But that isn't what a Kickstarter buys you. You get rewards and you get to help fund the initial vision. (up to the scope of the Kickstarter, fulfilment of rewards, etc.)
In any case, if making awesome VR a reality was Oculus' vision, they can make a pretty good case for that vision being well served by the resources of Facebook.
At the end of the day, what are people afraid of? That the newest action games won't be playable on Rift? I just don't see how people figure Facebook might ruin this product.
I was just saying that Kickstarter contributors are more personally invested than simple bystanders. If a company shifts focus away from the initial vision they used to attract funding, before that vision has been realised, then naturally the contributors feel betrayed. I think that's reasonable. If you sell someone a vision you don't believe in, then that's dishonest, even if it's not illegal.
That said, I personally don't know if Facebook is going to mess up Oculus. I imagine that what people are worried about is that Facebook will push for Oculus to be used for social VR and will largely ignore games. VR gaming requires high quality sensory experience in a dynamic environment with fast player movements. Social VR is probably going to be way, way more static, (but will have other demands like monitoring body position, face scanning, etc.)
> I just don't see how people figure Facebook might ruin this product.
To make the product valuable, it has to be a good platform which other companies can use.
Facebook has ruined many companies that relied on the facebook api to build their businesses. Sometimes facebook reimplemented someones else idea and then remove features from the api to kill the original company.
Making a product based on the Oculus rift platform is a high risk operation. Facebook has already ruined the trust.
Whether or not that is what Kickstarter buys you, I don't think it is unreasonable that people feel a sense of possession when it comes to projects they have backed. I'm not saying it is _right_ that they feel this way, but I can see how doing your own little part to bring something into this world could cause a person to hold on to it more than if they just bought something off a store shelf.
An obvious concern is that independent developers will be barred from developing for the Rift, or forced into unpleasant licensing terms in order to do so.
In any case, if making awesome VR a reality was Oculus' vision, they can make a pretty good case for that vision being well served by the resources of Facebook.
At the end of the day, what are people afraid of? That the newest action games won't be playable on Rift? I just don't see how people figure Facebook might ruin this product.