That sounds really weird. But it would explain why the article said that the kickstarter had reached $11 thousand
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Millionaire tries to get $829 via kickstarter to send daughter to RPG maker camp?
- Thread starter Goon Boon
- Start date
This is much bigger than that. Kickstarter implicates themselves in the scam if they let it go, as they stand to profit from its completion. At that point, I am forced to make decisions about my future usage of the kickstarter service. I have invested in multiple kickstarters, and I want decentralized, crowd-funded solutions to keep growing. Since kickstarter is the premier site for crowd-funding, anything that damages their reputation will damage crowd-funding as a whole. As I would like to believe that kickstarter is not totally fucked, I will agitate in favour of this scam being de-listed.
Simply not funding it is not an option.
Gully State
Member
Technology in like the loosest interpretation...? More marketing BS. I bet you she doesn't even know what STEM stands for..
I did too.
Out of interest, did you use the "contact" button at the bottom of the page, too?
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
Oh, it's very blatantly fake, and should be the thing that lights a fire under the KS staff's ass.
RpgN
Junior Member
Hey, it's better than nothing. Hopefully they'll publish a more accurate article soon.
A Link to the Past
Banned
Wait, why is Sullivan's Sluggers something that makes you avoid Kickstarter?
Ravensmash
Member
Better yet, set up a kickstarter. Much more deserving cause
CarbonatedFalcon
Member
This hasn't been shut down yet?!?!?!
WTF world.
WTF world.
Gully State
Member
yup...
Delusibeta
Banned
On reflection, I'll give Polygon the benefit of the doubt, considering it was visibly out of date. Still, that is a schoolboy error.
AliceAbstract
Member
Already covered, but I had to add my piece. I wish more people knew about RPG Maker before contributing to all these "rpg" kickstarters...
RPG Maker games can be sold, as long as they contain no copyrighted material (so using either the default resources, or original resources made for your game)
However, since paying for the $69.99 program already gives you all the default resources, which come preloaded into the game, it's become something of an unspoken 'rule' among RPG Maker users to not sell your game or beg for money if your game uses zero original content (user created scripts for effects or new gameplay systems count as original content).
The idea being, if anyone can create a simple RPG with this program, it's unethical for -you- to get money for something hundreds of other users are releasing for free. (And there are plenty of free games released that have original resources too!)
By the way, the default resources include several sets of map tiles, a bunch of premade character sprites including a little program to make your own from individual parts, sound effects, music, monster graphics, title screens, and a functioning (albeit) simple system that covers battle, dialog and menus. (and I'm probably leaving some stuff out)
Right. I didn't really mention that John isn't an employee, since we don't know that, and if it is the case then they should know anyway... I quoted the Terms of Use and told them about the violation.
ChimpanzeeThat
Member
Aquamarine
Member
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1940696606/sullivans-sluggers-baseball-horror-graphic-novel/
Here's the Sullivan's Sluggers controversy:
1. Guy wants to publish a Baseball Horror Graphic Novel
2. He has a $6,000 goal
3. People get really excited, and he finishes with $97,826 pledged
4. A lot of time passes
5. He made a print run of 6,000 copies...yet he only had 3,000 backers.
6. He told the backers it would be a "Kickstarter exclusive," but then he goes ahead and sells it to stores anyway, even before he sent the books to backers.
7. When confronted about it he has been dismissive and standoffish.
8. AND THEN HE HAD THE NERVE to make an IndieGogo campaign to raise ANOTHER $16,000 because he "ran out of money" and "miscalculated the costs."
Understandably, people are pissed.
Gully State
Member
Well I didn't outright accuse them of that either...just if John @ kickstarter existed (if someone there did indeed write that word for word)...and then pointed out the TOS violation for endorsing said project ...There is an off chance that all this is truth and I don't want to discount it..
Megalosaro
Banned
I think having kids use RPGMaker is a decent way to get them into game design. It teaches a bunch of different skillsets: Game balance, story creation, level design. Plus later versions even have scripting tools
Why? It should only affect your opinion of this particular crowdfunding project. (Which shouldn't actually need this thread to be negative
)Cool. Well, it'd be great to see a response from them on the issue, but I shan't be holding my breath.
Zen_Arcade
Banned
Thanks for the new gif.
Hmm, I don't see that.
I saw that page, but yeah, there's still no real evidence. It's just a series of claims. Even if it's true, there's absolutely no accountability and it's super shady.
I had to leave and get some food, I'll put something together soon. This really should be something Kickstarter has to answer, one way or another.
