Hello folks. 

I am the proud co-parent of a fine, double-headed baby, and will probably contribute some ducats to a horrifying creature that will speak of the end times.  Not everyone's cut out for the role of micro-producer, and as with being a producer in any field, it's a bit of a gamble. Here are my thoughts on all of of this. Feel free to tell your own tales of faith in companies below, if you like.
 
My first Kickstarter contribution was to a little card game that could, before either of the above had even been heard of, and it showed me the power that this venue has for getting solid concepts and strong companies better attention for their niche designs. It's basically a way to help focus all this enthusiasm people have at a single target, and it's done in a smart way.
 
Any cynicism I have about this format, giving money to people before a thing is even made, is tempered by my own faith in my ability to choose companies and people with a decent track record. There are plenty of projects out there that I think deserve funding ( this looks awesome) and those who will get funded because their design or presentation is just that great, but I think Kickstarter winds up benefiting those who Brian Fargo himself called the developer in the middle, the people with projects that need more than a few folks in a tiny office to make happen. 
 
Having seen how a BIG game company needs to worry about advertising budgets and supplying massive teams, it's easy for me to see why this venue makes more sense for stuff that's not going to make the biggest splash in the marketplace, though I don't think any big company needs to look at these niche products as an all-or-nothing affair. That's a discussion for another time, I guess.
 
All that said; because you're giving money to people who need to deliver (assuming they get enough. If they don't manage to meet their goal, then pfft, no loss for you), it's up to the contributors, and Kickstarter itself, to make sure these people adequately deliver on their promises. With that pressure to do well, it won't mean you'll get the perfect product you were hoping for, but you might get a pretty good approximation of what you reasonably expected. And that's probably more likely to be true if the funding level and the team match the goals of the project. So you have folks with a decent history like Brian Fargo and Tim Schafer pushing for games many of us have wanted, but egoists have declared that No One Likes (because they don't like them), finally getting a chance, not because there weren't other ways to do it, but because they're using a popular site that's easy enough to find and use.
 
Faith is already a huge component of this industry. We often rely on brand names to get us through when lack of full disclosure has us wondering what the end product will be (I'm still wondering how I'll feel when I reach the end of DAO), we do pre-orders as a game nears release, we get swept up in the five star reviews only to find that even journalists get swept up in the initial enthusiasm for the next blockbuster because, yeah, they're mostly gamers themselves. It's kinda scary, and pretty messed up, when faith gets put on the line, especially when it's betrayed. But at the same time, the upswing, when our faith is kept, it's pretty fucking sweet.
 
I'm a bit conservative for backing what look to be solid designers, but then again, I don't pretend I'm a venture capitalist, here. I'm just a micro-producer with eclectic tastes who wants to see a few cool games get made.

My first kickstarter contribution ever was the Double-Fine initiative. More recently, I saw this Wasteland 2 thing and simply could not resist. I would be happy to shell out $20-100 dollars to see my favourite game genres/franchises be reborn. It is a novel idea that Tim Schafer started to push, but I think the true success will be if the game is actually good (Which I imagine will be a reality). If the game is good, then even more potential "micro-producers" will emerge thus giving life to an otherwise not thought of method of acquiring capital.

I think you're more of a nano-producer... Pico-producer?

I'll buy it when it's done. It better be good or I will bitch like hell. Cause I bought it, otherwise, not a peep from me.

I spend 60 dollars on games already, more often on concept than execution. This is an early pre-order, purely on concept.

What I like about it is 100% of my money going to production, instead of roughly 25% making it back to the developer.

For people who get a rage-on about devs trying to expand audiences by changing 'their game', this is a way for those people to finally understand why. Maybe there isn't enough people out there to make a 60 million dollar direct descendant of Baldur's Gate/X-COM/Syndicate/whatever old franchise people want to see more of. Maybe there is, let's get a Kickstarter going and see if it happens.

