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Kotaku looks into 11 long overdue and/or failed kickstarters

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N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Lots of information about each at the link: http://kotaku.com/12-successful-kickstarters-that-never-delivered-1687019268

Those that didn't reply:

Kotaku said:
Aura Tactics [Earned: $11,577]

Code Hero [Earned: $170,954] <- pretty well established as a scam

Shining Empire [Earned: $3,056]

Moon Rift [Earned: $8,082]

Yogventures [Earned: $567,665] <- if you clicked on this thread you probably saw this one before

H-Hour: World's Elite [Earned: $252,662] <- Several posters in the thread have disputed this being a non-updating project and mentioned that the alpha is about to release and screenshots have been shown. [Note: Kotaku has since amended the article.]

The Stomping Land [Earned: $114,060] <- also a famous controvery
Click to expand...

Those that did reply:

Kotaku said:
LA Game Space [Earned: $335,657]
-Noted they had delivered everything but the physical space, which they say they're still working on.

Unwritten: That Which Happened [Earned: $78,017]
-Noted that his family encountered long term health problems so he had to get a job with medical insurance. Also notes he gave refunds on request and is still working on the project, though it is now different.

Clang [Earned: $526,125]
-Note: Was officially canceled last year.

Rival Threads : Last Class Heroes [Earned: $24,812]
-Developer insists it's still going and is taking so long due to scope changes.
Click to expand...

The 12th one is a book so I left that off.

However, since this is also a good time to bring this back up, Stumpokapow once did a giant listing of all the Kickstarters that had over $75,000 in funding and investigated their status and risk of failure and saw that there was actually quite a good success rate among larger projects.

Stumpokapow said:
Nirolak, your listing there for my KS investigation is way out of date. Here's the up-to-date link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lFW2sjShHriYRsyuVZx4Se8Qxjw38VJk4g-7cls8cpg/edit#gid=0

It's the progress status of every 75k+ Kickstarter up to June 2014.
Click to expand...

He left out most things below $75K because he felt those overwhelmingly represented hobbyist projects that were much more "at your own risk" deals, but does have a tab that details some of the more prominent ones.

Edit: Updated to include stump's new list.
 
D

Diablohead

Member
"Clang [Earned: $526,125]
-Note: Was officially canceled last year."

These feeling I have right now, I can't explain them.
 
R

RyanPierre

Member
H-Hour: World's Elite

Earned: $252,662

Funded: July 7, 2013

Estimated Delivery Date: Jan 2015

Billed as a spiritual successor to SOCOM helmed by the original creator of those old shooters, David Sears, the H-Hour project was remarkably successful, raising a quarter million dollars. Today, nobody knows if it's ever going to come out. The most recent real update, from April 2014, is a dismal monologue from Sears about how difficult it's been to fund the project. And today, rumor suggests that Sears has left the team entirely. Reps for the game did not respond to a request for comment.
Click to expand...

The hell? Did they not just start alpha testing for backers like a week ago? What kind of reporting is this?
 
SerTapTap

SerTapTap

Member
Figured Two Guys SpaceVenture would be on the list--earliest one I backed without delivering. They're apparently still working on it, but it's higher profile than most of the ones on the list and about the same age.
 
K

Kyonashi

Member
LA Game Space [Earned: $335,657]
-Noted they had delivered everything but the physical space
Click to expand...

Ignoring how stupid it is that the physical space was the entire point of the thing, they haven't delivered everything. Pendleton Ward and some others still haven't delivered their games.
 
M

MicH

Member
I know next to nothing about Kickstarter (only backed three projects), but what happens when these things get cancelled and never deliver? Do backers get their money back?
 
B

Broadbandito

Member
clearly they didn't dig deep. There is a closed alpha test happening for the pc version of H HOUR right now. Started last week (or 2 weeks ago?)
 
SerTapTap

SerTapTap

Member
MicH said:
I know next to nothing about Kickstarter (only backed three projects), but what happens when these things get cancelled and never deliver? Do backers get their money back?
Click to expand...

It's up to the developer to refund, they're not strictly required to (and often don't because in all likelihood they've often spent some, all or more than all the money from the KS if they're >1 year late)
 
B

bigkrev

Member
RyanPierre said:
The hell? Did they not just start alpha testing for backers like a week ago? What kind of reporting is this?
Click to expand...

Yeah, there was an update to the kickstarter 2 weeks ago https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1687497632/h-hour-worlds-elite-0/posts/1125781

I'm guessing Jason was researching this for a few weeks, wrote this part of the post, and never went back to check it before publishing it today- which is understandable, as it had been 10 months without an update when he started
 
M

Meeps

Member
LA Game Space [Earned: $335,657]
-Noted they had delivered everything but the physical space
Click to expand...

I was just wondering about this one the other day. A bunch of developers were promoting it on Twitter during the initial campaign too.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Nirolak said:
Sorry I redid the title. It was originally "never delivered" but I wanted it to reflect that not all were officially canceled.
Click to expand...

Ah yeah, I see it makes more sense now

In general, I think if you have a discerning eye, it's pretty obvious which kickstarters will succeed in delivering their product and which will not.

If you have a developer with

A) No history
B) No major shipped products
C) promises from here to the moon
D) a ridiculously tiny budget (i.e. "we're going to out-do GTAV on 1/100th the budget!")
E) No functional prototype

they're not going to deliver, save your money.
 
