far away the actual delivered products can be from what was sometimes promised. In some cases for the better, in some cases for the worse. This has been very disappointing especially in cases where a notable dev or designer has seemingly dropped the ball.

I don’t know. It’s a difficult question. KS isn’t the project manager, it’s just a funding platform. But at the same time I can’t help but to feel it would be at times better if they would actually act like a producer as well. That would, of course, put off a lot of projects and in the end it would be counter productive, but I do think something has to be done with the whole crowdfunding platform to make it more credible again.

Well, this did turn into a ramble. Perhaps even a bit more negative one that I originally intented. But yeah, the crux of the matter seems to be for me, that I have some what lost my faith in crowdfunding for the moment, despite I already have gotten some enjoyable games out of it. A lot of times I find myself thingking, that okay, if they’ll ever make it, I’ll buy it. But I’m not that interested in sitting through the whole production phase anymore. It’s just too much, especially when there’s multiple projects going on. 

     
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tomimt - 06 August 2014 02:50 AM

A lot of technology based KS projects have disappointed people and while some have not, it generally seems like that doesn’t translate well outside the small backer circle.

That basically defines it, would say Strong backer circle, the need will eventually
fade with time, samey projects will see marginal returns and i would love to see
how new game projects will fare in attracting same and new base.

Good rant anyway.

     
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tomimt - 06 August 2014 02:50 AM

Well, this did turn into a ramble. Perhaps even a bit more negative one that I originally intented. But yeah, the crux of the matter seems to be for me, that I have some what lost my faith in crowdfunding for the moment, despite I already have gotten some enjoyable games out of it. A lot of times I find myself thingking, that okay, if they’ll ever make it, I’ll buy it. But I’m not that interested in sitting through the whole production phase anymore. It’s just too much, especially when there’s multiple projects going on.

I feel more or less the same. I’ve wasted far too much money on KS projects. I’m not blaming anybody but myself for that. And there are many games I don’t regret backing at all. But the specific dollar amount I pledged does have something to do with my feelings of disappointment.

My expectations of BS5 weren’t high because it’s not one of my favorite series, but I backed it anyway at the lowest pledge level. I really enjoyed BS5 much more than I thought I would, those 15 dollars were well spent. So if I decide to back another KS I will give them no more than the 15 or 20 bucks to get their game as a reward.

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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Joined 2008-01-31

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For me it’s more difficult nowadays to become really excited about new Kickstarter projects, and I’ve become really picky what I support, because I’ve noticed that in many cases being a backer isn’t that special and many development updates are boring. I’m definitely going to support for example next project from Broken Sword 5 team (that’s my favorite Kickstarter game) and Jane’s next project (even though I didn’t like Moebius that much). However, some promising game from unknown team won’t probably get my money.

     

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Joined 2012-01-08

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Joined 2013-03-14

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Shnubble - 07 August 2014 10:18 AM

http://www.dorkly.com/post/66182/how-to-run-a-successful-videogame-kickstarter?ref=9gag#!bxX8ZS

That does seem to be pretty accurate Grin

     

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Joined 2004-03-05

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Personally I’m into Kickstarter to obtain special tangible items from games that I love. And I must admit that currently I’m a bit disappointed in the Broken Sword 5 box, which in the end did not come signed and differed only a tiny little bit from the cheap retail collector’s edition. The game itself was fine, but I will keep to the digital rewards other kickstarter follow this example.

     
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Joined 2012-07-11

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I’m happy with my BS5 rewards personally.

I’m fine with KS etc as I only back those that have proven they are capable. As for reboots/remakes, I just wish we had lesser known or more obscure titles.

     

Recently completed: Game of Thrones (decent), Tales from the borderlands (great!), Life is Strange (great!), Stasis (good), Annas Quest (great!); Broken Age (poor)

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Joined 2007-05-25

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I love Kickstarter and what it has done for the adventure game scene. For me personally, just giving money and support back to these adventure gaming legends, who provided my most cherished gaming memories, being a part of the process and earning the cool rewards is reason enough for me to pledge. Every campaign is like a giant party and I’ve never regretted being involved. After all that, the game becomes a bonus for me lol. I hope kickstarters keep pouring in! I have a lot of support left in me.

     
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Joined 2004-01-05

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Everybody was aware of the decline in kickstarter game pledges but there was a study to confirm it:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-10-02-kickstarter-games-in-2014-are-making-less-than-half-what-they-did-last-year

$27,023,480 in comparison to last year $57,934,417.

I think they are right in some of the reasons - people being fed up with some scams and lack of high profile game kickstarters.

     
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Joined 2009-11-10

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I set aside $35/month for kickstarter projects (for games, novels and comics). The reason for this is that I want more of the type of games I like and I feel that helping independent games on kickstarter is a good way to achieve that. I’m going to do this for one more year (I’ve done it already for a year) and will then look at the projects I backed and how happy I am with the results.

Currently, I was very happy with BS5 and BA but I’m eagerly waiting for the second episode. QFI and Spud’s quest were also quite good.
I was disappointed with Moebius but will still back Jane Jensen one more time mostly out of gratitude for GK (probably not going to back her at the $50 level though).

I still didn’t get around to playing Tesla Effect (mostly because I want to replay all the games since under a killing moon and didn’t have the time to do that yet) and I’m really looking forward to Dreamfall Chapters.

The rest of the game projects I backed are not completed yet. At the beginning I would read the project updates and try to read the forums but I’ve stopped doing that because it takes time I could be using to do something more productive/fun and in some cases it spoils the fun by revealing things I’d rather not know about the game.

     
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I don’t think I’ll ever forget the day Oculus Rift was sold to Facebook. The travesty!

     

See you around, wolf. Nerissa

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