I am amazed at some of the projects that managed to not only get funding - but to get a ton of it. Some of the ones mentioned in the comments section of that link blow my mind.
We moved our release date because we were able to raise more money, and thus increase the size and scope of the game, but we're working our asses off to get Demo v2.0 out in December, to help show some of the progress we've made on the game - and the new demo really just comprises of a comparatively small amount of work we've done so far... I know that I have a strong conviction to work hard on the game and keep our backers in the loop. We've been doing this for years - and even when we didn't get any money for our work, I was always making sure to keep the fans in the loop, and make sure the team worked hard.
I don't know how some of these projects that raised 6 or 7 figures can get away with little to no updates or missing target dates so blatantly without much of an explanation. To me, if I did that, I would feel awful... and we only raised a fraction of what some of these projects have raised.
I've tried to keep the backers in the loop with updates on Kickstarter, content on Facebook and Twitter - and I've always kept my email door open, and I've tried to answer all questions and emails that come my way, and answer them with a personal touch. I believe in that kind of service - especially for people who have backed you - many going above and beyond just merely "purchasing" the game.
Kickstarter is a new model of funding for games, and it requires a new model of dealing with the fans (and backers). I heard people saying stuff like "Did you expect updates from Dragon Age 3's team?" No! Because that was a different model!
You're damn right I'm going to keep my backers informed, and I'm going to keep the public at large informed about the game. Of course, we don't show EVERYTHING that we're doing, because we want to keep some surprise and mystery about the game - so people have things to look forward to in playing it, but it's important for people to know what's going on - even if it's little, minor, or boring. Hell, I'd do an update talking about game code, equations for stats or even about writing interactions for things - it'd be boring, but it'd be showing what's going on!
Every company/group is going to run things differently, but I think that as Kickstarter is a completely different funding model, the way you handle your PR and communication, with what were once fans and are now financial contributors, has to change too. Like I said earlier, though, for us (and for me) that method of communication hasn't changed all that much! I've always loved to get the community and fans involved. We were lucky that a couple thousand actually put their money where there hearts lie... and we're grateful for the opportunity to make an amazing game for them.
Bt