How long does a crowdfunded MMO have before people lose interest?

Now that we’ve watched over a decade of MMORPG crowdfunding from platforms like Kickstarter and seen how the ensuing development’s gone, we’ve seen some tank, some succeed, some fall into development hell, and some still working toward a release. But one thing that’s been different about crowdfunded MMOs is the sheer length of time that it takes for most of these projects to go from announcement/conception to delivery.

Looking back at the earlier MMORPGs in the first few generations, studios pumped them out far more quickly than today. EverQuest took two years to make, World of Warcraft about five, and Star Wars Galaxies three years. But with advances in graphics, technology, and feature expectation, those times started to lengthen while the industry started to pull back on making them altogether. Smaller teams with more limited budgets are going to require more time to produce a comparable product, that’s for sure.