I donated my $15 to Wasteland 2 out of principle more than anything else. As the foremost authority on old games the guy who writes about old games (specifically old CRPGs) as a hobby, you don't need to think very hard to guess that I am on board with this project. Whereas, Schafer's adventure games, for as much as I like them in concept, suffer from the part where they are old adventure games and thus occasionally require leaps of logic that I have trouble making. A step above abstractions upon abstractions like Myst at least, but I don't find the core gameplay of Adventure games all that fun, more of a series of roadblocks between the next bit of clever writing.

Brian Fargo is a name that has been connected to a lot of the Role Playing Games that I hold dear, but he was high management by the time the late 90s came around. To see the stuff he was directly involved in would require me to go back to stuff like The Bard's Tale and the original Wasteland, games from an era before VGA displays and mouse control, i.e. the stuff my modern "child of the 90s and 00s" brain can't handle. I'm still optimistic about how this will turn out, if only because they must know the kind of crushing expectations they have placed on themselves, but if it does end up being a disaster, or at least a Fallout 2 "I don't really like this game even though it seems like I should" type scenario I will at least be happy that someone made that kind of game in 2012, or 2013 as it were.

As someone who has contributed to 8 different Kickstarter projects, I do not, outside of the project people giving a valiant effort to complete a project, ever feel like they absolutely must.

I am giving them money in hopes of a return, not in guarantee of one. If they've tried, but still fail, I do not in any way wish for my funds back, nor will I feel any sort of resentment towards them.

This is something I think everyone going into funding a Kickstarter project should have the mindset of.

My first Kickstarter was CodeHero: A game to teach people how to make games. Seemed a great concept so I thought why not give a little to get a cheap copy at the end.

@ahoodedfigure: I will dooooo.

I tossed in $15 for the Double Fine Kickstarter. Was going to kick in $15 for Wasteland 2, but then I saw the "cloth map" option for $40.

Damn them. Cloth map is my Kryptonite.

As a Dutchman: Fuck you, you German cunts :P Think you're all hot shit because you work for Tim Schäfer and stuff.

(Referring to the video about how to back the project if you live in Europe/don't have a CC)

@ColonelRick said:

As a Dutchman: Fuck you, you German cunts :P Think you're all hot shit because you work for Tim Schäfer and stuff.

(Referring to the video about how to back the project if you live in Europe/don't have a CC)

Oh, go put on your wooden shoes and get high. :P

I see the $65 I gave for the premium copy + shipping as me saving $5 from what I would have given for a complete version of Mass Effect 3.  
Not only am I getting a boxed game, cloth map, instruction book, digital soundtrack, digital concept art book and some weird novella along with the game, I'm also supporting some genuine talent that don't have to answer to higher-ups and compromise their vision. 

@Vegetable_Side_Dish: I hope its worth it.

Nice piece. I've only funded the Double Fine Adventure so far and quite a large reason for that is because of the documentary which I think will be particularly sweet given the natural comedic talents of Schafer even though the nitty gritty will also be awesome, especially if well produced and edited like it seems it will be. I loved Building the Bastion so I'm in because of something else like that. In terms of the game, I'm not absolutely desperate to play it and anything that falls in that category is now something I just wait for a Steam sale for. I've bought Monkey Island 1 and played and did enjoy it without it rocking my world and I've got 2 waiting for me as well but I don't have a particular history with adventure games and they can often be a frustrating thing to play. I did like Machinarium though - tone, music and animation went a long way with that one though although the gameplay didn't ever annoy either.

Yeah, have to see about future Kickstarters. I doubt I'll be one to resurrect an old genre. I don't have a particular dear one I don't think and if I know a game is going to get funded anyway for something I kind of want I might just opt to wait to get it normally once it's actually made. Really like the model and what it allows though.

@ahoodedfigure said:

It's also interesting that since backing a failed project means zero money lost, while backing a successful one has all the risk. The usual tendency for someone to hold back until it looks like a sure thing is reversed.

This is a good point. Though it remains that the onus is still on you to make the right judgement on if the team are capable of creating a game to completion and the game you want them to make to a good quality.

So far I've given money to Double Fine, FTL, and Wasteland 2. I wanted to support The Banner Saga as well, but I think I should limit my contributions to three things before ever even seeing a product for anything yet.