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Author Topic: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter  (Read 4975 times)

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Offline Colin-ICE

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There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« on: November 14, 2013, 07:14:36 AM »
This looks so awesome: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/513277403/alien-vs-predator-the-miniatures-game
but I know if I sign up to back it, I'll be constantly on kickstarter spending all my money or the hundreds of awesome things they have on there.
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Offline VladD

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #1 on: November 14, 2013, 10:25:12 AM »
I feel the same way: too many good projects out there.

Still it has been a grand addition to the hobby. Sort of a pre-sale on just an idea. Shows what people like and don't like and will pay for and won't pay for.
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Offline Cory Magel

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2014, 11:08:14 PM »
Yeah... I recently found a few ones that I had to buy into.  Fortunately they'd all paid off for me (i.e. I'm getting equal to or more than I put into them).

This is one of the more interesting/cool ones: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1118278224/galaxy-of-trian

It's over in about 14-15 hours (and you might want to buy in if it looks interesting to you - cause it's surpassed ALL it's stretch goals, somewhere around 500%).  Basically it's a bit like a space themed Carassonne with some extra mechanics to make it a little more interesting.
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- Cory Magel

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Offline Colin-ICE

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2014, 12:21:54 AM »
Great, now I've backed that.

It does look awesome though!
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Offline Cory Magel

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2014, 12:32:31 PM »
You probably don't want me to tell you about Slaughterball then. :)
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- Cory Magel

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"The only thing I know about adults is that they are obsolete children." - Dr Seuss

Offline Colin-ICE

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #5 on: September 23, 2014, 12:25:04 AM »
That also looks awesome but to get what I'd want I'd have to pledge a bit too much for my liking. I only skimmed it but it looks a lot like blood bowl, I'll just play that.
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Offline Cory Magel

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2014, 01:01:15 AM »
You're right, and I suspect Blood Bowl is more interesting anyhow.  I have the PC version of it and it seems like it's got a decent amount more to it.
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- Cory Magel

Game design priority: Fun > Balance > Realism (greater than > less than).
(Channeling Companion, RMQ 1 & 2, and various Guild Companion articles author).

"The only thing I know about adults is that they are obsolete children." - Dr Seuss

Offline Colin-ICE

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #7 on: September 23, 2014, 01:56:47 AM »
I love the PC version. It was a little buggy but otherwise awesome. Also, I could NEVER win a game using the normal turn based mode, I only ever stood a chance when playing real time.
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Offline Cory Magel

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #8 on: September 23, 2014, 02:26:12 AM »
Yeah, the damn thing freezes up a decent amount.  I always played turn based and did fairly well unless I really cranked the difficulty up.  Course, I tended to play pretty aggressively.  Usually by the end of the game my opponent couldn't field a full team anymore...
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- Cory Magel

Game design priority: Fun > Balance > Realism (greater than > less than).
(Channeling Companion, RMQ 1 & 2, and various Guild Companion articles author).

"The only thing I know about adults is that they are obsolete children." - Dr Seuss

Offline Cory Magel

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #9 on: September 29, 2014, 02:40:31 AM »
Ok, I need to start staying away from Kickstarter too.  At least until the VISA is paid off (although... that should be soon!).  I'll try to limit myself to very high quality looking board-game projects (that aren't simply pre-orders like Reaper) I think.  Honestly not too many of those come up, but there's been a rash of them lately.  I won't back anything that doesn't have a fully developed prototype and doesn't seem to have a reasonable grasp on what their manufacturing costs will be.  Demo videos and independent reviews are a good sign too.

I've seen a couple really badly presented ones and I'm tempted to comment on them... but they don't need me critiquing them, that starts post wars too often.  One guy pretty much just put up a photograph of him and his kids playing 'something' on his dining room table, said it incorporates parts of all the 'popular' games and is his 'dream game' but literally nothing else.

I want the miniatures from the AVP game, but I suspect they will be pretty costly based on what they wanted for the game itself.  I might buy into the higher levels of the Slaughterball if it does well (unlocks a lot of extras - I like that it can be a four-way game) but AVP is just too rich for my blood.  The AVP guys also seem to have some integrity issues based on some of the comments I've seen.  i.e. now that the kickstarter was WILDLY successful, but is over, they are allowing people to pre-order Kickstarter "exclusives" off their website.  I don't look at it as a collectable, so I couldn't get myself too worked up about that, but it is a little duplicitous.
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- Cory Magel

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Offline jdale

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #10 on: September 29, 2014, 09:53:36 AM »
I agree about prototypes. Especially for games, you should be able to have a working prototype and tested rules. Production can be expensive, so Kickstarter is a great way to get the funds, but game play should already be solid, you should have thoroughly tested it out. This also applies for everything else. If you haven't made a working prototype, why should I trust you will be able to make the actual product? If you can't be bothered to make a good video or good photos (I'll take either, photos preferred), why should I believe you have the focus and drive to get the actual product finished?

That said, I spend way too much time on Kickstarter. Which has gotten me many cool things I would not otherwise have. Even if Cthulhu Wars is about a year late now. (I don't really mind, as long as they keep sending progress reports and photos showing where we are at.)

