Pathfinder Online looks to Kickstarter

Kickstarter Project | Homesite

Alright, chances are you may have heard of this already, but if you haven't, there is a new MMO in the works by Goblinworks. Haven't heard of them? That isn't surprising considering this is their first step in the mmoverse. The game is based off of the Pathfinder tabletop games that, for those of you who are into those sort of game, may be familiar with. The transition from tabletop to actual video games is not that uncommon, nor is the transition from that to MMO, since ones like Dungeons and Dragons online to Shadowun Online have emurged, so that in itself is nothing new. 

What they're doing differently however is they're looking to the ever growing in popularity with game devs, Kickstarter. As you may remember some companies have found great success using this model to get passed the publishers stage of development and restrictions and branch out on their own, it is a noble cause, and something I support greatly. It allows developers to do what they wanted to do with their game without limitation or having to bend over to someone else's will. 

But, how Goblinworks is doing it, is just leaving a bad taste. Why? Well, for one they already announced the game awhile before turning over to Kickstarter, they actually paraded about telling of all of the grand things they are working on, and yadda yadda yadda. By how much? Well, the game was announced November of last year, and only now they seem to be reaching out to the community, and how they're going about it is rather odd. The funding for the game doesn't go to the actual finished project per se, but to the tech demo. Yep, they're just asking for the community to help fund something they should have already been working on from the get-go, or at least have something somewhat done before the announcement of the game. 

Now as I said, I support Kickstarter, and think it is a great tool to get to fans and those willing to help others out with their dreams, but I think using it to create just a tech demo, and not a finished project is kind of weak. They announced it awhile ago, and still have nothing yet to show, and want donators to not even fund a completed project, but a tech demo, which nothing may come from when it is funded. It just rubs me the wrong way, even if the game itself sounds interesting in concept. What do you guys think?