Interesting Kickstarter Catch-All

I know enough not to invest in hardware Kickstarters. I'll wait for release (if it happens), and see what it is like then.

I'm not sure how many would be interested, but Smonex is running a Kickstarter for a gorgeous wooden location map and I thought I would share it:
IMAGE(https://i.ibb.co/wyJx36M/Screenshot-20210128-083325.jpg)
There are some early bird prices left for the Medium Size (which is what I backed, plus monster health trackers).

Spoiler:

This isn't Smonex's first kickstarter, I backed their first one for role playing game drink coasters with little trays for dice (which I have received) and they came out really nice.
IMAGE(https://i.ibb.co/0XcZWQR/Screenshot-20210128-084257.jpg)

Edit: It was just cancelled, Smonex didn't get permission from Cephalofair Games to use the map art before launching their Kickstarter.

You'd think that would be the first step before asking people for money.

Hey here's a cool project you should all definitely support! and not just because it would mean i could get my first map printed in a physical product which would exist and be owned by more than one person!

The Great Goblin Grow-Off is a game of luck, strategy, and cannabis for 2-6+ players ages 18+. Players begin by choosing three strains to grow, and then take turns drawing from the deck to determine the fate of their plants. Whoever's bud reaches 5 stars first is the winner! Inside the deck are cards that can reward—or remove—stars, as well as tricks that allow you to sabotage other players(or avoid being sabotaged)! Variant rules for larger groups and a variety of game times are also included.

As a bonus, backers will also receive a PDF copy of a TTRPG setting guide that introduces the city and characters responsible for The Great Goblin Grow-Off. This city can be used in any system, and includes modifications to help it fit in almost any setting. Softcover, digest sized books are also available exclusively to backers until 2022!

IMAGE(https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/032/050/841/fc8f7b9b90d35551676c3a84b4568af5_original.png?ixlib=rb-2.1.0&crop=faces&w=1024&h=576&fit=crop&v=1610980302&auto=format&frame=1&q=92&s=8462b8404a9b61f4ac6dc34c79952a76)

IMAGE(https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/032/066/061/f655c3ae6126d3fd53a9c1dd93dd0f6d_original.png?ixlib=rb-2.1.0&w=680&fit=max&v=1611091713&auto=format&frame=1&lossless=true&s=3371a842154521d2682d0aa04551b62b)

Hey, moving into the boardgame world! Nice! That goblin looks excellent.

I'm pretty heavy into the boardgame hobby, and I'll say your art is easily better than a lot of what is out there in published games. Might continue exploring that avenue!

I just did the map for the Setting, Goblins are someone else

Did I say goblin? I meant map.

Root’s next expansion just launched on KS. Unlike CMON and other companies that use KS to build hype and stretch goals so you can get a bunch of plastic and not a whole lot of game, Leder uses KS without stretch goals and to tailor their production numbers better to demand than using just traditional retail. Great game system, I’ve been satisfied with their past KS launches, and this seems to have a lot of content. There’s a bunch of discussion of it on its BGG page if you need previews and whatnot.

Unbeatable is coming to Kickstarter on April 6th. I got to play it at MAGFest the last two years I went. It was a pretty solid experience and one of the games I've been waiting on more news from. I'll be eagerly supporting it.

Stop-motion platform game

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

1Dgaf wrote:

Stop-motion platform game

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

Ooooh, I think I might pledge...

That does look cool. Was caught by surprise by the sudden Danish text in one of the concept arts. A Danish dev, that makes it even cooler to me, since we have a pathetically small gaming industry.

I find THIS kickstarter particularly interesting for no PARTICULAR REASON.

IMAGE(https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/032/864/046/44a46657443bc9db58ae393c15fcbb23_original.jpg?ixlib=rb-2.1.0&crop=faces&w=1024&h=576&fit=crop&v=1616622942&auto=format&frame=1&q=92&s=7f1284c25e459c0cd88f7f79820f9405)

Love is the greatest adventure of all! Transparent Games brings you 8 romantic adventures compatible with 5e. Characters of diverse genders and sexualities have to deal with romantic drama - will you help them connect with their loved ones and reach a happy ending? We are also introducing a new ruleset for managing relationships in game. The adventures focus on the social pillar of roleplaying, but there is some combat and exploration to suit everyone’s preferences. The reason for the kickstarter is for the authors to be compensated fairly for their work. Love will conquer all - with your help of course!

