The Daily Grind: Would you fund an MMO via Kickstarter?

@Issmir
This guy has the right idea. I think Kickstarter could be a really cool way to do it too because of the perks that usually go along with contributing to an idea. They would have some pretty sweet stuff included for helping start the game, which would make the MMO inherently cool just for that aspect to be able to say you help fund it and have your name in game, a title, etc.

@Vinzix

Exactly.

Plus people seem to think if they Kickstart, they actually will have some say in what goes into the game when in reality, it's based on:

1) what the company wants/feels is 'realistic' to put in there

2) what the 'majority' of 'donators' want


Either way, someone thinking they will give X amount of money and get the 'dream mmo' they've been complaining other companies won't make is pretty stupid to think that will happen.

It will end up the same way unless it's something few play like A Tale in The Desert or something else niche and small few play.

@real65rcncom

You wouldn't even have to do what the majority of donators wanted. You tell them up front what they get from donating and rarely will it be "You get to direct us in making this game".

I would never ever fund a game that wasn't finished. The most I might do is play a paid beta where by paying for the beta you get the game and first month free when it launches or something equivilant to what you paid during beta. This would help a game that is going to release have the money to make sure it is more polished before release.

But I wouldn't risk my money on a project that could disappear or end up a steaming pile of crap when it is finished. Even more so with a company that hasn't made an MMO. Making an MMO is different and more complicated from releasing other types of games. So without the experience they could hose the whole thing up.

At the same time, everyone is welcome to do what they want with their own money. Donate away to anything you think is worth it. Just be careful because the more people that have success raising money, the more scammers will come in trying to raise money without planning to deliver quality goods. Jump on, talk big about an awesome game you're going to make, promise everyone who pays a copy of the game, then release some piece of crap that took very little of that money to create and take the rest of the money and run. I'm not saying that is what these people are doing, they seem like decent folks and I doubt they would, but it is where this process could easily lead.

@real65rcncom

Thats how I feel.... A smaller game, or project, it makes a lot of sense for.

Large scale projects, like MMO's however, might never get released because stake holders and committee's (like anyone who donates any money) might never truly agree on a over all design direction, and it just might iterate around in circles forever.

@Zaken
Also, what do people who donate gets back matter as well. In case of doublefine, it is a smaller product compare to a MMO and it will not take as long to develop nor as complex. I have no problem of backing the project ( as I did ). As a MMO, do people who donate gets more than just the finished product ? or there are other perks that comes with it ? If its the first one, I probably will not back it and just get the game when its finished. If it comes with the perks, then it depends.

@Zaken I think I agree to some extent on your first point, and I definitely agree on your second. The problem with giving details is that details change, especially in the beginning of a project.

@(Unverified)
I suppose what I mean by details would be something like this. The game will be sandbox or themepark. How PVP and PVE will be handled. How crafting will be done. Instead of just "This will be a sandbox PVP included and of course Crafting! "