Is InXile a Ponzi scheme?

Lurker King · Feb 3, 2017

Is kickstarter a massive Ponzi scheme?

Lurker King · Feb 3, 2017

cruelio said:
Remember when Brian Fargo drove his company into the ground in part by riding the early cinematic wave that helped kill old crpgs and people on this very forum were like "yeah we better give this guy thousands of dollars because his name was nebulously attached a decades old game no one cares about except for internet cred?" Remember how people on this forum were obviously scammed by garbage game wasteland 2 and decided to give this man MORE MONEY only to get scammed even worse? I remember and I laugh every time I remember.

This! People here like to act as if they are the cool cynical kids of the internet, but there is so much self-delusion going on.

Metro · Feb 3, 2017

Sceptic said:
Speaking of Ponzi schemes and Kickstarter and seeing Tim up there... whatever happened to Massive Chalice?

It was released a while ago and has been in numerous bundles/90% off sales.

Taskityo · Feb 3, 2017

If I have to choose between an inXile game or a Bethesda game. inXile game (Wasteland 2) any day.

Bumvelcrow · Feb 3, 2017

Metro said:
It was released a while ago and has been in numerous bundles/90% off sales.

Yeah, I backed it, completely failed to notice it had been released, and have since loaded it once. Don't think I'll be loading it again. Have some free money.

Turtle-Zone 3000 · Feb 3, 2017

Charles Eli Cheese · Feb 3, 2017

I think kickstarter should be more for groups that already have a demo but are too small to have any real budget on their own and want 50k-100k to pay for genuine expenses like some art and music and crap. As a means to fund a whole game with millions it's just retarded and as we are finding out, doesn't really work. WL 2 was OK I guess, but not nearly what I hoped, and they have gone much further afield and much more mainstream since then, with little to show for it so fuck them.

Repulsive · Feb 3, 2017

I don't get why he's still using crowdfunding when the dude lives in a 5$m+ mansion.

Repulsive · Feb 3, 2017

How was that racist you twit

Sizzle · Feb 3, 2017

Repulsive said:
How was that racist you twit

It's the closest thing we have to a "white privilege" rating :D

LizardWizard · Feb 3, 2017

Repulsive said:
I don't get why he's still using crowdfunding when the dude lives in a 5$m+ mansion.

Ketamine infusions and cocaine aren't cheap.

vonAchdorf · Feb 3, 2017

Telengard said:
Unfortunately, the mechanisms driving Kickstarter are a poor tool for fixing this issue, and for a number of reasons.

Games companies are made up of artists and maybe a couple of business-minded people, neither of which tend to be good at PR. Pre-KS, PR and finance were handled by the publishers - which KS is specifically bypassing. So, these dev companies either have to spend money out of their own pocket to hire a competent PR person, ~~have one of the artists handle PR~~ - no!, or ask backers to pay for PR (hah hah hah, yeah right!).

But isn't Fargo comfortably above average in PR, at least when it comes to reaching his target group?

Telengard · Feb 4, 2017

vonAchdorf said:
But isn't Fargo comfortably above average in PR, at least when it comes to reaching his target group?

To all appearances, he's certainly a businessman/salesman of above average competency, at the very least. And he is certainly able to make a sales pitch to an audience. Which is the typical sort of person in charge of a company. The discipline of PR, on the other hand, is less about making sales, and more about how to control the message that is generally spoken about your company and products. Broadly speaking, a company doesn't even need PR - that is, until the day some shit goes down and your PR rep steps into crisis management mode for the company. Because one of their main jobs is to prevent scandal, and to mitigate the effects of scandal when such things do occur. And while you don't need need them most days, on the other hand, if they have been there all along - and if they're of any worth - then they have already worked to insulate the company from the worst effects of any such scandals.

Thus, the PR rep may be tasked with organizing the press schmooze party for your new release - knowing all of the right people and making sure that they're there and happy. While it's the boss who is the one out on the floor of that party, pressing the flesh, making sales by making the press and public love him and his latest product.

Charles Eli Cheese · Feb 4, 2017

Charles Eli Cheese said:
I think kickstarter should be more for groups that already have a demo but are too small to have any real budget on their own and want 50k-100k to pay for genuine expenses like some art and music and crap. As a means to fund a whole game with millions it's just retarded and as we are finding out, doesn't really work. WL 2 was OK I guess, but not nearly what I hoped, and they have gone much further afield and much more mainstream since then, with little to show for it so fuck them.

Basically what I am saying is you don't ever pay for something completely before it's actually produce. You can pay half now and half later but paying for it all is a giant mistake. True story, one of my neighbors comes round begging for work a few years ago. I had all kinds of house maintenance that needed doing so I let him do various stuff always paying afterwards. One day I am going to be out of town so give him 100 bucks to get rid of this tree while I am gone. An easy job actually, it is a small tree. I get back, it's not done.

I get hold of him and ask him why he didn't do the work and he asks if I have a contract then laughs in my face. Even though he is about 5 foot tall mexican guy who I could stomp to death like a puppy and even though he had done thousands in work for me and even though I live in the same fucking block! Anyway I shoved him down on the concrete and he threatened to call the police but I just laughed. After that no one in the neighborhood would hire him for odd jobs any more and it was not long before he could not make his rent.

tldr: frogs should not give scorpions the money up front

Moink · Feb 4, 2017

Zetor said:
Y'all just need to wait for the inevitable Choplifter RPG and/or Stonekeep 2 kickstarter.

Hey now, lets not forget the sequel to the critical hit that was Hunted: The Demon's Forge

Goral · Feb 5, 2017

WTF? https://twitter.com/BrianFargo/status/794360833711034369

Does he mean Wasteland 3 or is just messing with us? Or is it happening? :D :D :D

an Administrator · Feb 5, 2017

It's a Nazi scheme with Thomas Beekers around.

V_K · Feb 5, 2017

Goral said:
WTF? https://twitter.com/BrianFargo/status/794360833711034369

Does he mean Wasteland 3 or is just messing with us? Or is it happening? :D :D :D

I hope it's the new New Vegas. Can't wait for all the delicious Fargo butthurt when Bethesda denies him the Metacritic bonus.

Goral · Feb 5, 2017

Oops, haven't checked the date but it looks like I'm not the only one.

Studio Fawn · Feb 8, 2017

What if I told you ....it takes years to make a bideo game?

Wasteland 2 sold over half a million units....

Ponzi scam confirmed! Making games then selling them! Also confirmed Putin is secretly controlling inxile.
:russiastronk:

Charles Eli Cheese · Feb 8, 2017

It can also take years to not make a video game, or to make one that is nothing like what was promised and total crap. Which is what seems to be the case for torment.

Morality Games · Feb 9, 2017

pippin said:
evdk said:

pippin said:

Things like these are bound to happen with Kickstarters, but this time it happened to inxile. Every company should drop the kickstarter bullshit asap.

Click to expand...

This is an overreaction.

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You sure? Videogames are seriously lacking in the KS department. IIRC it's the least successful area in KS itself, or at least the most likely to fail to deliver.