Is The One Ring 2E Kickstarter going to break the records?

At over $140K in the first half hour and shooting quickly past the $200K mark before the first hour was up, the numbers on Free League's Kickstarter for the 2nd Edition of The One Ring are whizzing up faster than the eye can see!

THE ONE RING™ Roleplaying Game, Second Edition

A new edition of the roleplaying game set in the world of The Lord of the Rings™ by J.R.R. Tolkien, designed by Francesco Nepitello.

www.kickstarter.com

The record for a TTRPG Kickstarter is Matt Colville, at over $2M for his Strongholds & Followers project (and a followup $1.3M campaign). The next highest was John Wick's 7th Sea at about $1.2M.

There were over 6,000 people who were following the pre-launch page for this Kickstarter, which runs for three weeks.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

Was the One Ring 1E that popular? I wonder how much of the design of 2E was by the previous publisher. I will say that Middle Earth Adventures for 5E was astounding.

While I respect Tolkien, I don't have much interest in playing in Middle-Earth these days, but obviously, I'm in the minority.

Personally I don't think success on Kickstarter, or sometimes even TTRPG sales at all, necessarily indicates what people want to play. Free League makes pretty stuff that scratches a collectors' itch. I don't mean that in a backhanded way--their design and overall approach is incredible.

 

[Aldarc]

I think what I'm personally super interested in is the starter set.

Same, particularly at Fria Ligan's production value.

 

[Paragon Lost]

Very fascinated by the people commenting that they aren't going to get it. Like, fine, but...you can just not leave a comment. One person not interested in a thing is not useful info.

But I hope for Free League's sake this one hits a new record. They really know how to make an incredible product, and an appealing Kickstarter. The only physical (non-PDF) RPG pledge I've ever done was for their Twilight 2000 campaign. They know what they're doing.

Welcome to conversation. Where people talk about things that they like and don't like and why. Or why they might or might not back a Kickstarter.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

Very fascinated by the people commenting that they aren't going to get it. Like, fine, but...you can just not leave a comment. One person not interested in a thing is not useful info.

But I hope for Free League's sake this one hits a new record. They really know how to make an incredible product, and an appealing Kickstarter. The only physical (non-PDF) RPG pledge I've ever done was for their Twilight 2000 campaign. They know what they're doing.

I don't think it's harmful. Also, I think it's interesting to see if folks are interested in it, or not, what tier/products they're interested in and if not, why.

 

[innerdude]

So, this is an . . . odd thing for me to have to ponder.

I've already funded the Savage Pathfinder kickstarter at the complete digital level ("Runelord Digital").

And truthfully, I'm not all that interested in The One Ring 2nd ed. to actually play the game. I have TOR 1e hardcovers for the original release, player's companion, and Rivendell, and everything else on PDF. If it's a question of playing TOR, I have everything I could possibly need.

But man oh man . . . that collector's edition hardcover? ** Droooooools **

I've read Lord of the Rings once every year since I was 11 years old. I've read the Silmarillion 3 times. I've spent close to $1,000 on the Fantasy Flight Lord of the Rings cooperative card game. So the Tolkien fan in me looks at that collector's edition hardcover and says, "You can't call yourself a Tolkien fan and not own that book."

But I can't realistically pay for both the Savage Pathfinder AND the TOR 2e kickstarters at the same time.

First-world problems at its finest. Decisions, decisions . . . .

 

[EthanSental]

I have to agree with Grendel above....just look at the aforementioned 7th Sea that hit 1.3M on Kickstarter. A successful KS that less than a year later, saw wick fold or sale the game again. I think middle earth and Tolkien have more weight than 7th sea but 1e missed the mark for the parent company to want to change things up with a new publisher. It will do well on KS, but I’m hoping the game stays strong for the next 3-5 years for those invested in it.

 

[Morrus]

but 1e missed the mark for the parent company to want to change things up with a new publisher.

That isn't how it happened. Let's not just make stuff up, eh?

 

[EthanSental]

Not making things up, as I didn’t misstate or make up anything up. Parent Company moved on from company A to company B. People can google it and come to their own conclusion for the switch,

 

[Paragon Lost]

Not making things up, as I didn’t misstate or make up anything up. Parent Company moved on from company A to company B. People can google it and come to their own conclusion for the switch,

I think you're confusing conclusion and speculation on your part.

 

[darjr]

I think you're confusing conclusion and speculation on your part.

Uh, I think Russ knows some of the principle people involved