Kickstarters by YouTube influencers

[bedir than]

Well it’s because they have existing large followings. With a Kickstarter the single most important determinant of success is reach. And many influencers have a reach that most TTRPG companies would kill for.

Kickstarter also has a suggestions engine within and rewards videos as part of the launch page.

 

[Morrus]

Kickstarter also has a suggestions engine within and rewards videos as part of the launch page.

Yeah, but even so the overwhelming factor is pre-existing reach. It eclipses any other factor by orders of magnitude, including Kickstarter's internal algorithms. I don't have the reach that some of the influencers do, but I do have some reach, and that fact is true even for me, let alone somebody with ten times the following.

 

[mamba]

Well it’s because they have existing large followings. With a Kickstarter the single most important determinant of success is reach. And many influencers have a reach that most TTRPG companies would kill for.

yes, look at Delve by Bob vs Campaign Builder Dungeons and Ruins by Kobold Press. Based on the KS they sound like they are essentially aiming for the same things and they ran in parallel

KP made 285k, Bob made 425k.

It’s a shame that YT reach plays such a large role rather than experience. I’d rather get something from Rob Schwalb than something from Bob Worldbuilder, sorry Bob

 

[Morrus]

It’s a shame that YT reach plays such a large role rather than experience. I’d rather get something from Rob Schwalb than something from Bob Worldbuilder, sorry Bob

There’s nothing stopping you backing Rob Schwalb rather than Bob Worldbuilder. One doesn’t remove the other.

 

[Retreater]

There’s nothing stopping you backing Rob Schwalb rather than Bob Worldbuilder. One doesn’t remove the other.

At the time, both YouTuber Dungeon Coach's DC20 and 13th Age 2nd edition were being crowd-funded at the same time. I ended up cancelling my pledge for 13th Age and moved it to DC20 because of the exposure of the DC system. It seemed that several times a day, DC was interviewing, discussing game design. It really gave the impression that he was trying harder, promoting more, and knew more about game design (which couldn't be true because 13A was created by industry veterans).
Unsurprisingly, 13A was actually released. DC20 is still in Beta with a designer who's relying on outsourcing the design to random playtesters.
I learned to not trust random YouTubers with game design.

 

[Dustin Cooper]

At the time, both YouTuber Dungeon Coach's DC20 and 13th Age 2nd edition were being crowd-funded at the same time. I ended up cancelling my pledge for 13th Age and moved it to DC20 because of the exposure of the DC system. It seemed that several times a day, DC was interviewing, discussing game design. It really gave the impression that he was trying harder, promoting more, and knew more about game design (which couldn't be true because 13A was created by industry veterans).
Unsurprisingly, 13A was actually released. DC20 is still in Beta with a designer who's relying on outsourcing the design to random playtesters.
I learned to not trust random YouTubers with game design.

I was wondering about DC20. So much attention while the campaign was going, but I feel like this is the first time I've heard anyone bring it up since. What's this about outsourcing design to "random playtesters?"

 

[Staffan]

I'm pretty sure I've posted it here before, but Matt Colville has a pretty good video on the topic:

Basically, the secret sauce seems to be:

1. Create a community. This can either be done from scratch or by being part of a larger community and budding off from that one.
2. Cultivate the community. This includes, among other things, excluding people who make the community worse.
3. Create a thing that you believe the community will appreciate, and tell the community about it.
4. Ideally, make sure the thing is reasonably good. Otherwise you will likely not be able to do the thing again.
5. Sell the thing to the community.
6. Profit.

 

[Morrus]

I'm pretty sure I've posted it here before, but Matt Colville has a pretty good video on the topic:

Basically, the secret sauce seems to be:

1. Create a community. This can either be done from scratch or by being part of a larger community and budding off from that one.
2. Cultivate the community. This includes, among other things, excluding people who make the community worse.
3. Create a thing that you believe the community will appreciate, and tell the community about it.
4. Ideally, make sure the thing is reasonably good. Otherwise you will likely not be able to do the thing again.
5. Sell the thing to the community.
6. Profit.

Well yes. I know how it works. It’s pretty simple and doesn’t really need explanation. I mean, it’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the last 26 years, albeit on a smaller scale.

I wasn’t asking how to do it. My question is how well it has worked for various influencers and how those games have fared afterwards.

 

[Retreater]

I was wondering about DC20. So much attention while the campaign was going, but I feel like this is the first time I've heard anyone bring it up since. What's this about outsourcing design to "random playtesters?"

All the design is basically being handled by the community playtests. Dungeon Coach basically has no idea or plan for the project. When asked about the action economy being similar to Pathfinder, he essentially admitted he knows no systems beyond 5e D&D.
Playtests can be fine. But they should be to test the design - not create it. It's as if Doritos wanted to try to create a new flavor, asked consumers for a list of ingredients, made all the varieties, and asked people to try them.

 

[caudor]

I'm impressed with Matt Colville and what he brought with Draw Steel. Before finding the game, I had not heard of him being a youtube influencer, but I can see after-the-fact that his youtube fame may have helped the game off the ground. I really do like the game.