So when I first found Kickstarter I was jazzed at the idea and what it could do for small companies/people.
Then I backed about 8 or so. Now I find myself ignoring Kickstarters, not because they are bad, but because I am burned out. I just can't keep up with the costs.
It seems most now make the level to get all goals and add-ons in the $200+ range. My first Kickstarter I backed it at $35. If my annual game budget is $1000 then if I back four Kickstarters at $200+ then I am mostly done for the year.
So my question for others is: How are you feeling? Still high on the idea? Starting to pull back? Never bought in? Growing more selective?
Growing significantly more selective. I used to have about 3-5 running at a time, easily. Now, I'm sitting on a single pledge and, while I still have the urge to back some things, I've gained the superpower to look critically at the value, timing, and what I actually want (as opposed to all the other gubbins included that I don't really want) and decide to just drop/ignore things that I might have, in the past, gone nuts for.
I do it randomly, and when I have money to back something.
Trying to sell my Bones Miniatures because sadly I don't play Pathfinder as much as I used to, and I want a WiiU or 3DS.
I'm pretty much burned out as well and I've grown very restrictive. My pile of unpainted miniatures is stacked pretty high as it is, and I've backed some projects that will start to arrive during this year (I hope). Right now it would have to be really good miniatures to get me interested. The only kickstarter that I would back without question is one from Red Box Games, since the miniatures are awesome and I want that range to expand. All others I will consider buying the minis once they hit retail. Less disappointment when the kickstarter starts producing delays.
I never got crazy with them to start with, just did the PFO and Reaper one, both of which i feel were extremely worth it.
I've become more selective. I was more supportive at first, wanting to help out, but does get expensive - so, now it's more cautious spending.
However, I will pass on information on a cool kickstarter in hopes that others may enjoy it. :)
I do it randomly, and when I have money to back something.
Trying to sell my Bones Miniatures because sadly I don't play Pathfinder as much as I used to, and I want a WiiU or 3DS.
The Vampire ($100 Level) box is going for over $200 on eBay. You should be able to double up if you act quickly.
I'm half tempted to sell mine, myself. But only half.
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I think if you are a brand new company or something like that and have a good idea, I am cool with Kickstarter, but I see some people on there for the 6th ed. of something and at that point I am thinking to myself "Ok, so people have paid for up to 5th ed of this product. At this point you are an established company and if you have not gotten it right at this point to not have to ask for a Kickstarter, than you did something wrong."
Also, it seems that Kickstarter takes out the middleman, meaning local gamestores, out of the equation. Kickstarter does not have a table I can sit at to play the game, so I generally just wait until my local game store has the product or order it from them and pay a few extra bucks more so that I can have my local game store.
Well the biggest thing kickstarter does is make projects that might not have happened otherwise happen. That means theres going to be more. You cant buy every mini produced every year. I backed the bones kickstarter and love the results (i wish i had ordered more actually). But I passed on a bunch of others, just because I want to limit how much i spend before i finish painting what I have. God knows I still have wargamming minis lying around to be painted if i ever run out of fantasy minis.
I burned out on all kinds of Kickstarters ages ago. It is exciting that so many small companies have this opportunity to get, well, kickstarted, but I only have so much money. As much as I love miniatures, the only mini one I backed was Reaper because I had been planning to buy a bunch of Reaper minis anyway and this was a much more cost effective way of doing it, and I trust them as a company to get it done and done right.
Also, I live in a small apartment and have jack for storage space. I suppose in some cases I could have thrown a buck or two their way just to show my support and not get anything in return (or just a sticker or whatever) but then even that money can add up quickly.
As it is I remember backing a few Kickstarters--Reaper and a few video games--and then seeing a Kickstarter for a local community project I really would have loved to have supported... but at that point had nothing to give, because I gave it all to gaming. That also made me think about what kind of priorities I had when it came to what I kickstarted. Now at this point, all I've kickstarted is games (well, and the Feminist Frequency project, but that's related to gaming), but I also decided to put a moratorium on backing anything for awhile while I focused on other things (plus painting all these damn Bones ;) ). But if and when i look into Kickstarters again I want to look at a broader spectrum of projects and back the people who I think really need the money for the best cause or artistic vision.
