Somebody explain Kickstarter to me. This is an expansion we're talking about - the original game has already been published, along with at least two other games by the same publisher. This is an established publisher we're talking about, already accruing revenue from their previous publications. Why can't they use their own money to make this business investment? And surely this is a business investment; they would expect to make more money from this expansion than the cost to develop, manufacture, market and distribute it. Do they plan on reimbursing those who have contributed? I'm guessing not, which means any contributions to this project will end up being pure profit (minus the rewards) for the company.
Maybe I'm missing the point, in which case please explain it to me. But to me it seems like Kickstarter is designed for providing funding to people who have a great idea but lack the means to bring it to fruition, but is being used by companies who want their investments to be running a profit before they even start.
Nope, this is entirely new, not an expansion--not sure where you're getting that. In general, many of the best KSs are from companies (like CZE) that have a previous track record of delivering goods, such that word of mouth gets them customers.
And they do reimburse you in some way--generally with product, often with product that is cheaper than what you'd normally get. In other words, KS is for many places a pre-order system in which, if they fall short of their goal, all the money is returned and no product is created. It gives the company a few months to a year of operating costs--in some cases, this is for the final push, and in some cases it's for manufacturing; obviously it's the former for this KS.
Board game expansion KSs are run similarly; it gauges interest and you're the first to get the expansion before it hits stores, and you normally get it below the price point. Eminent Domain's expansion was run on KS; an expansion back for $25 instead of $30 for all backers, plus if you wanted a copy of the original game, hey, $25 instead of $35 for that one too!