Here's one that might be interesting to anyone doing miniatures work: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2023606288/basius-2-the-deluxe-stamp-pad-terrain-tile-and-bas
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Offline markc

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #11 on: September 29, 2014, 11:54:17 AM »
That does look very sweat.


A few friends on mine are on the home stretch of going to kick starter for their card game as they are just waiting on the initial lump of art. I will post more after asking the guys at ICE if it is ok when the time comes.
MDC
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Offline jdale

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #12 on: October 31, 2014, 05:33:22 PM »
This one is ending soon -- more miniatures stuff, but mostly items to fill out the scenery of a dungeon this time. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1207385459/twisting-catacombs-miniature-dungeon-scenery

I'm totally not posting it to get a free item.  ::)

And then there's https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/616900694/24x24-wireless-power-board-game-terrain-and-miniat?ref=users 
I can't justify the price, but so amazing....
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Offline markc

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #13 on: October 31, 2014, 08:26:36 PM »
Wow, I am not sold on the LED's but then I do have the time right now to take a good look at the info.
MDC
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Offline Cory Magel

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #14 on: November 01, 2014, 02:17:34 PM »
Nice.  I'm going in on the first one, should complete out my collection of bits and pieces to put together building interiors.  That second one is just getting too fancy for me, but I can totally see hard core Rebel Alliance players with money to burn spending a boatload in it.
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- Cory Magel

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Offline Cory Magel

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #15 on: November 01, 2014, 02:57:45 PM »
And with that I'm staying away from Kickstarter until after the holidays.  Well, unless something REALLY FREAKING good comes along.  Although, to be fair, one particular game took up about half of what I've spent on Kickstarter over the course of the year (assuming it hits it's goal... it needs something like almost $170k to fly - so we'll see).
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- Cory Magel

Game design priority: Fun > Balance > Realism (greater than > less than).
(Channeling Companion, RMQ 1 & 2, and various Guild Companion articles author).

"The only thing I know about adults is that they are obsolete children." - Dr Seuss

Offline Colin-ICE

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #16 on: November 02, 2014, 01:38:11 AM »
Which game?
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Offline Cory Magel

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #17 on: November 02, 2014, 12:30:10 PM »
Are you sure you want to know? :)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/myling/privateers

It made great strides in it's first several days, but it seems to have stalled.  I'm still on the fence about it, but am waiting to see some more detailed demo videos before I fully decide.  (Bought in at something like $215 - which I can always cancel).

jdale is to blame for my second largest pledge!
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- Cory Magel

Game design priority: Fun > Balance > Realism (greater than > less than).
(Channeling Companion, RMQ 1 & 2, and various Guild Companion articles author).

"The only thing I know about adults is that they are obsolete children." - Dr Seuss

Offline jdale

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #18 on: November 02, 2014, 02:55:00 PM »
Blame shamelessly accepted!

My biggest pledge was for Cthulhu Wars, which still hasn't shipped although it's tantalizingly close now. So I guess I can't say anything about the cost of Privateers!
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Offline Cory Magel

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Re: There is a reason I try not to go on kickstarter
« Reply #19 on: November 02, 2014, 04:35:47 PM »
I love tile laying games (Carcassonne for example) because of the re-playability, so that is a point for it.  I really like how well Firefly integrated cards into a board game, so that's a point for it potentially.  I like having games with a cooperative aspect, especially if it can be ignored if you want (we have one or two people who aren't as big of fans of 'beating the players').  Honestly I would almost expect to pay less for the game retail, however if it doesn't catch on (even after a successful Kickstarter) you'll never see it in retail.  There are a number of games that that is why I decided to bid on them... you never know if they'll make it to retail.

For example, there is a game called "Length & Wit" that I'm in for $35 (early bird).  It's a simple word game that you know 100% what you're getting.  If you're a fan of Scrabble, or the Words With Friends app, you'll probably like it.  Probably even more imo.  It's very portable, so a great potential travel game (you could even play it on the airplane if you had something to roll the dice in).  I'm not so sure you'd pay $40 (the non-early bird base game cost) in retail.  If they keep the quality materials they are using now it probably would (maybe even more), but will the materials, if it made it to the big leagues, suffer for better production costs?  If they did would is cost less as a result?  The #1 reason I bid on it is you may never see it elsewhere and, even if it were cheaper, it may not be of the same quality level.

Mostly I pledge on games or game related stuff, but I've actually put in on a flashlight and a ring.  I've got a far lower threshold for what I'll pay on those kinds of things though.  A few things I just throw in $1-$5 pretty much as moral/promotional support if I really like the product but don't need it or don't want to spend what it would take to get what I want.  Like the Slaughterball game... I like the looks of it, the materials are nice, and it's a local company, but I'd have to spend close to $200 to get what I want and I'm not convinced it'd get a lot of use in my gaming circle.  It's kinda like the casual gamers version of Blood Bowl - and my group would probably rather play Blood Bowl.
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- Cory Magel

Game design priority: Fun > Balance > Realism (greater than > less than).
(Channeling Companion, RMQ 1 & 2, and various Guild Companion articles author).

"The only thing I know about adults is that they are obsolete children." - Dr Seuss
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