One thing to add to the tablet since you guys brought the ratings on AC. They say how can you rate a game that's not finished? how are you going to give it a bad review if it's not done?. Here is were I agree with the philosophy of ACG (a youtube game reviewer). "If a game ask you for money then it should be review in their actual state and not on what they are promising. You want my money now? let me see what you have now".
I find this to be true and people should not be acceptable of terrible alphas, that only leads to lazy development. This is the reason why steam is plagued with early access games that don't make improvements if any.
Of course they ask the public for money. As lots of money is needed to make a game. A conventional large produced game without much PCG. But you don't exactly just pay for tha game your funding the game. You all combined are actually replacing one large single publisher.
So you are a swarm of private investors which also are the target audience of the game. You are in essence a funding_Gamer.
As such you take the risk. The gamble into a project under construction.
That publisher side of things.
As such I see it that way it is. Your fund you take risk. Publisher spread there risk over several titles only those with chance to become a hit. Compensating the losses. Lot of game fail. So failing is so common. So your taking risk.
Preorder is often near the end fase of game production. That a gamble to.
So it not a review its a pre-alfa preview. And with large modules and even the sandbox missing even not worthy for preview.
CiG have to deal with this large in need of crowd funders, getting into the loop of production progress, which is community management overhead.
In think it is the only business model way to get a near or might even reach triple A crowed funded status.
And games do changes a lot. Sometime severely during production.
In my opinion 5 pound backers just show interest. This is more for the poor or those who just don't like to gamble but wait for the result.
25 to 150 are more like the pre-orderers these take a pre-order gamble.
250+ to 1000+++ are more like real investors. If the game get public and sell well above a specific threshold they should get royalties IMO.
Maybe the realy big ones do get some if it goes Tier2
As I am more close to the poor side. 10000 pledge I ignore just like porches and Ferraris. But a 200 pledge I might get into. Altho I aint a gambler. I could wait a year.
I think when for a publisher large invested production. In this fase there normaly is no progress. Only trailers a few a year. Untill near release when the marketing campaign starts. And the leatest trailers where gameplay trailers.