The way development works, sometimes putting too many resources into a single task can cause delays. However, you can add more parrallel projects without interference, usually. Therefore star citizen's module system/stretch goals
Sure, because adding more things that then need to be fit into other things, all made by different subsidiaries is completely unlikely to cause delays, quality loss and interfere at all...no sir, never happened before.
You, and the following posts seem to miss the point completely. Rallying about pushing the gfx boundaries or (totally wtf ;) "economy of the future" just goes wildly off tangent here. Nobody`s denying the right for these things to exists - it`s just that the way the stretch goal driven crowdfunding model is deeply flawed and in extreme cases like this, dishonest.
Pretending everything is AOK is common amongst gaming public these days and betrays partially well-meaning naivety and also gamer`s variation of Stockholm Syndrome - we`ve been done over by Big Boys of AAA world like EA for so long that when alternatives appeared people just blindly follow and let themselves to be exploited. I mean:
"yes, it is charging extortionate amounts for virtual items - who are we to say that's not worthy of spending money on?"...ummm, what? Dude, if not "we" then who else is supposed to say something? We are the consumers, the ones who are supposed to be in charge, not the other way around...and also humans with some sort of moral compass. You might as well say it`s junkie`s or gambler`s choice to spend their money on whatever they like and who are we to judge. And if you think it`s a far-out comparison you might want to read this:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-04-18-driving-ambition-pcars-crowdfunding-and-the-fsaAnd then, the usual "this game would`ve never been made otherwise" which goes in hand with "pushing boundaries"...this is a fallacy and reason why I said y`all missed the point. Games have been pushing boundaries and being made since day one and that`s why I quoted the olden well-organised studio model operating within reasonable budget that kept on delivering games and improving in sequels and addons. The fact that this game has been crowdfunded does not mean it could be done in similar way - after all they got multiple times over what they asked for shortly after the initial funding ended. Why not deliver a finished product as promised? And then start adding more stuff? At least most of Kickstarter projects have the goals limited (though new fashion is too keep the Paypal lines open) - whie SC is just a bottomless pit.
Simply put, stretch goals are the bane of crowdfunding. Too nebulous and easy to exploit - "so my game costs a million to make but for another 200k I will add a player house and a companion" (and also reserve the right to whatever delays are necessary)...yep, nothing wrong with that, right? Oh, I know "but look at this, that or this game, we wouldn`t have got more stuff"...ooops, GOTO 10, I`m afraid ;)