The space adventure, which has been in development for several years, doesn’t always get positive attention.

The game got ~2.1 million dollars on Kickstarter in 2012. One backer, named Ken Lord, initially supported Chris Roberts’ campaign to see a spiritual, modern successor to Wing Commander (also related to Roberts), but he didn’t like how the game has changed over the past few years.

Then, he wanted to get a refund from Kickstarter, but since he was way out of the fourteen-day period, he failed. Then, he sent a five-page letter to Robert Space Industries (shortened to RSI from this point), where he explained that he wouldn’t be able to play the FPS portions due to suffering from multiple sclerosis, which affects his nerves and muscle control. In other words, his hands are shaking, which isn’t a helpful thing in a shooter…

Lord’s letter got no response, which made the supporter to file a lawsuit against RSI. The case was quickly shoved off the tale, as the terms of service protect the developers from such claims. (It even says that the supporter „waives the right to sue in court and have a jury trial.”) However, Lord backed the game in 2012, and this clause was added to the ToS (which was updated four times in the past six years!) in 2013. Why did he fail then?

On Reddit, Lord says that RSI and Cloud Imperium Games (shortened to CIG from now on) claim the arbitration clause should be applied to the pre-clause transactions as well. RSI says that Lord’s 4500 dollars were only partially paid under the old ToS. Lord told Kotaku that he supported Star Citizen in multiple payments and RSI’s statement to the page also says that Lord sent most of the money under the new terms, which means Lord has accepted the new ToS with the further pledges, meaning that RSI isn’t legally required to refund Lord.

We wouldn’t like to go into the ToS changes in detail, but as the development progressed (while we shouldn’t forget that the original release date was set to be 2014!), the release window for Star Citizen became more and more foggy and unclear. The current draft, updated on January 25, says the following: „Funds shall not be refundable until and unless RSI has ceased development and failed to deliver the relevant Pledge Item(s) to you. In consideration of the promises by RSI hereunder, you agree that you irrevocably waive any claim for a refund of your Pledge Funds except as outlined in the preceding sentence.”

Source: PCGamer