Oh... well whatever, haha. They said it up front at least. I didn't back that one.

Yes. Basic tier only got you Chapter 1 (which sort of makes me wonder how much playtime this will actually garner since they have extended time to flesh it out etc)
Did they say how far into future 2 and 3 would be? (havent kept track )

Cost? It really should be part of their obligation for letting GOG sell the game to be honest - and to keep it updated. Pretty awful customer service on their part.

Perhaps they'll launch a Kickstarter to raise funds for it.

Unless I misunderstood something, they went overboard in the design phase and have now calculated that to produce their overly expanded vision to a finished game would take them more time than they expected and therefore the money they had reserved for development would not be enough.

So they should still have most of the funds left, but are reluctant to reduce the scope of the game and hope to be able to finance the complete design by offering the game in a episodic format to those who have not yet pledged.

One could argue that this sounds better than getting a incomplete game that has visible traces of missing content and for me the greatest concern rises from the fact this could negatively affect the funding of other projects especially when everyone keeps repeating that Double Fine has burned all of it's funds already.

It is written quite non-specific, along the lines of: project owner obliges to deliver product as promised on the project site (content and date wise). If this is impossible the project owner should contact the backers and seek a compromise. If this is impossible he should pay back as ultima ratio.

I like actually the fact that such a term is there, because otherwise KS would a pure donation facility. But of course it's not the same as the binding contracts that publishers and developers have usually. Something in between.

And so far it hasn't been tested really. One could see that it applies here with such a long delay they certainly broke their side of the KS contract, but then they could just compile all they have now and deliver a quarter-finished product to meet legal requirements. Backers don't want that too, so they probably will be patient.

Mostly the trustworthiness of DF went to zero and in case the Steam early access fails and they get into real trouble, backers can theoretically still demand their money back.

Does anyone know if the multiplayer component of The Banner Saga will be DRM free?

I think it should be easy to redesign the game so that a smaller version can be made in shorter time and without visible traces of missing content. That should be doable.

And I wonder why they didn't do it as it would seem the most obvious way to correct an error. Probably they are either very stubborn or believe that backers will follow them blindly or they already burnt a considerable amount of the budget on the big design and cannot afford to loose that work.
Asking a bank for a loan was probably also out of question.

If that's the case, then I think Double Fine does it purely out of greed. And doing it so soon after Planetary Annihilation makes me believe that Steam Early Access is about to be abused to the point of stupidity by other companies. Eg. Buy Steam Early Access for this game and get Secondary NPC Character Skin!

I think its already happening. Other projects have already gone from KS to Indiegogo and now Early Access....

Sigh... so many misconceptions here. The only "epic fail" here is on the part of the "journalists" who take a forum post and put their own spin on it with misleading headlines and selective quoting. There's a wider context to even the forum post, btw. The people who use these articles to spread FUD about Double Fine and Kickstarter are no better.

Okay, I'll try to address a few of the more regular misconceptions that seem to have popped up here and elsewhere: Wrong. They are projecting that finishing the game will take them over budget. Wrong. They are financing the rest of the budget from their own money. Wrong. Anyone who has seen the documentary knows that they are hard-working people and wanting to make a better game does not make you greedy. Wrong. The game isn't even out yet. This one is most baffling to me, personally. Most backers are not freaking out over this. There is concern and criticism in the forums, yes, but nothing like what goes on here. In fact, a lot of the backers feel that they have already gotten more worth out of this than they donated to the project. This one's not entirely wrong, actually. They have made mistakes, as people who watch the documentary know. But you know what, part of managing projects is dealing with stuff like this. Wrong. You are getting twice the game with no additional effort from your part, half of it early, if you want, and it looks absolutely amazing from what I've seen of it.

THANK YOU!

+1

So many people jumping on this and twisting it you'd think people want it to fail.

they are projecting that they need 6M dollars to finish the game. so yeah. it means that they run out of money even if their accounts are not empty. no they are not. they want to cut game into pieces and sale them on steam to be able to finish the game agreed. but it is irrelevant. whether someone is hardworking or lazy is of not importance. only the result counts. if they were lazy, have constant binge drinking stripper parties at office and still released an awesome game it would be good.
if they worked hard 16 hours per day, 365 days a year and did not release the game it would make them look bad. agreed on that. till the project is cancelled / game is released talking about definite failure is premature. people who did not back should indeed do not speak about feelings of backers. Game was mismanaged completely. It was supposed to be released in July 2013. few weeks slip up, even half a year is understandable. not doubling the time they've already spent on the game. that is incorrect. we are getting half of the game of what they envisioned assuming it works out and they can sale a quarter envisioned game on steam.
if everything works out, if there are no major problems like that in future we will get in 2015 game backers funded last year.
we are not getting something bigger or better. this is impossible unless they get few mills from publisher, another kickstarter or wealthy pop star.

Yes, and what will happen to the people who pledged and want a DRM-free copy of the game? They obviously aren't going to get an Early Access copy on Steam, so that means they'll have to wait at least till next year (by DF's own admission) to get the full game. From the point of view of GOG customers, I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned the likelihood that this means the game's "part 1" will be exclusive to Steam.

The horror! Waiting for a game? Delays? That never happens ever! If only people had backlogs to play something while they wait in agony!

What's FUD? Seriously. I'm constantly out of touch with things and would like to know what that means.