See, I support small and local artists all the time, whether it's music and merchandise from a band or an affordable piece (usually a 8x10 print or something) from a gallery. The thing is though, I know what I'm getting for my money. The product is done and finished, right in front of me so I know the price is fair for the quality of work. I read about situations like these all the time on sites like Kickstarter, where people put money in a project in good faith and then get burned. I never liked the idea of Kickstarter when I first heard about it, as I always thought you're somewhat gambling on the word of others. Each time I hear another story just like this, it just reinforces that opinion. Putting myself in the shoes of these customers, I can see why they would get upset. It's good to hear at least some are getting refunds.
Yeah I was naive and entranced by the idea of a space sim RPG in December 2013. Also still on the rush of Christmas and ready to test the power of my fairly new pc. Now, I do regret it as I got tired of the flight module pretty quickly and the progress has been so slow. I still don't mind services like Kickstarter or Patreon provided the patronage is small and reasonable. The problem with Star Citizen is that a competent ship costs so much it's pretty much not worth it. It's definitely turned me off to the concept, though it's really the only time I've ever acted in such a way. I never pre-order or anything like that. It's a shame.