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[Manuel Magalhães]

I disagree. I got all of the Venus Patrol stuff I backed for

all the kickstarter rewards seem to be leftovers they got at conventions or sthg.

Two of them are (the book and the cards, but I'm not sure on the later), but the Moon Grotto vinil, the paper boards and the venus patrol t-shirt aren't. Not to mention the downloable stuff, like the Venus Patrol exclusive stuff (except JOUST and the Fragmment EP, since it wasn't made specifically for it). There are some leftovers, but there's more original stuff.

@teegee Pixelprospector is a great site, I agree. I just didn't agree that Venus Patrol "was a scam from the start and everyone who donated got buttfucked.". At worst if the site turns out to be really underwhelming at least I managed to get the stuff that was part of my pledge.


   
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@SirNiko I see. I don't think it helps much, judging that a lot of today's most recognizable logos were made for free or at a low cost. (e.g. Nike, Twitter, Coca-Cola)

[brandonnn]

Hello people talking about me on the internet! So sorry for the delay, you can trust that it's been quite a bit more frustrating to me than it has been to any of you!

Just wanted to point out that all of the physical stuff that was given away for the Kickstarter was manufactured and paid for by me, there were no hand-me-down type "leftovers" -- books, cards, prints, everything. I made a certain percentage of extras of certain items to give back to the artists so that they could sell it at conventions, etc. as thanks for being involved, not vice versa. And yeah, some of that stuff took a whole lot longer to be complete than it realistically should have. That was also very frustrating!

Anyway, OK, I'll leave you guys to go back to the weirdly bitter and misguided vitriol! Excelsior!

[deathtotheweird]

Okay, I may be more vitriolic about it than I usually am (or maybe even should be), but this seriously rubs me the wrong way.

I mean, take this: http://www.pixelprospector.com/. Super-useful blog on indie games, with a huge library of resources, tutorials, and links to good articles. Updated frequently. Looks cool. Actually exists. No kickstarter, no $100k, no videogame celebrities behind it. Just good old effort and indie love.

whoa, I totally forgot abut pixel prospector. the quality of indiegames.com has suffered quite a bit recently so I've been pretty starved of a lot of indie game stuff. this should be what I was looking for, thanks for reminding me.

and nice to see brandon come on here and acting like a smug asshole as always. fight bitterness with bitterness, I heard that works.

[Daniel Seabra]

I don't see what all the fuss is about. PixelProspector is a great site, and they did it for free, and hurrah, and all those things.

But it's not like these other Venus Patrol people robbed $100k from random people walking on the streets. They set up a page for donations, with promised rewards, and people thought that giving them money was worthwhile, so they did. There's no reason to be pissed - it's how capitalism works. That includes, necessarily, the risk that the site wasn't going to be done. So even if it's never completed (and it definitely doesn't sound that way) that was (or should have been) counted as part of the price. Same as if I give my buddy a loan for a certain interest rate, that rate should cover the fact that he might not give it back. And if he doesn't, it's my own damn fault for giving it to him.

Besides, I see no "smug asshole" behind brandonnn there, he seemed like a nice guy in his post. I haven't seen him before, but still.

Stop ranting. What happened, happened. Besides, this is just a thread to try to find out what happened. Ie, why is the site not up? Not, let's all bash on VP!

People wanted to give them money, and they did. Let's hope the site goes up, for their sake. But no need to light your torches.

Chill and be happy that you're not in this mess

[deathtotheweird]

Stop ranting. What happened, happened. Besides, this is just a thread to try to find out what happened. Ie, why is the site not up? Not, let's all bash on VP!

this thread is about venuspatrol.com and all that comes with it, good or bad. you can't tell other people not to talk negatively about something because you don't want to hear it. some things deserved to be 'bashed', and this is one of them.

[michaelplzno]

Guys, this project was clearly about secretly building an advanced fusion reactor under the guise of creating some kind of website. Considering the names involved it was obviously successful, but now they are afraid of the reactor being weaponized. It currently sits in a shipping container in San Francisco waiting for a time when the world is ready for the future of energy.

[Aik]

I don't understand why anyone who didn't back it cares?

[bento_smile]

I'm mystified as to why it's taken so long to get started too, especially as the money is meant to mean there's time to focus on maintaining the site.

I kinda feel bad for the people who donated their stuff/time to the rewards too.

I dunno. It seems a shame.  

[eyeliner]

Just wanted to point out that all of the physical stuff that was given away for the Kickstarter was manufactured and paid for by me, there were no hand-me-down type "leftovers" -- books, cards, prints, everything.

Nope. they were paid by the backers.

[Ashkin]

vitriol

PENALTY BOX.

I apologize on behalf of the others for being hate-filled machines of rage. However, I'm interested in whether this thing will happen or not- can you update us on its progress, setbacks you've had, etcetera?

[michaelplzno]

Yeah, I want to know about it despite not being a backer because I never knew about the original kickstarter and it seems like a good idea and the project had a significant amount of money so I'm really curious what is going on. I joke about a fusion reactor, but I'm assuming this site will be more than a wordpress?

[TeeGee]

I don't understand why anyone who didn't back it cares?

