Title III Investment Opportunities ending January 16th.
Those interested in being among the first non-accredited investors of a MMORPG and owning shares in a company have roughly three days left until the offering ends. Crowfall has broken through their initial goal of $150,000 investor funding and have since breezed through three stretch goals, giving them $550,000 out of the maximum of $1,000,000 allowed by law to non-accredited investors under Title III.
For those interested, you could get the following for a $100 investment pledge (Eternal Kingdom PvE Housing Assets):
$100 worth of shares in the company
A rare Bloodwine Drinking Fountain (Unknown value)
(Resized to fit)
$120 Villa
$45 Package (Including the $50 game, or you could trade it in for $45 store credit)
$45 Backer Bundle
$75 Unique Hamlet parcel that functions like a normal parcel, but with a unique "skin" that is only available for this opportunity.
Parcels are land that you can put in your Eternal Kingdom (PvE Guild / Players Housing on a large scale)
This parcel is only available for investors. As such, it will likely increase in rarity as time goes on. It is only available in PvE Eternal Kingdoms Housing.
A relic statue of one of the game's Pantheon gods of Order.* (Unknown value)
$15 Woodland Grove Parcel
An investor's badge symbolizing that you own shares in the company.
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*Only if fourth stretch goal is achieved
Skeptical? Read the investment page at:
https://app.microventures.com/crowdfunding/artcraft-entertainmentInvestment documentations are there. They also answer questions on that page.
Under Title III you are only legally able to invest 5% of your annual income (10% if you have over $100,000 in assets and make $100,000). The site will tell you how much you can legally invest once you put in that information. If unsure, don't invest more than $2,000 -- that's the max amount for anyone, even if you have $0 assets and $0 income (though I wouldn't recommend investing, as all investments are high risks -- we're only looking at the in-game rewards for this).
While there is a chance that this investment can be paid back, we all know the risks involving indie MMORPGs and how fickle we can be as a genre of gamers. So only invest what you're willing to lose. $100 is the minimum for the above rewards. I personally trust in the developers and owners of this game, as they have treated their Kickstarter backers TREMENDOUSLY well, have frequent updates and no NDA even for very early Alpha. I've both backed kickstarter and invested for the rewards above.
These aren't similar to Kickstarter "investments", which are basically donations. You will own part of the potential of the company and will be given money whenever a dividend is declared (if one is declared; they've expressed wanting to use profits to make the game better, and make other games. Again, you own a part of the company, and not Crowfall -- which is their first game. So dividends on future games are also, from what I've been told, included).
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The introductory 50% winter sale of Parcels will end on the 15th.
You could get parcels such as the Woodland Grove above for only $7.50 for your future Eternal Kingdom (PvE Guild / Player Housing). They can be earned in game as well. You and your guild can place parcels in the same Kingdom to form a true Guild Nation to show off and have meetings at before sending your guild to fight on a dying world campaign -- where the seasons will pass and the world will become more dangerous.
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Game premise: You're an eternal Crow. A messenger and warrior of the gods sent to fight back the Hunger as it devours worlds. Your mission is to salvage resources on doomed planets, and to offer salvation to the worthy (by sending them to your Eternal Kingdom; these well be NPCs that live in your EK, or provide other things). How you do this is through the power of Necromancy and possession; to possess dead heroes of that world, bringing them back to life to fight once more. Or searching through graveyards and constructing bodies from parts found. Without a body, you are a ghostly crow that is capable of flight and movement. Worlds are campaigns with different rule sets that slowly die over time. As seasons pass, the world around you will change. Winter will come. Animals and beasts will change. The dead will rise up from their grave, but without a Crow's conjury. They will serve only to help the hunger devour the world. Then, the world will die and a new campaign with new rules and a new world will begin.
The death of your avatar may be permanent (but your crow is eternal). Or an enemy crow may possess your former body after killing you. Though there are many options to reclaim a new body or to retrieve your old. Through prayer at an alter, a graveyard or even taking your body back by force. It gives new meaning to the term "corpse running" after dying. Though heroes are not all born equal. Some had more potential in life, and such is reflected when possessed. Though the Crow may have mastered all abilities available through him with centuries of warfare, he is limited to the flesh of his vessel. Hero bodies revived through necromancy may also be traded to those whom may be more suited to them. The Crows truly use the life of mortals as currency in their society -- just as the Pantheon uses them both.
http://crowfall.com/en/pantheon/hero/Hero, the First Crow.
