Let's put it a different way: I've become a much happier person since I stopped backing games and instead wait for them to arrive here. No bad surprises, no heartaches because you put in a little extra so they reach that stretch-goal they decided to ax a day or two before launch, no nail-biting over whether they keep their promise of a DRM-free version, no regrets about your money having wound up in the pockets of a registered sex offender, no having to beg uppity community managers about sending out those gog keys their company was provided over a week ago, no having to beat yourself up about having given money to a scam artist and so on and so forth

I'm not saying all Kickstarters experiences are horrible. I've had a pleasant Kickstarter experience as well (looking at you, Jane Jensen!). But as a whole, I've come to the conclusion that Kickstarter drama is something I'd much rather witness from the sidelines than as an active backer. This news about Agony is yet another example.

Fair enough, and I've had a couple of less than stellar Kickstarter experiences as well. But you can also have bad experiences when just buying games (bad devs not supporting them, or games being broken, or you just plain don't like the game). But I certainly see why you (or anyone else) would choose not to back kickstarted games. For myself, I still pick and choose a few projects to back and so far it's been a good experience.

Out of curiosity: Which pledge tier do you usually go for? Lower end (digital copy of the game only), mid-range (physical stuff) or higher tiers, or does it vary? Most of the people I've talked to that still do Kickstarter usually went with the lower pledge tiers, that seems to be the secret to not getting overly frustrated.

Tell me about it! ;P

Still, buying the finished game from gog does have some distinct advantages.

First, I usually can get my games pretty cheap here while they're on sale, so it doesn't hurt as much when I get a dud. I pay something like $2-$3 on average per game. Occasionally I get a dud for $10+, but hey, live and learn.

But most importantly, buying from gog does give you an extra layer of protection. If a game is unsupported or broken, I can go ahead and contact gog support and ask for a refund. And gog is usually pretty lenient about refunds. In the case of Perception (another Kickstarter game I'm glad I didn't back), the game is both broken AND the devs don't bother to fix it (well, not on gog...). But at least I got my money back. Feels good to buy from a store that, when all else fails, has your back .

Compare that to "pre-ordering"/backing on Kickstarter. You're 100% at the mercy of the project creator. Kickstarter aren't gonna get involved, no matter how bad things get. Unless the project creator agrees to give you a refund, you're utterly screwed.

deleted

Agony Unrated is finally out now on Steam but as a separate release rather than DLC and you have to log in to even see the game page.

Never say never I guess.
If they somehow managed to iron out all the issues the rated version had as well this might even end up here after all.

It's too bad that GOG probably won't pick it up. Same with Hatred.

If it took Steam's new filter for the game to be released uncensored, I guess we'll be seeing it censored here (if it's released at all).

and let's not get started with the "youth protection" agencies in diverse countries.

How about Unholy ?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/817020/Unholy/

Right alongside Lust for Darkness, certainly.

Okay, this is a really late reply, for which I apologize. I didn't get any notification way back then of a reply to my post. Thread popped up again, and checking it, I see you asked me about what tier. Probably a moot point now, but if you're still interested, I go for the lowest tiers now that gets me the digital copy of the game. I did back a couple at higher tiers, but found the extra you get just really weren't all that great. So now it's just the bottom tier that nets me a digital DRM-free copy. And yes, that's likely a significant factor in why I've felt I've not had bad experiences overall with Kickstarting games.