I get what you are saying but there hasn’t been a single update on the actual keyboards since he posted pictures nearly 5 months ago in early May. In any group buy, you would expect some kind of significant updates after 4-5 months. I personally think that Jaxx hasn’t run off with the money, he just bit off more than he could chew by moving the production in-house and it spiraled out of control. Polycarbonate has high failure rates and taking the manufacturing in-house in the middle of production was likely the wrong call. There are risks for joining a group buy but Jaxx introduced unnecessary risk by taking on the manufacturing himself. Not only that, it’s a bit of a red flag that even Gondo had to speak up and talk about the PCB fitment issues.
I get it. The community loves drama. If Jaxx actually provided weekly updates like he promised a long time ago and said things will be better, there would be less drama. A lot of us have given him multiple chances to earn or keep our trust as a group buy runner. There was even supposed to be a stream of a Rukia R2 being built but that never happened. Where are the owners of the Rukias that were shipped out in May? It’s been a long streak of false promises that causes drama like this.
I agree with you, and I'm definitely disappointed that he didn't fulfil his various promises. I think calling him out on it is perfectly reasonable.
But at the end of the day, we always have to remember - its a group buy organized by one dude. It gets overwhelming, especially when things do not go as expected. It only takes a little bit of empathy to see how running a GB can be a rollercoaster of emotions. You queue everything up, order everything, bam - massive shipping delays. Bam, something is off-spec and needs to re-enter the manufacturing queue. Bam, something tripled in price. Just when you think you're finally catching up, bam, something else goes wrong.
And realistically, as participants of GBs, we should know and understand that this is a possibility, and not only just a possibility, but a likely scenario. Most GBs are delayed for one reason or another.
The 'community' in this group buy has been the weirdest in the sense that it has been the most aggressive I've seen in a long time. It really feels like there are some people here who is trying to incite unrest. It really feels like - and still feels like, there are some people who are just out to get him. Or they're treating the Rukia like an investment and they thought they could make a quick buck reselling it and are upset that it is anything but quick.
In other GBs with delays, the community is generally supportive - "Worry about your own health first", "No worries, it's just a keyboard!", "No one NEEDs this keyboard, take your time to get it right!".
With this, people have been screaming and demanding proof (on discord) that far exceeds what is typically expected way before the original deadlines.
I'm not trying to defend Jaxx's actions or anything. I'm just saying have a bit of empathy because while it is just $400-600 to us (and it is really "just", because anything but "just" is just a bad financial decision, really, it is "just" a keyboard), it's Jaxx's life and livelihood. He's the one sacrificing time, health, and at this point, probably money, to get us our boards. Have a bit of empathy and realize that screaming negativity (not directed at you) does no one any good, and ultimately makes things worse.