On the other hand, let me paint you a picture: I'm getting into board games, decide to see if there's a board games subreddit, come here, and see constructive criticism and supportive commentary about a project that looks for all the world like the KS equivalent of a Nigerian prince scam.

I would think this place is full of morons. To suggest that someone would need to go through that campaign "with a fine tooth comb" to see the flaws is laughable. The picture, the brevity, the complete lack of any information, the absence of even running it through a spell check, and the completely ridiculous funding levels ($500 to create a new board game, which is provided to backers at the $10 level)...all of this just screams scam. No one with even the slightest hint of business knowledge, Kickstarter experience (including just looking briefly at successful projects), or even just a basic understanding of the board game market would ever produce such a shoddy project. It was either a scam, a joke, or an attempt at some sort of reverse psychology where people would back it because it was so bad. In any case, the fact that the post merely called it "lazy" was putting it mildly.

I can certainly understand the desire for this community not to come off as elitist or cruel, but that thread wasn't an example of either. That kickstarter project was a mockery of the hobby everyone is here to discuss, so the fact that it was mocked is hardly indicative of some malignant current in this subreddit.

You way to imagine what your impression would be if that was the first post you saw...well apparently you personally would find it mean-spirited and a turn-off, but I think your average person would think "Wow, that really is a lazy kickstarter." Possibly followed up by sending the link to their board gaming friends: "You've gotta see this."