What Happens If CODENAME: MORNINGSTAR Doesn't Fund?

With 2 weeks to go, and only 13% of the $425,000 raised, and those two weeks being Christmas, the odds are that Codename: Morningstar won't fund. There might be a last-minute turnaround, of course, but the prognosis right now does not look hopeful. Trapdoor Technologies leader Chris Matney addressed the possibility, saying that "not pledging is telling the industry that you are happy with the status quo."
[lq]...if there does not appear to be a sufficient market interest our continued investment in the gaming industry is not assured.[/lq]

Below is what Chris Matney said on the subject. You can find the Kickstarter here.

What If We Don't Fund?

Yesterday, I addressed the question about why Trapdoor needs $425,000 to fund the completion of Morningstar. Today, I want to chat briefly about what happens if we don't fund via our Kickstarter campaign. The answer is somewhat more complex than you might imagine, so please bear with me.

First, we need to assess whether the gaming community has a real interest in our technology. The response to our Kickstarter is part of that answer - and I won't deny that the role player in me will be disappointed if we don't fund.

Our decision to jump into the gaming market was not made lightly. Trapdoor is a software company that builds interactive publishing applications. This technology is at work in commerce, education, and other fields. Role-playing games are complex and thus a perfect showcase for our interactive technology which simplifies prep and play. This is a greenfield opportunity for us and the industry. No other gaming company provides digital distribution beyond PDFs.

Your pledge to our Kickstarter campaign is the best way to express interest in bringing a remarkable, captivating and new experience to our hobby. It is the only way to 100% guarantee the success of Morningstar.

If we don't fund (and assuming there is demonstrable interest in the technology), we will need to reevaluate the current gaming ecosystem: looking for publishers who are interested in leveraging Morningstar into their gaming system, assessing the OGL for D&D 5e (if any), combing the feature set in Morningstar to see what can be pushed back, etc. With $1.2M invested in the project to date, we would obviously like to see Morningstar launch. However, as with any business if there does not appear to be a sufficient market interest our continued investment in the gaming industry is not assured.

The community and you have some decisions to make in the next two weeks. If you share our vision, pledge. Even if you don't think we will fund - throw your support behind our cause. Kickstarter collects pledges only if the funding is successful. It's a no risk proposition - at worst, you will show your support. Not pledging is telling the industry that you are happy with the status quo. Hopefully, you elect to be on the ground floor of a truly remarkable journey.

Respectfully submitted.
Chris Matney
Managing Director
Trapdoor Technologies


[lq]...not pledging is telling the industry that you are happy with the status quo.[/lq]


morningstar.jpg
 

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With that much passive aggressive attitude spilling out ("not pledging is telling the industry that you are happy with the status quo", seriously?), they certainly won't get a dime from me.

To say nothing of the fool decision of running a Kickstarter with that kind of goal during the bloody holiday season of all times -- and then being "disappointed" at the lack of turnout. That kind of poor basic business sense, or even common sense, doesn't speak well for the rest of the venture.
 

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I think you're misunderstanding why people are saying that.

They're not saying "it is the most popular RPG with you and your friends and therefore you personally must back the Kickstarter"; they're saying "it's the most popular RPG in the world, so there should theoretically be enough Pathfinder fans to replace the lost 5E fans with the correct marketing".

Yeah I understood it, but to be frank I don't know if I believe that statistic because my experience with the industry is very different. That is what I was trying to say :) ... and I am probably wrong of course because I don't see the 'big picture' as whoever makes these stats do.
 

Yeah I understood it, but to be frank I don't know if I believe that statistic because my experience with the industry is very different. That is what I was trying to say :) ... and I am probably wrong of course because I don't see the 'big picture' as whoever makes these stats do.

You know that saying about anecdotes and data, right? That's like me saying I don't believe there are more Americans than British people because I don't see any around me. :)
 

You know that saying about anecdotes and data, right? That's like me saying I don't believe there are more Americans than British people because I don't see any around me. :)

Yeah well exactly my point, so take what I said with a grain of salt.

- -

That being said, I feel I still need a better demonstration of what the app can do for a DM in order to give me anymore interest in the app.

