How Often Do You Lose Interest in Pre-Orders/KS By the Time They Arrive?

[Emirikol]

I've sold a lot of RPG stuff I backed on Kickstarter via Facebook. Usually at a profit (there are people who collect KS exclusive stuff). I don't back Kickstarters anymore, though. I just get too few games to the table these days (and KS doesn't accept PayPal as a payment option) so, instead, I buy stuff after wide release in PDF when the option avails itself to me (some stuff I buy physical + PDF, then sell the physical component).

I got burned out after ALIEN. I realized I was only going to play it once.

 

[Jer]

I was able to really define what I enjoyed about HeroQuest over other dungeon crawlers. I'm not having the same luck with TTRPGs.

I think it's much harder to be as satisfied with a TTRPG than it is with a board game. Board games are focused by their nature, with the actions of the players restricted by game play to something that reinforces the core game play loop. Traditional TTRPGs are unfocused by their nature and have to leave a lot of room for the players to literally be able to do anything - which means making compromises on the design that a board game just never has to make. If you don't like the particular compromise that the designer has to make in one area, it can ruin the whole game engine for you. If the designer doesn't make compromises, the entire engine is too unweildy and it's not fun to play. It's a tightrope to walk.

Narrative TTRPGs can be much more focused, but that focus often comes with the cost that, much like a board game, they're only good for the specific kind of game play that the creator envisioned and that may be too narrow to actually feel like a satisfying RPG beyond a one shot or short series of sessions - many of them have low replay value basically. (Plus if you want to play a trad RPG, narrative RPGs will often not scratch that itch because that's just not the kind of game they are).

Also TTRPGs tend to require much more of a commitment than a board game. A board game with a 16 page rulebook is a game that is really pushing it on the rules (looking at you Arkham Horror). A board game that I would consider to be "too much" time commitment is something like Twilight Imperium or Axis and Allies - games that can maybe take upwards of 4-6 hours to play (or more, depending on your opponents). Meanwhile I regularly play a TTRPG for multiple sessions of 4-6 hours each over a period of months, and the rulebooks for the shortest of them might be 64 pages. The lowest commitment trad RPG that I'm going to play is so much more of a commitment than the highest commitment board game I'd play.

And because of that commitment need, it's hard to find groups willing to experiment with you with new TTRPGs, and it's harder to find a single RPG that is going to satisfy the whole group. While most folks are willing to give a new board game at least a shot because they know at the worst it's one night lost and at best they've found a new game to play. That negotiation is just so much harder with a TTRPG IME.

 

[The-Magic-Sword]

I think it's much harder to be as satisfied with a TTRPG than it is with a board game. Board games are focused by their nature, with the actions of the players restricted by game play to something that reinforces the core game play loop. Traditional TTRPGs are unfocused by their nature and have to leave a lot of room for the players to literally be able to do anything - which means making compromises on the design that a board game just never has to make. If you don't like the particular compromise that the designer has to make in one area, it can ruin the whole game engine for you. If the designer doesn't make compromises, the entire engine is too unweildy and it's not fun to play. It's a tightrope to walk.

Narrative TTRPGs can be much more focused, but that focus often comes with the cost that, much like a board game, they're only good for the specific kind of game play that the creator envisioned and that may be too narrow to actually feel like a satisfying RPG beyond a one shot or short series of sessions - many of them have low replay value basically. (Plus if you want to play a trad RPG, narrative RPGs will often not scratch that itch because that's just not the kind of game they are).

Also TTRPGs tend to require much more of a commitment than a board game. A board game with a 16 page rulebook is a game that is really pushing it on the rules (looking at you Arkham Horror). A board game that I would consider to be "too much" time commitment is something like Twilight Imperium or Axis and Allies - games that can maybe take upwards of 4-6 hours to play (or more, depending on your opponents). Meanwhile I regularly play a TTRPG for multiple sessions of 4-6 hours each over a period of months, and the rulebooks for the shortest of them might be 64 pages. The lowest commitment trad RPG that I'm going to play is so much more of a commitment than the highest commitment board game I'd play.

And because of that commitment need, it's hard to find groups willing to experiment with you with new TTRPGs, and it's harder to find a single RPG that is going to satisfy the whole group. While most folks are willing to give a new board game at least a shot because they know at the worst it's one night lost and at best they've found a new game to play. That negotiation is just so much harder with a TTRPG IME.

