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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MNblockhead" data-source="post: 8628782" data-attributes="member: 6796661">I've been backing projects on Kickstarter since 2012. In that time there were a few that failed completely but only one where I lost a meaningful amount of money (for mean that's several hundred dollars).  In the earlier days, it was much more about helping fund cool ideas and most backers seemed well aware of the risks. As Kickstarter gained traction, it increasingly began to be used by more established creators to ensure a certain amount of guaranteed orders to reduce the risk of manufacturing/printing items for which there wasn't sufficient demand. That attracted backers who had lower risk thresholds and began to see it more like a preorder site. When backing a cool idea, I am pretty forgiving with projects dragging out far longer than estimated. S**t happens and I backed the project to support the creators and many of the creators may not have a lot of professional project-management experience, logistics, etc. That said, when it comes to backing games (TTRPG and board games), I have used Kickstarter a bit like an early pre-order and when I do, I tend to gravitate to creators with good track records. But, increasingly, for more successful projects, I'll often just wait until the product has been funded, has had reviews written for it, and is available for regular purchase. Generally, I'm not interested in all the swag from higher pledge levels, and rarely is there anything I feel I can't wait for. I'm back to being more interested in funding a game from a small, new company or individual creator with a cool idea than another project by Monte Cook, MCDM, etc. And that means a far greater risk of delayed gratification, a disappointing product, or losing my money. But more often than not, it helps provide a means for an indie designer to create something new and cool and those have been some of my favorite games.</blockquote>

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