Oh wait I wrote an adventure for it! Woops! hashtag "ethics"

Anyway back it if you feel like, I'm not your boss!

Yet.

Joel has started a new MST3K campaign. New episodes are planned with Jonah Ray, Felicia Day, and Patton Oswalt resuming their roles but they’re foregoing networks and corporate streaming services this time in favor of building their own “virtual theater” streaming service that will feature live events similar to the amazing live shows they’ve been doing since their first kickstarter.
The campaign has only been live for like 12 hours and is already 90% funded.

ruhk wrote:

Joel has started a new MST3K campaign. New episodes are planned with Jonah Ray, Felicia Day, and Patton Oswalt resuming their roles but they’re foregoing networks and corporate streaming services this time in favor of building their own “virtual theater” streaming service that will feature live events similar to the amazing live shows they’ve been doing since their first kickstarter.
The campaign has only been live for like 12 hours and is already 90% funded.

This was a very easy backer decision for me.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop spending on Kickstarter.

If anyone here is a fan of excellent digital translations of board games, the second Aeon's End game could use some help: Aeon's End Digital: The New Age, via @Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...

A friend of mine is kick-starting their first board game. If you like fairly quick, balanced board games and a mad science theme, check it out.

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

Oh, I should share this one: a|state 2nd edition

I know three of the folks involved in this project, and I even helped one of them playtest it last year.

From what I've seen, it's going to be a really nice Forged in the Dark game. I like that by default there's a bit more focus on the community around the characters, and more opportunities to be trying to do something good (as opposed to Blades in the Dark's scoundrels doing crimes). I enjoyed playing a union organiser in the playtest (although some of my companions were more traditional adventuring/heist type characters).

Sorry for the length, but I found this interesting. Years ago I backed a Kickstarter that created a bunch of water balloons from one fill-point. It was pretty cool. I just got an update email from the creator regarding inventor's rights.

OUR OPPORTUNITY

Thank you for supporting Bunch O Balloons. It has been a crazy ride. I will get right to the point. The U.S. patent system is corrupt. Recently, large corporations manipulated the laws and procedures to enable them to steal patented technology from startups. I want you to join me and other inventors and supporters on Thursday, September 16 at a nation-wide rally for THE AMERICA INVENTS ACT – A DECADE OF STOLEN DREAMS.

Event Details & Registration

Even if you are unable to attend the rally, please fill out the form with your contact information so I can keep you posted. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn.

MY STORY

I quit my corporate job in 2006 to become a full time inventor and entrepreneur. It was a huge investment and risk for my entire family. We gave up my salary as a process engineer, mortgaged our home, depleted our retirement fund, and deferred our children’s college fund. We knew that financial success was statistically unlikely, as most startups fail for a variety of reasons. But I believed that if I invented a commercially viable solution to the problems at hand I would secure ownership of that invention by a U.S. patent. Sadly I was mistaken. I never dreamed that the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) would take away my patent when I needed to use it.

Unbeknownst to me, notorious knock-off company Telebrands surreptitiously backed this project to get their hands on one of the original packs of Bunch O Balloons, which they reverse engineered, sent to their Chinese factory, then flooded the market with imported knock-offs. They sold millions of infringing products on television, the internet, Walmart, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Toys R Us, Walgreens, Kroger, and Home Depot.

I was forced to go to court. Telebrands went scorched earth hiring the biggest and most expensive lawyers in the world. They buried me with thousands of court filings. I struggled to survive. Patent litigation costs about $75,000 per week - that's over $300,000 per month and more than $4M per year. Way more than we raised on Kickstarter! They are allowed to make hundreds of arguments and the inventor must defeat every single one to survive. It takes 10 or 15 years and costs in the tens of millions of dollars. No small business can afford this delay and uncertainty!

ME AND THE AMERICA INVENTS ACT

In 2011 I was minding my own business inventing, consulting, trying to pay my bills. I heard there were some concerns about the America Invents Act that passed that year, but didn't think it could every apply to me. I was wrong.

