I think there's a lot of issues going on with this one Kickstarter that could lead to a change in how some people fund projects but I doubt it'll have a big impact on Kickstarter itself or on other projects, because it takes a lot to overcome collective inertia.
In this Kickstarter, the project was producing a game that had finished artwork (and while parts of that artwork were redone to satisfy a large company that could potentially have made litigation a serious concern, the rework was done done by one of the licensors), maybe do some layout, editing, and playtesting of the rules (which were written by the other licensor), coordinated having the miniatures sculpted and ordered, and then shop around and send the artwork, rules, and miniature molds off to be manufactured - and then ship the products to the backers. Part of the profits were to go to the licensors.
Instead what has happened is that the project creator quit his job, created a company, licensed other IPs, bought a computer, made some movies, created a website where he took in further pre-orders, repeatedly lied during monthly status updates that "the files are at the printer I'm just waiting on them," and spent enough of the funds (which were more than the $122,000 from the Kickstarter) to render completion impossible.
All this with absolutely nothing to show, apart from there possibly being some miniature models somewhere in China, if he is to be believed.
Now, it is possible that he had saved up a ton of money prior to quitting his job and was living off that. I leave the likelihood of that up to the individual reader, weighing all of the evidence.
But even that aside, the Kickstarter was for a very specific product. At no point was creating a company, moving states, quitting a job to work full-time, buying a better computer, making movies, etc. ever mentioned until after he announced the project was cancelled, over a year after the Kickstarter ended. Had he done so and people still backed the project, I suspect there would be less acrimony and far more room to say in essence, "it's Kickstarter, you deserve whatever you don't get." Add to that the surprise that many backers had that the licensors weren't directly involved as they were used in the marketing and this other guy was in the shadows (as much as a Kickstarter creator can be).
Now, I personally have generally only backed products from companies with a track record (or individuals) or for projects that I have reason to suspect will complete it or if it's money that I can afford to never see again with no recompense and I suspect after this, there are 1200+ people who will be very closely evaluating any Kickstarter they consider backing and in the licensors' case, they've said they learned to be a lot more involved in anything involving their names, reputations, and work.
I doubt for the people upset about the $100, this is a matter of $100. This is, after all, a matter of more than $122,000 - I don't know about you, but that's more than a month's worth of hilarity. That's someone that needs to learn a life-lesson.
