Kickstarter Thread I: Cash for The Cash God

[Forbiddenwar]

Kickstarter is now officially another platform for squeezing money out of nerds.

It was official long before that. About the time when the Yogscast launched their kickstarter.

[Snowstorm]

And this is on top of the previous Kickstarter that they (Penny Arcade) just did for their crappy ping-pong card game.

There was one pledge level, which got you a copy of the game. That's it. It was nothing but an exceedingly lame pre-order and some free advertisement.

[Forbiddenwar]

It's an intersting thing.
In one corner, we have a comic creator that never had advisting on his site, produced quality work consistenly, produced more work on a frame by frame count (I'm guessing), and his kickstarter was to republish his books. He got 1.2 million and his reward tiers were well crafted.

In the other corner, we have two comic creators who have been heavily advertised, who produces 3 3 panel strips in a week, and have built a franchise creating televsion shows and conventions, but their tiers seem like a terrible joke. ($35 for a $5 game. $1 for duck harrassment. $15 for a piece of paper that says thanks. $500 to have your tweets read by one of them.) And all for what? "Those people we hired to do advertising and marketing will be responsible for content creation instead." Not exactly high demand, hmm?
Let's wait and see what they get.

[Scowling Dragon]

Well technically the Giant has a puny ad-box at the top of the screen (In the least intrusive place possible, since I spend more time scrolling through the comics/ forums).

So we can say he worked without ads for about.....9 years?

[Opperhapsen]

Well technically the Giant has a puny ad-box at the top of the screen (In the least intrusive place possible, since I spend more time scrolling through the comics/ forums).

So we can say he worked without ads for about.....9 years?

Let's be fair here: Penny-Arcade spent a majority of their time, before they became a big thing, ad-free.
They actually lived off donations for quite a while there.

[Forbiddenwar]

All true. Except for ads on this website. The only ad is on the forum. And it only pays for the forum. Rich doesn't see a dime of that revenue.

But the point I was trying to make is would you rather have a crayon drawing from the artist at $250? Or have the artist read your tweets for $500?
And I'm amazed how many people prefer the second option.

[Sprinter]

While i we talking about controversial kickstarters there is a new kickstarter for Defence grid 2 with set goal of 250k $. However there will be no Defence grid 2 unless they get 1M $ !!! Yes thats right you dont get the advertised project unless they get atleast 400% of goal. So what they do if they raise only 399% or less of goal ? New defence grid expansion.

Well on the other side you have a chance to get the defence grid for free. (if you pledge 15$ for project and then withrawn before kickstarter is over).

[Scowling Dragon]

Would you rather have a crayon drawing from the artist at $250?

I know that "I" of course would Grovel at Riches feet in order to get one, but it sounds kind of silly when you say it like that.

While i we talking about controversial kickstarters there is a new kickstarter for Defence grid 2 with set goal of 250k $. However there will be no Defence grid 2 unless they get 1M $ !!! Yes thats right you dont get the advertised project unless they get atleast 400% of goal. So what they do if they raise only 399% or less of goal ? New defence grid expansion.

Hmm...Thing is that a Million bucks is unlikely to be raised, but by lowering the thing for an expansion instead, they can give the people something for their money without having to path the whole price.

[Trazoi]

But the point I was trying to make is would you rather have a crayon drawing from the artist at $250? Or have the artist read your tweets for $500?
And I'm amazed how many people prefer the second option.

The Penny Arcade guys are making it clear this is an annual donation pledge drive and shouldn't be about the rewards. I'll agree though that it adds to the aura of arrogance about the way they're conduncting their kickstarter. It will be interesting to see what the reacton will be if they meet their first pledge goal but little to none of the stretch goals with the only result being the removal of the leaderboard ad.

[Reverent-One]

While i we talking about controversial kickstarters there is a new kickstarter for Defence grid 2 with set goal of 250k $. However there will be no Defence grid 2 unless they get 1M $ !!! Yes thats right you dont get the advertised project unless they get atleast 400% of goal. So what they do if they raise only 399% or less of goal ? New defence grid expansion.

