No Kickstarter update since July 15th 2017 - not acceptable

Customer Support
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Just for the sake of correctness, those are the people you cite: 3 of them in 4 messages.

And those are three people who have genuine concerns. How many more might there be who don’t post comments. The majority of backers don’t post anything. We don’t know of their concerns, and cant assume they are therefore kept informed or unworried.

I confirm this is a vocal minority.

You are also a vocal minority. There are 2,963 backers on Kickstarter plus a number more from Indiegogo. I don’t know the stats on them. Only the tiniest fraction have forum membership here, and very few have ever commented. You or I or anyone else cant claim majority support on anything. But we can pass comment on moral grounds.

Just, seeing you playing the social warrior and pretending to fight against some evil developers in the name of a few people seemingly having the misfortune to don’t be able to click on a Twitter icon is just ridiculous. Once again.

Well it doesn’t surprise me that you continue to twist this. It isn’t about me. Its about backers who worry they have lost their money because the devs are misguided and/or frankly too lazy to write a paragraph and update.
No I don’t consider the devs evil any more than I consider myself a hero, get a grip. What I do consider is that their excuse that they are too busy developing is a lame one.

It will take very little time to open the KS developer page for Ancient Cities type in about 5-10 lines as one backer has suggested, then press the return key. The idea that that would slow game development is frankly laughable.

EDIT: I just re-read the last message I received from Indiegogo. It was clearly stated that everybody would have his/her forum invitation for more information, and how to proceed if this was not the case.
If that’s not been done for KS, it should be, I totally agree.

So it looks like Indiegogo has forced the devs to make updates, possibly due to complaints of lack of feedback. Kickstarter corporate might have received similar complaints by now, but doesn’t really care so long as they get their %,
The devs shouldn’t have to wait until Indiegogo forces them to keep backers informed. It looks bad.

If that’s been done, I really don’t see one lone reason why the devs should be condemned to post for the remnant of their life on their former KS campaign page while they offered a more convenient way to communicate with them. Period.

Then I suggest you read the OP again and not resort to hysteria and bad logic. I made the very same point from the outset, its actually the first line in the entire thread! Quarterly updates are what I suggested as a fair medium to keep backers informed without effecting development focus. So on read up and you will see.

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Uncasual Games Projektgründer am September 21

Dylan, we are updating vía twitter ( https://twitter.com/_AncientCities ) and backers forum.
Its too time consuming to manage many social sites, so we are focusing in those two.
We are going to support backers on our website soon, including upgrades for current backers, stay tuned for that.
source: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/uncasualgames/ancient-cities/comments

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Uncasual Games Projektgründer am September 21

Dylan, we are updating vía twitter ( https://twitter.com/_AncientCities ) and backers forum.
Its too time consuming to manage many social sites, so we are focusing in those two.
We are going to support backers on our website soon, including upgrades for current backers, stay tuned for that.
source: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/uncasualgames/ancient-cities/comments

the above comment was repled to by “dylan”

Dylyan Superbacker on October 23

Sorry, but I dont have Twitter and dont plan on using it. Neither do I want to join yet another forum.
See it from our perspective - some of us backed so many projects on KS, I simply can’t check each and every Twitter / Game-Blog-Site for each project. KS is the perfect hub for that (esp. since you didnt use your Forum or Twitter to ask for money - you used Kickstarter for that).
Please keep us updated on KS!
And simply mirroring the updates here on KS can’t be that time consuming.

This was echoed by other backers here are the next replies :

Mike L Superbacker on October 30

Agreed, the only updates I check are on KS.

Mr.Mo Superbacker on November 1

Me too!

Dylyan Superbacker on November 8

And once again I’m asking for an update here on Kickstarter - you didnt ask for our money on your forum or on Twitter, you did it here on Kickstarter. Please follow the TOS of Kickstarter and keep us up to date here on Kickstarter!

Just checked, the last time Uncasual Games logged in on Kickstarter was on the 3rd of October…

I didn’t know about these comments, though they closely echo my own opinions on the project, worded pretty much identically. We backed on Kickstarter not Twitter, we get feedback on Kickstarter not Twitter. It makes sense.

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I have to say I simply don’t understand why anyone who would back a project using their own precious cash would not accept a forum invitation and even just passively lurk therein occasionally to see how things are going…I even get emails with summaries and updates on a regular basis.

Dylan’s quote:
Sorry, but I dont have Twitter and dont plan on using it. Neither do I want to join yet another forum.
See it from our perspective - some of us backed so many projects on KS, I simply can’t check each and every Twitter / Game-Blog-Site for each project. KS is the perfect hub for that (esp. since you didnt use your Forum or Twitter to ask for money - you used Kickstarter for that).
Please keep us updated on KS!
And simply mirroring the updates here on KS can’t be that time consuming.

So I wonder what these good folk supporting projects on KS are looking to get out of it? They clearly, in this case at least, aren’t in it for any financial return. The implication from such a post is that he doesn’t seem interested enough in the game to probably even want to play it, because if he was he would be all over these forums. It’s a cop out for the lazy, who in this modern age need to have everything spoonfed to them. However I do take the point that a short paragraph every couple of months summarising current development progress should not be too onerous. My concern then is that will spawn questions which are already being answered here on the forums (or is that fora?). And so it spirals out of control, when, if the individual has any interest in their investment at all they would be here…

And with that, I shall post no further in this thread, so as to avoid any chance of this escalating out of control and turning into a flame war…

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May I suggestion you pick up to 5 Backers to become Moderators to assist in keeping the community up to date. Maybe send the Mods monthly updates that can be uploaded to Twitter or the Forums.