I was interested enough to sign up for the BETA (although I am still annoyed I never got to see it), but I need better assurance if I am going to invest in it.

So yeah, what I am saying is they are wrong. Its not about me being happy with the status quo, its about me not being positive the app will be useful to me, therefore not worth the risk of investment.
 

Maybe it's just me, but I don't like the idea of any software that isn't self contained. To me, any software that's "cloud based" means that I actually buy nothing, instead, I pay my money to get a GUI to access stuff online. IMO anything cloud based means "bad deal" for me. I feel I actually get NOTHING when it comes to anything cloud based. Merely renting access....

What happens in 25 years when I want to pull up our old characters, and re-run that adventure we're still talking about? Oh yeah....those servers went down YEARS ago.

Not to be a wet blanket, but any company that has spent $1M+ USD and still has nothing to show, nor even a clear definition of what they offer, may not be around very long even if they do fund.

:erm:
 
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Maybe it's just me, but I don't like the idea of any software that isn't self contained. To me, any software that's "cloud based" means that I actually buy nothing, instead, I pay my money to get a GUI to access stuff online. IMO anything cloud based means "bad deal" for me. I feel I actually get NOTHING when it comes to anything cloud based. Merely renting access....

What happens in 25 years when I want to pull up our old characters, and re-run that adventure we're still talking about? Oh yeah....those servers went down YEARS ago.

Not to be a wet blanket, but any company that has spent $1M+ USD and still has nothing to show, nor even a clear definition of what they offer, may not be around very long even if they do fund.

:erm:

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the selection of your preferred (non-cloud) software titles is getting smaller by the day. Even Microsoft is jumping in with both feet. OpenSource is a thing, and probably always will be, but it has never been a commercially viable thing in and of itself. Cloud is the future, my friend.

And that 'what happens in 25 years' is all part of the plan, too. They call that 'planned obsolescence' and chances are you've already experienced it. Or do you still have a floppy drive for all those old disks you used to have?
 


Maybe it's just me, but I don't like the idea of any software that isn't self contained. To me, any software that's "cloud based" means that I actually buy nothing, instead, I pay my money to get a GUI to access stuff online. IMO anything cloud based means "bad deal" for me. I feel I actually get NOTHING when it comes to anything cloud based. Merely renting access....

What happens in 25 years when I want to pull up our old characters, and re-run that adventure we're still talking about? Oh yeah....those servers went down YEARS ago.

Not to be a wet blanket, but any company that has spent $1M+ USD and still has nothing to show, nor even a clear definition of what they offer, may not be around very long even if they do fund.

:erm:

Well I don't know about 25 years from now but I know that tools that we are required to be online in order to use really lose attractiveness to me. And I totally agree with your last statement.
 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the selection of your preferred (non-cloud) software titles is getting smaller by the day. Even Microsoft is jumping in with both feet. OpenSource is a thing, and probably always will be, but it has never been a commercially viable thing in and of itself. Cloud is the future, my friend.
It may be the future, but I don't like it at all. I have never purchased any software that requires being online in order to use it. Free software, yes. Purchased software, not one bit. Big difference IMO.


Or do you still have a floppy drive for all those old disks you used to have?

My first PC had a CD ROM. Yes, I still have some of those CDs. The ones I cared about anyway. :)
 

The Tome Show just came out with a QA session with Chris and Rachael discussing many of the concerns brought up in the last episode of theirs. http://www.thetomeshow.com/e/round-table-48-codename-morningstar-kickstarter-ii/

I'm over 36 minutes in and so far there is nothing of note mentioned. It's too bad the guy conducting the interview is the only one in last week's podcast that is a fan of the project. He's less likely to voice the concerns the group (and us) did.

Right now they're going over the price. It reminds me they've already spent a million, and how absurd it is that they went through that much cash with nothing to show for it. Seems like poor business planning on their part to enter an agreement with WotC that could end with them spending all that money with no recourse in case the deal went south.

Matney is now talking about how he's flabbergasted people keep wondering about the amount asked for the Kickstarter, when no one cares how much Apple spent on the iPad. Well, Apple funded it themselves, not with me as an investor. Investors damn well should be asking how their money is being used!

-HM
 

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