What KICKSTARTER(S) are you BACKING and WHY?

Gversace wrote: The base game of Heroes of Normandie was $110 (w/ US shipping) for just the game, no extras. Seemed kind of ridiculous to me, although the game does look cool.

Sort of misleading since you were paying in UK currency and shipping from Europe if you wanted to be first in. If it were developed and printed here, it'd be just another US$65 game, which means the Amazon prices are right about in-line. This is one of the few KS game projects from an unknown entity that I'd taken a flyer on (my other projects backed are either CMoN projects and/or follow-ups to games I already own and enjoy), which I did mostly I liked the look and idea of the game.

Physical quality is quite good, though the counters are of a heavy glossy laminated type that doesn't necessarily split easily but can fail really spectacularly if not careful when punching. I had 1 problem unit [my fault, not a production problem] but I suspect anyone pissing and moaning about it didn't look at the sheets before pushing fat thumbs through punchboard.

There are about a dozen errata units as far as I can tell [some of which were Kickstarter-only promo units to begin with], which are corrected in a new punchboard coming shortly. That would be out of, what, 300+ counters? Ain't great...then again, it's WAY better than, say, Decision Games, which had to issue a full sheet of 200 errata counters (which did nothing to address the unplayability of the rules) for their reprint/rework of Hell's Highway or just about anything relating to the first run of FFG's Mansions of Madness. Since Kickstarter wasn't involved in either of those games, I'm going to just go ahead and say "yea, it's not perfect...but it's not out of line for what you get, either". I'm also pretty forgiving of errata on promo units [which, face it, that's what KS-exclusive really means most of the time] because they tend to be developed on the fly with little regard for impact on the game anyway. Kickstarter's nature can exacerbate that problem, but it's an industry standard, not an exception to my mind. (e.g., It's not like, say, Neuroshima Hex's promos [Doomsday Army, anyone?] are any better.)

I'm toying with bringing it up to WBC, but I'm not sure I'm going to have a chance to really walk through it beforehand. Since I hate having to both learn and teach a game on the fly and already have a couple ahead of it in the "desire queue," I'm on the fence about that. If folks are really interested in trying to learn it or just to paw through the components for themselves, though, I'd haul it up [it's 3 brick-like boxes, so "haul" is actually the best verb]. But be aware, if you're just interested in pawing cardboard, it'll cost you a beer or two--I'll need the liquid fortification since I'm not bringing a shopping cart to cart around the 30 pounds worth of components.

I'm backing Battle for Hill 218 . I played it once and really liked it, but never got myself a copy.

SuperflyTNT wrote: You have to be kidding me.

25$ per action figure, so that you can tack them to your wall as some sort of "display"? Hipster bullshit.

Now, what WOULD be awesome would be some Cthulhu "FatHeads", life-sized stickers for the walls in your game room.

To each his own Pete.
I'm an artist who studied a lot of Ed Mosqueda's work during industrial design courses. I'm a big fan, and a lot of other toy collectors are just as excited. I'll probably enjoy just looking at these MOC figures more than playing another FFG Arkham title.

"Hipster" out.

wadenels wrote: I'm backing Battle for Hill 218 . I played it once and really liked it, but never got myself a copy.

Yes, I'm excited about the new sci-fi version. There's a couple of new interesting units that separates it from the original.

Mad Dog wrote: I bet not one of those backers gives to charities that feed starving families. Because that wouldn't be a fucking ridiculous waste of money.

http://theoatmeal.com/blog/kickstartmart

Sad thing is that you could do that and you would probably get plenty of dipshits willing to give you money for it.

But now, what you REALLY want to do is to Kickstart the idea to START doing that.

As for the potato salad thing, what's the difference between giving a random internet stranger money to make potato salad and a random internet stranger money to make some bullshit miniatures game? I mean, you're "supporting someone's dreams" and "not really buying a product" and all that...

There really isn't anything more emblematic of the utter stupidity of modern consumer culture than Kickstater.

Michael Barnes wrote: Sad thing is that you could do that and you would probably get plenty of dipshits willing to give you money for it.

But now, what you REALLY want to do is to Kickstart the idea to START doing that.

As for the potato salad thing, what's the difference between giving a random internet stranger money to make potato salad and a random internet stranger money to make some bullshit miniatures game? I mean, you're "supporting someone's dreams" and "not really buying a product" and all that...

There really isn't anything more emblematic of the utter stupidity of modern consumer culture than Kickstater.

I don't want to get the reputation of being the Kickstarter White Knight (because I don't in fact love Kickstarter), but I also think all this bagging on Kickstarter games is kind of self-perpetuating group think around here.

With that being said, I'm curious what specifically comes to mind when you say "bullshit miniatures game"? I'm asking because I'm having a hard time thinking of an example really (perhaps because I'm sick).

www.kickstarter.com/help/faq/kickstarter%20basics#Acco

Let's set the record straight - you ARE buying a product, provided the person is offering one as a reward.

Is a creator legally obligated to fulfill the promises of their project?

Yes. Kickstarter's Terms of Use require creators to fulfill all rewards of their project or refund any backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill. (This is what creators see before they launch.) This information can serve as a basis for legal recourse if a creator doesn't fulfill their promises. We hope that backers will consider using this provision only in cases where they feel that a creator has not made a good faith effort to complete the project and fulfill.

I'm the last guy to be a Kickstarter apologist, but for fuck's sake, let's at least all agree on what is actually being offered.

Now, is it a GOOD product or game? We can all agree that the real X factor with Kickstarter is that very point...there's plenty of evidence that "hit and miss" is the best possible qualifier here.

I want to become a certified DDP Yoga instructor. Any backers? I only need $500.