Sword Of The Necromancer Kickstarter Suffers Heavy Blow From "Troll" Backer

And this is why we can't have nice things because of lowlifes pulling scummy garbage like this.
Don't they have anything better to do ?

This is why I just can't use kickstarter. It's no fault of the devs, I just don't trust people enough to gamble like this.

There must be a cap on the amount a guest can donate. Period.

I just don’t understand the mentality of such ignorant and selfish people. This phantom 'backer' should be utterly ashamed of themselves

No such thing as bad publicity... right?

Come on guys, people back out of things all the time, it's hardly the end of the world, just a fact of life I am afraid, and I am sure this story will get the developers some more money, so not all bad.

@johnvboy

As with all things, intent matters. It’s clear this person never intended to follow through. So then, what’s the point? Screwing with other people for LOLz?

@johnvboy There is a difference--a vast difference--between backing out because you changed your mind, and backing out with the intention of causing as much damage as possible after entering for specifically that reason alone.

Not that I don't have other reasons to dislike crowdfunding (deliberately turning audiences and fans into effective direct investors is a borderline deal with the devil), but this just adds to their number. And seriously, Kickstarter? Nowadays one can barely SNEEZE online without being required a login and a password for the occasion, but crowdfunding pledge can be made by a complete passerby? Classy.

It just comes with the territory. People should be allowed to remove their funded money at anytime.

Wow. Some people seriously have nothing better to do with their lives. Best of luck to the developers.

@Res462

Yes pretty much
Some people think this nonsense is "hilarious"

@Incarna
Couldn't agree more
Allowing guests to pledge is just an invitation for abuse.

I see this type of thing happening all the time when it comes to big ebay auctions.

Someone get DJ Slopes on the double!

Further proof that nothing good ever comes out of the word "troll" or the "culture" associated with it.

@JimmySpades,

We do not know the reason, so at the moment it's all pure speculation.

@Res462,

Again we do not know their motivation for sure, so you can't say either way, my point is there are far more important things going on and is not the end of the world.

Hmmmm....as much as I think it's lame to mess with people, I don't really see how this is a devastating blow. They were just messed with for a sec? Maybe I am missing something

@johnvboy It is not pure speculation. It is a reasonable deduction based upon such factors as the size of the pledge, the timing of all activity, and the anonymity of everything.

@Kalmaro

I've backed 35 Kickstarters, all but one have worked out exactly as expected. And the one that didn't work out, the all in one controller that was featured on this site, is still coming, but definitely fill the bill of a bad kickstarter given that they're two years behind schedule. There have been delays in others as well, but overall, I find it works out the vast majority of the time. For every poor story you hear, they're probably hundreds you don't hear about as they went smoothly. I've backed books, hardware, software and documentaries. And I have never lost a dime on a product that wasn't delivered or from a group that just disappeared.

@JayJ

That's for sure, that's the Ebay plague for high priced products. I've had it happen to me as a seller as well.

@Agent721 I'm glad things have worked out for you, I wish I had your confidence.

@AlexSora89 yeah that "Trolls" movie doesn't look that good lol 😂

Joking aside, I definitely agree though.

Sadly things like this happen to good Kickstarter campaigns. Here is a video that talks about this:

@JimmySpades,

I still don't get the great tragedy of it all, even if it is as calculated as some are suggesting on here, which again is deduction, as you put it, I certainly do not get why people are getting so worked up over it all.

@johnvboy You seem to be getting worked up about how people are responding. Ask yourself why and you'll have your answer.

I remember there was this game called Cult County on the 3DS that was begging to be funded on Kickstarter. It only got ~40% of the launch goal. Needless to say the game became on hold...for around 6 years now.

Good games deserve release!!

@JimmySpades,

Wow nice reply, not getting worked up in the slightest, just can't see why some are so upset about such a trivial matter.

@johnvboy you can also walk and chew gum and look with your eyes at the same time. Sure there are priorities that are more important than others, however, that’s not to say people are getting worked up. They may be expressing an opinion, and if I may say a valid one.

I know because I wanted to develop a game once and was on a development team. It was a card action game. Several times, there was a misunderstanding about money. Basically what happens is is the money developers get is used as resources. Many different things.

@jedisquidward I'm shocked KS even allows guests to make pledges. At least force them to register/verify an account first to help prevent something like this.

@johnvboy You might not be feeling any strong emotions, but you care enough to have commented five times. And I say again, whatever has compelled you to do so also compels other people. And you may also consider that just as you think I have misinterpreted you, perhaps you have misinterpreted other people and that they aren't as upset as you think they are.

