ATTENTION: Kickstarter Backers Do NOT Warrant Wiki Pages

Recently big developers and publishers have gotten more actively involved on Kickstarter, as well as other crowd-souring services, to fund various game projects.While exciting this has unfortunately led to some confusion on the Giant Bomb wiki. This confusion is in regards to whether or not Kickstarter backers warrant "Person" pages on the Giant Bomb database. As many of you already know many crowd-funded games allow for backers to be added to the credits of games as a "Special Thanks," if the backer donates a certain amount of money.

In light of this a new rule has been developed in regards to what warrants a "Person" page on the Giant Bomb database. As per the wishes of the Giant Bomb staff, Kickstarter backers, and any backers for a game funded via crowd-sourcing, are not to be included on the Giant Bomb Wiki database, and DO NOT WARRANT PERSON PAGES.

If you have already added yourself, or any other Kickstarter backers to the database for that matter, please file a deletion request for the page(s) on the DELETE & COMBINE REQUEST board.

Just kidding. This new rule makes perfect sense.

I'm surprised people were already doing this(were any such edits approved?). Seems like it should be common sense unless some contribution of yours made it directly into the game.

haha

I never added myself for just this reason- I didn't actually make the game so... ya.

It's kind of weird it's taken this long, and had to be asked on tumblr.

Silly people.

Makes sense. Prevents people from backing $1 and getting a page dedicated to their nonsense.

If a game were to go come out and someone were to go through the credits and add people, unless the game specified between normal "special thanks" and "kickstarter backers", how would that person know whether a given person was eligible to add or not? Would people have to try and find the original crowd-sourcing page and compare lists to remove backers from the list? What if someone who worked on the game in other ways also happened to donate to it, does that now remove them from the list?

On some level, I feel maybe the whole "Special Thanks" section should be ignored (especially once you get into the murky water of people who help crowd-fund a game but then their reward is to add art or an idea to it - does that move them over to the normal list?).

This stuff is confusing. Good to know you're looking into it and have made a stance. This one looks like it will stop those that simply go down the list at the end of a Kickstarter list and simply add names, but I wonder if it will actually make a difference to the nice folks who go through the credits of a released game and simply don't know how to differentiate between those only listed via crowd-finding and those of higher importance.

The @video_game_king page will have to live on in the memories of those lost to the Sea Serpent.

I'm largely inclined to agree with this, but it's an area of debate.

It's more an issue with people that have enough wiki points to have live edit permission where we might not immediately notice them making these pages. We're explicitly stating this rule primarily for the benefit of those people and people that are actually inclined to read the wiki rules before blindly submitting new pages.

Would such credits be appropriate for someone who already has a page for more legitimate reasons? Or are they off-limits always?

Like if I made a game and became eligible for the wiki, could Kickstarter credits be added at that point?

@chaser324: Ah, okay, that makes sense. Especially weird that those people might not know better...

Well, hopefully they see this note.

Typically -- at least from the games I've seen -- they reference their backers in a separate "special thanks to our Kickstarter backers" list instead of consolidating them with the standard "special thanks" list. I don't know if every Kickstarter game does this, but it should at least in theory make it easier to differentiate the two.

@lordandrew: An earlier verdict I had read, said yes. I'll try to scrounge up the topic. The example given was that if Wil Wheaton (who had previously contributed work to games) had backed a project and was credited, he could be added to that project. I don't know if the current ruling has changed.

@lordandrew: @reverendhunt: Really? I'd imagine the answer would be no. Kickstarter money doesn't equal development imo. You would also confuse others who come to the wiki and don't know that specific rule and start adding people who are in KS credits but don't have a page.

What if the reward explicitly promises development input, like "Pay $8000+ and you get to design a level in Mighty No. 9"?

wow, I can't believe people are doing that.

But would that specifically be a level only you made, or would you be supervised and get to make a suggestion?

I think some of it depends on how you're listed in the credits. A simple KS 'thank you' section, even if you're already on the wiki, shouldn't count imo.

Hahaha, oh man, what a great notice.

ATTENTION: Backing a Kickstarter Does Not Make You a Developer (You Asshole)

Someone who designed a character or a level probably received more than a generic "thanks to our Kickstarter backers". Do we have examples of such credits in released games?

@lordandrew: The answer is no to both of your scenarios.

My $100 plan to be immortalized on GiantBomb RUINED!

I didn't know people were doing this. I'd say the only one that merits an add is Dracogen's Steven Dengler, for the following reasons:

• Dracogen's whole thing is just philanthropically giving geeky Kickstarters in need of money generous donations.
• They've funded the PC/Mac ports for several of Double Fine's games.
• Dengler is working on a game of his own.

If he is credited formally as a "producer," or his studio actively assisted in the porting of another game, AND are credited for this that would be fine. However a "thanks" for funding the game would not count. So generally speaking your first two scenarios would not warrant a credit on our database.

Any games he has made beyond his philanthropic activities should be included on the database so long as they meet our requirements.