Interesting Kickstarter Catch-All

The only safe option is to look at your Kickstarter pledge as a donation.

AndrewA wrote:
Malor wrote:
AndrewA wrote:

Sorry - but Kickstarter is, and always will be, a pre-order system for me

Well, it seems to me that you probably want to avoid computer games on that service. Physical goods are probably fine, but if you think of Kickstarter as preordering software, you're going to be angry, again and again and again. In most cases, it's nothing like a preorder, because very little of the game has yet been created.

Software development is hard. Making a really great game is extraordinarily difficult. Often, people and companies that do manage to make something great don't even entirely understand why it's great.

Remember Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crap.

That's been my experience with it. I started out backing video games frequently, however now I basically don't unless something too tempting comes along (like La Mulana, recently). Physical goods, on the other hand, seem to be money in the bank.

Remember - I'm complaining about not receiving a product at all.... I'm accepting of projects that turn out to be less awesome than they were in my head.

Not to sidetrack too much, but the while I agree that software development is hard (I've been a professional developer for 15 years now) a lot of the problem lies with video game development specifically - and Kickstarted video games even more so. Software developers are often poor managers of their own time and resources - they have no formal training in the field as a rule. Since most of these projects are small teams, the developers are forced to be their own managers with often-disastrous results.

I also view Kickstarter as a pre-order system (though with exclusives in most cases) and I also only back kickstarters with physical rewards that I consider possible. I have yet to have a failed kickstarter in which I receive nothing. I do have some which have been delayed (Like these guys http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/... who say they are going through the "orders" one at a time, and are on 66 as of October and I am 213 in line T_T). And I have one that has mailed me everything except for 1 part of the reward, due to the artist that was suppose to draw the piece having family issues (Her father died, and because of that she had to stop drawing for the webcomic). Board game kickstarters almost always have "bonuses" that you can only get through kickstarter, making it an odd pre-order that comes with exclusives. And some stuff is ONLY available through kickstarter, for instance, if I want all of the minis that Reaper released in their first kickstarter, I would have to pay over 300 (last checked) just to get everything in the 100 dollar Vampire set.

Someone has done an analysis of Kickstarter video game projects. The results... are not encouraging.

Kickstander: Only Around A Third of Kickstarted Video Game Projects Fully Deliver To Their Backers

tanstaafl wrote:

Someone has done an analysis of Kickstarter video game projects. The results... are not encouraging.

Kickstander: Only Around A Third of Kickstarted Video Game Projects Fully Deliver To Their Backers

Only if you view it as a pre-order (which you shouldn't be doing anyway). Many of the projects that haven't delivered yet are still actively being worked on. The real number to look at are how many successfully Kickstarted games have been cancelled or put on hiatus, which is only 5% combined.

Kingdom Comes looks really interesting, it is quite risky though I feel, not sure if playing it actually is as good as it looks.

So after griping in the IT thread about early release games I was so intrigued by Kingdom Come that I threw in enough money to get alpha access. We'll see how it goes. It's a risk but I like the setting for the game well enough to jump in now.

So apologies if someone else has mentioned this already (I am a filthy skimmer), but I backed this:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...

Which may be of interest to fans of the 1up show, or possibly people who liked Indie Game: The Movie and/or A Life Well Wasted.

Evil Hat presents: Zeppelin Attack!

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

Zeppelin Attack! is a lean, fightin' deck builder where you play a villainous mastermind in command of a fleet of deadly dirigibles!

2-4 Players • Ages 12 & Up • 45-60 Minutes • 112 Cards • Designed by Eric B. Vogel

Conquer the world with a flip of the cards!

Indulge your megalomania in Zeppelin Attack!, a deck builder card game by Eric B. Vogel. Set in the world of Evil Hat Productions' Spirit of the Century, you play villainous masterminds bent on world domination.

Deploy your zeppelins, command your minions, and do whatever it takes to destroy your rivals. Zeppelin Attack! contains everything you need to play this high-flying, fast-paced card game.

There’s only room for one ultimate criminal overlord: you. Bring your zeppelins.

Does the artwork look super 90's or is that just me?

Knights of the Dinner Table live action movie.

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

It seems to have nicer rewards in the low tiers than most Kickstarter projects, too.

juv3nal wrote:

So apologies if someone else has mentioned this already (I am a filthy skimmer), but I backed this:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...

Which may be of interest to fans of the 1up show, or possibly people who liked Indie Game: The Movie and/or A Life Well Wasted.

