I don't think it's a scam, but you have to realise Manhattan that this kind of project requires a professional-level team of coders, designers and management staff to make it work. It also doesn't have enough of a draw above the competition unfortunately.

There's definitely a niche for a videogame crowd funding site. It's a cool startup idea but really awkward to gain the necessary reputation as a trustworthy service and a lot of work like Sideshow said. So Manhattan wants a small community on his site's resume before expanding to SC and beyond. Is that the idea?

This service isn't useful to us because we trust who we donate to more than 3rd party randoms. Froyotech refunded a $1300 donation on request. I heard no complaints over how TLR handled their donations after not delivering to get SDB to LAN. Plus this stuff has us wary:

http://www.teamfortress.tv/23466/concerns-about-flares-that-care
http://www.teamfortress.tv/20505/tf2games
http://www.teamfortress.tv/1975/the-blight-of-blackfoger

Good luck with your project.

Hey Sideshow,

thanks for that input, much appreciated. I feel like it is reflecting the opinion of the bigger audience! I have come to realize that there is the need for professional coders. But not because I am not capable of doing so (I am a lead developer at a MedTech Startup) but because the "professional-tag" will give people more security, people will be more relaxed and have more trust since "professionals" are at work. This mind set, even though it is understandable, is still unsettling. Since professionals are still every day humans too...

Also maybe you are right! Maybe there is just not enough of a draw above the competition... I have to evaluate this again!

Hey C_

Yes, this was/is the idea. I wanted to create this product just for the TF2 community at first. So that people from the TF2 community have a product they are proud of, love and use. Like this I would be able to see what it takes to build such a product/service for people from "smaller" Esports Communities. I would be able to learn, iterate and enhance the service to the point that it is also loved by other Esports-communities. It is easier to expand in circular motions than in one big attack. I rather build something a few love instead of building something a lot like.

However, it seems that indeed, there is not the need for the service I am trying to deliver. No problem to the solution that I am trying to provide. So I have two options: Give up oooor iterate on the service idea! I think you know which route I am taking.... :) I will try to enhance the service to the point that it becomes useful to the community.

This is interesting. I welcome any project that wants to give back to the community and this seems like it has the right intentions.

Having run fund raisers before, there are a few questions that arise that haven't been properly answered in my opinion.

The first concern I've got has to do with trust. I know the site is in early development, but you need a strong chain of trust that basically gives the community the ease of mind that is needed with fundraisers. This is inherent to the nature of fundraisers. A party hosts a fundraiser and has specific milestones or perks that have to be met to unlock a specific goal or has to be fulfilled by the organisation. The chain of trusts (be it by reputation, certification or transparency) is taken care of when comparing it to the big players. I know what I'm getting into as an organisation. As a player/donator it's the same story. So my question is what is your current situation regarding trust and what are you hoping to achieve in the (near) future?

My second subject has to do with the actual processing of payments. The easier it is to donate and to track the progress the more yield a fundraiser has. What payment providers are you looking at, how are you processing the donations and how will organisations and their donators be able to follow the projects? A followup on this is how will you handle refunds?

And my last question is: what are the benefits? with igg, imraising or other sites you have easy ways to share,promote the project, are bound to fulfill the goals set and keep track of the progress. What should convince me to use esportsme over established alternatives?

TF2 has a rather iffy past regarding money (low points like blight gaming not paying players or tf2center stealing) and really high highs like TOTH, tf2can, iseries). So I hope you can see why answering questions here with solid responses will put us more at ease about the whole idea.