Just read up on Kickstarter - interesting; it requires a high trust environment to avoid fear of 'take the money and run' - I guess RPG publishing may be such a niche, at least for people with some name recognition. There's still the issue of 'start in good faith, take the money and get overwhelmed/depressed/in an accident', though. I can't personally imagine putting money towards a project like that, I'm too pessimistic.
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Kickstarter-Style Preorders: The Future of RPGs?
- Thread starter Weregrognard
- Start date
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
I participated in two of the first Open Design projects and in Troll Lords' Classic Monsters Kickstarter project. I also pre-ordered Ptolus, which arguably falls into the same model. I think it's a phenomenal model -- if there's not interest, the product dies on the vine. Conversely, customer enthusiasm can lead to products becoming more developed and for development to go down paths that pre-ordered customers indicate they want more focus on.
Honestly, it seems like a near-ideal model.
Honestly, it seems like a near-ideal model.
Do I think that Kickstarter (and similar sites) will continue to be an important part of the RPG industry? Yes, and in fact they will probably grow.
Do I think it will become the ONLY business model? No. For one I don't think the big companies (WOTC or Paizo) need it. On the other end of the spectrum starts ups will need to establish themselves a little to gain the public's trust.
Do I think it will become the ONLY business model? No. For one I don't think the big companies (WOTC or Paizo) need it. On the other end of the spectrum starts ups will need to establish themselves a little to gain the public's trust.
Yep. It is good for a company like Troll Lord Games though - minimal funds, but they're long established with a good reputation generally (editing issues aside), a great rep for customer service, and a smallish but dedicated fan base.
In fact, Paizo use a variation of it - what else is their subscription scheme? It's a preorder model.
Cheers!
Jan van Leyden
Adventurer
I find it rather hard to be convinced to invest in a gaming product before development or production. There are some bad examples of projects turned ugly: West End Games' Septimus Prime or Nicholas Logue's Sinister Publishing (?) come to mind.
Kickstarter projects are a bit different, but still no easy sell. Can the prospective publisher really make me want his product so much? One without a (good) track record?
I'd prefer the way MerricB has described for GMT, but even this model has its problems. What if a big product lingers in the pipeline for a long time and I have to unexpectedly spend the money when I don't have it available?
And another aspect no-one has mentioned yet: our poor FLGS takes another hit.
Kickstarter projects are a bit different, but still no easy sell. Can the prospective publisher really make me want his product so much? One without a (good) track record?
I'd prefer the way MerricB has described for GMT, but even this model has its problems. What if a big product lingers in the pipeline for a long time and I have to unexpectedly spend the money when I don't have it available?
And another aspect no-one has mentioned yet: our poor FLGS takes another hit.
kitsune9
Adventurer
It is for really small shops or pay-by-performance shops because it does two things:
1. You can define your profit target and your costs up front and build it into the goal price of the kickstarter project. Or at the very least identify all the costs to be covered. For example, if you produce a book and you want $4,000 profit and your costs will be $4,000, your kickstarter goal is $8,000.
2. It eliminates the economic risk of the decision. If you fail to generate the $8,000 or at least the $4,000 to produce the book, you're only out the time and effort on the project, but at least you won't have spent that money from your own pocket and find the book languishing in the FLGS. At the very minimum, your project is funded, you produce the book, get everyone who bought in at the level of support their copies or other incentives and have a print run in that if it languishes in the FLGS, well, that sucks but no big deal.
If I was running my own one-man show where I hired artists, writers, etc. I would follow this model. It makes figuring out which of my products are likely to sell by generating interest and incentives up front.
Matt James
Game Developer
Kickstarter offers a bit of reprieve from inherent risk with a project. I had used Kickstarter to get a documentary I am doing up and running (non-gaming related). It is great for these types of projects.
The guys behind Adventurer Conqueror King began a kickstarter for their game. Originally, I simply backed it with a $5 pledge. The more I saw of it, the more I loved it.
Eventually, I upgraded to $40 pre-order. I had input into the design and development and now we're using the game for our main campaign.
We're up to 25 players total and 3 DMs.
This is a game no one heard of until I stumbled upon the Kickstarter for the project. Now, everyone in our group (former 3.x, 4E, AD&D, B/X, etc. players, as well as brand new players) is into the game and many have went ahead and pre-ordered (the game isn't actually out yet).
While I don't think Kickstarter would be the route I'd take if I were WotC or another large publisher, I would certainly look into the model and see if I could do something similar.
Having feedback on a product before it goes to print, could save a lot of flops from making it to the market.
Also, the tiered system of payment, people paying to playtest your product, etc. - if WotC did something like this for 5E, it would be leaps and bounds ahead of 4E's development and launch.
Imagine, if WotC solicited feedback, had pre-order playtesting, tiered entry into the system with rewards for bigger "backers" (autographed copies, etc.) and integrated all this into their DDI system.
It'd be insane. And amazing.
Eventually, I upgraded to $40 pre-order. I had input into the design and development and now we're using the game for our main campaign.
We're up to 25 players total and 3 DMs.
This is a game no one heard of until I stumbled upon the Kickstarter for the project. Now, everyone in our group (former 3.x, 4E, AD&D, B/X, etc. players, as well as brand new players) is into the game and many have went ahead and pre-ordered (the game isn't actually out yet).
While I don't think Kickstarter would be the route I'd take if I were WotC or another large publisher, I would certainly look into the model and see if I could do something similar.
Having feedback on a product before it goes to print, could save a lot of flops from making it to the market.
Also, the tiered system of payment, people paying to playtest your product, etc. - if WotC did something like this for 5E, it would be leaps and bounds ahead of 4E's development and launch.
Imagine, if WotC solicited feedback, had pre-order playtesting, tiered entry into the system with rewards for bigger "backers" (autographed copies, etc.) and integrated all this into their DDI system.
It'd be insane. And amazing.
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