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Kickstarter still sucks...
- MattFantastic
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The thing though is that in the context of games, people are dumb sheep and now that "kickstarter" is hot, people want to be a part of "this kickstarter thing" and won't take alternatives that do the same thing as seriously.
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- Sagrilarus
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- Pull the Goalie
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I'd be on Kickstarter right now if I was starting a new product just because of the cachet. It's all about exposure when you're getting off the ground and that's the truly valuable part of the Kickstarter package. The rest is just nickels and dimes.
Kickstarter lets you assemble a customer list quickly. It lets you establish a relationship. That's incredibly valuable to small companies.
Facebook or eBay could put Kickstarter out of business in 12 hours. They haven't, so for the moment Kickstarter is a good place to be even if it costs.
S.
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Instead of the 5%, they ask 4%, plus you have to pay CC transaction fees (3%), and you can do partial funding, in which case you pay 9%.
That sounds like highway robbery.
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- Notahandle
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I disagree (and I may be wrong here) as what it gives you is something to handle the money side of things, by charging lots of people for you and giving you the money in one big lump sum. This saves a hell of a lot of admin work, and allows you to focus on getting the damn thing made.
I don't think that it should be necessary for more than 3-5 projects for each person/company though. At that point you should have enough track record and capital to run a p500 style list for yourself. Thus I am surprised that established companies like Small Box Games have used it, when they should have 90% of the infrastructure already and thus can save that 5% fee.
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It worked...and while it's not my kind of game, Agricola became a pretty big hit. Kickstarter takes some of the risk out of producing a new game...especially if you're a small company. But like the goose that laid the golden egg, it can be killed by greed.
If enough sloppy products get hyped, backed and bomb, then it won't take long to end the Kickstarter craze. Personally I don't see anything wrong with it. We buy games on hype all the time and if you're into the Cult of the New (I'm not) or just want a special deal on a game you think you're going to love (D-Day dice anyone?)then it's a useful alternative.
I'm pretty much for anything that expands or facilitates our hobby.
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- MattFantastic
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Me personally, I'm a capitalist pig. If Kickstarter is such a rip-off and adds little value, then the market will take care of that. If someone can do a better job for cheaper, then I think you will see more competition in this space. The fact that Kickstarter doesn't do shit to either vet projects or enforce the agreements means that they will likely take a black eye soon. If some of the Kickstarter projects start bombing (as in not delivering on promises), the brand name will be tarnished and you may see someone rise up to take over that spot. Competition rocks.
As for bad games being made, well I've seen some publishers do the same. Again, the capitalist in me says buyer beware. If people fund projects that produce shit, well it's their loss, really. Chances are that most will not enjoy the taste of shit in their mouth and will stop feeding the Kickstarter shit machine. Those that don't can point and laugh.
I'm curious if Kickstarter will have staying power or if this will be a fad. Many people that have funded Kickstarter projects haven't actually seen the end results yet. I suspect by the middle of this year we'll have a better idea if this is working or if it producing crap after this first big wave of board games come out.
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