VibratingDonkey
Member
Anyway.yesterday I started doing some researching said:
Guess I should thank him for getting Kickstarter to confirm its stance.
And a sad one it is. This is why we can't have nice things.Justin Kazmark at Kickstarter said:
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Millionaire tries to get $829 via kickstarter to send daughter to RPG maker camp?
- Thread starter Goon Boon
- Start date
Guess I should thank him for getting Kickstarter to confirm its stance.
Aquamarine
Member
On a morbid note, feel free to start a Kickstarter if you ever need money for anything. Obviously Kickstarter doesn't give a shit, as long as there's some kind of "project" involved with it. Couple your Kickstarter with hot button issues to ensure you receive funding at a moment's notice.
A Link to the Past
Banned
Yeah, I got mine.
It's a damn shame. From what dialogue I've had with him, he seemed like a good guy. Looking at this new information, all the stuff he has done has been pretty unacceptable and childish. If this is his first publishing job, if he can't be humble about mistakes, then hopefully it will be his last.
Edit: Nevermind.
It's still stupid. I disagree completely with this project just like I disagreed with PennyArcade using it.
Turned out he's had certain issues before... Here's another debacle he had with one of his artists back in 2008.
It's fucking kick starter there will always be shit on it. The only thing you can do is be a wise consumer.
WAR recon zero
Banned
so will you continue to support good projects in KS after this?
Delusibeta
Banned
A website, Crowdfund Insider, pulling the trigger too early by declaring "the dust has settled", still has a decent article on lessons to learn from this, even though he also takes the time to urinate on the crowd. However, here's the good part:
Also, investment crowdfunding... where have I heard that before?
Also, investment crowdfunding... where have I heard that before?
OccamsBlender
Member
I'm a woman in game dev and this article is not misogynist. It's picking apart a sinister attempt to pray on good will.
She's worse than a misandrist she's got to be one of the worst parents in the world. Someone ought to take her sons away and put them in a more gentile home.
A Link to the Past
Banned
Wow, Mark's kind of a dick. I'd actually had plans to do an interview with him, but I wouldn't be able to do it without bringing this up, and I don't think he'd complete the interview if I asked these questions.
I'm usually one of those guys who never jumps onto those "BOYCOTT!" trains, but this time I think I really will. Doesn't sit well with me when the Kickstarter guys are supporting this exploitation of peoples' goodwill.
Aquamarine
Member
* Polygon posted an article endorsing this, but pulled it after 30 minutes. They later said "it was a draft and wasn't ready for publication."
* CNET posted an article about LOL U TROLLZ R SO STUPIIIID but ignores a lot of the story
* She posted a fake email from "John from Kickstarter" as an update
* "John from Kickstarter" endorsed her Kickstarter, but he's not in the official employees list, and official project endorsement is against Kickstarter's rules
* However, a guy named John was found to be a Kickstarter employee. It's still very questionable as to whether or not he said anything.
* An official Kickstarter rep said that this Kickstarter will stay up because "it's a project," even though it clearly violates many of their terms of use.
* More evidence that she is cybersquatting and performing other shady nonsense
* A brief discussion about the merits of RPG Maker as a vehicle to drive STEM education
Nope. It takes a lot for me to actually "boycott" something but everything about this rubs me the wrong way and goes against what Kickstarter should be.
I'll ask any projects I want to support for a paypal option and if they don't give one then oh well.
Delusibeta
Banned
See also the first post
An e-mail that smells of bullshit, a search for a John who works in Kickstarter (he joined in February), the discovery that the camp was already paid for (and therefore the entire Kickstarter is pointless, and an exercise in moneygrabbing), Polygon's drafting system needs tightening, more internet detective work, and an implicit approval by a Kickstarter staff member which indicate he doesn't know what the problem is.
Do it anyway. This is something that deserves to be raised.
statham
Member
thanks. Very shocked kickstarter is not shutting this down.
well if it is fake then it is a fake but otherwise it is not against their T&C because it was an email, not public endorsement.
I understand your point - this woman has been trying to be this PR mogul and have successful crowd-funding in past and now has finally succeeded. Is it fair and morally right? Probably not... but thats life. She has officially made it.
