9 year old raises 20k on Kickstarter for RPG Maker camp.

http://www.destructoid.com/nine-year-old-girl-kickstarting-game-development-249327.phtml

http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/Shinta/9-year-old-girl-rpg-kickstarter-a-pack-of-lies--249507.phtml

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/susanwilson/9-year-old-building-an-rpg-to-prove-her-brothers-w

I dunno, this seems kind of gross. From a comment on destructoid:

"The daughter of a Harvard grad, who owns her own crowdfunding company, needs $800 to send her daughter to a camp that they have already processed the order for? I won't even take into account the "sugar daddy" mention on the kickstarter video, or the pictures on her Facebook bragging about her $1500 shoes, snapping shots with Warren Buffet and in nice hotel suits talking about rich boy toys or getting ahold of wallets. I also really don't care that charities are against the Kickstarter TOS."

My day was going so well, too.

Whatever, I'm not going to give a shit about the suckers who give money to this shit.

Seems exploitative. Bummer.

Well F- this, I'm going to do a Kickstarter for doing a Kickstarter.

I just don't get it. There has to be some kind of ploy to all of this, right? To show how Kickstarter can be easily exploited? To show that even those with a ton of money are able to get dough from suckers willing to commit it to something they don't actually NEED to? To show a lack of research done by most people when they are backing something?

There just has to be SOMETHING to this. Going through her LinkedIn and her Facebook, I just don't understand how she DOESN'T have the $900 needed to send the kid. Is that even her daughter? What the hell was with that video? It looks way too well-done.

This makes me sad.

She's already paid for the camp.

Ugh. With $20,000 in one place I could completely change my life. Stories like this always depress me.

I hope whoever donated money to this gets scammed. And I hope they genuinely realise it, and it bursts whatever bubble, coccoon world they've built for themselves. Because you have to be in denial not to see you're being laughed at with this kickstarter "project".

@barrock: *shakes hands around in the air and starts generally making gestures of WTF-ness*

WHAT THE FUCK?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! PEOPLE ARE THIS FUCKING DAFT NOWADAYS?!

That's it. I'm starting a Kickstarter to make an RPG. I'm going to ask for $5,000. I'm going to make it on a $70 RPG Maker program, and I'm going to pocket the rest of the fucking money because WHY THE FUCK NOT?!

This Kickstarter single-handedly makes me hate all of Kickstarter now.

Ah, yes. Nine year-old girls and their anti-tank killing needs.

God here I am, a 21 year old with a decade of film experience scrimping and saving just to rent the film equipment I need to make basic professional shots and this girl just got enough to buy all the equipment I'd need outright. I should look into this kickstarter business!

Why is there a picture of her brother wearing a t shirt that says he's a lesbian?

I think you're all missing the most important part which is that the game will be really really bad.

Seriously though, the kid of a "FORTUNE Top Ten Female Entrepreneur" needs $800 to go on some camp? The text even says she's already made games so what's with the 'prove her brothers wrong' part?

Sugar daddy? What the fuck?

feminism is untapped GOLD

I thought this was going to be a feel good story going in...

Holy crap, some people have some major expendable income to spend $10 for a fully-funded RPG Maker game from a 9-year old.

@barrock said:

It does seem like her mom hasn't paid it in full (Balance due: $1098). Also, that is one expensive RPG Maker camp.

@audiobusting said:

Holy crap, some people have some major expendable income to spend $10 for a fully-funded RPG Maker game from a 9-year old.

@barrock said:

It does seem like her mom hasn't paid it in full (Balance due: $1098). Also, that is one expensive RPG Maker camp.

Probably just a down payment.

ugggghhhhh this is just awful.

After thinking about it some more, she is asking for money to go on a summer camp and buy a laptop. Rich mom or not, this is disguising charity as a project..

Good call. I decided to register and send in a report to Kickstarter.

I also find it hilarious that she has a $10,000 tier for a goal of $800.