In court I won a preliminary injunction, appeal, a jury verdict, and a final judgment all rejecting the allegations leveled by Telebrands and their unethical lawyers. They said my patent was vague because "a person of ordinary skill doesn't know if a balloon is substantially filled with water". They said my patent was "obvious" because it combines a garden sprinkler, some plumbing fittings, and a surgical dietary balloon. The federal judges actually laughed at them and sanctioned them for making frivolous arguments. Thus I won the case handily in real court, despite the extreme cost and duration of litigation.

But the America Invents Act undid all that. The AIA created a tribunal INSIDE the patent office where administrative patent judges invalidate previously approved patents. This PTAB (Patent Trial and Appeal Board) is rigged to take away patents from inventors to help big corporations avoid the consequences of stealing our inventions. They have invalidated 84% of the 3,000 patents reviewed.

The PTAB – the patent office tribunal – invalidated my patent. In doing so they overturned the patent examiner and the decisions of the federal court. I was ruined.

US INVENTOR COMES TO THE RESCUE

When I discovered our patent system does not provide equal justice for all, I didn't give up. I went to Washington, D.C. and met the dedicated team at US Inventor, a non-profit advocating for the rights of inventors. They helped me plead my case to Congress and high ranking government officials. Amazingly, our effort let to new management at the USPTO and an appeal victory. I was able to go back to to court, win a jury verdict, and force Telebrands to surrender! It took almost years and cost $20M in legal fees, along with a vigorous publicity campaign to expose the corruption at the patent office.

Few inventors can survive this chaos and injustice. Thousands have lost their patents and their life's work. Under the America Invents Act, large corporations are stealing technology with impunity.

THE INVENTOR RIGHTS MOVEMENT

This is terrible for inventors, creators, small businesses, and society. We need innovation and competition more than every. I joined US Inventor where I donate my time and money to helping inventors. The most pressing objective is to roll back the harmful provisions of the 2011 America Invents Act.

We're working hard to make our lawmakers and the public know that the PTAB is a big problem, and we've made progress. We've definitely stopped some further bad things from happening, but we have to restore our basic rights. To invent, patent, and then own your invention is your birthright as an American, but that bargain has been broken by corporate influence in politics.

THE RALLY

Please join inventors and supporters on the 10th anniversary of the America Invents Act (AIA) at the Decade of Stolen Dreams Inventor Rally. There are six locations across the U.S. where inventors plan to make their voices heard about the consequences of the AIA and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). For more information and to register please visit usinventor.org/rally.

Thank you for your support and for listening to my update.

Wow

That's incredible. Had no idea

Giant Mass Effect Citadel model

How big is The Citadel?
She's approximately 14" long and 7" in diameter, and the display stand is likely to be approximately 10"L x 4.5"W x 8"H. All dimensions are subject to change once we move into production to accommodate manufacturing best practices.

o Approximate product weight: 1.4kg
o Approximate weight including packaging: 3.4kg
o Powered via USB connection (included)

I bought their Expanse Roci model and it is gorgeous. They do quality stuff. For me, the Citadel is the least interesting ME ship so I won't be backing but if there are some ME superfans out there...

I just backed Quezzle. My wife and I backed something called Magic Puzzles a few months ago and had a lot of fun with them. This is kind of pricey but hopefully is awesome.

---------------

Quezzle Amazing Cappadocia — Puzzle Board game
Not just a beautiful illustration and a puzzle of 1000 pieces. Mazes, additional tasks, hundreds of characters and AR are waiting.

DeThroned wrote:

I just backed Quezzle. My wife and I backed something called Magic Puzzles

Yes, those are great. Still have one unopened…somewhere in the house. That new project sounds cool, but I couldn’t get through that whole video, as it’s a bit too much like this classic:

That is indeed pricey, but my family and I really enjoyed the Magic Puzzles, and this claims to be shipping in time for Christmas, so...

Keithustus wrote:

[Retro Encabulator Video]

I prefer the original Turbo Encabulator.

On topic, for all those boardgame people, there is a new Deluxe Edition of Rock Paper Scissors on Kickstarter now.

If it doesn't include lizard, spock then its not deluxe!

fangblackbone wrote:

If it doesn't include lizard, spock then its not deluxe!

I'm thinking that's being held back for the super deluxe reprint version in a few years