DoubleFine seem to have attracted a bit of a mess with Psychonauts 2 funding

Quoting: DarthBoSeriously? Are we still pandering to the gamergate narrative?

No, we're considering and debating a point that happens to have been brought up by Gamergate, amongst many others, as well.

What's noticeable is that it all went pretty relaxed with opinions from both sides, until you, with your initial comment, tried to derail it to the emotional level with categories like "evil" that nobody here really brought up against Double Fine.

You're free to hold any opinion you want and spend your money for whatever you want.
But please refrain from throwing some boogeyman BS at those of us who are barely weighting the facts out there a little differently than you do.
Thank you.


Last edited by Caldazar on 2 January 2016 at 3:05 pm UTC

Quoting: DarthBoSeriously? Are we still pandering to the gamergate narrative?
We are talking about a company that has delivered on every title they ever kickstarted, in case of Broken Age indeed delivered far MORE than they promised.
On top of that, they had two early access games, one that was completed, and one that didn't sell and had to be cancelled. Rather than drop it instantly, they did some extra work and released the source code.
They've also ported all their games to Linux, and did so before supporting Linux was cool.

What an awful evil company.

The original Psychonauts is also on sale on steam for $0.99 right now. Great game.

Quoting: CaldazarNo, we're considering and debating a point that happens to have been brought up by Gamergate, amongst many others, as well.

The video calls DoubleFine frauds. I think you are blaming the wrong person for the hyperbole!

I've been saying for years that Kickstarter and "early access" are basically scams, especially given the fact that there are pretty much zero safeguards in place, and contrary to the best practices of capitalism, the consumer and not the producer takes on 100% of the risk. Furthermore, the consumer has zero recourse if the producer fails to fulfill whatever promises he made to attract funds.

I have never contributed to Kickstarter or early access, and I never will.

Quoting: neffoThe video calls DoubleFine frauds. I think you are blaming the wrong person for the hyperbole!

The video claims that there is a questionable relationship between Double Fine and Fig who themselves allegedly operate in a grey area. If those claims hold any water, then yes, it's within my definition of fraud.

I go even further and say that those kinds of "investment" sites are ripe with it and just avoid the legal definition of fraud by an inch at best.

However, to decide whether Double Fine is such a case, one would have to check those facts presented, maybe refute it, not throw some boogeyman ad-hominems at anyone who dares to consider it, just as if any such suspicion against the company was ludicrous, given their history with consumer's prepaid money.


Last edited by Caldazar on 2 January 2016 at 4:02 pm UTC

Quoting: Caldazar

Quoting: neffoThe video calls DoubleFine frauds. I think you are blaming the wrong person for the hyperbole!

The video claims that there is a questionable relationship between Double Fine and Fig who themselves allegedly operate in a grey area. If those claims hold any water, then yes, it's within my definition of fraud. [...]

But that information is right there on the front page of Fig! It was literally the first thing I saw when I checked the funding campaign: "Oh Fig, that's new; what's that? Ah, it's from some of the Double Fine guys and they're cooperating, cool."
That isn't fraud, they just found a way to ask for money that better fits what they need and what they think their audience is interested in. It's a bit like saying that Steam sounds like fraud because Valve is selling their own games on it.
If you think it sounds risky, you're have every right to not give them money, but they aren't doing anything shady or secret.

Quoting: CybolicIt's a bit like saying that Steam sounds like fraud because Valve is selling their own games on it.

Yes, I can see how it appears like that, but I think it's beyond the point.

Problems arise if there's a conflict of interest about which they are not that open. Let's say between you as a citizen investor in Steam and some big money companies. Some small-printed rule that says that Steam isn't actually obliged to give you a game or even produce one in return for your money but might rather pay dividends to bank xy instead if those guys decide to liquidate the whole operation. (A lot of real-estate-credits worked like that for example). Steam being open about actually holding shares of bank xy doesn't help you then, and it wouldn't be that cool anymore.

If there is such a rule, then I don't even care about the risk of it materializing but the conflict of interest alone is enough for me to not give them a single cent before they let me download a really good and finished game. Steam, Double Fine or whoever.


Last edited by Caldazar on 2 January 2016 at 4:39 pm UTC

Quoting: neffo

Quoting: Keyrock

Quoting: bonermarineBroken age came out and it was a good game.
Massive Chalice came out and it was a good game.

Disagree on both accounts. Part 1 of Broken Age was fairly good. The puzzles were weak, but the story was interesting and I was excited to see where it went. Part 2 was flat out bad. The story completely fell apart and the whole thing fell flat. The game looked great, the art style was terrific, but beyond that, I felt it was a bitter disappointment overall.

Massive Chalice came out on time, I'll give them that, but I thought it was a rather mediocre game.

Subjective statements though, wouldn't you agree?

Well yeah, of course. These are my opinions.

If people here trust Tim Schafer enough to give him money up front, by all means, go for it. You'll get zero sympathy from me if this thing goes south.

Quoting: Caldazar[...] Problems arise if there's a conflict of interest about which they are not that open. Let's say between you as a citizen investor in Steam and some big money companies. Some small-printed rule that says that Steam isn't actually obliged to give you a game or even produce one in return for your money but might rather pay dividends to bank xy instead if those guys decide to liquidate the whole operation. [...]

Well, that's how crowd funding generally works, nothing new there. Kickstarter even writes the following in the F.A.Q., "Kickstarter does not guarantee projects or investigate a creator's ability to complete their project. On Kickstarter, backers (you!) ultimately decide the validity and worthiness of a project by whether they decide to fund it."
I'd say that Double Fine is more likely to deliver here than on Kickstarter, since the success and public image of Fig is much more closely tied to them.

Quoting: neffo(76 metacritic if that means anything)

It doesn't. Dragon Age 2 is 82 on metacritic and that game is bad. Not even average, flat out bad, in my opinion, of course.


Last edited by Keyrock on 2 January 2016 at 5:32 pm UTC