We don’t talk a great deal about Kickstarter here but plenty of other blogs and podcasts do. Rock Paper Shotgun has posted an interesting piece about the journalistic responsibilities of Kickstarter coverage and, although strictly about the video game business, it applies just as well to anything else. As a taster:
1) If we post about a Kickstarter project, we’re essentially implying our readers should donate to it. Everyone makes their own spending decision based on their own feelings and research of course – but it can still be the case that for many of our revered readership, the deal wasn’t even on the table until it appeared here.
The article makes some good points, and in case anyone’s interested #2 is one of the main reasons I don’t look into Kickstarter that much and don’t have an urge to talk about it. Read the rest of the article anyway and let it feed into your own reading of Kickstarter coverage anyway. And if anyone has any opinions, I’m also interested in the answer to RPS’s question:
Again, our decisions will be ultimately our own and, as with the Kickstarter stuff itself, mob rule won’t force our hand, but I am very interested in what those outside the gaming press feel are the essential factors and best practices in this brave new world of paying for a game before it exists.
