Jimmyshap's page

I will have to agree to disagree on the whole bank vs. crowdfunding topic. A crowdfunding option in my opinion is a gamble where going the more traditional route is safer for both the business and consumer but that is just my opinion.

Tech-
I agree with what you’ve said both here and the Kickstarter comment page for the project. I sincerely wish that there was something more that we could do as consumers to recoup our losses from this company. I’ve tried to just let go and accept that I threw away $475 on this but for some reason cannot let it go. It is the way that it is being handled that is my main issue. I hope that someone will soon be able to give us some answers other than “wait and see”

As I have said before I Hope Paizo does do something here for the backers because it was their endorsement that got my money out of me. I know how I would handle this in my business all I can do is hope that people at Paizo feel the same way.

Rysky-
I appreciate what you’re saying but there are many other ways to fund”projects” or grow a business. Going with crowd funding is a very risk free option for a business and is not always a sign that a business is “shady” but it does create an opportunity for business to run without oversight. If a bank were to give you a loan for a project you would need to have deliverables at different stages to get the funds released and you would also need to show that the money was being used for the project it was approved for. So what I’m saying is that crowd funding doesn’t make a product “ shady” it does make it a project that is more of a risk and the possibility for unethical practice or mismanagement is higher then if it were something with a solid business plan and bank backing.

In my opinion it is not at all likely that an outside company will invest the kind of money that they would need to to purchase ND and its intellectual properties as well as absorb the costs of production. I do not predict anything will come from this as far as a resolution the backers will be happy with. However I personally would love someone to prove me wrong!

Steve- it was actually over $750k that they took in with the late pledge through game on tabletop. I do not speculate that Paizo should pick up the entire production bill but a good faith to the backers would in my opinion be a smart business idea. Obviously this wouldn’t even be a possibility until the project is officially dead which has not happened as of yet. If Paizo took a hit on the financials by sending the backers the sets of the preprinted miniatures that they are selling that would go a very long way towards fixing the issue. It would cost them a pretty penny and they would also have to go through the process of getting the list of backers but in my opinion it would be worth it. They would obviously need to weigh out their cost on the product vs. how much future sales they estimate they will lose but I believe the math would be in their favor.

I am sincerely hoping that Paizo will eventually step in and do the right thing. I hope that there will at least be some communication from ninja division or Paizo after the holidays settle. $500 is certainly not the end of the world however it isn’t something to toss away either. As a small business owner I realize that sometimes you need to take a bit of a financial hit to keep customer loyalty, Paizo should be smart enough to realize this especially with a slew of books to be released for pathfinder 2. I can personally say that I will not purchase a single thing from them moving forward if they let this happen to their customers.

I must say that I am very disappointed at how Paizo is handling this fiasco with ninja division and their kickstarter project for the miniatures. I would never have put my money into this project if it weren’t for Paizo assuring us that it is worth backing. Even when you look at the kickstarter page Paizo has their name and logo all over it right there next to ninja division. The fact that things seem to be going belly up with this project and Paizo has nothing to say about it. The right thing for Paizo to do would be to step up and offer something as a sign of good faith and appreciation to their customers. This entire thing seems rather fraudulent to me at least. The fact that funds were secured under false pretenses to cover past expenses with no intention to follow through. I truly do feel bad that the owners of ninja division are going through such hardships, as a fellow business owner I feel for them, however, in my opinion it is unethical what they did and since they are not able to follow through on their commitment then as their partner in this endeavor I believe it should fall on Paizo to make it right to the people who have invested. It is the ethically responsible thing to do.