When too much is not enough

[Administrator]

Kickstarter is back in the headlines again, and for all the wrong reasons. Yogventures has fallen to pieces, taking developer Winterkewl with it and leaving a trail of passive aggressive recriminations in its wake. Meanwhile, nobody knows what the hell is going on with Areal, which has just had its successful Kickstarter cancelled and has launched another campaign. Vladimir Putin may be involved. It's very dark and confusing.
As always with Kickstarer controversies, it's easy to throw up your hands and cry foul at the whole concept. I certainly have my misgivings, but that hasn't stopped me backing over 60 projects. The idea of crowdfunding is still great, in theory, but the execution is harder than it seems. Dig beneath the juicy headlines and it soon becomes clear that the worst case scenario for some developers isn't a failed campaign but one that is wildly successful.
It's here that the notion of stretch goals comes into play, and it's this that I feel catches unprepared developers out. Again, the theory is sound: for set targets above and beyond the desired amount, additional features can be added. It should be a way of carefully portioning out the game design, only adding things once they can be afforded. When managed well, it's an excellent tool. When managed badly, it turns game development upside-down. Rather than starting out with a clear idea of what the game will entail, developers instead find themselves on a treadmill of constantly shifting expectations and design documents that keep expanding.
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