The entire purpose of an ICO is lost and it became a popularity contest. The ICO market works like a pageant contest where models can not only bribe the judges but can also buy the press.
First of all, really funny story. Enjoyed it
Second, you're absolutely right. I don't know if you heard about that guy Ian Ballina? He made some good money on ICOs and has this spreadsheet where he lists ICOs he wants to invest in and rates them (100%-0%).
Seems like people are going nuts over his little excel sheet though, everyone wants to copy him to maximalize profit, I even noticed that ICOs he gets into that it actually boosts the price... like.. seriously? You think he has some magic ability? He got in at the right time and he bought tons of ICOs, and we all know now. In 2017 you could have picked almost anything and made gains (even confido pumped to 60 cents after reaching 0.00$)
But ofcourse there are going to be extra-ordinaire winners, he also missed ICOs doing 10x on exchange launch. Its more a gamble than actual science.
And yes tons of ICOs just pay for press, don't know if the community actually realises that? Partnerships are hyped aswell even though people clearly have misconceptions of what it can mean to be a partner.
Seems like there's a genuine gold rush going on and people don't really care, aslong as the profits are there. Can't blame them, I'm doing somewhat the same.
But from an investors perspective, there are so MANY ICOs, its actually hard to find a good and decent ICO, tons of calender sites and once you find a good one you realise its already sold out! But people want to take profit really fast, they don't want to wait 1-3 years till the project is actually finished and can get marketed to the audience. Most companies/projects don't even make it to the age of 5..
And if you want quick profits, you're not going to invest in some obscure ICO no 1 cares about, there are some really good projects people ignore purely because it can't do that 10x within a week/month like they are used to.
And the ICO space is only attracting more attention from companies/consumers alike, so don't expect it to end anytime soon. (being a pageant contest)