Thread by @dsmart

For as long as I've been around, I've never believed the Great Man myth in gaming. But @RichardGarriott is one of those guys most of us have paid close attention to.

His latest game (I backed it) is officially launching 03/27. Listen to this podcast.

nygamecritics.com/2018/03/09/the…

Though I haven't even played it yet, I am aware that there is a lot about SoTA that some backers hate.

Here's the thing about backing crowd-funded games:

They are not likely to meet your expectations. You know, just like any other game whose development you didn't follow.

With crowd-funding, I have always told people that if you get to see how the sausage is made, you probably won't like it. Aside from the horrific stress that comes from things breaking, not as expected etc.

And like gambling, don't commit money you cannot afford to lose.

It's hilarious to me when I see some people - seriously - thinking that THIS game that was pitched, was actually made for $2m. Aside from the money raised through other means - including selling game items and investor money.

kickstarter.com/projects/porta…

If a publisher funds devs to build a game, and they build the game - but it sux. That's the end of it. You move on.

When you crowd-fund a game, you get to play the role of the publisher. How you deal with the ensuing disappointment, is up to you, your therapist & your meds.

There's a BIG difference between a crowd-funded game sticking as close to the initial pitch as possible, and eventually releasing a game.

That's how many backers view SoTa.

As per my sources, the whole thing could have folded back in 2016, were it not for some major decisions.

But Richard and his gang of merrymen, for all the derision and dissent, just plowed on anyway. If you go back and look at the team's old school pedigree, it's easy to see why that is.

Most of the complaints are practically par of the course in ANY game project.

But when all is said and done, a game with a ship date of Oct 2014, which was reportedly on the brink in 2016, is now having an official "launch" Mar 2018.

That's 3.5 yrs later.

A game which (and I checked) is not only close to what was promised, but exceeds it in many ways.

Like, hate, or leave it, there's a game that's launching. If you backed it, congrats, you did that.

Now you get to act & think more like a publisher, than a gamer. Most of the latter have very little room for objectivity, let alone the restraint.

You know there's a GAME, right?

Like the majority of the 34 games I crowd-funded since 2011, I probably won't play SoTA, but I can check it off the list of games I backed and which actually got to a point where it can be deemed completed & released - at least by current standards.

So yeah, I helped make SoTA.

Finally, it simply doesn't matter - at all - if the game sucks, dies this year, next year or whenever. None of that matters. What matters is that a group of gamers did what we as devs & publishers do: We engage in the risk of game dev funding. It's hit or miss, with more misses.

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