...And multiplayer and a new game engine and a level editor (assuming they get 399% of their goal).

[Sprinter]

...And multiplayer and a new game engine and a level editor (assuming they get 399% of their goal).

Controversial part --> Kickstarter is for Defence grid 2 which as Scowling Dragon pointed out is unlikely to happen. If they started kickstarter just for another Defence grid DLC with sequel as a strech goal it would be ok.

[Scowling Dragon]

Then thats not a horrible crime but just poor planning.

[Reverent-One]

Controversial part --> Kickstarter is for Defence grid 2 which as Scowling Dragon pointed out is unlikely to happen. If they started kickstarter just for another Defence grid DLC with sequel as a strech goal it would be ok.

How unlikely it is is debateable. Really, the name issue is just a matter of how you look at it. They've said from the start that DG2 requires them getting $1 Million, so they're not lying to anyone or moving the goalposts. They're just taking advantage of Kickstarter and making sure that even if the $1 million dollar goal isn't met, they're still going to be able to make something. I don't find the fact the Kickstarter page says DG2 instead of DG+ or something controverisal at all, I think that's rather nitpicky. After all DG2 is their intended goal, not a stretch goal.

[Trazoi]

I don't find the fact the Kickstarter page says DG2 instead of DG+ or something controverisal at all, I think that's rather nitpicky. After all DG2 is their intended goal, not a stretch goal.

For me this is like Penny Arcade in that I think it's a perfectly fine way to do crowdfunding for your project, but it doesn't feel right for Kickstarter. The kickstarters I've backed have all been: "Here is a project I want to do. I need $X. If I get $X or more I make the project. If not you keep your money." Stretch goals are a bonus that are outside the system and purely optional; the project is for whatever the set pledge goal is for. Hidden Path's kickstarter is for an 8 level expansion to Defense Grid 1, and Penny Arcade's kickstarter is to remove the leaderboard ad from the main website.

[Reverent-One]

For me this is like Penny Arcade in that I think it's a perfectly fine way to do crowdfunding for your project, but it doesn't feel right for Kickstarter. The kickstarters I've backed have all been: "Here is a project I want to do. I need $X. If I get $X or more I make the project. If not you keep your money." Stretch goals are a bonus that are outside the system and purely optional; the project is for whatever the set pledge goal is for. Hidden Path's kickstarter is for an 8 level expansion to Defense Grid 1, and Penny Arcade's kickstarter is to remove the leaderboard ad from the main website.

Like I said, it depends on how you look at it. I look at the Hidden Path kickstarter as one for DG2, with a safety net built in to allow them to make an expansion/new game engine/level editor if they don't happen to get to that level. It's making intelligent use of Kickstarter. Even if you look at DG2 as a stretch goal that's defined from the get go, I still find having an issue with them naming the kickstarter after the highest stretch goal strange. It's just a title on a web page.

[Trazoi]

Even if you look at DG2 as a stretch goal that's defined from the get go, I still find having an issue with them naming the kickstarter after the highest stretch goal strange. It's just a title on a web page.

For this case I think it's more of a potential mistep in terms of sales-pitch than controversy; I'm not sure if it is the best for them. For a backer and assuming the creators are honest, the usual kickstarter can end in one of two states: either you get what you want which is them doing the thing, or you don't spend any money. In this case now there's another state: you spend the money but don't quite get what you want. I'm curious as to whether as a result there are a bunch of people who are holding off backing their project until it's obvious whether there is a chance of it reaching a million or not, which is a bad thing because these kickstarters are fuelled by momentum.

[Reverent-One]

On the other hand, how many people want DG2, but wouldn't want more DG, DG Multiplayer, and a DG level editor if they can't have DG2? If there are a large number of people that fit that criteria, then yes, the kickstarter is poorly put together, but if not, then it's at least no worse than simply having a $1 million dollar kickstarter project, and most likely is better. My money, based solely on my own guesswork, is on there not being a significant number of those people. It seems the folks at Hidden Path feel similarly. We'll know in about a month whether or not this was the right choice (or at least, whether it was the wrong choice).

