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by potatolicious 4738 days ago
> "I imagine most of it is glossed over by the backers. =)"

I disagree heavily. There's never any honesty in this section - the thought that maybe, just maybe, this project can't be delivered at all, is never brought up.

This section is the Kickstarter equivalent of "what's your greatest weakness", where project owners do their best to downplay actual risks or not mention them at all. It's the place where you admit to your most softball, most mitigable risk and leave everything else behind the curtain.

If there were any honesty in this section at all, "none of us have manufactured anything before" would be top, in bold, in many of them.

> "but from day one on KickStarter, it's made it clear what it was about"

Who's making it clear though? It's obvious that Kickstarter themselves would rather be a funding machine than a preorder machine - but look at hardware kickstarters. Project owners routinely position their campaigns as presales or preorders, not simple crowdfunding.

The difference is more stark if you look at arts category kickstarters, where the reward tiers, as well as the language used, is much more obviously "support us and get a gift in return". Hardware kickstarters are, almost without fail, "come buy this thing".

In the hardware category at least, project owners have an opposing conflict of interest with Kickstarter.

1 comments

> the thought that maybe, just maybe, this project can't be delivered at all, is never brought up.

That's the inherent nature of KS. Does it really need to be brought up time and time again?

> Who's making it clear though?

KickStarter. The wording they use (pledges), funding, and even the warning on their payment page. Even on the main project pages, even the rewards aren't a promise. Hell, even the date isn't a promise.

So, what more can they do?

Hell, even you assert that the backers read through everything!

> I disagree heavily.

If this were the case, then people wouldn't be confused about what KickStarter is.

Sorry, but every time I see a complain like this come out, it's always based on fantasies and delusions. Not reality.