Who are the people that actually back this kickstarter?

Makes me think that she maybe expected to get more than $800

You say this as a joke, but...you've already been beaten.

I think they added the tiers after they got a few grands. Still pretty crazy though.

Oh my god. This is her mom. This Kickstarter is such a scam.

Edit: She also runs this website for crowdfunding entrepreneurs. Seriously.

Jesus christ, just look at how many times she spammed the link to this Kickstarter on her Twitter.

Wow. On a serious note, is there something that can be done about this? I'd sort of like to see this woman metaphorically crucified for this bullshit.

@punkxblaze: It is against the Kickstarter guidelines to do "fund my life" type Kickstarters like this one (see section 3). I guess this could also be considered a "cause" Kickstarter, which is also in that section.

I don't think I'll ever cease to be amazed at the shit people fund on kickstarter.

People need to report it so it gets taken down.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/susanwilson/the-cape-project

People have also found she wanted to get 20,000 dollars to make capes

If there are suckers enough to get scammed by this, then they deserve exactly what is coming. Seems fair to me.

If there are people who know it's just throwing away money but they have plenty to throw away anyway, then who am I to judge how they spend it? Again no skin off my back.

This was always going to be a problem with Kickstarter from it's very inception. Why? Because it's something that existed long before Kickstarter. It's nothing to do with Kickstarter per se. We don't cry foul on horse race betting do we, or slots, or lottery tickets, even tho mathematically you will always loose money in the long run? Sure my alcoholic inept twice removed cousin, I will let you borrow $20k to fund this amazing business idea, and fully expect it to succeed and give a ROI ... etcetera, etcetera. Examples can be found since the dawn of human civilization, like the first time some fat priest in golden robes asked for a donation from starving overtaxed farmers who were barely scraping by, and they gave it. Or a hot cave-broad getting tribute from multiple cave-dudes even tho she already knows who she's gonna make a cave-baby with, most of those cave-dudes thought they were funding a cool project too. (ok this last one is stretching the analogy a bit too far, but I could not resist making it after the amusing scenario popped into my head)

It's nothing to get upset or worked up over imo. It's just the way it has always been. Kickstarter just made it more visible and public. (their internal policies aside)

Business as usual.

/shrug

Oh hooray.

*applause* well done, to all involved.

Brb, going to make a KickStarter so I can make a ham sandwich.

So did I. This woman is dragging Kickstarter's name into the dirt with this one.

It's amazing how many people are stupid enough to think that an appropriate way to try to solve the scarcity of women in video game development is by throwing huge sums of money at a single child, as if concentrating all this money on one person is going to have any effect on the video game industry. It's especially annoying because this is a little girl. I give it 50/50 odds that she will go to this camp and decide she doesn't really like making video games after all. Next summer's she's going to decide what she really wants to do is go to astronomy camp. Never donate money for a kid's project unless they're some kind of prodigy already because kids are fickle as hell. You're not going to jump-start anyone's career at nine years old.

Jesus Christ.

I went from a smile to a frown to a...sadface all in less than 10 seconds after I was done reading. Seriously. Fuck. The. World. We. Live. In.

There's the answer to my joblessness. Don't bother with this whole "learn new skills, pound the pavement, and try to humble myself looking for work" nonsense. Just fucking beg for cash for something stupid on Kickstarter. Wow.

Goddaman Kickstarter... why you make me hate you now???

.. I'll be right back... I'm going to start a kickstarter to pay for my college.

You can say that again..

Her sons seem like total douches...sigh I really hope Kickstarter stomps this.

Holy shit. And she runs a debt collection agency. Boy, this lady is a real piece of work, isn't she?

The girl needed a specific amount of cash to go to some sort of geek camp for kids and people give her 20 grand? Oook...

Thank god everyone else hates this as much as me. I felt like an asshole for not enjoying this supposedly feel good story when I read it on Destructoid last night.

Such beautiful manipulation!!! Exquisite exploitation! Bravo!