Thunderdave wrote in Kickstarter projects:I'd vote for closure too... the first KS I backed is well over a year late and every 'update' is a reminder how I wished I passed. Infuriatingly, the creators even launched another KS project and promoted it to us backers while the first project languished.
Badmike wrote in Kickstarter projects:This post is mostly about the RPG aspect of kickstarter, not really games as a whole. This is not a knock against John at all, he's been very good about weekly updates (up to update 49, I believe). But it has been a year since the Appendix N adventures has solicited funs and I believe not one single goal has been met from the write up (I had actually forgotten about this, to be honest, but I was only in for twenty bucks). But I was just checking some stuff and was curious how many companies have actually benefitted from kickstarter, and how many companies/individuals have been stopped in their tracks by kickstarter. For example Artisan dice seems to be flourishing and has seemingly benefitted. The bigger companies who have participated (Reaper, Frog God) seem to have gotten their product out, don't know how much they benefitted (Bill says they broke even, I believe). Jeff Talanian and Greg Gillespie seemed to have done well from the smaller side of the equation (don't know if those guys actually made any money, but they did get their games out, and they were pretty darn good). However, I see a lot from the opposite side also...James Maleszewski was pretty much ruined. BHP is no longer publishing. Any Mike Nystul project will forever be dead on arrival. Several other examples. These are guys/companies that are probably, for the forseeable future, finished. Has kickstarter been good or bad for the RPG industry? Opinions?Mike B.
JasonZavoda wrote in Kickstarter projects:Reaper generated a huge new customer base and did its best to piss the goodwill they earned down a hole simply because the idiot in charge over there didn't like communicating with their customers. I think they are still trying to finish up their international shipping.
benjoshua wrote in Kickstarter projects:JasonZavoda wrote in Kickstarter projects:Reaper generated a huge new customer base and did its best to piss the goodwill they earned down a hole simply because the idiot in charge over there didn't like communicating with their customers. I think they are still trying to finish up their international shipping. I am not sure what you are talking about with Reaper not communicating because I was a Reaper backer and they sent out almost 100 updates to customers explaining what was going on etc.... The last update I believe was on July 29th. I received my stuff in late June which is roughly four months late. Yes, there are still a few people who have not received their stuff yet, but I think we are talking about 5% of everyone who participated. And while I do agree that the Kickstarter system and delays are seriously problematic, I personally don't have much of a beef with Reaper and their communications. Knowing what I did about Kickstarter at the time, I assumed there were going to be delays. Badmike out and out predicted it here on the Acaeum threads....somewhere.
JasonZavoda wrote in Kickstarter projects:Go through the comment thread on the bones kickstarter and you will find dozens of backers begging for updates. Sure they finally took their finger out of their ass, but they went silent for weeks at a time while backers were getting more and more upset everyday. Of course the Reaper fan-boy patrol was in full voice saying they didn't need updates and pulling their hair out in fear that Reaper might get mad and not do another kickstarter and generally insulting anyone who disagreed with them.Reaper would say they couldn't post because they were so busy getting everything ready, then a month and half later we are told they are late because they have nothing to ship, pissing off more backers because of the double-talk and outright lies about the shipping delays. If they had nothing to ship why are they telling us they can't take 5 minutes to post a comment? Then you get posts on facebook and the reaper forums with bits and pieces of information. No, Reaper is an example of a company that needs someone to handle their PR and communications.
Thunderdave wrote in Kickstarter projects:The biggest concern I have, and the biggest red-flag for me going forward now that I've been through a few projects, is the add-on creep.I just backed the Shadows of Esteren project... I understand they have a track record, but the add-ons like video games - good grief. I signed on for some books... and extras that I don't want are only going to slow down my book. I wish KS was simpler, projects were simpler, and creators were accountable. I would gladly go back to the days of the 'pre-order'... you know, pay up front for a discount or maybe a low-number limited copy. IMHO, YMMV, /rant, etc. :)
benjoshua wrote in Kickstarter projects:JasonZavoda wrote in Kickstarter projects:Go through the comment thread on the bones kickstarter and you will find dozens of backers begging for updates. Sure they finally took their finger out of their ass, but they went silent for weeks at a time while backers were getting more and more upset everyday. Of course the Reaper fan-boy patrol was in full voice saying they didn't need updates and pulling their hair out in fear that Reaper might get mad and not do another kickstarter and generally insulting anyone who disagreed with them.Reaper would say they couldn't post because they were so busy getting everything ready, then a month and half later we are told they are late because they have nothing to ship, pissing off more backers because of the double-talk and outright lies about the shipping delays. If they had nothing to ship why are they telling us they can't take 5 minutes to post a comment? Then you get posts on facebook and the reaper forums with bits and pieces of information. No, Reaper is an example of a company that needs someone to handle their PR and communications.I don't know. I know I got plenty of information in a timely manner. I don't disagree that there were people who were unhappy, but that's usually true in any pool of people. And it's also possible that no matter what Reaper said, they were still going to be dissatisfied. Some people are just like that. And sometimes it's better to just not feed the trolls; advice I don't take for myself often enough. The bottom line for me is that I was very pleased with the Reaper Kickstarter in every way. 8)
throwi wrote in Kickstarter projects:Fellow Acaeum members,The KS thread has been quite a whirlwind these past few weeks, with many of you providing your experiences and feelings about this business channel and what it means for the industry. I've enjoyed reading through them all, especially since I was planning to release my game system via Kickstarter. Although slightly hesitant, I feel I'm in a better position to launch the KS with a few key principles:1. All the content and preliminary art has been completed before launching the KS project.2. The KS project will have a base product, and will not contain crappy add-ons like mugs, t-shirts, etc. (I would have never done that anyway)3. Level goals will be for additional printed content, *also* completed before project launch.The base project will be for a printed, 96 page soft-cover All-in-One guide containing several core books, previously released electronically. It will also contain 2 new books (again, already written and edited), the Terra Minor world guide and Res Magicus, the first magical guide.Upgrades include retail options (discounted for multiple copies), a hard-cover option, and a few adventure mods (already written, maps completed).The main risk is that I may require a few more illustrations once I've completed the book aggregation - I would need my illustrator to move quickly to complete the work before the end of project.Questions for the community: Is this a project you would back? Does the fact that everything is already written make a difference to you as a potential backer? Is hard-cover preferred over soft-cover?Your thoughts and views on this matter are important to me, please post them!Thanks,Thom (throwi)