http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/publisher-exploiting-an-obsidian-kickstarter.76198/page-8#post-2289687
Sep 30, 2012 #182 Reply
Back then I suggested to stop procrastinating and do something other than expecting wonders coming from Kickstarter.
tuluse:
Reapa, I have no idea what your position is anymore, but kickstarter is the greatest weapon we have against the decline.
Yes, communism is the best weapon against capitalism. But it's not the better solution. (Better start explaining before "the slow ones" start asking)
1. The parallels:
a) Crowd funding = communism (this requires step by step analysis because there's a lot of confused people out there)
b) Big publishers = capitalism (for obvious reasons)
2. The step by step analysis:
step one: who has the initiative? (meaning who will start the process) -> volunteers (from the masses for the masses)
step two: who pays? -> the masses
step three: who decides what will be done? (features, form, content) -> the collective (since devs ideally didn't finish the game before the went asking for money on kickstarter they should be very interested in what the people want them to promise and produce)
step four: draw conclusion
3.0. The obvious but somehow overlooked system flaws:
3.1. Crowd funding:
a) The masses don't seem to have a structured priority list (if you invest money in a game with the main objective to bring down DRM ideology, you should probably instead go buy some goats to fuck like all other extremist activists)
b) The masses don't know who should do it so they employ the first volunteer (more disorganized in following up on something you really want, you cannot be)
c) Your money even though spent won't work for your goal alone (the devs will take your money and do stuff to it, stuff you don't want to know about and you shouldn't keep asking)
d) The masses are not sure (look at people arguing whether saving should be done by checkpoints like in a fucking race or at the leisure of the player like in any reasonable rpg [excluded are of course dungeon crawlers that save only on exit - as if that would stop anyone from save scumming but that's a different subject])
e) feel free to add flaws as i think that these are already enough
f) summary: you don't know what you want, you don't care who does it, you don't know and care how it's going to be done and expect shit to magically work because you paid for it, tottaly overlooking that paying for something only really works in capitalism and blindly brute forcing it in the exact opposite production and distribution system. (people who have lots of money do that because they did something right financially speaking at least at one point in time)
3.2. Publisher interference:
a) While publishers do not seem to care about quality they do seem to manage to stay in business. How is that possible? Easy, by exploiting devs, minimal expenses, maximal prices for a wide variety of costumers. -> they do care about quality as long as it's just above the minimum expected by the sheeple. So if the sheeple care mostly about graphics and awesome effects with close to none complexity and self involvement in the actual gameplay, then these publishers must flog the devs into delivering said products within a reasonable timeline, again to minimize expenses.
b) which good game made enough money not only to save its devs from going bankrupt but to even finance good sequels without getting dumbed down with each new title?
c) I rest my case.
4. Conclusion: -> good games are pieces of art and art... art doesn't sell. (the none believers should search their walls and their neighbors' walls for mona lisas)
I have returned after a year with this more or less insightful post to tell you this:
It is now time to panic. Feel free to do so within reasonable margins.