There's more than that. He started selling the books to stores before backers got copies, which is troubling for multiple reasons.
There are a ton of issues that came out with this campaign. Read this: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2013/03/07/mark-andrew-smith-sullivans-sluggers-kickstarter/
Tylahedras
Banned
Could I create a kickstarter with the project being a lawsuit against this lady if she gets funding? There has to be someway to get at her for this. If not get ready for Twitter, Facebook and every other social site the be spammed to hell with copycat requests like this.
foobarry81
Member
I don´t think anyone in this thread disagrees with that. But it´s also not what this is all about.
This is about:
- do you abuse Kickstarter to have other people pay for your kid´s tuition, which is against the ToS of KS?
- do you throw your own kids under the bus for that purpose?
- do you spam people on Twitter for it (also against ToS of KS)?
- do you mix in gender issues, just to raise attention, even though they have nothing to do with it?
slightconfuse
Banned
not to mention selling the book to retailers befroe backers got their copies. and being an asshole whne pressed about it on twitter
Aquamarine
Member
Oh yeah. Forgot about that.
Kinda off topic, but it's possible he is running short. A graphic novel kickstarter I backed late last year netted about half that amount, with 1,500 backers. She estimated she'd end up with about 9,000 bucks in profit but broke even after printing and kickstarter took their cut because international shipping costs suddenly went up without warning. If he didn't budget his stuff as carefully, it's totally possible he fucked up and fell short.
EDIT: NEVERMIND. I heard about that project. Yeah, that guy sucks.
As to this mess... Part of me wants to say let the idiots who want to fund the scam get scammed. Kickstarter is always buyer beware, I only fund projects I know can get made and have had 3 awesome projects completed and delivered to me as promised.
The other part of me is pissed because this undermines real gender issues faced by women and is doing far more harm than some sleazy domain squatter scammer being a louse.
Aquamarine
Member
He made a print run of 6,000 copies...yet he only had 3,000 backers. He told the backers it would be a "Kickstarter exclusive," but then he goes ahead and sells it to stores anyway, even before he sent the books.
When confronted about it he has been dismissive and standoffish.
AND THEN HE HAD THE NERVE to make an IndieGogo campaign because he "ran out of money" and "miscalculated the costs."
People don't "deserve to be swindled". It's as simple as that.
Gully State
Member
Internet Detectives
Tylahedras
Banned
It does look like the kickstarter is down about $1,000 so some people obviously got wise and pulled funding. Sad that more people haven't, but most probably don't follow this stuff or even look at the comments section.
Randy Monk
Member
Wow, I pulled out of that kickstarter because I had a feeling that the initial number was too low and that the guy was in over his head. So has any books been shipped yet?
Internet Detectives
Interesting that that is her old twitter account, given that http://moneyandcompany.com/ still says "Coming Soon".
The Nature Roy
Member
And having the artist (and the artist of a prior high-profile project) basically cut all times with him while he continues to act like a complete jackass about it. Oh, and it seems the artists were the primary draws to both projects.
Pie and Beans
Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
This is still going then? Good show Kickstarter. Soon to be the nuanced scam artist's hive of choice.
Internet Detectives
https://twitter.com/MoneyandCompany/status/26067443167
Further evidence of Domain Squatting, plus TradeMark, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn squatting... if those are real things...
Why? It should only affect your opinion of this particular crowdfunding project. (Which shouldn't actually need this thread to be negative
I never really thought about how exploitative this kind of thing can be. Of course, I come from this from the angle of a consumer. I understand that traditional pubs can be a hassle and kickstarter is a tool for indie devs specifically, but it still rubs me the wrong way.
Beforehand, I was neutral on the entire thing.
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
To be fair, it gets funnier every time someone posts more news.
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
What a fucking sleazeball.
D
Diggeh
Unconfirmed Member
Can we get a summary of this trainwreck? And that Polygon article...
Internet Detectives
This is amazing. Some real gems in that feed too. Prove you're an awesome giver by twitpay-ing $10 to her...for no apparent reason!
I got a job in the industry by showing them all the games I made with Klik n Play.
Megalosaro
Banned
Oh, I'm in no way supporting this piece of crap kickstarter. I was mainly reply to posts like this:
RPGMaker IS legitimate game making, and game making is definitely a STEM field
Is it? I'm not saying it's any less important or that RPGMaker isn't legitimate game making, but she's framing this as a girls-in-STEM argument, and I don't think that RPGMaker really qualifies.
Similar threads
- Locked