[Smight]

STAR COMMAND: Kickstart Part 2 - The PC/Mac version

[Hexcaliber]

I has a Kickstarter HERE

The update has some of the art in black and white form and a video of me making delicious cookies. Mmmh. Cookies!

All I ask is folks check it out and maybe tell a random stranger in the streets. Not too much to ask for I hope.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Check out this awesome project by folks from Montreal!

Castle Story

Castle Story is a creative voxel-based strategy game in which you can build castles one brick at a time using an army of little characters called Bricktrons.

Your goal will be to explore a vast landscape full of mysteries and dangers, and defend your castle against onslaughts of hostile creatures and possibly other players.

The world of Castle Story takes place on flying islands, high above an infinite ocean. The islands are made of voxels, cubes made of various elements, which means you can dig, carve and build anything you can imagine in the landscape. Digging underground to gather resources, stacking bricks on top of each other to build a wall or even tunnelling through a mountain is all possible and even necessary to keep your Bricktrons safe.

Carefully designing your castle not only requires creativity and imagination, but thanks to pathfinding AI and physics simulations, Castle Story has layers of strategy and depth on top of an otherwise free-form sandbox experience.

[Weezer]

I backed this an hour or so ago. It looks so awesome, and unlike many game kickstarters it appears to have a solid prototype that will allow them to put out a functional (if not totally complete) product very soon

[Ksheep]

I had seen a preview of this some months back, thought it looked interesting. Now I find there's a kickstarter for it, so of course I wind up backing it. I guess I'll just add this to the list of games competing for my attention and distracting me from schoolwork. Looks like a great game though, can't wait to play it.

[Xondoure]

Looks like good fun. The only thing I fear is that it seems quite possible the most efficient buildings won't be the coolest looking. But then I reminded myself games aren't always races and my fears were laid to rest.

[super dark33]

Looks AMAZING!

DO WANT!

[Hiro Protagonest]

Looks like a mix between Minecraft, Erfworld, and a decent RTS game.

In other words, totally awesome.

Haven't finished watching the video to see if they touched on this, but I hope there's an online multiplayer. Race for resources, fight for land, pit your skills against full intelligences on an equal footing! It starts out slow, with people on different islands, but once bridges are built or the correct magic is discovered, things heat up. You can train soldiers and invest in bridges, with only the most utilitarian forts to protect you while you try to get the biggest force as fast as possible and build a bridge while the others are still working on castles, or you can train a few as a token defense and invest all your resources in a couple strong castles, fending off the native monsters while you get a strong power base before going out to conquer.

[Tavar]

Part of the kickstarter does seem to be based on the fact that they need money to develop/support the multiplayer.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Part of the kickstarter does seem to be based on the fact that they need money to develop/support the multiplayer.

Yeah, like I said, I hadn't finished looking through it (although I only mentioned the video).

[LibraryOgre]

The Mod Wonder: This thread is currently on probation; it has been going well, but we've not solidified any Kickstarter policies yet. You will not get in trouble simply for posting on this thread, though remember that all board rules apply: Do not spam the thread, double post, flame, etc.

[turkishproverb]

On that...crimson...note, Reaper Minis is having a kickstarter with some great stuff.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...-of-gaming-min

In addition, there are a couple cool new types of dice on the site, including brail

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...-dice?ref=live

and 18 sided dice. That's right, 18. ANOTHER GAP FILLED!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...-game?ref=live

and, of course, pitfalls and penguins, a new wacky RPG that thusfar reminds me of Toon.


http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joehills/pitfalls-and-penguins-first-printing?ref=live

[Trazoi]

and 18 sided dice. That's right, 18. ANOTHER GAP FILLED!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...-game?ref=live

I don't use the fancy game dice that much, but for some reason I really want to own a D14.