Donald Trump would endorse the hell out of her
Seems like they're getting a nice slice of the pie given they get 5%. However they're damned if they do/don't in this case. But they're flat out wrong if they think this is the lesser of the two evils.
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Do eeeeet.
I still think most are approaching this from the wrong angle. I think the real issue is the lack of accountability with kickstarter. There's no proof this is even real. I could start a kickstarter that I want to create a game but I have some physical disability preventing me from doing so (or some other pity inspirational story). Shouldn't I have to offer proof that I am legitimate? We're just taking her word that she has this 9 year old video game fanatic who wants to make a game to show up her brothers. There is no proof of it. Kenzie could easily be a standard 9 year old girl that knows nothing about games.
Instead we have conflicting evidence. Dragon Age 2 is her favorite game? She wants to make age appropriate games but her favorite is one with way age inappropriate things? Her official website looks like that for a 4 year old yet she composes a kickstarter like a 13 year old.
Instead we have conflicting evidence. Dragon Age 2 is her favorite game? She wants to make age appropriate games but her favorite is one with way age inappropriate things? Her official website looks like that for a 4 year old yet she composes a kickstarter like a 13 year old.
Zoe
Member
I'm having trouble seeing why that matters.
Delusibeta
Banned
Actually, if it's fake, then it's explicitly against Kickstarter's Terms of Use.
If the e-mail is fake, then it's pretty damn cut and dry. And if it's real, then I have no interest in dealing with Kickstarter again. If they can't see the problem with this, then I have no faith in them seeing other problem Kickstarters.
Diablohead
Member
I knew kickstarter would do nothing, it's money in their pocket too so why would they. Sigh.
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
The donators might not be too pleased when the full story starts coming out. It sounds pretty shady now, but I have a feeling that we've only scratched the surface.
Well they'll either won't find out, be willfully ignorant or act victimized despite having how shady this is pointed out to them.
Pachterballs
Banned
that article on cnet and the repeated use of the word troll... how ... um, amateurish is that writeup?
urgh
urgh
It is terrible and rightfully getting slammed in the comments section.
The project throws up half a dozen red flags. Any one of them could be dismissed on its own, but together they point to this being no more than a cynical attempt to line the parents' pocketbook through calculated begging.
But, if Kickstarter doesn't want to do anything about it. That's the end of it for me. Backers can waste their money. If they ever feel wronged, they can blame Wilson, Kickstarter and themselves.
But, if Kickstarter doesn't want to do anything about it. That's the end of it for me. Backers can waste their money. If they ever feel wronged, they can blame Wilson, Kickstarter and themselves.
My biggest problem is if you look at her previous kickstarter - the cape one - she gives a BS excuse about her family wanting to start a gaming business, but then afterwards admits her sons just want a place to hangout:
"My family wants to start a comic/collectibles/Magic the Gathering type business. But more than anything I think the boys want to create the gathering spot they want."
She's doing the same things here. She had paid for camp already, or at least the deposit, but then decided to KS it rather than put down her own money. I will give her credit for marketing it and hitting the right angles - sad, chunky 9 year-old girl vs her stupid, jerky older brothers - but it's clearly just emotional exploitation and the internet crowd is simply too wrapped up in feel good to see that.
Also, I'm positive Susan is hoping it gets pulled. Once that happens, it will open the flood gates for evil, misogynist society vs 9-yo supposed gamer girl....Oprah on line #1.
"My family wants to start a comic/collectibles/Magic the Gathering type business. But more than anything I think the boys want to create the gathering spot they want."
She's doing the same things here. She had paid for camp already, or at least the deposit, but then decided to KS it rather than put down her own money. I will give her credit for marketing it and hitting the right angles - sad, chunky 9 year-old girl vs her stupid, jerky older brothers - but it's clearly just emotional exploitation and the internet crowd is simply too wrapped up in feel good to see that.
Also, I'm positive Susan is hoping it gets pulled. Once that happens, it will open the flood gates for evil, misogynist society vs 9-yo supposed gamer girl....Oprah on line #1.
