Tell your overdue Kickstarter story

[rhythmsoundmotion]

I have 2 kickstarers that are way overdue...

Arkham, Lovecraft and Cthulhu for Fate Core it was supposed to be delivered in July 2014. Way back the author called it quits, but returned earlier and appaerently delivered a PDF-version. Well I ams till waiting for my physical copy... Last update was at end of June 2024.

DriveThruRPG Alan Bollinger is the creator right? I think this is the PDF version.

 

[Ulfgeir]

DriveThruRPG Alan Bollinger is the creator right? I think this is the PDF version.

Looks like it.

 

[JaseKent]

Carbon 2185, Terminal Overdrive. Funded in Nov. 2020. 2 years later was told they ran out of money and we wouldn't be getting the hard copies we paid for. They sent POD codes for DTRG instead. But I didn't want to pay more than I already had.

They've done other kickstarters since. And given interviews like this making it sound like they're still working on it. Needless to say I won't be supporting them in the future.

Ditto

Got stung by this one. Felt like they spent the cash through lockdown, rather than deliver what had been paid for.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Surely someone has already mentioned spellbound by Crafty Games. They've not cancelled and the company still exists, but it was from c2010, I can't remember? Myth and magic (2e osr) which I got a nice players book pdf, an art free DM pdf, but nothing physical - those are still for sale on drive thru. That was also from similar time, early 2010s. I thought I got burned by The Blight, but Frog God Games rescued that one

Oh and the Decades late LotFP referee book

 

[Bill Zebub]

Marmoreal Tomb.

Launched in 2014, expected delivery 2016, actual delivery 2023.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Surprisingly, there was an update just this morning. The short version is that Kleinert was diagnosed with cancer, which (naturally and understandably) took his focus away from this. He's provided a PDF of the revisions to backers using the format and layout of the original game.

Good for him, and F cancer, that's no joke. Kudos for him to deliver something to his backers.

Which also means I hope someone I know backed AND RUNS IT FOR ME

 

[TheSword]

I've pledged to several Kickstarters that succeeded on their funding goals but couldn't deliver on the promised project. Some owned up to it honorably, and returned everyone's money. But some others just went silent and kept the pledges.

The most infamous of the latter has to be the Throne of Night Kickstarter, which is now approaching eleven years overdue as the estimated delivery date was March of 2014. The last update was October 29th, 2015.

I pledged $180 to this one, and it’s the reason I’m highly unlikely to use Kickstarter again.

The most galling thing is that Gary McBride despite ghosting his 180 or so pledges, he has pledged himself to almost 600 kickstarters. Of which over 400 were after he went silent. That’s almost one a week! So he was logging into Kickstarter continuously, spending thousands of dollars, ignoring the hundreds of messages and appeals from pledges.

For that reason I consider him to be a fraudster and a thief. Every month or so I do a google search just to make sure he isn’t working on another TTRPG. If I was a rich man I would hire lawyers in America to sue just to smoke him out.

At the very least, he could have apologized and released the artwork and maps that were completed by the artist on the project as a map pack. The Artist was happy to, but Gary McBride owned the rights and despite being spoken to by the artist just ignored everyone else.

 

[Joshua Randall]

The system is a fraud enabler. Which is why I only back things from large established companies that are basically preorders.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Surprisingly, there was an update just this morning. The short version is that Kleinert was diagnosed with cancer, which (naturally and understandably) took his focus away from this. He's provided a PDF of the revisions to backers using the format and layout of the original game.

There was another positive update this morning: Central Michigan University Press is going to print The Mountain Witch Revised Edition as part of their upcoming Art & Systems: Games for Expanded Play series. They're working with Kleinert on arranging things so backers from 2018 will get the printed copy from their series.

 

[Fanaelialae]

The first Kickstarter project I ever pledged to was the Quantum RPG by Joshua Frost. At first there were regular updates and progress seemed good. Then the updates got less frequent, and the last update was that the project was dead.
Launched: 10/31/11
Estimated Delivery: 4/12
Last Update: 5/6/14

Then there was the N.R.G. Core Rulebook by Game Smiths LLC. In their last update, they sent out their Sinbad setting to everyone, but then went silent (and deleted their creator account).
First Update: 7/21/13
Estimated Delivery: 4/14
Last Update: 2/19/15

There was also Dragonheim, by Varon Cook. They did fairly regular updates with previews and then just suddenly fell off the face of the earth.
First Update: 8/15/13
Estimated Delivery: 12/13
Last Update: 4/2/15

Shinobigami is one where I'm still waiting for my limited edition book. Which was kind of surprising, because I had backed both their Tenra Bansho Zero and Ryutama KS prior to that, and while I think those were late, they did deliver and the quality was excellent (in my opinion). I think, as has been mentioned, that there might be some undelivered stretch goals for those projects, but those don't concern me as much.

Hunter's Mark was another one. They delivered a PDF, but nothing more.

Reach of Titan, by Jim McClure, is another one that hasn't delivered, and has been radio silent for years. This one's arguably the biggest bummer, as I was excited for the concept. I'd be overjoyed if they suddenly popped out of hiding and delivered the game, but it doesn't seem terribly likely at this point.
Launch: 1/29/19
Estimated Delivery: 1/20
Last Update: 9/22/21

Children of the Beast, by Nicholas Kitts, is very late but the oldest one that I think still has a decent chance of being delivered. They've sent out draft versions of the game, and appear to still be working on it as of the last update. Fingers crossed.
Launched: 6/11/19
Estimated Delivery: 4/20
Last Update: 3/10/25

That said, I back a LOT of Kickstarters and most of them are TTRPGs. These represent only something like 2-3% of the TTRPGs and supplements I've pledged, the majority of which have delivered as promised (albeit, frequently late). It's always disappointing when something like this happens, but cest la vie...