See the Reaper kickstarter burned me for most of the other ones. Getting a bunch at an average price of $0.65 (with the add-ons I got figured in) and then seeing a kickstarter that offers one miniature for $15, please. I did another one, but that was mainly for the bases I could get. In that case, the miniatures were basically a bonus. It is going to take a pretty good deal before I get any other miniature kickstarters.
Bones was a pretty rediculous deal. Economy of scale i guess. I imagine its also because most of the other kickstarters are either metal or resin, therefore more expensive per unit. Only established companies will have the resources for plastic molds, even with kickstarters. Reapers ks had to be crazy successful to get all they did done. Originally it was just going to be 30 new minis, not like 300.
My girlfriend are each painting one mini a night this week from my bones. Though if I move on to one of the bigger ones it will likely take me more then a night.
I have drastically slowed my kickstarters, especially for minis. There are enough people pledging to miniature kickstarters to keep smaller ones going. I don't need to back every one, and I don't really need more. If I see something I really like, I will gladly throw money at it. That is one of the advantages of Kickstarters that increase everyone's awareness of the platform, like Reaper, or Double Fine, or Amanda Palmer, or Veronica Mars, is that they drastically increase the number of people who go to the site.
One of the things I've started doing now is clicking remind me later. That way, I can check to see how close they are to their goal before I pledge. I got 3 in the past 2 days that had already suceeded, so I will look for them in the future.
Bones was a pretty rediculous deal. Economy of scale i guess. I imagine its also because most of the other kickstarters are either metal or resin, therefore more expensive per unit.
I think you also need to figure Reaper already had concept art and sculpts done and paid for as well. If I were to try and do a Kickstarter today I would have to pay for concept art, sculpts, engineering the sculpt for mold making etc. Just look at many of the small Kickstarters, most have concept art at best. CAD "drawings" that might look great, but most don't even have real sculpts done.
Bones was a pretty rediculous deal. Economy of scale i guess. I imagine its also because most of the other kickstarters are either metal or resin, therefore more expensive per unit.I think you also need to figure Reaper already had concept art and sculpts done and paid for as well. If I were to try and do a Kickstarter today I would have to pay for concept art, sculpts, engineering the sculpt for mold making etc. Just look at many of the small Kickstarters, most have concept art at best. CAD "drawings" that might look great, but most don't even have real sculpts done.
True, as far as I know the purpose of the kickstarter was to get the molds made as the cost to produce plastic minis is very front heavy.
Getting the moulds made before a KS is not a kickstarter, it's a pre-sell imho.
We made several of the proto-types, but without our backers, we'd be looking at a very lengthy wait time to get the figures made that we raised coin for.
Getting the moulds made before a KS is not a kickstarter, it's a pre-sell imho.
I agree. I do wish more kickstarters would have sculpts made before the kickstarter ends though. I often walk away from a kickstarter because I can not judge if I will like the minis or not. So I error on the side of not spending my money.
Yes, agreed. It is difficult to tell if concept art will match the final product. We were more successful with proto-types than artwork, that is the way to approach for a small company - imo.
Yes, agreed. It is difficult to tell if concept art will match the final product. We were more successful with proto-types than artwork, that is the way to approach for a small company - imo.
Artwork is fine if you have enough greens to back them up, IMO. But by the halfway point you should really have at least a few greens completed so backers can see the type of quality and general look. Without it, you are asking people to pledge solely on faith, which is not where you want to be, especially for a company that doesn't have a lot of history.
Artwork is fine if you have enough greens to back them up, IMO. But by the halfway point you should really have at least a few greens completed so backers can see the type of quality and general look.
I am not asking a Kick Starter to have all the sculpts done, like you I am ok with a good representation of greens mixed with art. The problem with Kickstarter of late is there are quite a few who want to do it with just art. Or worse they post CAD drawings in such a way as to make it look like they are sculpts. :-(