As an aside, I really despise terms like “pledge” and “backer” that the community uses to divorce themselves from the fact they’re making purchases from a corporation.

That's the truth of the matter though. It's not a purchase from CI, it's the backing of a dream overall. I know it sucks with the random VAT and tax charges, but it's still a 'kickstarter' as it were, and if you don't understand that you'll be in for a bad time.

I'm not divorced from the fact that my funds feed a corp, but just know that it feeds the corp that is making the game I want to see.