The Weekly Raid: How Do You Judge A Crowdfunding Project?
With more developers and independent studios turning to crowdfunding services how do we know who to give our money to? There's no step-by-step criteria, no checklist to run through when looking at a KickStarter's overall mission statement. And I don't want to open my wallet just because the proposed MMO sounds like everything I've dreamed about while playing.
When I see a project asking for money to make potato salad I know that the labor involved is feasible without knowing much about the creator's resume.
On the other hand, when an independent studio I've never heard of asks for $30,000 to create an ambitious sci-fi naval simulator without any gameplay footage available, I'm skeptical.
Transparency in crowdfunding is fickle, and backers can't always be sure who exactly they're funding. At the same time platforms like KickStarter enable developers to create unforgettable projects that may never have happened—i.e. Undertale.
How do you judge a crowdfunding project? Let us know in the comments below.
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From Mega Man II to Ape Escape, I've been playing games for as long as I can remember. I've spent months killing porings in Ragnarok Online and more recently lived a second life in Eve Online. I usually play as gUMBY, gUMBLEoni, or gUMBLes in-game.
