dreamcast ™ wrote:@pcwzrd13 - The reason for a fund-raised release is simple. Up until the game is released, the game is sold from one party to another for a single, usually significant, price for a single physical copy of the game. The moment that single unique game is distributed online, it potentially loses a lot of its value because now it exists in multiple.
The post's author clearly states the game cost the author $600 (~£355) at the time of purchase. Just because the game goes from existing on a GD-R to existing on a hard drive doesn't suddenly mean the cost of acquisition goes away.
The author's asking for a return on their investment before releasing the game is just the final transaction for the game, no different from going from single party to single party, it's just now going from a single party to a distributed party. We should be thankful that the game ended up with someone who's willing to release the game at all.
Those who choose to release games out of their own pocket are a privilege, not a right, to the community. Anyone who feels differently is welcome to put their money where their mouth is and fund the fundraiser themselves to acquire and release the game for free to everyone else.
I was full on the side of 'this guy is being greedy and should release it to the people for free' but these are some pretty convincing arguments. He just wants to recoup some of his $600 because the disc will definitely lose value after it's freely distributed. Okay, I will put my pitchfork down for now