One thing that plays into it is that regular TTRPG users tend to get more use out of a single game than regular board game players do-- TTRPGs take more to learn than a single game, but once you have a meaty collection of board games, you're spending a lot more time learning a lot of different rule sets, because you probably aren't going to spend every saturday night for two years playing one board game. So the learning is just back loaded, I tried to learn Fog of War with a friend recently, and while its simple compared to Pathfinder, it was a bigger pain in the ass for the night or two we would have actually played it. They're very different products, at the end of the day.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I haven't had that problem with RPGs, but then, I normally only back to the PDF level, and they're usually purchased primarily to read, so there's no tight time constraint. Now the few computer game/program KSes I've backed have been a little bit more of an issue.

 

[payn]

One thing that plays into it is that regular TTRPG users tend to get more use out of a single game than regular board game players do-- TTRPGs take more to learn than a single game, but once you have a meaty collection of board games, you're spending a lot more time learning a lot of different rule sets, because you probably aren't going to spend every saturday night for two years playing one board game. So the learning is just back loaded, I tried to learn Fog of War with a friend recently, and while its simple compared to Pathfinder, it was a bigger pain in the ass for the night or two we would have actually played it. They're very different products, at the end of the day.

Oh man, this makes me think of Seafall. Its a legacy game that you play for 10-20 sessions. Like many, I loved the first 4-5 games. Afterwards it got so swingy and crazy (opening new rules packages and introducing them mid-game )that it just falls apart. Close to my favorite board game and its really too bad the middle and end game are so unbalanced and confusing.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I generally am excited for most of my Kickstarters when they arrive. The exceptions are those with, shall we say, "extenuating circumstances," like Marmoreal Tomb and Sirens - Battle of the Bards. I can't imagine using those now, knowing what I do about the creators. I'll admit to a certain morbid curiosity with Marmoreal Tomb, though - can it even attempt to justify its seven+ years gestation?

 

[aramis erak]

Maybe it's a sign that I've pre-ordered too much or backed too many Kickstarters, but I'm finding that by the time I receive most of them, I'm not even interested in playing them.

For me, that depends upon the definition of "received" - as most of the ones I back include preview PDF, final PDF, and physical books, each arriving at a different time. If it's the preview PDF as "received", then never. If the final PDF arriving is "received", then 3 of 12 (but I without intending to play 2 of those 3), and if only the physical is "received", then 5...
The ones burned out on before arrival of final PDF: TOR 2E, Space Aces, Are You Mental; before dead tree add THe Fantasy Trip 2E and Torchbearer. In the cases of Space Aces and Are You Mental, I bought with no intent to play, anyway - more curiosity. TOR2E and TFT2, I knew from the PDFs I didn't like the rules changes. TB: first game from BWHQ I didn't like.

I did try the solo for Space Aces... not bad, worth at least what I paid.

T5 I back to grab ideas on, not to run in itself. And I have enjoyed the theorycrafting based upon it.

The ones I'm looking forward to running again SG-1, T2K 4E, Sentinel Comics. If I can find the right player mix, Vaesen.
I've yet to , but want to, run Bladerunner, Ironsworn Starforged, and Once More Into the Void.

 

[GreyLord]

I don't forget, I don't expect.

I ALWAYS want them still. I only have backed items I know I'll remain interested in later.

However, rather than gnawing my fingernails raw waiting, I put it out of mind until they actually arrive. That way, if they take a lot longer than expected (or worst case, never arrive) I'm not all as worried about it or counting days.

 

[Thomas Shey]

The ones burned out on before arrival of final PDF: TOR 2E, Space Aces, Are You Mental; before dead tree add THe Fantasy Trip 2E and Torchbearer. In the cases of Space Aces and Are You Mental, I bought with no intent to play, anyway - more curiosity. TOR2E and TFT2, I knew from the PDFs I didn't like the rules changes. TB: first game from BWHQ I didn't like.

Are we talking The Fantasy Trip or something else here? Because I have to say, the changes in TFT's new edition don't even seem to warrent being called a new edition; I've seen second printings of games that had more.

But, you know, different people's sensitivity levels are different in these things...

 

[schneeland]

This has happened to me quite a lot - excitement was always greatest during and shortly after the campaign. I realized after a while, though, that this was partly a compensation strategy for not playing enough games, partly due to my search for "the perfect system" (after I burned out on D&D3.x, it took a while to find new games that I enjoy enough in general). Luckily it got better once I found a handful of systems that work well for me and started leaning into online play. So nowadays I back less and for many indie projects I don't even pretend I will play them (I simply give money because I want to see them happen).