Due to frequent travel in my youth, English isn't something I consider my primary language (and thus I obtained quirky ways of writing). German and French were always easier for me despite my family being U.S. citizens for over a century. Spanish I learned as a requirement in school, Japanese and Korean I acquired for my youthful desire of anime and gaming (and also work now). I only debate in English to help me work with it (and limit things). In addition, I'm not smart enough to remain fluent in everything and typically need exposure to get in the groove of things again if I haven't heard it in a while. If you understand Mandarin, I know a little, but it has actually been a challenge and could use some help.
Also, I thoroughly enjoy debates and have accounts on over a dozen sites for this. If you wish to engage in such, please put effort in a post and provide sources -- I will then do the same with what I already wrote (if I didn't) as well as with my responses to your own. Expanding my information on a subject makes my stance either change or strengthen the next time I speak of it or write a thesis. Allow me to thank you sincerely for your time.
Comments
Maybe it should be explored a bit more by game developers wanna be.
If streamlined so that paypal and such can be used in the future, Title III could become a viable way for games and other startups to acquire assets.
PS I wonder, is $1M total limit for non-accredited investors, or will ACE be allowed to do more of these later on?
I would assume it would be on per round basis. And that they'd have to jump through some hoops again to get another non-accredited round in the future. There may even be a timer. But there is a definitive natural limit in the amount an individual may pledge, so it is naturally capped in that manner. Crowfall would have to attract more new blood or offer new things up to a point old investors have room for on their per-year allowance of investments under Title III.
Though I'm no expert on Title III or the law.
That is, the only limit is likely legal max number of campaigns and such.
I think it's great in addition to normal crowdfunding. Especially for those people who want to invest more money, but don't want to dump it in a bigger pledge that doesn't really offer much.
There are 3 laws/regulations that Crowfall can follow and i would assume they chose the one that is the most misleading...sneaky.
They can surpass the 1 million mark if they follow some guidelines of which one i very highly doubt they would allow and that is to give financial statements to the non accredited investors,so we can safely say we count that one out.
So what we are left with is a 1 million max per/year 35 people max/year,meaning they can do this again a year later.This investment means it is unregulated per say and not registered as a normal stock would be,it is simply the highest risk out there,could we really expect any different?So Crowfall does not have to divulge a single thing to you,not like a real investor lol.
The other choice is they could rip off way more than the 35 people maximum if they these people are considered knowledgeable investors.Only those actually taking part could tell us if any skulduggery is going on here,like a questionnaire or asking those if they have had any previous experience with investments to try and get above the maximum 35 people.
All in all,it is as i figured,a FAKE venture,one based on just taking your money and guess how much profit these guys will make>>>.zero lmao,good luck on your investment,good luck seeing the financials.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
The nature of the investment opportunity has been explained at length at many places.
But as is usual, ignorant and/or poor people should avoid involving themselves in things like this that they do not comprehend.
If Crowfall becames a runaway success, it is entirely possible that at some point in the future it will get sold/merged to a larger company, eg. Blizzard/Vivendi/Activision - and anybody owning shares through this investment vehicle would probably receive shares in the new company (which might be publicly traded) or be paid for their shares.
Aside from all of that though, your post was so full of derision and sarcasm I can only imagine how miserable of a "person" you must be. lol
Do the "share" holders need to pumping in more money @ that point? to keep crowfall alive?
The shareholders are only entitled to whatever they all agree upon, though obviously those with more shares have more to say on those matters.
Now, if owners decide to take money out of the company via dividends or distributions (probably won't happen here) that can, yes, take capital away from the company that could have been used for operations and reinvestment into existing or new game projects. But ultimately, the company is owned by the shareholders, and if they want to bleed it dry that it their prerogative.
Like I said before, most people won't understand what this entails and so should not participate, or if they do assume they will make no money from it and treat it as just a secondary kickstarter track which gives them cool items for the game.
The major flaw with Kickstarter is the focus on in-game items. You see people pledging hundreds of dollars for in-game items. Then you have situations like Shroud of the Avatar, where people can't get their hands on housing unless they shell out hundreds of dollars.
Offering company shares lets big spenders get shares in return, without the need to completely screw over the game balance. Crowfall is not a great example, as they still offer a lot of in-game stuff, but it seems like a step in the right direction.
