So this little ditty died a death then, or they ran to the hills with the money!
(Topic ID: 105287)
Mobile, AL
Hope not, a lot of people gave money for this to happen. However realistically it takes at least a year (or more) to get a game rolling.
Quoted from nikpinball:They didn't meet the goal so the money gets returned. They're doing it on their own.
They actually did reach the goal right at the end.
Quoted from nikpinball:They didn't meet the goal so the money gets returned. They're doing it on their own.
Their website says "successfully funded by kickstarter" in several places, on their video, and I follwed the campaign. I was sure it was funded. Curious where you saw it was not funded?
Quoted from PismoArcade:Yeah, by bots and fake accounts.
that confirmed and verified?
I did not see that it was funded but I did not check the last day and just assumed they were way too far away (80k shy iirc). I'm shocked that it was funded but good for them. Also my bad for posting otherwise, honest mistake.
In any case I'm sure the progress will be slow with attempts to introduce new ideas that may or may not work and only 100k budget of which they only get part of.
Quoted from maddog14:that confirmed and verified?
I ask this too, why does Vonnie D continue to promote this as funded if it was not? Of course I have no idea.....but my guess is no one else does either.
I play league with Von and yes, it was funded and yes they got the kickstarter money 2 days after the KS closed. So, no, he hasn't ran away with the money as I see him every Monday at Gunther's in Columbia.
As for PG, I have zero idea what's going on with that.
I haven't seen anything new since they got funded.. they're probably working on it in the Caribbean over this winter.
Quoted from dgoett:I play league with Von and yes, it was funded and yes they got the kickstarter money 2 days after the KS closed. So, no, he hasn't ran away with the money as I see him every Monday at Gunther's in Columbia.
As for PG, I have zero idea what's going on with that.
Why don't you ask him?
Quoted from ghostbc:Why don't you ask him?
I assume he doesn't care.. 
Quoted from dgoett:I play league with Von and yes, it was funded and yes they got the kickstarter money 2 days after the KS closed.
My understanding is that it takes way longer than 2 days after a Kickstarter closes to get your money. Sounds like they can't withdraw any money for 14 days after the KS ends according to their FAQ.
"US-based projects: If your project is successfully funded, funds are transferred directly from backers' credit cards to the project creator's Amazon Payments account. There is a 14-day window for collecting and processing pledges. Once the 14-day window has passed, you can transfer funds from your Amazon Payments account to your linked bank account."
Quoted from ZenTron:I assume he doesn't care..
Vonnie D or dgoett?
Quoted from maddog14:that confirmed and verified?
Pretty much, take a look at the long "Vonnie D Pinball update" thread. A significant number of backers were these weird accounts with obviously fake profile pictures that all funded a really strange mix of the same exact projects.
Link for the curious:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vonnie-d-pinball-update/page/7#post-1799025
Edmonton, AB
Quoted from asay:A significant number of backers were these weird accounts with obviously fake profile pictures that all funded a really strange mix of the same exact projects.
And if you click on any of those 'backers' they all have "Backed 0 projects" listed in their details.
I would guess that these bots were discovered as such, and their backing was removed. Perhaps the funding failed after the fact?
Is there anyone here that backed the kickstarter? If so, was your contribution refunded?
Quoted from stevevt:Vonnie D or dgoett?
dgoett
Quoted from robbiedoo:And if you click on any of those 'backers' they all have "Backed 0 projects" listed in their details.
I would guess that these bots were discovered as such, and their backing was removed. Perhaps the funding failed after the fact?
It's likely that the bots back out after the goal is exceeded with legitimate money. This was the theory the entire time, and the fact that those bots are no longer backing the project makes it all seem more likely.
Quoted from robbiedoo:Is there anyone here that backed the kickstarter? If so, was your contribution refunded?
I think it was confirmed they received the money. Whatever part of it was real anyway.
To me the bots just help get it funded then? If I understand correctly, kickstarter never bills you if the goal isn't met. In other words, for $20,000 goal that only hits $15,000 what would prevent the inventor from "faking" the last $5000 to get the rest of the money? And why or how does a bot affect the results, and what is the benefit to someone doing this? Other than the inventor getting money dislike not reaching the goal? Free money?
Still can't figure this out.
My understanding from the original thread is the bots backed out at the end, but he still got over the total.
Quoted from ovfdfireman:To me the bots just help get it funded then? If I understand correctly, kickstarter never bills you if the goal isn't met. In other words, for $20,000 goal that only hits $15,000 what would prevent the inventor from "faking" the last $5000 to get the rest of the money? And why or how does a bot affect the results, and what is the benefit to someone doing this? Other than the inventor getting money dislike not reaching the goal? Free money?
Still can't figure this out.
Well, aside from making sure the goal is reached, I think the purpose of the bots is to make it appear that the campaign has momentum. If people see big contributions being made, and the amount pledged dancing near the goal, it creates a buzz and makes it more likely that someone will throw a few dollars in to reach the goal.
2 years later
The kickstarter is still there, still shows $104k raised, and vanished into thin air.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2065029795/pinball-gremlins-pinball-machine
Quoted from frolic:The kickstarter is still there, still shows $104k raised, and vanished into thin air.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2065029795/pinball-gremlins-pinball-machine
The donors mostly looked like either fakes or family.
Aaron
FAST Pinball
I would imagine Wes Upchurch is in jail right now. His last facebook post was on March 9th, 2015
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/columbia-man-pleads-guilty-to-conspiracy-to-distribute-synthetic-marijuana/article_8d8ba0e2-3e1a-11e6-92c9-1fe17999da74.html
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