Nekro (see the original greenlight page here), a game funded on Kickstarter with $158,733 which isn't a small amount of money has been officially abandoned by one of the developers. Sadly though, the story isn't very simple.
The Steam page has been removed, and the community page is being closed off. Writing on the Steam forum, a developer stated this:
It becomes a little more unclear when the co-creator of darkForge games LLC has been locked out of everything to do with the company, and he has been forced to write a review on Steam to explain the situation:
Click to make it bigger.
A bit of a murky situation, and I hope something gets sorted. Hard to tell what the real story is, but it's not looking good.
There's always a risk when it comes to crowdfunding, as it's often run by inexperienced developers who have no real idea of the time and money it will really take. Even worse when relationships seem to break down like this too, and if what the other developer is saying is true then that makes Scott (the one posting on the forum) quite a shady character. I'm not going to pick any sides here but the customers side, so I really hope something is worked out.
Honestly, when things like this happens there's a good reason to open source it to allow it to continue and not go to waste. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
The Steam page has been removed, and the community page is being closed off. Writing on the Steam forum, a developer stated this:
QuoteYes, the game failed to make enough money to continue production. I will be making an official statement when able. For now, the game and forums are closed.
It becomes a little more unclear when the co-creator of darkForge games LLC has been locked out of everything to do with the company, and he has been forced to write a review on Steam to explain the situation:
Click to make it bigger.
A bit of a murky situation, and I hope something gets sorted. Hard to tell what the real story is, but it's not looking good.
There's always a risk when it comes to crowdfunding, as it's often run by inexperienced developers who have no real idea of the time and money it will really take. Even worse when relationships seem to break down like this too, and if what the other developer is saying is true then that makes Scott (the one posting on the forum) quite a shady character. I'm not going to pick any sides here but the customers side, so I really hope something is worked out.
Honestly, when things like this happens there's a good reason to open source it to allow it to continue and not go to waste. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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all it takes is a few bad apples to ruin the whole bunch. cases like these only destroy credibility of the crowdfunding process for all the other devs out there. it's going to boil down to experienced devs that have good reputations that gain any sort of headway with crowdfunding. all of the small time start-up devs will be SOL because of these shady devs like this one seems to be.
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Too bad, I've never been in this kind of games but this one looks super fun. Now I really want to see it on Linux.
Last edited by burnall on 19 April 2016 at 11:04 am UTC
Last edited by burnall on 19 April 2016 at 11:04 am UTC
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Quoting: burnallNice, I've never been in this kind of games but this one looks super fun. Now I really want to see it on Linux.
It is on Linux I got in on bundle or sale do not remember. Game is just not finished
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There are always two sides to every story for sure but one things for certain, its going to get both messy and complicated by the looks of it. Every backer is going to want it finished so he is going to have a lot of vocal support. Scott's comments on the forums don't help matters much either. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw the "Because that's how it's being done." line.
Like the comments above, the really sad consequence of this sort of thing is that it erodes people's confidence and trust in this sort of development.
Like the comments above, the really sad consequence of this sort of thing is that it erodes people's confidence and trust in this sort of development.
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Storminator16 Apr 19, 2016
That guy may want to just get a lawyer and not f'ing appeal to gullible gamers. Of course, what should one expect when this is the same guy who allegedly went in a 50% partnership with someone, allegedly got swindled out all pay, and allegedly made bad decisions based on alleged business plan. Haven't we seen this movie before?
These are not one-offs. Developers are people too. When we "crowd fund" (I really can't think of a better way to say that without saying "kick start" ) product, we should expect 50% chance we'll see the fruit of our investment. However, gamers don't want to see the risk or even realize they took a risk when they give Johnny B. Dev money for, possibly, empty promises. Crowd funding a product shouldn't exude a level of trust. It's a risk. The only folk's "confidence and trust in this sort of development" is being eroded are the gamers who just don't see it as a risk. That is the real problem. This is serious business, not Monopoly.
If you don't want to take a risk, stop taking risks. I'm not saying don't crowd fund, I'm just saying think about what you are doing.
Last edited by Storminator16 on 19 April 2016 at 12:35 pm UTC
These are not one-offs. Developers are people too. When we "crowd fund" (I really can't think of a better way to say that without saying "kick start" ) product, we should expect 50% chance we'll see the fruit of our investment. However, gamers don't want to see the risk or even realize they took a risk when they give Johnny B. Dev money for, possibly, empty promises. Crowd funding a product shouldn't exude a level of trust. It's a risk. The only folk's "confidence and trust in this sort of development" is being eroded are the gamers who just don't see it as a risk. That is the real problem. This is serious business, not Monopoly.
If you don't want to take a risk, stop taking risks. I'm not saying don't crowd fund, I'm just saying think about what you are doing.
Last edited by Storminator16 on 19 April 2016 at 12:35 pm UTC
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Mountain Man Apr 19, 2016
I've said it before an I'll say it again: The only developers who deserve my money are ones with a finished product to sell. I will never support Kickstarter or "early access" or any other crowd-funding scam.
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cRaZy-bisCuiT Apr 19, 2016
Kickstarter could be a nice thing to bring up new, innovative games. Still it involves a risk as you can see in this case. Also Linux ports like Divinity: Original Sin are VERY, VERY good games and worth every penny. Even though the linux baggers were trolled since the Linux port got delayed more then one year!
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Segata Sanshiro Apr 19, 2016
Quoting: neowiz73all it takes is a few bad apples to ruin the whole bunch. cases like these only destroy credibility of the crowdfunding process for all the other devs out there. it's going to boil down to experienced devs that have good reputations that gain any sort of headway with crowdfunding. all of the small time start-up devs will be SOL because of these shady devs like this one seems to be.
Yeah, it's what I've been saying for a while now. A few people tried to game the system or were dishonest and it's ruining it for everyone. Crowdfunding is the kind of thing where you have one bad experience or read about one terrible experience and you're unlikely to try it again.
With Linux though, there seems to be more than a few bad apples though unfortunately. The amount of developers promising Linux support then going ahead and developing on DirectX or not bothering to plan ahead for cross-platform development is just crazy. Either that or it takes forever to get the Linux version.
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mulletdeath Apr 19, 2016
It really is a shame because it looks like a decent game. Hope it gets finished no matter what happens and regardless of who's telling the truth.
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Quoting: Mountain ManI've said it before an I'll say it again: The only developers who deserve my money are ones with a finished product to sell. I will never support Kickstarter or "early access" or any other crowd-funding scam.
Crowdfunding campaigns are NOT inherently scams. Plenty of people and companies have collected funding through crowdfunding platforms, spent the money on developing/making the goods and/or services the crowdfunding campaigns were for, released or launched those products and/or services and delivered all the backer rewards.
Even if you fail/go bankrupt that doesn't automatically mean you were scamming people. Failure, bankruptcy, bad business decisions and the like are a normal part of business.
That being said, there are certainly scams out there and so your decision may well be wise.
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