You must have misread me, because I never implied that anyone is "taking advantage" or "intentionally being lazy".
All I'm saying is, in my opinion, indies are flopping more often than not. And crowdfunding in particular seems to be - again, in my opinion - a model that tends to lead to disappointing results.
There is no doubt that making games is hard and it's very easy to get lost. After all, even huge studios with hundreds of employees can fail at it. So for sure, it's super difficult for small teams, no matter how talented they may be. One error in judgement early on in the process can branch out into a million problems later on down the line.
All I'm saying is, I'd sure love it if there were more games coming out these days that actually delivered on their promises and that were actually enjoyable to play.
That's exactly what I'm addressing.
Most businesses, in
any industry, will "flop". At least with things like crowd-funding, indie developers are able to get at least
a shot at fulfilling their visions. Using traditional investment methods, it's almost impossible for for the vast majority to get even that far.
As for "living up to all the promises" -- that will almost never pan out. And they're not "promises"; they're
plans. Huge difference. There's a gigantic variance between having a dream, and actually being able to realize it in a practical way. Life will rarely cooperate. Most of the time, people that set out on these crowd-funded ventures have absolutely no practical experience in the fields they're attempting to deliver on. Mistakes will be made. Plans will need to change. Part of the learning process.
Hand-in-hand with that is the understanding that buying into a Kickstarter or Patreon venture is not "making a purchase". It's an
investment. There is absolutely no guarantee that any investment will see any return whatsoever. Sometimes it works. Mostly, it wont. That's the risk people always take when investing. The great thing about crowd-funding. Is that people aren't forced to buy actual stocks, and there are no "big investors" that will be calling the shots. It's mostly payments of
<$20. Now, it's up to supporters to invest wisely. (If something sounds too good to be true...guess what, probably?)
Responsibility for any upset is on the supporters, not the devs. (Regardless of arguing any form of
principle on the issue...that's simply not the way business works.) Any production is going to see things cut. In any industry. Only once in a great while is a production going to hit every mark it sets its sights on. Supporters need to make investments with realistic expectations and an understanding of what a studio is likely to face. Anything else is virtually guaranteed to result in disappointment and frustration. There's no compensation if an investment doesn't pan out the way this or that supporter would have preferred.
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