Wonder if Star Citizen has had the same happen to them?

As others mentioned resending a pledge is one thing to Troll backout is another. And they should be tracked down and arrested for Wire Fraud. For some that don't know this is a law regardless where your from. In this day and age your not so walled off once they pledge and Trolled the KS they can also be backtracked as well. So your not so stealthy in what your doing. And KS should've required full registration to make any pledge to prevent just this kinda incident.

@johnvboy In this case, it does seem like the damage was minimal, causing only disappointment for the developers (which is pointless and cruel, but yes, you’re right, it’s ultimately small).

That said, I’d wonder if this practice can be used to much worse effect in other cases. Here, it sounds as if the game had already been funded. But think about someone doing this on an unfunded project. Personally, I won’t contribute to a funded project, regardless of rewards or stretch goals. If it’s funded, it’s coming and the developers will probably end up adding whatever features they have in mind over time. I’ll wait until there’s actual reviews at that point since there’s no sense in dropping money on something guaranteed to come but unproven in quality. I’m not the only person with this mindset. So if someone drops a huge pledge on a game to make it hit its goal, then pulls out shortly before the campaign ends, the entire project ultimately fails and people like you and me never get to play the game.

@JimmySpades,

I commented once, and then replied to other posts, not the same thing as just commenting five times fella.

@bro2dragons,

My point is this is a very tough way to raise money, and will always attract pledge remorse, where people back out, now in this case it could be intentional, but it also may not.

Much better imho to go and get more regular funding from investors or heaven forbid some sort of loan.

@Grot Until you have evidence that supports such a claim, maybe it’s better to give the victims the benefit of the doubt?

If someone claims to be assaulted the first line of enquiry isn’t, ‘How do we know you aren’t making this up?’

The troll probably needed his money back as there was more joy in buying up $300 Nintendo Switches to sell for $450-500 plus to idiots stupid enough to pay it.

@johnvboy I agree, of course, traditional funding is better and safer, but it’s just not an option for everything.

And remorse is a thing, but I don’t think an unnamed, unaffiliated individual drops $8,500 on something they’re unsure about. The only plausible and reasonable explanation I can come up with is it may have been a drunken pledge made that was rescinded after the individual realized what he had done when blacked out. But any other scenario just seems really, REALLY scummy.

@nintendolife I’d like to know why you decided to change my wording from ‘raped’ to ‘assaulted’. That’s ludicrous.

Rape is not a dirty or inappropriate word. It is something that people shouldn’t be ashamed to talk about, and it shouldn’t be censored. How the hell is assault any more palatable than rape? Does rape make you blush? Cover your children’s ears?

Disgusting behaviour and a ridiculous decision.

@antdickens It was an example of victim blaming. Victim blaming is a prevalent problem in rape discourse. I was pointing out that such victim blaming, in any context, IS WRONG. My example is intended to clarify my point. To imply that I’m making light of rape victims is, frankly, vile.

How exactly is it inappropriate to talk about victim blaming culture, and mention rape, which forms a huge proportion of public discourse?

You know what? Fine. Remove it. Clean up the dirty words.

@antdickens Yeah, no. I don't have the original comment, but if the only change you made was to replace "rape" with "assault", then no, what @HappyMaskedGuy wrote was not inappropriate enough to warrant altering, not from any sort of journalistic-standards point of view. Jumping straight to the most extreme example is often poor argumentation, designed to overwhelm an opponent by making response feel impossible, but even if that were the case here, and it isn't clear that it is, true journalism would allow it to be considered, judged, and potentially rejected on its own merits. Trolling Kickstarter isn't rape, and you may feel that it so pales in severity by comparison that one cannot possibly illuminate the other, and that the alteration is thus warranted. But making that alteration belies any claim to journalism.

@mesome713 Thank Christ someone on this site has their head screwed on. The entitlement shown here is a disgrace, all these whiners and I bet none have pledged themselves eh?

@Grot Well said!

@HappyMaskedGuy mentioning rape is appropriate when talking about rape. Not when talking about video game drama that has nothing to do with rape.

Dialing a trivial issue into a serious issue like rape, dilutes the gravity of the word.

Blaming a trolled game developer is bad, blaming a rape victim is an entirely different level of horrible. Comparing the two to make an argument seem stronger is trivializing to actual rape victims as it dilutes the horror of the word.

@DonkeyKongJump Oh do shut up.