They don't even have the look and feel and mechanics nailed down, so how would they be able to communicate that? We're not kickstarting the *game*, we're kickstarting the *developers*.
I think you're misunderstanding the intention of Floride's post. She's not saying, "We don't know what we're getting, so don't fund the game!" She seems more to be saying, "Even though we don't know exactly what the final product is going to be, look! People are funding the game! Yay!"
As for what exactly we're Kickstarting, we're Kickstarting a little bit of everything. Kickstarter has pretty strict guidelines on what exactly you can Kickstart, and one of those guidelines is that you can't use a fundraising campaign to start a company. That's why nobody will come right out and say, "We're going to use this money to fund starting up Missing Worlds Media." However, the practical situation is that while Missing Worlds Media exists as a corporate entity right now (thus the fundraising campaign isn't, strictly speaking, starting up the company), it currently has no products to sell to make any income. So the money is in a very technical sense is going to be used to fund
only the project: The copies of 3D Studio Max, Visual Studio, Maya, Photoshop, etc. that are going to be purchased are going to be used on this game. The lawyer is going to be working on legal stuff directly relevant to this game. The Unreal Engine, of course, will be used in this game.
But the practical situation is that once this game is done, Missing Worlds Media will still own
x copies of 3D Studios Max,
y copies of Photoshop, etc. The ultimate intention is that once work on City of Titans is finished, the game will be self-sustaining in that income from it will pay for any future development costs, server costs, legal costs, etc. But once it's done, this isn't the only product that Missing Worlds Media will ever produce. When I say that I'm excited because this has a real chance to turn the industry on its head, I mean that I am hoping that Missing Worlds Media
never has strings attached to any of its projects to investors or publishers, and that this is the first of a series of high-quality, AAA titles that are written
and managed exclusively by gamers for gamers.
I have to say... I was rather doubtful at the onset here--but... that was a very impressive little trailer. In other words--you have my attention. I may need to look into how to fund my first kickstarter. Great work guys! It's beautiful and a world I would like to explore!
I've seen a lot of people (mostly in comments sections in other places, not here, since I kind of clamp down on it here) who are skeptical and who decide to post derisive little comments trying to pee on our parade.
I just want to say, it's refreshing to see a comment like this from someone who expresses trepidation, but is still supportive. When I read this comment, I thought, this is
exactly how I wish the naysayers were: basically saying that yes, I have doubts, but I think it's a nifty idea, and I'm willing to give them a chance to prove themselves. I just wanted to post a message saying thanks, you're doing it right.