Well, it's a somewhat stupid and much exaggerated analogy, but the fact that I don't have anything to do with - say - child labor, doesn't mean I'm not bothered by it. It's okay to have strong reactions about things that go against one's sense of morality, especially if those things are connected to the community you consider yourself a part of. You may not agree of course, and I'm fine with that, but please don't tell me and others what I should care about and what not.

Why it bothers me, personally:
- I don't like it that you can make a non-substantial video with celebrity cameos and get $100k for it, while it's much harder to get that with honest work and effort.
- I don't like it that someone thought starting a website may require such money in the first place. Especially as the one it's based on looks like a simple blog.
- The video also doesn't tell me how it's going to be different.
- I don't think it's a scam, to be honest. I'm sure Brandon believes in it. But I see it as gaming the kickstarter system. Well-recognized names, nostalgia, a bit of pretense = instant money.
- I don't like the fact that it worked. I would rather see that money go to people who really need it or just be spent on indie games.
- I find it troubling that despite getting twice the set goal (which was supposed to go towards making this a full-time gig), the website doesn't exist after a year. Not even a temporary blog that could show us what kind of articles are going to appear on the site, and keep us updated on the development progress.
- Brandon coming here and basically saying: "Haters gonna hate, I have 100k now lol!" instead of: "I understand your concerns, but we're working on it despite problems X and Y" bothers me too.
- In general, this and similar cases make me worried. It looks like these days it's more profitable to declare you start a project than to actually make one. It's a bit like in the stock market and startup community and it's troubling. Such abuses inevitably lead to bubble bursting, killing an otherwise viable funding options, and can even cause market crashes. It's irresponsible.

[sexybeastfareast]

Well this thread is going extremely off from the original topic so im going to lock the thread.

Just want to add that ive heard back from brandon and that the launch will be soon.

[Gainsworthy]

Yeah, this did go downhill terrifyingly fast. Yes, Pixel Prospector is a lovely blog, but what does it have to do with Venus Patrol? I'm imagining the money goes into producing big features, or podcasts, or video content, or just having a small-but-permanent staff. I'm picturing a smaller, indie-skewed Polygon, or maybe something like Killscreen.

And people wonder why users leave. Cool your jets, fellas.

Just want to add that ive heard back from brandon and that the launch will be soon.

Hooray!


HOWEVER: seriously. Pishtaco's Venus Patrol. Any link?

[Aik]

I don't understand why anyone who didn't back it cares?

Well, it's a somewhat stupid and much exaggerated analogy, but the fact that I don't have anything to do with - say - child labor, doesn't mean I'm not bothered by it. It's okay to have strong reactions about things that go against one's sense of morality, especially if those things are connected to the community you consider yourself a part of. You may not agree of course, and I'm fine with that, but please don't tell me and others what I should care about and what not.

Why it bothers me, personally:
- I don't like it that you can make a non-substantial video with celebrity cameos and get $100k for it, while it's much harder to get that with honest work and effort.
- I don't like it that someone thought starting a website may require such money in the first place. Especially as the one it's based on looks like a simple blog.
- The video also didn't tell me how it's going to be different.
- I don't think it's a scam, to be honest. I'm sure Brandon believes in it. But I see it as gaming the kickstarter system. Well-recognized names, nostalgia, a bit of pretense = instant money.
- I don't like the fact that it worked. I would rather see that money go to people who really need it or just be spent on indie games.
- I find it troubling that despite getting twice the set goal (which was supposed to go towards making this a full-time gig), the website doesn't exists after a year. Not even a temporary blog that could show us what kind of articles are going to appear on the site, and keep us updated on the development progress.
- Brandon coming here, and basically saying: "Haters gonna hate, I have 100k now lol!", instead of: "I understand your concerns, but we're working on it despite problems X and Y" bothers me too.
- In general, this and similar cases make me worried. It looks like these days it's more profitable to declare you start a project than to actually make one. It's a bit like in the stock market and startup community and it's troubling. Such abuses inevitably lead to bubble bursting, killing an otherwise viable funding options, and can even cause market crashes. It's irresponsible.

I concede that those are good points. Carry on.

[Schoq]

I'm imagining the money goes into producing big features, or podcasts, or video content, or just having a small-but-permanent staff.

None of this costs any money to create, and don't take more time than what is reasonably spent on a hobby either. And if such things are created with the intention of making the money back they can only be worse for it.

Pixelprospector is brought up because it's one among countless examples of amazingly useful and entertaining websites that don't need a paid staff or a million dollar kickstarter to be what they are.

[ortoslon]

what if this money will be used to hire Tim W. to search for games fulltime again

[Amy Pond]

When I think of how many indie games could be funded with that $100k, with a quick wordpress blog set up with a cheap logo, it makes me scream. Websites are ultimately about the people on them yeah, but if you have to pay said people to be there then it's not a sustainable website.

[Christian Knudsen]

What's with the weird sentiment in this thread that professional websites should be made for no money? Just because some sites are made as hobby projects doesn't mean that other sites can't heave higher ambitions and bigger costs. And just because some people can throw together a Wordpress site in a day for free doesn't mean that people are being scammed because someone trying to make a larger site needs money to do so. It's like saying that you can throw together a game in Game Maker for free in a day, so why would any game need X thousands of dollars to be made? But I guess Venus Patrol is just the animosity-bandwagon to jump on this particular week at TIGSource. *sigh*

[Alevice]

Problem is the time lapsed without anything shown already, other than a spalsh page.