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[Fniff]

So what did happen to your yer man who started this thread? How is Your World going?

[Skyrunner]

It disappeared off the net. The Your World site seems to be perpetually under construction.

[Fniff]

Good sign! Think he managed to waste all his money?

[olemars]

This is pretty much the worst that Kickstarter can go wrong.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/forkingpath/the-doom-that-came-to-atlantic-city/posts/548030
One man burns through $100,000+ and decides it's impossible to complete the project. What did that money go to?

paying to form the company, for the miniature statues, moving back to Portland, getting software licenses and hiring artists to do things like rule book design and art conforming

No-one's really sure. Popular opinion is that everything not accounted for in that quote went to (unemployed) personal living costs, because obviously not all of it was required for the above.

He's promised to return all of their money when he can.

Here's the other thing: The Kickstarter project was for the board game, not starting a company.

Many people have already contacted offices responsible for handling fraud.

I'm interested to see how this turns out.

It'd be irresponsible to try and sell a commercial product without forming a company. Especially since he was hiring freelancers to work on the product.

According to the comments on that update the guy behind the kickstarter (Erik) wasn't honest with the game designers (Keith, Lee) either, so this does look like at best someone in way over his head, at worst intentional deceit. The designers weren't directly affiliated with the kickstarter, they just entered into a contract to have it produced.

Yesterday, Erik Chevalier of the Forking Path announced that he has cancelled the Kickstarter to produce The Doom That Came To Atlantic City, a board game designed by Lee Moyer and Keith Baker, which is to say, me. When Lee and I first heard this news from Erik, it came as a shock. We’ve been working on this game for over a decade. In 2011 we had it ready to go to the printer with Z-Man Games, until a change in ownership dropped it from production. Based on the information we’d been receiving from the Forking Path we believed that the game was in production. It’s a personal and financial blow to both of us, but what concerns Lee and I is that people who believed in our work and put their faith in this Kickstarter have been let down.

First of all, I would like to make one thing crystal clear. Lee Moyer and Keith Baker are not part of the Forking Path. Neither one of us received any of the funds raised by the Kickstarter or presales. I haven’t received any form of payment for this game. Lee and I were not involved in the decisions that brought about the end of this project, and we were misinformed about its progress and the state of the game.

As a designer, I want the ideas I come up with to bring people joy—not frustration, disappointment and anger. Once I sign a contract granting a company the rights to produce one of my games, I am putting my faith in that company and trusting that it will carry out production and delivery in a professional and ethical manner. I’ve worked with Atlas Games, Wizards of the Coast, Steve Jackson Games, Goodman Games, Green Ronin, Pelgrane Press, and many more, and I’ve never been let down until now. Lee and I don’t know exactly how the money was spent, why the backers were misled, what challenges were faced or what drove the decisions that led to the cancellation of the game. Not only did we not make any money from the game, we have actually lost money; as soon as we learned the true state of affairs, we engaged a lawyer to compel The Forking Path to come forward to the backers and to honor its pledge to issue refunds.

With that said, all that really matters to Lee and I is that our idea has led to frustration and anger instead of bringing happiness. We can’t change the past. We can’t produce the game as presented in the Kickstarter on our own. But under the terms of the contract the rights to the art and design are back in our hands, and we can at least share those. Lee and I will be producing a print-and-play version of the game as quickly as possible, and getting that to backers at no cost. You’ll have to use your own cardstock and paper, and we can’t produce the amazing miniatures sculpted by Paul Komoda. But we can share our ideas and our work, and we hope that you will enjoy it.

There is one snag: neither Lee or I have access to the list of backers and their email addresses. We don’t even know who you are, and we have no way to thank you directly. If you backed Doom, please contact me through my website Keith-Baker.com. If you know anyone who backed it, please direct them here.

This is not the end of the road we thought we were on. Neither Lee nor I know how things reached this point, and when I look at the images from the manufacturer that show so clearly that the game could have been made, it breaks my heart. Lee and I will do our best to get you the game in print-and-play form as soon as possible. It’s not what we expected or planned on, but we at least hope that you will finally be able to get some enjoyment from the game we’ve worked on for all these years.

Sincerely,

Keith Baker

[Lectorog]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/forkingpath/the-doom-that-came-to-atlantic-city/posts/549350
He's addressed some of the concerns.
Most likely, he will not be facing any penalties for fraud as long as he continues paying people back, as gradually as it may be.

