D&D 5E D&D 5E Kickstarter
I don't think it would go over well.
The purpose of Kickstarter is to allow ordinary people to fund the creation of things that the big corporations won't. That are too small, too niche, or too experimental to attract "real" money.
D&D, on the other hand, has a corp with "real" money behind it: Hasbro. A D&D 5E Kickstarter would basically be saying that Hasbro is not interested in funding D&D, that they don't think they can make a profit on it.
At that point it would be better to spin/sell D&D off.
Second, Hasbro is a publicly-traded company who does have to play by the SEC's rules. Does Kickstarter count as raising capital? That has enormous implications for a publicly traded company. Honestly, right now the Kickstarter companies are too small to attract attention from the regulators. Hasbro would change that. I don't really see any Hasbro lawyers signing off on this.
The purpose of Kickstarter is to allow ordinary people to fund the creation of things that the big corporations won't. That are too small, too niche, or too experimental to attract "real" money.
D&D, on the other hand, has a corp with "real" money behind it: Hasbro. A D&D 5E Kickstarter would basically be saying that Hasbro is not interested in funding D&D, that they don't think they can make a profit on it.
At that point it would be better to spin/sell D&D off.
Second, Hasbro is a publicly-traded company who does have to play by the SEC's rules. Does Kickstarter count as raising capital? That has enormous implications for a publicly traded company. Honestly, right now the Kickstarter companies are too small to attract attention from the regulators. Hasbro would change that. I don't really see any Hasbro lawyers signing off on this.
GX.Sigma
Adventurer
I dunno. Isn't the point of Kickstarter more to fund projects that people can't get off the ground (due to lack of resources, or risk of not getting money back from the final product), so there's less need for investment up-front? And isn't Hasbro a huge corporation with lots of resources that they've already committed towards the development of 5e? And isn't everyone pretty much certain that it'll sell? Why would they do a Kickstarter?
(disclaimer: i do not know anything about kickstarter or hasbro, so those are actual questions)
(disclaimer: i do not know anything about kickstarter or hasbro, so those are actual questions)
S
Sunseeker
Guest
Poorly. Kickstarters are for small businesses with big ideas. Not big companies who don't want to foot the bill.
Jan van Leyden
Adventurer
Perhaps they could use a kickstarter not to fund development and production, but to generate interest? They could include a special set of dice, miniature, or an exclusive adventure for the funders. Well-done stretch goals could entice people to take part in the project, thus binding them to 5e even before it will be released.
Jester David
Hero
Wizards of the Coast is not Hasbro. They are owned by Hasbro but are separate companies. It is unlikely WotC has access to Hasbro's pocketbooks because that would muddy budget-time. While WotC contributes to Hasbro's finances and connections, the two are run as separate companies.
That said, WotC is not struggling for finances and has the money to invest in long term products. Like spending two years designing and playtesting a new edition of D&D. The staffing costs of that alone are staggering. Kickstarter is unnecessary.
While it could theoretically be used to prove support for fringe books, acting as a kind of pre-order system, this would require WotC deal directly with taking money and distributing products.
Plus the time required to write a professional WotC book (and, more importantly, order art) is as long as a year. So the time between the completion of the Kickstarter and the arrival of the product would be 12+ months. Kinda long (and this is coming from someone waiting three more months for miniatures from Reaper...).
That said, WotC is not struggling for finances and has the money to invest in long term products. Like spending two years designing and playtesting a new edition of D&D. The staffing costs of that alone are staggering. Kickstarter is unnecessary.
While it could theoretically be used to prove support for fringe books, acting as a kind of pre-order system, this would require WotC deal directly with taking money and distributing products.
Plus the time required to write a professional WotC book (and, more importantly, order art) is as long as a year. So the time between the completion of the Kickstarter and the arrival of the product would be 12+ months. Kinda long (and this is coming from someone waiting three more months for miniatures from Reaper...).
BriarMonkey
First Post
I think it would cause the public to second guess WotC. I mean, if a the company has to use Kickstarter to fund 5E, then wouldn't people actually worry about the state of WotC and actually back off - given that the perception is they need money? After all, if D & D hasn't any money, it's doomed to fail. Thus, the whole shying away from the Kickstarter.
Not to mention, if D & D needs a Kickstarter, can you imagine what flame wars and fuel that will add to the edition wars? If there's no money, then obviously edition (whatever) bankrupted WotC - which just "proves" the "other" side's point...
Looking at that, I think it could be something that could cause publicity to backfire, which would cause further hurdles for the acceptance of 5E.
Then again, I could very well be in the weeds.
Not to mention, if D & D needs a Kickstarter, can you imagine what flame wars and fuel that will add to the edition wars? If there's no money, then obviously edition (whatever) bankrupted WotC - which just "proves" the "other" side's point...
Looking at that, I think it could be something that could cause publicity to backfire, which would cause further hurdles for the acceptance of 5E.
Then again, I could very well be in the weeds.
A Kickstarter is the last thing WotC wants: it would clearly show, publicly, how much interest there is the game. Their prominence in the market depends on there being no evidence to the contrary, and no benchmarks for the up-and-comer to pursue.
