DDL on 9/4/2013 at 14:17
"So that's where I left my slug of colloidal cadmium!"
Meh, who knows what cars are made of these days?
Still, 10 bucks isn't much, and if it turns out to be a scam (in which case it would be the oddest scam ever) I can at least pretend it was for a cool game instead. :p
Muzman on 9/4/2013 at 14:33
Quote Posted by Namdrol
The saga has had a convoluted history,
indiegogo froze the second fundraising campaign to check it's legitimacy and released it declaring it kosher.
(
http://indiestatik.com/2013/04/03/homesick/) http://indiestatik.com/2013/04/03/homesick/
Annoyingly he (I guess) says he called her up and got all the details he needed and then doesn't tell anyone what they are.
People are going to nitpick this sort of thing and its understandable to an extent. I reckon you'd want to put the full diagnosis out there, technical names and everything even though I understand being coy.
demagogue on 9/4/2013 at 14:42
My sense is it's embellished, just because I think every cause is embellished. I've heard enough cases before where parents agree to be portrayed as assholes to put the kids in a sympathetic light for things like this, or criminal trials, etc, that it's my first instinct here. (Surgery is expensive, so nobody really has to justify their parents not having the ability to swoop in and pay, anyway.) Of course the real answer here is that medical costs should always be a public thing because private ventures are too driven by emotion.
But if she is a beloved indie dev, and if it's true something in the system really is failing in this case (& it's been checked that it's legit, which it seems it has), then I think it's appropriate & good that she reaches out to fans of her work for help.
catbarf on 9/4/2013 at 17:31
I know this has a very good chance of making me sound like an asshole, so I have to phrase it carefully: The information given is just vague enough, the condition is just odd enough, and the idea of insurance winning a court battle for refusing to pay for life-saving surgery just ridiculous enough (maybe she changed insurance and it was considered a pre-existing condition?) that I would want a little more evidence of some kind before throwing in my money. Even just a picture of the X-ray would suffice.
Call me jaded, but it's just too easy to scam people over the Internet with a fundraiser and sad story. If it's legitimate I'd happily throw in a couple bucks.
DDL on 9/4/2013 at 17:41
Yeah, but the way I see it: she's putting her name out there (and she does appear to be a real person), she's already produced one (free, apparently fun) indie game with aims to get a foothold in the business etc, and the total amount of money (ca. 35k) is chickenfeed on the grand scale of things, so....if it IS a scam, it's like, the dumbest way to go about it: fast-track to internet suicide, really.
Now if she was doing it from within EVE online, on the other hand... :P
catbarf on 9/4/2013 at 18:11
Well, it doesn't need to be a scam per se, but if someone needed $35k for one reason or another, they might be inclined to skew things a bit to get the money, and assume no one would be the wiser. I'm not saying I think that that's what's going on here, but a bit of confirmation would put my mind at ease.
Renault on 9/4/2013 at 18:44
I'm a bit skeptical of two lawsuits that were unsuccessful because she was "unprepared." Was she representing herself here? If so, that seems very odd, as there are lawyers out there that will work for a percentage. Not to mention that the the case seems like a slam dunk. I can't help but think there's more to the story.
Not that familiar with Indiegogo stuff, is there a way to petition the person seeking funding to ask for more info? Seems like just the people here could come up with a decent short list of questions.
Briareos H on 9/4/2013 at 18:51
She's not going to need your money anyway, the goal has been reached. There are enough fools willing to donate to someone they don't know personally without fact-checking their pitch. I commend her initiative, as she probably really needs that money, but I'd need to know a lot more before giving mine.
june gloom on 9/4/2013 at 18:55
Personally, while I totally get skepticism, I'd rather be wrong and out $5 than keep my money and hear she died a few months from now.
Vivian on 9/4/2013 at 21:09
It doesn't really make sense for her to be scamming.. it's just that how does she actually know it's life-threatening? The court decisions and insurance stuff would only actually make sense if it wasn't a life-threatening or even that potentially harmful a situation. Otherwise it's malpractice, open and shut. That and Metal Poisoning (sic) isn't a thing as far as I can work out, unless it's heavy metal poisoning, but cars are made entirely out of steel and plastic. I guess I'm saying I suspect hyperchondria. But as you say, $5 bucks a conscience isn't that bad a deal.
