Kickstarter Too many Kickstarter projects? Is Kickstarter the new d20 glut?

cyderak · Jul 30, 2012

Revinor said:
What about posting stories from Nigerian inheritance scammers on the front page and letting people decide which of them is valid?

Main discussion is not about fact if kickstarer rpg projects are worth investing in. It is about the fact that sheer number of them start looking like a spam and people visiting enworld might be interested in other rpg-related news rather than wading through tens of random garage rpg projects.

So your saying those random garage RPG kick-starter projects are a nuissance to you?

Some of the articles about other RPG's that are posted on this site are useless to me.......but there are other people out there that like those RPG settings or rulesets and I realize that and you don't see me asking for them to be ousted from the site because the production quality isn't up to some peoples standards. I think if a kick-starter project has something to do with Role Playing Games, it should be allowed.

prosfilaes · Jul 30, 2012

I'd say my results with Kickstarter have been mixed; I've bought some $45-50 dollar board games that turned out to be bombs. The $10 stuff has been a mixed bunch, but not really any more so then the stuff I bought off DriveThruRPG. Some times it's been nice being a part of things; Florida's Purge: The Johns Committee Witch-hunt helped the production of a small documentary of a bit of American history.

Order of the Stick was awesome; it was nice getting the books, and all the goodies are fun. I suspect the PDF miniatures may be worth $35 by themselves at the end of the day.

I did leave the City of Clocks Kickstarter, though. It wasn't something I particularly needed, and offering four rules supplements as bonus goals, and putting Pathfinder (the first or second best selling game on the market) last. In retrospect, only the OpenQuest rules supplement made it, and a D&D rules supplement (Swords and Wizardry was #2 on their list) would have been so much more useful to most people.

Krug · Jul 30, 2012

Looking at the RPG Kickstarters page (RPG Kickstarters), only four of the projects have reached their funding goal, out of about 14 projects. Of those unfunded projects, I'm skeptical that 75% of them will achieve their goals.

I think it's starting to run itself dry. How many superhero/zombie/steampunk rule sets do people need? I'm ok with it still being featured on the front page, because it is still news, and easy to just skip if you've no interest whatsoever in 'em.

gamerprinter · Jul 30, 2012

Krug said:
Of those unfunded projects, I'm skeptical that 75% of them will achieve their goals.

Well Kaidan KS is at 75% to goal with 48 days to go - I'd like to think mine was among the 25% outside your skepticism. Plus we're adding new pledge bonuses including exclusive one-shot adventures, which should help.

ShinHakkaider · Jul 30, 2012

I've been tempted by quite a few Kickstarter projects but have only contributed to two so far: Rappan Athuk and Tabletop Forge. I may contribute to the Reaper Bones oneas well.

At this point the only RPG company I spend money on Paizo and if I'm spending money on a Kickstarter project it's because I'm excited about it, want to support it and of course it's something I perceive to be of value and want.

Morrus · Jul 30, 2012

Krug said:
Looking at the RPG Kickstarters page (RPG Kickstarters), only four of the projects have reached their funding goal, out of about 14 projects.

Well yes, of course - they're current Kickstarter projects, not completed projects. Not much point avertising funded projects!

Revinor · Jul 30, 2012

Krug said:
Looking at the RPG Kickstarters page (RPG Kickstarters), only four of the projects have reached their funding goal, out of about 14 projects. Of those unfunded projects, I'm skeptical that 75% of them will achieve their goals.

I'm a lot more worried about ones which get funded but will fail to deliver on time (or at all).

enrious · Jul 30, 2012

To date I've only backed 2 projects - and they were done by people who'd released products before.

The gaming related project was for a city mapping program by Inkwell, who has released a number of other mapping software programs and I knew that part of my pledge would fund the purchase of some of those existing programs. Had it been someone's first product and/or they had no track record, I seriously doubt I'd have pledged.

I wouldn't hand over money to a stranger on the street to make a gaming product and I view Kickstarter the same way.

prosfilaes · Jul 30, 2012

Revinor said:
I'm a lot more worried about ones which get funded but will fail to deliver on time (or at all).

Like any other preorder, I think stressing about delays isn't worth it. Don't order it if you need it by a certain date. As for at all, well, maybe. I'm sure it happens. So far, I've pledged 36 Kickstarters, with 19 of them being completed, 8 being late, and 9 being in progress. I'm not particularly worried about any of those 8 taking the money and running.

I'm sure I'll have a more emotional response if one of those does do a runner. But realistically, losing ten or fifteen bucks isn't the end of the world, and so far I don't know of any Kickstarters that haven't delivered at all. I'm not saying the problem doesn't exist, but I am saying that I don't think the problem exists at a level I should be really concerned about.

Chris_Nightwing · Jul 30, 2012

Two things bother me about Kickstarters:

1) That they have become so ubiquitous that even big names are getting in on the act - completely undermining the principle of the system. It is a way for small projects to get off the ground without taking out a risky loan - the risk is taken on by the consumer. Large companies and big names who do this should damn well take out a loan, not shift the risk onto the consumer (see Recent Economic Collapse), especially as they typically take bigger risks that small projects.

2) It is only a matter of time before the system is exploited. I would be shocked if there isn't a man-in-the-middle scam up there right now. You just promise what someone else has promised, but put a lot more effort into making yourself well known. You charge $1 more per investor, and invest in the real project yourself every time someone invests in your project. You get free money, the project still goes ahead - and best of all you can spread the risk across multiple projects - just like being a hedge fund manager!