There’s been another update in the long-running saga that is Greed Monger.
Greed Monger is easily the most infamous MMORPG Kickstarter failure to date, having raised over $100,000 back in 2012 to build what the developers said would be a “crafting-focused sandbox MMORPG.” By 2015, the project imploded as devs abandoned it over a lack of funding, generating scam accusations from angry backers. Subsequent attempts to revive the game failed, but earlier this year, the original founder, Jason Appleton, resurfaced and vowed to reimburse Kickstarter backers with his newfound cryptocurrency fortune. (Appleton has his own account of the past few years of Greed Monger drama, primarily blaming incompetent lead developers, trolls, and the press for the failure of the game.)
The problem was many Kickstarter backers claimed and claim they still haven’t received those refunds, and in May, Appleton railed at angry backers on Kickstarter, saying that he’d closed down application for refunds, that he’d run into technical hurdles trying to reimburse people, and that he was under no obligation to give these refunds. A few weeks later, he blamed refund delays on both PayPal’s byzantine processes and on the backers who hadn’t come up with a mass-reimbursement system or otherwise helped him.
This week’s update offers an excuse for another delay. “The crypto market is a red sea and my profits are down so I may have to wait until next month and hope things have come back and maybe I can double down,” Appleton writes. “In any case, yes, I’m committed to getting all of the submitted refunds complete this year. Every time I send out more refunds it just makes me feel good. I’ve been very blessed this year and I’m working 12-16 hours some days, but [it’s] worth it.” He finishes up with a summary of his life story and then blasts and offers life advice to the “trolls” who continue to hound him (for their money back).
