MIK0: I understand that Kickstarter has no power over authors after they completed their campaign. [...]
HypersomniacLive: That's not what I meant; it's better business to turn off/away a few dissatisfied backers than a campaign creator who'll bring a few hundred/thousand backers, a move that in turn is quite likely to have a broader negative impact - Kickstarter gets a 10% cut from every successful campaign, so the happier campaign creators are the more their business blooms.
MIK0: [...] Me too but still is really low from them to release the game with a discount, making the ks reward even less relevant. For instance I could have bought the game for 5$.
HypersomniacLive: I feel for you, but the discount is to get new sales; they got (and spent) the backers' money years ago, and skimming through their updates, those wanting a DRM-free, Linux and MacOS build seem to never matter much to Stainless Games, let alone be a priority of any sort. And going over the timeline of how things developed, they changed priorities not long after getting funded. Did they ever commit to a date for the DRM-free, Linux and MacOS releases after they decided to expand the scope of the game?
Epitaph666: [...] Stainless is not a big developer and not even a rich one at that. So everyone has to allocate their resources so they won't fallout financially. [...]
They also got another 3million backing from Les Edgars to develop the game for consoles. [...]
We first got the game on PC (C:R) and then it was released on consoles (C:MD) and a few months later on Steam. [...]
HypersomniacLive: The announcement of Les Edgar funding a console release was in late March 2013, which means that they were in talks quite some time before that date, which in turn at least indicates that the late December 2012 announcement of the game's scope being expanded is related to the deal with Les Edgar. Les Edgar who's an investor, i.e. Stainless Games had contractual obligations and deadlines to meet, unlike backers who have little legal standing while still waiting for a DRM-free, Linux and MacOS release after
Carmaggedon: Reincarnation was released on Steam in late May 2015.
So,
Carmaggedon: Max Damage was released on consoles in early July 2016 (one update in late July), and on Steam in late October 2016 where it seems to have received its last update in late Nov 2016.
One would assume that if the idea was to wait until the game's finished and stable, that they'd work on the promised DRM-free, Linux and MacOS releases (it'd appear to get additional funds on Kickstarter). Yet, DRM-free was finally released in early 2018, while there's still no word on the other two, and physical goods to backers are still pending. So what happened from the end of 2016 onwards?
Carmageddon Crashers is what happened instead, which is a FTP mobile game with in-app purchases, of course, and was released in early Aug 2017.
I understand that their resources may be limited and that they have to plan accordingly. But crowdfunding is not some form of carte blanche charity; people are supposed to receive rewards based on the amount they pledge, and the campaign creator's (only) obligation to their backers is fulfilled when they deliver said rewards.
I also understand that you're a (passionate?) fan of the series and a happy backer since, unlike others, you already received what you pledged for.
So, I can understand that it may be a little hard to empathise with those that were, and a number of them still are, left hanging. But you seem to excuse and condone the fact that Stainless Games showed little to no respect and consideration to their backers that pledged for a DRM-free, Linux and MacOS release, or those still waiting for their physical rewards. And while they apologised for the delay of the latter (while still not committing to an ETA), no word was said about the pending Linux and MacOS releases; I can't help but wonder if you'd be equally understanding and supportive of Stainless Games if you were in the shoes of those backers.
And speaking of the pending releases, it never made sense to me that most times campaign creators describe rewards as "Windows or Linux or MacOS" when self-publishing and handing out Steam keys, since it's my understanding that one gets access on all three once they redeem the key. Or is there a way for devs/pubs on Steam to restrict access based to a single OS even when a title is available on all three?
Yep, I would like the agreement between authors and backers to be more binding and more easly enforceable in a way that would even trample later inverstors and partnership.
It shouldn't be a feasible business to turn away backers when their complains are right. And Kickstarter should share at least part of the risk of authors behaving badly if they don't side with the backers.
I understand your point though.
SeduceMePlz: Haven't played yet myself. Looks like some of you have been spending time with the game, so: Does the GOG version include the Kickstarter/preorder cars - Tez Eagle and Iron Hawk - or did DRM-free backers get screwed out of them?
tinyE: They're included.
I always disliked the idea of exclusive content, it's better to always be able to obtain all the content created for a product.
As a backer however, that another decision I should have been part of. If they ask money and promise an exclusive content, and the content is no longer exclusive, than the reward is automatically not deliverd and the kickstarter campaign failed. It would have costed them nothing to make a simple survey for this decision and maybe offer something in exchange to the backers.
I like the final result (all contents for everybody) but not the way it was dealt with.