This would allow the Devs more time to focus on the game while the Mods concentrate on the community. Perhaps a special DLC or gift to those Mods for helping?

Just an idea. It irks me that people would patronize the Devs about not getting an update for X amount of time. Let them work on the game we all want to play.

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26

As far as I am aware, this forum was set up so that the backers (and I include myself in this) are able to check for updates regarding the progress of the game and to also comment and make suggestions which may or may not be helpful to the developers.
I really do not see the need for any updates on Kickstarter when the the developers have already created this forum for us.

Oh! and one other thing, you keep mentioning the paid backers of this game should not be kept in the dark. 99% of the people on this forum have paid to not back or invest in the game for financial return, but because they liked the look of the game and have essentially just pre-ordered it rather than just backing it, because we want to play it.

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I have honestly been upset I paid for this game. I do not like forums as they’re time consuming and annoying to navigate. Twitter and fb I still dont even know their handles for and personally dont use. It might be easy for some but if I pay for something, I have an express legal right to be notified of updates on it where I paid.

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The above is an example of why this thread is here. Those who are happy with Twitter or Forum only updates have a selfish ‘I’m alright jack’ attitude.

The best place for updates for reaching some is Twitter or the Forums, the best place for updates for reaching everyone is Kickstarter and Indiegogo. It is the ONLY way to reach every backer.

This game didn’t come with a ‘Twitter account required’ handle, and many people don’t like having too many forums, as it means remembering too many login details or passwords, others don’t like the intrusive nature of social media, or dislike forums. We don’t have forum stats but it is evident only a fraction of those who paid money for this game come here we don’t reach the rest and will not until Kickstarter and Indiegogo is updated.

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not for me - I think Twitter is trivial

again wrong - I visit Kickstarter max 1 times a month, indigogo even rarer. Here in the forum I am almost daily and the login happens automatically, without a password etc. One click and in it. (Unlike Kickstarter and Indigogo)

Everyone certainly has their preferences, I like it purposefully without much blabla and detours. Kickstarter u.a. give me recommendations, mostly I get hints about other portals (Steam / Gamestar etc), so I also found the KS campaign to AC (!)

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I agree that occasional updates to kickstarter would be useful (maybe one every few months), but I think having a forum or Twitter for frequent updates is a good and perfectly reasonable method.

I also dislike being painted in a single, negative brush. Nothing foments agreement like ad hominem lol

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can I ask, why did you decide to “back” this game?

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who are happy with Twitter or Forum only updates have a selfish ‘I’m alright jack’ attitude.

I also dislike being painted in a single, negative brush. Nothing foments agreement like ad hominem lol

If you own it, that is up to you. The logic is clear, those who want updates only on third party sites want so because THEY use those sites.
The rational community spirited answer is to look out for everyone, that means requesting updates on sites where funding was sourced, and if anyne wants updates on Twitter also, that is ok by us.

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can I ask, why did you decide to “back” this game?

Why did you?
Likely for the same reason.

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Because I liked the look of the game and wanted to play it, that’s why I keep saying that I didn’t back it as such, I just pre-ordered it

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Official updates vs periodic informal updates are separate things. You conflate them.

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Official updates vs periodic informal updates are separate things. You conflate them.

I dont label them at all. I just observe that they are missing entirely from the primary backers sources.

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Coming up to the one year anniversary of Uncasual ignoring their Kickstarter backer community.

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Well, I do not feel ignored. And something like that goes fast for me …:grin:

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39

Hi,
A cumulative update has been posted in Kickstarter.

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40

Hi… So I just want to preface that I am a kickstarter backer, and while I have not felt ignored, I have felt out of the loop. I am super excited for this game, so excited that I will be purchasing a new computer before it is released to ensure I get to experience all you are working so hard to build. But in your update you said “We would honestly want to understand why this is a so big problem for some of you.”[not receiving an update via kickstarter], and I would like to elaborate on that for you.

While this forum is really great for those who like take a deep dive into the nitty gritty of it all, I feel like it is really overwhelming for those of us who don’t have the knowledge, forethought or time to participate in such a vast community. The benefit of having a succinct update through the medium that you asked for our support on ensures that we all feel a part of the project; from the working parent, to the frantic college student and all of us in between. It doesn’t have to be a lengthy email either, we just want to know an overall status of the project we gave our hard-earned money to support.

Please don’t mistake my meaning. We all want to see this game thrive and be successful; we would not have supported you if it were otherwise. And while I understand that you are not the PR person, and that you are the developers of the game, I kind of feel like you were being rather passive-aggressive in your language on the kickstarter update.

I understand that y’all are working really hard on this and that it takes time away from working to type it, but think of the good it does rather than the bad. I bet there are loads of backers on kickstarter and indigogo who are not on the forum, for whatever reason, but want to know about the game. Please don’t take your frustrations out on us. We support you!!

Thank you for all the work you’ve done, are doing and will do. :slight_smile:

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