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
I think her undoing is the fact that people love a scandal even more than a feel good story. Could be KS's undoing as well, which is why I think it would have been in their best interests to quietly pull the page before the mainstream media got their hands on the story.
turnbuckle
Member
why? never mind that the camp was already paid for. but why the different stance on a kid and adults? I could disagree but understand if there was a sympathy angle, but this camp is paid for and her mom is extremely wealthy.
My God @ Polygon. They gotta be one of the worst gaming sites at this point
Eric Mack investigates?
From the article he posted, all he did was read a few reddit comments and keep track of hits on his previous article... Oh and he called the internet trolls...
The article turns into a mock post about trolls for fuck's sake... What kind of investigative work is that?
"Oh the masses are hating on her because they're trolls. $1500 on shoes? Pffftttttttttttt so what? Millionaire? Says who? Troll harder. Let's ignore the main issue here and head over to /r/MensRights for a second! LOOK AT THESE DISGUSTING TROLLS."
So now we're trolls for questioning the integrity of all this bullshit. How about, investigate by finding out what someone who asked for $900 is going to do with the $20k+ they've received and why they're still asking for more? How about you look into the cybersquatting. How about you look into the twitter spam about the kickstarter which is obviously against their TOS.
How about you actually do some actual investigation instead of pointing at the internet and calling everyone a troll? Pathetic.
It's really sad how these idiots can just brush off hundreds of people as trolls and just ignore the obvious.
From the article he posted, all he did was read a few reddit comments and keep track of hits on his previous article... Oh and he called the internet trolls...
The article turns into a mock post about trolls for fuck's sake... What kind of investigative work is that?
"Oh the masses are hating on her because they're trolls. $1500 on shoes? Pffftttttttttttt so what? Millionaire? Says who? Troll harder. Let's ignore the main issue here and head over to /r/MensRights for a second! LOOK AT THESE DISGUSTING TROLLS."
So now we're trolls for questioning the integrity of all this bullshit. How about, investigate by finding out what someone who asked for $900 is going to do with the $20k+ they've received and why they're still asking for more? How about you look into the cybersquatting. How about you look into the twitter spam about the kickstarter which is obviously against their TOS.
How about you actually do some actual investigation instead of pointing at the internet and calling everyone a troll? Pathetic.
It's really sad how these idiots can just brush off hundreds of people as trolls and just ignore the obvious.
A Link to the Past
Banned
I'm only barely significant enough to have him agree (I don't even think I'm that significant, I just got lucky); the problem is that, having seen his actions in this whole thing, I don't think he'd stick around, and we wouldn't have a good means of keeping him.
Arkage
Banned
To make it more analogous, the one going to college should be female with older brothers whom are mocking her ability to go to college and write a dissertation. We can't forget the gender oppression since that seems to be this kickstarter's rallying cry.
Randy Monk
Member
What parent would let their 9 year old daughter play Dragon Age 2? Then have the nerve to tell the world.
That game is violent, has sexual themes not suitable for kids and is total crap.
This lady has no morals and no ethics yet she is going to profit from this. Shame on her and shame on kickstarter.
That game is violent, has sexual themes not suitable for kids and is total crap.
This lady has no morals and no ethics yet she is going to profit from this. Shame on her and shame on kickstarter.
Isn't it the dude that used to run Kotaku? Go figure.
VibratingDonkey
Member
Language like that is unnecessary and just serves to give people ammunition to play the victim/misogyny card, distracting from the issue at hand and diluting discussion. And sometimes these people have a platform.
Almost everything about that article is oh so exasperating.
Sadly I backed for $1 so I could post on the forum and see the backer only updates. Along with the email from kickstarter, there's plenty of other ridiculousness including Susan claiming how shocked she was that it took off despite admitting the fact she spammed twitter to hell about it... And who knows what else she did.
Such a disingenuous person.
Such a disingenuous person.
I am about a third of the way through a comprehensive and reasoned letter intended for Kickstarter. This is the most serious letter that I have ever written. But in the back of my mind I feel that I will be done with Kickstarter even if they finally respond to this situation in the most perfect way.
PaulExcellent
Member
So Kickstarter lost all my support in one swift move.
Seriously, this is fucked up.
Seriously, this is fucked up.
E-mail those devs and let them know what's up. Also back them using paypal if that's an option for those projects.
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