Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Scelly9]

Yeah, Its kinda ridiculous.

[Karlito]

Pledging even the minimum to a project will automatically subscribe you to a mailing list of updates that get posted on the kickstarter page. That's all it means.

[PTTG??]

I aught to start a kickstarter project for my chess variant. It's on hexes, for three players.

[chaoticag]

I'm curious why so many entries offer "updates" as one of the rewards.  Isn't sending you "updates" on the status of the product just putting you on their mailing list?

For some, it's a way of padding things out, but for a lot of people, it might be that they haven't funded a kickstarter project, and it helps clarify things for them up front instead of having to find out that you get access to updates somewhere else. And it's a great way to offer exclusive content, and let people know that yes, we have exclusive content that we're going to put up on our kickstater updates page.

[Draco18s]

-snip-

This bothers me to no end: Please, please, please change "wet your appetite" to "whet your appetite". BLARGLGLELRRL.

Unfortunately, we cannot.  Once someone pledges at a given level, the text and buy-in price is locked from editing.

[Zangi]

Pledging even the minimum to a project will automatically subscribe you to a mailing list of updates that get posted on the kickstarter page. That's all it means.

Obviously, the best marketing strategy is to offer the update, guaranteed.

[MaximumZero]

I'll be using Kickstarter myself, to hire an artist when I get my tabletop game done. (Hopefully, I can hire DeferoMortis or DarkerDark. Wow, those guys can art something serious.)

-snip-

This bothers me to no end: Please, please, please change "wet your appetite" to "whet your appetite". BLARGLGLELRRL.

Unfortunately, we cannot.  Once someone pledges at a given level, the text and buy-in price is locked from editing.

Good to know. Ah, well.

[Karlito]

Pledging even the minimum to a project will automatically subscribe you to a mailing list of updates that get posted on the kickstarter page. That's all it means.

Obviously, the best marketing strategy is to offer the update, guaranteed.

It's just the mechanics of the way kickstarter works. Joining a project (by pledging), gets you subscribed to updates posted on the kickstarter page. If you have an indy game with a blog and web presence already then it sort of makes sense that you'd have an external mailing list, but many projects seem too small to bother with that.

[nenjin]

Still seems like an indicator of the project owner's capabilities.

It's like someone selling you a car and saying "Nuts and bolts included, no extra charge!"

[Strange guy]

One problem many video game kickstarters (and presumably other digital product kickstarters as well) is that the game itself is the lowest (or second lowest in some cases like the Banner Saga) and to get more you have to pledge more than double the amount of the game alone, for something else few will value as much as the game itself. All the projects I've backed (DFA, Banner Saga, FTL, Wasteland 2) have all done this, and left me unable to justify anything but the game only pledge (well alright the Banner Saga includes a wallpaper too and is only for chapter one, lowest pledge with some game then). Physical rewards have tempted me, but being outside the US the extra cost for shipping has left them a little more than I'd like be prepared to pay. Of course they've all been successful, so maybe it's not much of an issue.

[Neonivek]

True sometimes the lowest pledges have felt like "Hmmm, so basically I am paying for you to make a game that I will likely have to buy later with money... Why?"

[nenjin]

There is a definitely a line at which I feel like Kickstarter only appeals to people with a lot of disposal income, or an unhealthy addiction to the project.

I'd be more than willing to give money to an interesting project I knew needed it, knowing I'd have to buy the game later. That's totally different than dev houses that are already halfway to their goal at the end of day 1 (or sooner.)

[Zangi]

In a 'normal' gamer's perspective, it could be thought of as a pre-order.  Buying the game now, is probably cheaper then when it starts selling.  Extra items are like Collector Edition stuff... which you pay more for.

[mainiac]

A funnel! And all they need for this ingenious new idea is $5000!

Have to agree with that podcast. It gives everyone who deserves to fail the chance to.

$5000 sounds to me like the bare minimum amount of starting capital to me.  My guesstimate that they are contracting out every aspect of the manufacturing to a third party but the third party isn't going to agree to start production without that level of commitment.  If they tried to do it any other way the price would be much, much higher.  That's my guess anyway, I don't really have a clear view of the product so I don't know how they're making it.

[nenjin]

In a 'normal' gamer's perspective, it could be thought of as a pre-order.  Buying the game now, is probably cheaper then when it starts selling.  Extra items are like Collector Edition stuff... which you pay more for.

I don't think 'normal gamers' are financially capable or willing to blow $250+ for Collector edition stuff. And considering the often limited nature of reward slots...it's not really a pre-order either, and it's totally subject to the price point they choose to set. If they offer the game as a reward at $50, then only charge $25 for it at release.....then "pre-ordering" on a game likely to meet its goal was a dumb idea. Especially if, once they get their funding, they go the normal game route of offering a Collector's Edition for the general public, DLC, ect...I don't think your average gamer craves swag that bad.