[locust101]

This might be true for this particular game but the lack of checks and balances on kickstarter is troubling.

[sanderjd]

This attitude makes no sense to me. This is what kickstarter is for: you back high-risk projects, get some goofy schwag, and sometimes the project actually works, and how cool is that?

Why does there seem to be a horde of people who think kickstarter is for pre-ordering finished products and getting pissed when they don't receive them? That's just not what it is!

[arglebarnacle]

I'm sure this horde exists because kickstarter creators market themselves as if they're selling pre-orders of finished products.

In some cases they have no choice, because some kickstarters are really expensive. It might make sense to pre-order Ubuntu's $700 smartphone for example, but nobody would ever throw Canonical $700 for some "goofy schwag" and just hope they might or might not get a phone later.

[trimbo]

> the lack of checks and balances on kickstarter is troubling

The check and balance you're looking for is traditional capital investment, I think?

Because if all things on Kickstarter clear a bar of "this is a sound business", then those projects probably wouldn't need Kickstarter.

edit: for clarity

[ryandrake]

That sounds like a generalization. There are probably lots of sound businesses that do not have access to traditional capital investment, and would benefit from being on Kickstarter. Additionally, there are businesses that do not clear a bar of "this is a sound business" that have had heaps of traditional capital investment. We are talking about sets with only some overlap.

[kbenson]

> and would benefit from being on Kickstarter.

There are different funding sites with different rules and different popularity due to those rules and the vagaries of advertising and attention. Kickstarter doesn't need to cater to every type of project or business.

[Xeoncross]

The number of checks and balances people keep adding when someone is bad is taking it's toll on some industries. Safe guards are good up to a point... then eventually it gets ridiculous.

[stonemetal]

Yeah I am surprised they haven't added a rule that you can't give backers something that doesn't exist.

Being able to back something to get that thing seems to confuse to many people into believing it is a shop where you buy things rather than an investing in something you would like to exist, but may never actually exist.