Anyone been keeping track of the Star Citizen/ Derek Smart controversy?

[Green1]

In a nutshell: Star Citizen. Largest crowdfunded project to date has raised 85 M. The one behind it is the famous Chris Roberts who designed the famous Wing Commander series of the 1990s.

The issue: It has been almost 5 years and no game, only proof of concept modules and keeps being delayed. Enter Derek Smart, a developer who made the Battlecruiser AD series of games is claiming fraud. He wants the Federal Trade Commission to investigate. If true, it could be the largest case of kickstarter drama ever.

To be fair, Derek Smart who accuses Roberts, has an enormous reputation as being a viscous troll and jerk online. Also, Star Citizen's new goals rival even what powerhouses like Eve Online took years to get to and stuff even Eve. Eve does not have walking/ gunfighting on hundreds of planets as a space marine. Nor ships which have hangars you can park a ship and walk in. Eve also does not have twitch dogfighting. 

But still. Do contributors to a kickstarter have the legal ability to demand goals be met? What is to keep an unscrupulous person from throwing up a popular kickstarter and spending all the money on hookers and blow, thumbing thier noses at the donors? Or is this just a case of a bitter dev mad that his mediocre games can not draw 80 M even when completed and Star Citizen just bit off too much to sallow in the time they thought they could and this is still coming?

The articles:

Smith's Blog:
http://www.dereksmart.org/2015/09/star-citizen-the-long-con/

The Escapist article
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/features/14695-Star-Citizen-Controversy-Reaches-a-Boiling-Point


And of course, now Cloud Imperium is going through a reorganization now....

thoughts?

[Rusty Edge]

Haven't been paying attention.
I do have experience with a failed project, or at the least, a shabby one that broke most promises and was a career-ender.

On the one hand I understand that these people are creative talents and dreamers, rather than MBAs. Maybe that's the crux.  Maybe the crowd funding websites need to provide more for their cut off of the top. Maybe they need to have a staff MBA to approve a project as plausible, and a controller to release funds over time, as goals are met and promises kept. Maybe they need to keep a reserve for things, for example to cover rewards and physical delivery where applicable.

I think if the Crowd Funders don't do something like this, they won't have a long term business. When people get burned, they are reluctant to return.

[Green1]

I agree.

Now, with Star Citizen, I do believe they will put out SOMETHING. From checking further, they do put out a lot of dev blogs and are fairly transparent. We have also, as gamers, seen what happens when a game is released before it is ready. Elemental : War of Magic comes to mind.

But, something must be said about accountability and deadlines. Unlike previous models where you had investors that want profit on that investment, kickstart is almost a charity that the only return is "it would be nice to see this".

And,on the other hand, what of those kickstarters that made folks ultra rich? Occulus Rift sold to Facebook a while back. A lot of supporters were mad about that. But, they did give to that "charity". Should the KS supporters get a share if they propped someone from obscurity to mega wealth?

It is like giving a homeless guy 20 bucks so he can eat. But, if he does not eat and buys crack can we demand accountability? Or does it make it less likely someone will give anymore?

[Rusty Edge]

I agree.

Now, with Star Citizen, I do believe they will put out SOMETHING. From checking further, they do put out a lot of dev blogs and are fairly transparent. We have also, as gamers, seen what happens when a game is released before it is ready. Elemental : War of Magic comes to mind.

But, something must be said about accountability and deadlines. Unlike previous models where you had investors that want profit on that investment, kickstart is almost a charity that the only return is "it would be nice to see this".

Yep, it's a problem.

And,on the other hand, what of those kickstarters that made folks ultra rich? Occulus Rift sold to Facebook a while back. A lot of supporters were mad about that. But, they did give to that "charity". Should the KS supporters get a share if they propped someone from obscurity to mega wealth?

They were customers/donors, not shareholders.  If they got what they were promised, they got what they were owed.   
That said, any decent, grateful, person would make a gesture of gratitude to those who made the prosperity possible.

It is like giving a homeless guy 20 bucks so he can eat. But, if he does not eat and buys crack can we demand accountability? Or does it make it less likely someone will give anymore?

Both.

To continue the analogy ....More likely though, the homeless guy bought food and allowed it to spoil, or squandered his money on some over-priced delivery deal or otherwise foolishly misspent the entire amount because he's not used to shopping and budgeting. Good intentions gone wrong in the excitement of a windfall.

[Unorthodox]

This is why I don't do kickstarter/gofundme FOR GAMES. 

Artist that needs X $ to mold and mass produce a cool sculpture?  Sure.

Toy maker that wants to make insert doll, here's the prototype?  Sure. 

Gamer that wants to make this and that and the other and I have this great idea but no real concept how to get to the other side?  Uh, no. 

Now, I bought an EARLY RELEASE of Kerbal Space Program, but not until it was very playable at the time and I was happy with it even if it never was "finished". 


And to the rash of kickstarter "help me turn my house haunt into something better" idiots:  Knock it off.  You make us all look bad. 

[Green1]

I am even kind of leery of early release. It is almost like I am PAYING to be their QA beta.

Mrs. Green is good friends with a dude that works QA for EA. He gets paid, I should too. Even if it is a game "I believe in".

[Unorthodox]

I get that, and there's plenty I haven't bought early.  KSP was in a state I already enjoyed before I bought it.  (they had a demo out to try at the time, too)  Stable, working on my machine, "bugs" were mostly typos by that point.  Yes, there were promised features yet to be included but I was already happy to have it as a finished game.  Never made a report or anything, just played like it was a released game.