C

Caj814

Member
Forkball said:
Someone please post the Yogsventure gif.
Click to expand...
gW3gkXz.gif
 
P

Patryn

Member
MicH said:
I know next to nothing about Kickstarter (only backed three projects), but what happens when these things get cancelled and never deliver? Do backers get their money back?
Click to expand...

Kickstarter itself does nothing.

There is language in the agreements that states there's a contract between the project and backers such that projects are required to deliver the promised rewards or offer refunds, but the only avenue available to backers to force action is filing lawsuits.

Basically, projects are supposed to either deliver or give refunds, but if they don't the only thing a backer can do is sue.
 
B

Broadbandito

Member
bigkrev said:
Yeah, there was an update to the kickstarter 2 weeks ago https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1687497632/h-hour-worlds-elite-0/posts/1125781

I'm guessing Jason was researching this for a few weeks, wrote this part of the post, and never went back to check it before publishing it today- which is understandable, as it had been 10 months without an update when he started
Click to expand...

Constant updates on the official site, Sears leaving was a public matter there (not a rumor)

https://www.sofstudios.com/index.php?/page/index.html
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
More kickstarter wisdom:

If you're kickstarting hardware, it is much more likely to never get delivered (especially if you are kickstarting R&D rather than pure manufacturing), and even if it does deliver, general rule of thumb is to add 1 year to the delivery date.

Producing hardware is really, really difficult, especially if you have no experience.
 
A

Auctopus

Member
Yeah, H-Hour doesn't deserve to be on there.

It doesn't matter if this has been researched for a few weeks, he should've checked his facts again before publication.
 
P

Patryn

Member
Czigga said:
Surprised tropes vs women isn't on the list
Click to expand...

Why would it? It's well known what the state of that project is, and she's been delivering videos.

She may have not released them all by her original target date, but it seems like this article is much more about projects that have just gone dark.
 
C

cakely

Member
Diablohead said:
"Clang [Earned: $526,125]
-Note: Was officially canceled last year."

These feeling I have right now, I can't explain them.
Click to expand...

I was a backer for that one. I wanted the writer of "Snow Crash" to develop a game.

Honestly, I'm really not mad. Maybe something will come of it, someday. If not? It's Ok.
 
M

Mechanical Snowman

Member
Krejlooc said:
Ah yeah, I see it makes more sense now

In general, I think if you have a discerning eye, it's pretty obvious which kickstarters will succeed in delivering their product and which will not.

If you have a developer with

A) No history
B) No major shipped products
C) promises from here to the moon
D) a ridiculously tiny budget (i.e. "we're going to out-do GTAV on 1/100th the budget!")
E) No functional prototype

they're not going to deliver, save your money.
Click to expand...
Is that an "all of the above" or are you saying just one of those things in your list is enough to decide if a Kickstarter project isn't worth backing?
 
X

Xater

Member
Krejlooc said:
Ah yeah, I see it makes more sense now

In general, I think if you have a discerning eye, it's pretty obvious which kickstarters will succeed in delivering their product and which will not.

If you have a developer with

A) No history
B) No major shipped products
C) promises from here to the moon
D) a ridiculously tiny budget (i.e. "we're going to out-do GTAV on 1/100th the budget!")
E) No functional prototype

they're not going to deliver, save your money.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty good guideline.

Mechanical Snowman said:
Is that an "all of the above" or are you saying just one of those things in your list is enough to decide if a Kickstarter project isn't worth backing?
Click to expand...

I'd say if A & B apply the rest of the points better not.
 
V

vinnygambini

Why are strippers at the U.N. bad when they're great at strip clubs???
What happens to those cancelled? Are the funds returned to the rightful owners?
 
P

Patryn

Member
vinnygambini said:
What happens to those cancelled? Are the funds returned to the rightful owners?
Click to expand...

.

Patryn said:
Kickstarter itself does nothing.

There is language in the agreements that states there's a contract between the project and backers such that projects are required to deliver the promised rewards or offer refunds, but the only avenue available to backers to force action is filing lawsuits.

Basically, projects are supposed to either deliver or give refunds, but if they don't the only thing a backer can do is sue.
Click to expand...
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Mechanical Snowman said:
Is that an "all of the above" or are you saying just one of those things in your list is enough to decide if a Kickstarter project isn't worth backing?
Click to expand...

More like "most of the above"

Each is a red flag. If those red flags add up, simply don't back, no matter how enticing the product they're pitching sounds.

It's crazy to go back and read the yogsventure pitch, what they were proposing would have been ambitious for a major experienced studio, and they were going with a dev that had never shipped anything before. It was very obviously never going to pan out.
 
M

Muskieratboi

Member
Ugh... Code Hero. *sigh*

One Day someone will figure out how to make a portal-like puzzler that teaches you to write JS work.

One Day.
 
A

Aselith

Member
Why did Kotaku "look into" a project that was cancelled? Did they want a gimme project that didn't need to try too hard to look into?
 
N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
vinnygambini said:
What happens to those cancelled? Are the funds returned to the rightful owners?
Click to expand...

On Kickstarter it's similar to being a publisher in that if a project fails, you're left holding the bill and nothing to show for it.

It's a solid object lesson in why publishers are cautious even with good sounding ideas.
 
A

Artanisix

Member
Hilariously awful.

The only game I've backed is Double Fine Adventures, and only because I love Tim Schafer. No way I could back a game that doesn't have serious credentials behind it.
 
W

W1SSY

Member
H-Hour has not "delivered" but they are also keeping the community up to date on what is going on. It is not posted on the kickstarter page but is on the website and as others have said, they did not hide the fact that Sears left the project.
 
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