Rather than call anyone here out for expressing their emotions and feelings, I'd like to instead urge people to do their research and access the veritable wealth of information available to us regarding Title III and the Crowfall investment page / Form "c" document (and the answered questions section). From that you can decide for yourself, if you had and interested to begin with. Saying you don't feel comfortable or don't trust others is fine, but spouting out things that have been answered or noted a dozen times over and letting your emotions / past experiences speak for you when something new comes up just makes you look silly.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Hmm! Thought for a moment I missed one of your posts and that my previous one could've been misconstrued as being directed towards you. There's nothing wrong with waiting to see if a game is good. In fact, that's a smart way to go about things.
Though if you read a specific post here, someone basically goes on a crusade against evil corporations and relays information they made up in their head or assume based on their past experiences and emotions, rather than actually taking the time to do research and realize that it has already been covered.
I'm all for people being intelligent about their purchases. I'm against the spread of false-information because they hate something due to past experiences, without taking the time to inform themselves. Attempting to decide or influence other people with false information.
I'm trying to reread my post and see if I said that anyone who doesn't invest or support new games is wrong. If I wrote that somewhere that I don't see, then I was wrong and apologize. I've invested in about five kickstarters as a whole and have been 100% satisfied with each one. Mainly because I do extensive background checks and oft times understand what they're trying to do. There have been more than that that I have been interested in supporting, though they did not meet my standards through research.
NO RISK to Indiegogo or to Crowfall but lots of risk to you.I don't how or who in governments started up a one way ticket to profits where only one party is under extreme risk.If the little guy is going to invest in your project and apparently your project has no chance at all w/o their money,the DEAL should 50/50 straight up.
Geesh if they went to EA to fund and publish their game,they would be lucky to see 10% let alone 50%.
This is imo 100% simply a SAFE bet for the developer,they don't have to divulge any information or financials and there is no risk to their own shares/stock that the CEO and others obviously have.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I believe this to be a fair assessment only because it is the logical one. Though Indiegogo posts that information on that page for companies and not investors. Microventures is the one that is handling the investment -- I do not recall ever coming across Indiegogo's name in official documentation.
Start-ups are always risky. That is stated numerous times on the investment page, the webinar, the ask a question section, etc. Even in Title III and the laws thereof, you have to submit your SS (if using ACH), your income, your assets, etc. Then they disallow you to invest too much, because they don't want non-accredited investors -- who never read the pages of warnings -- to go all in thinking it's a win.
As for the reports? Investors are promised quarterly updates. I'll tell you if this is true. Though I did not invest much -- I merely wanted first hand experience with Title III on a game that I already kickstarted. Was interested in this law before it went into effect a few months ago, and it was a perfect fit for me. These shares will turn into common shares. In addition, they already stated there are no favorites with these stocks. If there is a dividend, all will be given a share. The owners will only get moneys from dividends if everyone else does. They also expressed intent to not issue dividends in the foreseeable future, as they want to make other games (or make Crowfall even better to keep potential profitability up). The stock is for shares in the company, and not the game. So any *potential* profits will likely come from future games -- if there are any.
Though I have to reiterate that they have in the answer section, the documents, the investment page, their website, in interviews, etc. always said this is a risky endeavor and to only invest what you are willing to lose -- as with all startups. They even encouraged people to look at pledge packages if they were interested in supporting the game and only wanted game perks.
Under Title III a company has to jump through a lot of hoops. Artcraft is one of the only one to be given the right to raise $1,000,000 to date, as you go through different investigations and need to provide specific information for various tiers (at least, that is what I read months ago before this). Most others only have around 1-300,000 bracket or 300,001-500,000 in the same Title III categories in the past and present.
The entire process to invest was the most painful thing I've done in a while. Providing all the information, going through countless documents, marking seven check boxes signifying I read it all, I understand the risks, I was truthful about my income so that I'm not breaking the law, etc. In addition to the money only be raised through bank wires or ACH and held in escrow until the end of the preferred stock seed investment round. It legitimately took me several days to complete this process due to all the legalities, compared to 15 seconds on kickstarter and paypal. Not something you want to do to scam people, especially with the regulations and investigations you have to be put under -- and the documents you have to provide to all parties.
You needn't say it's a risk. They're told repeatedly if they don't just skip everything once they see "invest" and "rewards" and click seven bottons, provide fake information about themselves for the sake of laziness and spend hours with their bank wiring a transfer.