Second this. Going to try and make it to the pizza party. I know one of the guys pretty well. One of the reasons I love the industry was due to the 1 up show and co-op.

Back if you can. They know how to make excellent production value.

So there's this ZX Spectrum Bluetooth keyboard thing for iOS and Android that will be funded in 7 hours.

The problem is, the people making it are a bunch of demonstrably shady crooks. Unfortunately, Kickstarter doesn't let backers pull their pledge within the last 24 hours of the campaign without jumping through some hoops. So it looks like a bunch of people are going to get duped (again). *sigh*

A couple of unconventional tabletop rpgs: http://kck.st/1bfV0hl & http://kck.st/M7Jjjg

Someone I know made a pilot for a puppet show and are they trying to get funding in order to release it.(he makes some pretty high quality puppets)

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

Did someone else post this?

Customizable 3-D printed minis

I am thinking about getting one or maybe even asking my group if they want to go in together on one of the larger packages.

manta173 wrote:

Did someone else post this?

Customizable 3-D printed minis

I am thinking about getting one or maybe even asking my group if they want to go in together on one of the larger packages.

Once or twice

MAV - Modular Assault Vehicle

A mech game where you design your mech from the ground up (to include mobility chassis, cockpit type, armor, and weapons). Eh, it probably won't meet it's funding goal, but I thought it interested me enough to throw $20 at it.

And I had just swore to myself that I would stop giving money to software game projects.

Nevin73 wrote:

MAV - Modular Assault Vehicle

A mech game where you design your mech from the ground up (to include mobility chassis, cockpit type, armor, and weapons). Eh, it probably won't meet it's funding goal, but I thought it interested me enough to throw $20 at it.

And I had just swore to myself that I would stop giving money to software game projects.

That looks very much like the kind of mech game I really want to play. I never get far in them. It's the tinkering and possibilities that make them fun.

It just got $20 closer.

MrAndrewJ wrote:
Nevin73 wrote:

MAV - Modular Assault Vehicle

A mech game where you design your mech from the ground up (to include mobility chassis, cockpit type, armor, and weapons). Eh, it probably won't meet it's funding goal, but I thought it interested me enough to throw $20 at it.

And I had just swore to myself that I would stop giving money to software game projects.

That looks very much like the kind of mech game I really want to play. I never get far in them. It's the tinkering and possibilities that make them fun.

It sort of looks like Chromehounds 1.5

checkm-8 wrote:
juv3nal wrote:

So apologies if someone else has mentioned this already (I am a filthy skimmer), but I backed this:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...

Which may be of interest to fans of the 1up show, or possibly people who liked Indie Game: The Movie and/or A Life Well Wasted.

Second this. Going to try and make it to the pizza party. I know one of the guys pretty well. One of the reasons I love the industry was due to the 1 up show and co-op.

Back if you can. They know how to make excellent production value.

Bumping this with a third, since it's getting close to the deadline on this one but it's sitting in a spot where it could get funded, but needs help.

For those who aren't familiar with the 1up Show or the various other projects the Area 5 guys have worked on since then, two brief comments:

1. Get familiar! These guys are awesome, and their work is worth checking out even if this Kickstarter doesn't get funded.
2. I don't generally get involved in crowd funding projects. I've only backed two things previous to this. These guys will make good use of the money and produce something great if they can get it. So help them get it!

That looks awesome! Going to back and spread the word.

That seems like a really crazy movie idea. Just crazy enough that I'd actually like to see it.

skylarhawk wrote:

That seems like a really crazy movie idea. Just crazy enough that I'd actually like to see it.

...and... cancelled by the creator. Wonder if they got slapped by Mojang? Or maybe it was the "If you give us $10K we'll let you work on the film with us!" reward tier?

Feegle wrote:
skylarhawk wrote:

That seems like a really crazy movie idea. Just crazy enough that I'd actually like to see it.

...and... cancelled by the creator. Wonder if they got slapped by Mojang? Or maybe it was the "If you give us $10K we'll let you work on the film with us!" reward tier?

It did by Notch's twitter feed. Tisk-tisk on the creator's part. I've seen other videos by that guy but didn't go through the proper channels and do something as common sense as contacting Notch, the creator of the IP?

I really hope they clear things up, it was a cool concept.

Board with Life put up their Season 2 Kickstarter page today

Darkest Dungeon has started a Kickstarter. Another incredible looking indie game.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/RWYBGyY.png)