Just say MolyNO: Fools and Geniuses

[normanrafferty]

I'll be at Furry Fiesta this weekend, where I'll be talking about self-publishing, running your own business, and how to manage a crowd-funding.

Comments

[tuftears]

So glad I didn't chip into that kickstarter! I did chip into one kickstarter that looks like it's going nowhere, Jack and the Necronauts. Lesson learned, I can wait for the games to actually come out. -_-

[normanrafferty]

Wow, Necronauts was one of the earliest ones, too!

I was asked if I thought "the kickstarter bubble has burst". I'd have to say yes.

Do you remember our Jadeclaw crowd-funding on the now-defunct Fundable? Sigh, our salad days. ~

[tuftears]

It was an immediate bad sign when the first thing they did was to start looking for an office. Waste of money. -_-

[ff00ff]

When I heard about the kickstarter I could barely believe it. First of all I think its super sleazy for people deep in the industry with a big name who could easily secure funding in other more traditional ways to go to kickstarter. Second, it was obvious from the start that a kickstarter proposed by Molyneux was a nearly incoherent idea. He's going to pitch a game and the public is going to donate to fund it? How could anyone who knows who Molyneux is contribute to a project of his based on a pitch he had a hand in? It makes no sense

[normanrafferty]

It's not entirely clear what Molyneux does. He claims to be a "game designer", but he just seems to be around big games. And the games that he has been making for the last ten years or so are just pandering. (The FABLE series has been criticized for too many half-implemented features, and for a few that just break the end-game to make it far too easy to win. And did Molyneux ever actually make a Natal/Kinect game, or was he just in the room to talk about it?)

Molyneux is only a "good developer" as he appears to be in the room where other, smarter people are making games. His singular skill appears to be getting money, and it's clear that is what Molyneux thinks making games is all about.

[ff00ff]

Obviously I don't have any collaborative experience with Molyneux but many game projects seem to have had and to continue to have a use for him. I think your claim that he isn't a developer is based on something other than a working knowledge of his method. I also continue to think that the way he talks about and promotes his games is based on a profusion of ideas and an unmoderated desire to create. That the things he says make him clownish and upsets fans who bought into his hype is unfortunate and his publishers really aught to put a leash on him, but its only really tragic in the context of him using his untrustworthy claims to drum up donated money. I don't really buy into this perception of him as an intentional and cynical conman.

[normanrafferty]

I don't know. If he's not cynical, why did he make a Kickstarter when he was under the impression that the "rules" of one, is that you ask for less money than you need?

And wasn't Curiosity, a game whose only goal was busy-work tapping, where you could pay to win (and pay so that other people would lose), a cynical game? Especially when the prize was just to promote the NEXT game?

[siege]

There is a difference between the written rules and the social environment which sets other rules. Kickstarters for games tend to end up with lowballed budgets because most people don't have solid mental estimates for the cost of creative projects. Molyneux should have, however. So yeah. That's ass with a side of stupid, there.

[normanrafferty]

From the interview, I'm not convinced it was "stupid". I'm convinced Molyneux was dishonest, that he thought Kickstarter was just a way to get money. The entire Curiosity/Godus arc is far too calculated.