A quick post interrupting the March Madness Obscure Game Challenge and then I will return to the scheduled posting...
Over at rpggeek.com there is a list of fraudulent or controversial kickstarter projects that anyone curious about contributing funds should read. There are some familiar names on the list and I can see that I dodged a few bullets myself. I am just spreading the word about this for anyone interested. I have also added a link to my Links page.
It is truly stunning the amount of people willing to pay for a product which does not exist. RPG Kickstarters/Crowdfunding must be the new holy grail of get rich quick schemes. Also, the people who attempt to make product from the money received reveal a level of business sense lacking in the average eleven year old. Just stunning. But the money just keeps on rolling in. I don't have the time but when I do, I will ask these backers who post such nonsense like "I think this will happen" like how, or why?
ReplyDeleteI hear you loud and clear! I have been intrigued by the proposals before but I have yet to pull the trigger on any of them. There are a few that I would back in the future based on their previous output; I am waiting on a project or two to do just that. I am just real unsure about backing the vast majority of them, though.
DeleteHere's something to think about: I've written back and forth to folk running kickstarters or crowd-funding campaigns, just to communicate with the person supposedly running it. If they don't respond or answer what I'm asking, I don't trust them. Furthermore, I like to point out the excellent people called the Better Business Bureau (the BBB) give Kickstarter either a D or an F rating. Why? Read it for yourself. KS wants to collect your money, but they don't care about complaints from people like us and get their share whether the fundraiser makes good or not. There've been endless complaints to the BBB, but KS doesn't care or even respond, because they know if people see a green Barbie doll with a real bazooka or something, they'll invest in it, even if it's a load of crap. And SOMETIMES they close down the controversial KSs and sometimes not... So you're right Charlie: beware.
ReplyDeleteGood advice. Just simply communicating with a person behind a KS project should be a good indication of whether or not it's a project worth backing. I don't know why but I hadn't thought of the BBB. I have some reading to do...
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