The crowdfunding thread

[Mike Dunn]

I've backed four Kickstarters, and Divinity:Original Sin is the first to ship. I'm thrilled with it, and already have 20 hours in the game. The main reason I backed it is that the combat is turn-based, that's right up this old gamer's alley.

Still to come: Chaos Reborn by the creator of X-Com, Torment (backed at a level that gets me Wasteland 2), and Jon Shafer's At the Gates.

I have faith that none of those three will fail to ship.

[Lions]

Wait a second.... Cleveland had those?

It seems that great doesn't exclusively mean happy, as evidenced by the sample page in the Updates section depicting Byner fumbling.

[Apollos]

On a hunch, I went and checked a couple of these titles out -- looks like John got behind a few games that really took off.

Interesting notes on Star Citizen - which now appears to be planned for release sometime in 2016 (?)... They've now raised a cool $100mil and counting. I'm still interested in the game but it's starting to look like something that may require more free time than I have. The website is first-class though and it's fun to play around with just to see how much development has gone into this game. Check out the website here.

[John]

Yeah, I've been meaning to give another update on the campaigns I backed. You hit on the really interesting (and controversial) one, Brian.

Star Citizen has grown into a kind of mini-cultural phenomenon, and not everyone is particularly thrilled about that. As the dollars continue to roll in (total contributions just passed the $100,000,000 mark, as Brian noted), there has been increasing outcry from folks who believe the entire project is an elaborate scheme to part gullible donators from their money. The naysayers point to the game's massive delay (it was originally scheduled for release in November, 2014) and the fact that there is no new firm release date in sight (2016 is just a guess at this point). They claim that the vision that lead designer Chris Roberts is selling to the public would be unachievable even with AAA studio backing (Roberts is developing the game independently using a cross-studio system under the umbrella name of Cloud Imperium Games, or CIG).

Chief among the game's detractors is Derek Smart. Himself a game developer and Star Citizen backer, Smart has taken it upon himself to crusade against the game in general, and CIG and Roberts in particular. This has led to some nasty back-and-forth in the press, with Smart accusing Roberts of "not only [leaving] behind a trail of badly managed projects [and] a reputation for never delivering on lofty promises, but also one failed studio," and Roberts countering "It's hard not to be irritated when someone who is famous for being very late and then finally releasing a bug ridden game that doesn't do half the things he promised starts criticizing you for taking too long and not delivering on promises." Smart and CIG have exchanged legal volleys, as well.

But perhaps the most explosive attack on Star Citizen's legitimacy began when Lizzy Finnegan of The Escapist posted an article entitled "Eject! Eject! Is Star Citizen Going to Crash and Burn?" In the article, Finnegan claims that Smart possesses a leaked letter from former CIG employee David Jennesin that claims less then desirable working conditions at the studio and is critical of Roberts leadership. Then came the infamous follow-up article "Star Citizen Employees Speak Out on Project Woes," in which Finnegan cites anonymous sources to level allegations of illegal hiring practices and fraud against Roberts and CIG. Roberts posted a lengthy retort complete with a scanned copy of his formal letter to The Escapist.

This drama occurred about two and half months ago. More recently, CIG released a playable Alpha 2.0 of Star Citizen that allows backers to fly around a little bit of the Star Citizen universe and engage in some space battles. Reviews have been guarded yet relatively positive, and there are plenty of in-game videos being posted by journalists and fans if you'd like to see what it looks like. Still, doubts remain and will continue to remain until a new release date is set in stone.

Is Star Citizen going to be the biggest scam in gaming history or simply the biggest game in history? It's impossible to say. I really don't have much skin in the game. If the whole thing falls apart, I'm out $30 that I was prepared to lose anyway. If it soars, my $30 probably didn't help all that much, anyway. If it turns out to be a merely average space shoot-'em-up (the most likely outcome), well, we all had fun debating the outcome, didn't we? It's a win-win.

If there's any interest in updates on the other games I recommended for backing, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

[Apollos]

That was an excellent long read on the project from Polygon, John. Thanks for the link. I had no idea it'd taken on such a life over the last couple years. I'll be keeping my eyes on it a little more closely now and waiting to see what the end result is.