The MBAs are at it again. I, for one, am tired of suits creating problems that don’t exist and devalue the work of writers. Games need good writing, and writing is a specialized skill that should be compensated. Hiring talent creates value well in excess of the extra cost over hiring an average writer. Yet it is still a surprisingly precarious job with lots of competition to be heard, let alone hired. Why these spreadsheet wielding maniacs want to plunder this sector is beyond me. Maybe they’re auditioning for Microsoft. I am, of course, referring to the diabolical practice of having Kickstarter backers write characters, name locations, or otherwise shape the narrative when they pay for higher tiers.
Obviously I understand the games need to be financed and that production practices need to keep up with the times. I just don’t see why it should come at the expense of a group that already has it so tough. We need to consider the real costs of this so-called innovation before we adopt it. Otherwise we’ll wind up with games without stories like Among Us and Tetris.
Pre-orders on Kickstarter aren’t going to finance a game on their own. It takes a lot of effort to run one, video games haven’t been popular on crowd funding platforms for a while now, and the platform will want a percentage. Financing the game through higher tiers is the only way to make the game happen, and backers need something to entice them. This is where the problem lies. Physical goods are expensive and the cost of shipping can easily get out of control, leaving higher tiers potentially generating less for the project than a standard pre-order.
Instead of improving the cost and quality of physical goods, these marketing types got together and instead decided to outsource games writing to any scab wanting to pay for the privilege. Getting high tier backers to write vignettes, characters, or locations for a game not only allows them to collect more money for the project at virtually not cost, it removes the need for these functions to be performed by a writer. Writers’ work isn’t just devalued by rich kids crowding in, it actually assigns it a negative value. Writing is not an ATM.
Who asked for this? Can’t they put their innovation into real problems? They could spend all that effort creating a proper independent marketplace where funding and discoverability aren’t dependent on a cabal of tastemakers. These Kickstarters are patronage projects straight out of the Medici playbook, except that now the Medici want to hold the pen too. They are taking away the creative things we like doing and are putting it the hands of the wealthy, leaving the rest of us sewing nylon bags for the backers.
“Oh but we still need writers to put all of this in a cohesive whole.” You can practically hear the framed photo of Andrew Ryan in the background bursting into applause. They certainly didn’t ask us before doing it, and they obviously know nothing about writers work. These backers, whose only qualification is their money, are just going to go out, look at all the other projects we’ve spent so much effort creating, and spit out something derivative without our permission like some kind of human centipede ouroboros!
If you can’t afford to hire writers, maybe don’t put narrative in your game. You don’t see programmers creating algorithms to create levels. You don’t see marketers undermining their own jobs by relying on unpaid amateurs to talk about their game. So spare me your lines about “collaboration” and “progress” and hire a professional to do the work.
SystemTalk 