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[Leon Fook]

He should  use those money to open up a shop that sell salad.

[Sik]

That'd be smart, but he promised to spend it on a party instead =P (technically only promised to do it at $3000, but still...)

I wonder how he'll sort out all the people who pledged to get a bite of the potato salad o.O

[pottering]

Meanwhile potato salad makes 57 000
http://www.businessinsider.com/potato-salad-kickstarter-successfully-funded-2014-8

If they had cancelled it at the last minute it would have been a brilliant prank, it would have made a point about crowd-sourcing (whether they want it or not), it would have put their name out there, etc... , all without messing with anyone's money.

And they could have made a potato salad party in the end anyways (IMO, they didn't look like they couldn't afford it).

[ANtY]

would u cancel 57 grands? if so you must be not-poor to say the least

[SirNiko]

He should  use those money to open up a shop that sell salad.

He intends to start a for-profit with some of his money (read the article Gimmy posted). It isn't clear what kind of a company it will be, though.

I wonder how he'll sort out all the people who pledged to get a bite of the potato salad o.O

He amended the kickstarter to admit that sending out bites was impractical, and he will not be delivering on that promise. Instead he's encouraging people to come to Potato Stock to get salad there. (read the article Gimmy posted (this is good advice for all threads in which Gimmy posts)) I have trouble seeing anyone getting upset over this change of plans over a matter of three dollars.

He intends to hold a concert with most of the rest, with proceeds going to end hunger in Central Ohio (which is a good cause that fits neatly with the original premise). And, despite Kickstarter rules against donations, he intends to put the remaining money into a Columbus Foundation fund to end hunger and homelessness.

I think this guy is doing a great job considering this started as a little joke. He could've fucked it up like those Yogscast guys.

[pottering]

would u cancel 57 grands? if so you must be not-poor to say the least

unless you are saying you would take the money and run, it is not 57 grand, kickstarter'n'paypal take a cut, and he's got to deliver some of what he promised.
the article linked states that he is already backtracking on some promises 'cos it would be too costly, wouldn't surprise me if he actually ends up with a debt ('cos of poor planning) after all this.

so cancelling would actually "cost" far less than 57 grands, would give a much better rep than being "the potato salad guy", would not have to do any of the work related to making the event, would get none of this backlash, while still getting most of the benefits.


edit: not judging the potato salad guy or the people who pledged, I'm just defending that cancelling in the last moment would've been cooler.

[SirNiko]

Do you think the backlash is outweighing the benefits? I've been under the opposite impression - he's making a net positive, moreso if he just ignores his detractors. He could easily spin this as a story of how he got a lucky opportunity and managed to control it and come out ahead.

But yeah, depending on how this played out there could definitely be scenarios in which cancelling the kickstarter despite the big haul would be the better decision. Doubly so if it happened to somebody who isn't comfortable with having so much attention.

[pottering]

Yeah, I suppose if you can handle the fame and don't care much about your public image, then it is mostly positives.

I shouldn't have said it would've been "cooler", but rather it would've been "safer" (if it involved no money).

[SirNiko]

I was speaking about the public image, though; I've gotten the impression that he's mostly been seen positively or neutrally. He's got a few detractors, but I think even if you don't ignore them he makes out ahead. Of course, I'm assuming that the negativity on the internet is subject to self-selection bias (somebody who thinks this is stupid is way more likely to post than a bunch of people who are vaguely amused).

I could easily see him getting hired on by somebody looking for a PR or marketing type guy: the ability to run with a joke that unexpectedly takes off would be a useful skill to have.

Do you get the impression that the people with negative opinions outnumber the positive ones, by a small or large margin?

[gimymblert]

49M$ in crowdfund is not enough
http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/08/05/star-citizen-hits-49-million-in-funding-chris-roberts-explains-why-thats-not-enough/
That's the budget of I'm alive from ubisoft

[gimymblert]

Shovel knight number for more contrasting data to yogcast
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DavidDAngelo/20140805/222585/Digging_down_to_business_Shovel_Knight_Planning_and_Sales.php

[ANtY]

49M$ in crowdfund is not enough
http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/08/05/star-citizen-hits-49-million-in-funding-chris-roberts-explains-why-thats-not-enough/

if you spend a whole year coming up with new features instead of developing the game and deciding that things like cross-play and oculus support are CRUCIAL for your game then yes, probably any amount of money will be not enough for someone without the management and producing skills

the thing is that giving such a huge budget for an indie studio that is just being created they won't use that budget well and an already existing AAA-studio could do much more with such a budget

(also AAA studios spend 50%+ of their budgets on marketing, so it's not exactly that they have much bigger budgets for the development)

[jamesprimate]

$49 million??? were reaching some sort of ridiculous exponential curve for wasted crowdfund dollars here

[ANtY]

they've floated away from the earth so far that they left its gravitational field, now the fall won't heart them, and the backers are just standing here on the surface watching them fly around in space

[gimymblert]

Technically they are AAA drop off in the teams ... I think ... And the marketing ... they don't pay for it they are paid for it, earning money is teh marketing at this point.

[pottering]

if someone takes a pic of one of them in a expensive-looking sports car it could really fuck up their PR

details matter peoples, details matter


obs: I'm talking about start citizen, not yogcast (though now that I think about it...)

[Superb Joe]

the fucking nutjobs that bankrupt themselves for the star trek kickstarter game will not be put off taking out a second mortgage on their house, selling their organs or bodily fluids, or performing contract killings for extra money by anyone or anything

[makehimanoffer]

They basically pawned off low-bidding and completely underexperienced and naive devs as being people they were good friends with. For fuck sake. That bullshit with the 35k for the artist who just fucked off somewhere else is fucking ridiculous. I don't give a fuck if their contract was like: "you can leave and keep the money", something shoulda been done. you don't handed free money. And why the fuck was he paid completely up front?

Yogscast are trash. First there was this, then there was that horribly implemented Yogdiscover idea, which in no way could justify them getting a share of game profits for X amount of time after a video goes up. The only way you could implement something like that is through a refferal link. But they couldn't even think of that, instead they had to go with basically calling an embargo on other press for that week or some stupid shit.

[Tazi]

http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/09/26/tug-studio-lays-off-half-its-workforce-after-funding-deal-goes-sour/

[jolene]

wats a yogcast is that the thing with the ball pit