Would you ever fund an AG project?
 

I'm quite fascinated by the concept of how some people are donating money to game-projects on sites like 8-bit-funding/indie-gogo/kickstarter so my question to you is:

What would it take for you to donate to an adventure-game project?

And keep in mind I'm not asking what you think "people" are looking for, but what it would take for YOU to dig into your wallet and hand over money to a stranger, money which you could have spent on something you really wanted to buy for yourself!

Is it purely the apparent quality of the project?
Or are you in it for the perks (for example a character of you in the game)?
Or does it have to pin-point your specific niche precisely (for example a fan-game of your favorite game)?

Personally the only time I've ever donated to a game-project was the donate-button on OpenTTD (transport tycoon fan-game) but that was because I had already played the game and it was AMAZING (was playing it 12 hours a day when I first downloaded it), I'm not entirely sure I would ever donate to a WIP game, or perhaps the right project just hasn't come along for me yet.

I guess the reason why I'm so suspicious against WIP games is because a couple of years ago I got unlimited free use of my friends recording studio so I took the opportunity to volunteer to for every single project on the internet that was looking for VO, after auditioning for hundreds of projects I was eventually casts to record final lines for 20+ projects, since then only 1 single project was ever finished and that guy didn't even credit me in the credits, point being that very few project ever really make it, so personally it would be difficult to convince me to hand over actual money to a WIP project, and looking around at most of these funding websites most projects looks like they are in extremely early stages.

What about you?

Here’s my two cents, for what they’re worth. :D

If you can’t afford donating money, don’t do it. It’s not wise to expect something in return. I’ve given money to one or two of promising indie enterprises, like Indiana Jones: The Fountain of Youth. That was at a time when I thought they would pull it off, but they’ve been at it since 2000, so I’m not holding my breath. That's okay, I'm sure they had a lot of expenses and I don't regret my donation.

Kickstarter c.s. is not quite the same thing, unless you donate a couple of dollars just to support a project. For me, it’s an investment in something I really want and I do expect them to deliver the goods, as promised. Of course it’s still a risk, anything may happen. So far, I’ve invested money in three games: Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller (confusing last name, there’s also a Carol Reed detective), an audio adventure without graphics (should be interesting), and an IF game which I’ve already written off as a bad investment.

A track record. When I've donated to or pre-ordered games, it's always been because I've played and enjoyed previous games by the creators. Partly it's that a track record of successful, completed projects gives me confidence that the game will be finished and released (and reason to hope it will be good), and partly it's an appreciation of the games I've already played for free, so that even if it falls through it won't feel like I've thrown the money away.

For example, I donated to Resonance because Vince Twelve's previous games, Anna and Linus Bruckman, were some of my favorite AGS games. And from the bits I've seen of it, that investment (though it has been a long time to wait) was absolutely a good one.

Haha ouch.
edited: You're right Ascovel, I don't know enough about the project to quite make that statement.

Yes good point, that funding websites are bit different from regular donation, it's indeed more of a promise, which is exactly why I'm disappointed that so many of the game projects are in its early stages as I feel that it's almost to the point of irresponsible to promise anything at that stage,
personally I would start visiting these sites regularly if every single project was required to have a playable-prototype (even if just showing a video of someone playing it), but it's a bit sad to me how the games section is padded with stuff that will never see the light of day IMO, but I guess for the funding website itself the more projects the better, they don't have a financial incentive to exclude projects.

Ah good point, myself I was surprised at first how well Cognition did as their trailer was just concept-art but I'm starting to think their previous freeware game (which I haven't played myself) plays a big role that people want to reward them for their previous game.

Like Brisk Nap I funded Resonance this way. It's the experimental interface adventure game I would like to see released + the author seems to know pretty well what's his doing.

And Deirdra Kiai's Life Flashes By - this one I was pretty sure will get finished and will be interesting.

I don't believe there are ever guarantees a complex project will get completed. Even big "professional" game companies like EA constantly misjudge things and run their smaller projects to the ground for one reason or another.

I wouldn't say it has gone horribly wrong - there's a lengthy demo to play, a fun Christmas Special mini adventure game called "...and the Temple of Spheres", and this Christmas there will be another. While it's not the same as a full game release - it's definitely a lot of cool content to play with.

It depends what you mean by "fund". Kind of like Bill Clinton trying to define what "sex" is.

Could I ever imagine funding a $500K project? Absolutely not!

Could I ever imagine funding $5K seed money to a designer I know and trust? Absolutely. As we speak, I have offered to do that.

Would I invest money in a project simply for the fun of it? Absolutely not!

Do I expect a return on my investment? Absolutely!

If the game fails, and money earns no return....that's the risk.

But that's not the expectation. The designer and I have discussed projects and have known each other for almost fifteen years. I respect every project he has done.

My money is in good hands.

I wouldn't fund an AG project unless I REALLY respected the developer and was 100% sure the finished game would see the light of day.

But alas, I'm not involved enough in the scene for that to happen, so no, I won't fund.

Maybe I'm cheap that way, but then again, I'll gladly pay for the finished product.

I just don't like to gamble with my money...
Says the guy who spent a year and a half playing poker semi-professionally.