I'm eagerly awaiting the post-mortem, so see how a project can fail so utterly, especially with 350% funding. Lessons in irresponsibility and unprofessionalism are always useful.

[SealyStar]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/forkingpath/the-doom-that-came-to-atlantic-city/posts/549350
He's addressed some of the concerns.
Most likely, he will not be facing any penalties for fraud as long as he continues paying people back, as gradually as it may be.

I'm eagerly awaiting the post-mortem, so see how a project can fail so utterly, especially with 350% funding. Lessons in irresponsibility and unprofessionalism are always useful.

Already mentioned above, I believe. But yes, epic failure.

[Lectorog]

That link is to the new update. The other link was from a couple of days ago.

[MorleyDev]

It's a sad state of affairs, but I do still feel that if you're giving to a Kickstarter you should know the risks. It's a gamble, and if you can't afford to make that gamble then don't. If you don't have the money to risk wasting, why are you even looking at Kickstarters?

Finally, and most importantly, anime.  Not even once.

Two jokes come to mind:
"I met a girl who was into anime, so I started watching it. It started out small, Dragonball, Bleach, Naruto. But then I found Hellsing and Cowboy Bebop... As time went on I got more and more into it, and before I knew it I had moved onto the hard stuff. I started watching Lucky Star..."

"Son, your mother found a Chobits episode mkv on your laptop. Is it yours? Where did you get it? Who taught you how to download this stuff?" "I learnt it from you! I learnt it from watching you!"

[GlyphGryph]

Yeah he addressed concerns by trying to bully people into not suing him or he'll make sure no one gets anything.

Also, apparently he's done this before, though it's been private investors, and kickstarter has just given him a new platform to run his cons.

[Neonivek]

La Vida

So, do you like The Sims? Well how about we make the series all over again with worse graphics, animation, creation power, and to top it all off fundamentally getting many of the parts that makes The Sims good... Wrong.

A Sims game where you do not need to be a social climber? why the Sims 3 did that! It was actually a big feature to no longer need a huge friends list.

Bonus points for this Kickstarter only being discovered by me because someone, unrelated to the project I am assured, actually posted this kickstarter in The Sims 4 forum in the wrong places. Hurray for fanbase inappropriate advertisements! That would be like if I made a Dwarf Fortress Thread in the Gamespot thread about Dragon Ball Z.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1860210667/la-vida-a-game-about-life?ref=category

Now before I continue I will get serious because what I said is very harsh to what looks like someone's personal project they put on Kickstarter. Since honestly I am speaking mostly out of spite of the advertisers then out of the project. This still deserves to be here, but not the disdain I show towards it.

The ultimate problem is that The Sims is a niche, it is a very small subsubgenre of simulations that already has an ultimate competitor. Yet La Vida is playing things straight and trying to compete with The Sims directly at its own game in a niche where all its competitors either found very mild success or died.

It fails by not trying to be different or better in some capacity (ignoring the "You don't have to be" statements, those well versed in the series know it is no longer true). Also even if it was different the information they put on their kickstarter is very sparse.

I actually kind of feel bad for putting this up here. if people in the thread wish me to (PM me) I will edit this out instantly.

[Putnam]

"Life: a game about life"

Joy.

La Vida is a life simulation game in which you control a Dude or Dudette

...



WOAAAAAAH CUTTING EDGE GRAPHICS

Activities:
Interact with others and the world around you to develop your Dude or Dudette in whatever way you choose.

So it's the official name.

Ayayay.

Get involved in longer term goals not just eating and having a bath to up your health bars!

Run for president! Become a nun! the choice is yours!

The choice is limited only by your imagination!

wow they sure did one-up the sims there didn't they

[Scelly9]

That is the best kickstarter in the history of the world.

[Neonivek]

you control a Dude or Dudette

Ohh gawd I didn't even notice this... You only control one avatar!?!

[Putnam]

Haha, I didn't notice that either.

Also, the £1,500 reward is an in-game cheat item.

The £1,500 reward is an in-game cheat item.

Would you spend £1,500 for access to a cheat item?

[Blargityblarg]

I like that it's available for Apple.

Not OSX. Not iOS. Apple.