how annoying and disappointing will that happen with the board games as we know them?

lecter | August 08, 08:58 CET

Since it's not immediately apparently what the score is, I'd rather we kept this front page entry relatively neutralish for the time being. Otherwise it turns into "Whedonesque alleges..." elsewhere.

Though I did say it was a cynical marketing opportunity at the time. That goal felt far too low to be realistic.

Simon | August 08, 09:00 CET

Apparently only backers can see the update thread with the bulk of the critical comments, but there are some on this public update, also.

@theonetruebix | August 08, 09:29 CET

This update comment is ridiculous.

The message presented here is the only explanation we can provide at this time, but rest assured that Game Salute did not start and run this campaign with Toy Vault intending to cancel it. This campaign did not violate Kickstarter policies nor was this any sort of attempt to disintermediate Kickstarter.
The game will keep flyin' and release as scheduled. Through the overwhelming support shown through this campaign, Toy Vault was able to create the promo packs to enhance the game, so we thank everyone for that support and for your passion for the project.

"Through the overwhelming support shown through this campaign, Toy Vault was able to create the promo packs to enhance the game." Except, since Toy Vault got no actual money from the now-cancelled crowdfunder, that inherently means ToyVault had the financial ability to produce the extra material without any Kickstarter funding, which inherently means the Kickstarter was unnecessary.

No?

[ edited by The One True b!X on 2013-08-08 18:40 ]

@theonetruebix | August 08, 09:38 CET

My wild guess is they were able to secure a line of credit with more favorable terms from their bank based on the interest on KS. Once that was secured, KS was no longer needed.

IrrationaliTV | August 08, 11:00 CET

Looking at Game Salute's comments, you can see one from the backers-only thread, which includes this: "This was the only approved language we were given for the announcement, so we cannot elaborate further." So it's definitely on the Toy Vault end, not the Game Salute end, FWIW.

@theonetruebix | August 08, 11:05 CET

The good news, such as it is, is that backers can still pre-order -- at a slightly lower price than the applicable backer level. I'm not sure I will just yet. I'm a bit turned off by this.

Vague That Up | August 08, 13:01 CET

Game Salute, the company who set up the Kickstarter project has 33 other KickStarter projects. Only 1 of their KickStart projects were ever cancelled and that one had only 14 backers with $280 raised with a goal of $5,000. So it was a project that was obviously going to fail. A few other their projects went unfunded, but the vast majority of them succeeded. So pulling the plug on Kickstarter projects is not something they typically do. So I don't think it has anything to do with how much money they might have on hand.

Perhaps it could be a licensing issue? Someone on the Kickstarter comments mentions that it was Toy Vault has the Firefly license, not Game Salute who was behind the Kickstarter campaign. So perhaps there was some issue with Game Salute selling the items directly to consumers, with the presale now happening via Toy Vault's website not Game Salute. As the company Game Salute does have it's own online store, but the Firefly game isn't up on there, it's only Toy Vault selling it.

[ edited by Matt_Fabb on 2013-08-09 07:07 ]

Matt_Fabb | August 08, 22:05 CET

Well, the Kickstarter page calls it an IP dispute. So maybe doing the KS somehow violated Toy Vault's license.

@theonetruebix | August 09, 07:39 CET