Usually when some-one writes an article of some description giving advice they start by telling you why they're qualified to be giving the aforementioned advice. You'll get statements detailing their experience in the field (usually exaggerated), the people they've helped (or more likely hindered) and lists of all the reasons that you should pay attention to them (most of which will be crap)...and here's mine...
...I've pledged to a lot of Kickstarters.
Actually I've done four that were 'uncollected' which is what Kickstarter calls the cancelled or failed ones, thirty-two that were successful (nine I've actually received all of, three are still arriving in stages) and have three very recently completed. These have been miniature based for the most part but have also included board games, literary projects, card games, RPG's and even a computer game...wait...I did the 'why you should listen to me' thing anyway didn't I?...bollocks...
What the Hell's a Kickstarter Anyway?
Basically a Kickstarter is a project that doesn't exist in a finished form that some-one needs your money to make a reality. They give you an idea of what they're trying to accomplish in the form of early prototypes, video, background or similar and offer you a set of potential end products with varying costs. Usually there's some additional motivation in the form of a cheaper than retail cost or an exclusive or two...more on that later though. It's enough that you realise that you're paying for something that doesn't really exist...yet...
Lets say you have a brilliant idea for a board game but no game company will develop it for you. You pop on to Kickstarter with your game concept, a nice begging video and whatever mock-ups you've scraped together and offer it to the general public at a slightly reduced cost and with an extra piece or two as a bonus with perhaps the offer of a version with the backers face on the front for a few extra pounds (or dollars, euros, etc.) and then sell yourself on every social media site, appropriate forum and the like in the vague hope that enough people throw money at you to get the thing made...well that's the theory anyway...
Why Kickstarter?
Very few (if any) products that are raised via 'crowd-funding' are done with any other intention than to create a retail product so you could just hang on and wait till it hits the stores...right?
Well...actually...no...
The hobby industry like any other is driven by profit and there are few people willing to take any kind of risk on a project that might not make them an instant fortune. Games Workshop can release a Space Marine Codex with very little risk that it wont be bought (even if it's terrible) and pretty much any new model sculpt will have an army of fan-boys queuing up to buy three of them on release day. Other established companies are in a similar position and know that the costs involved will soon covered...however what if you're not established?
Therefore there's a very good chance that without crowd-funding platforms such as Kickstarter many new products would never see the light of day as crowd-funding allows you to start a project with little more than an idea and hopefully the general public will sort out the 'needing money' part for you...
...as long as it succeeds that is...
The Risks.
Kickstarters need a set goal by which I mean they have to have worked out how much the basic product will cost them to produce and this is generally referred to as the funding goal. Anything over that brings us into the realm of stretch goals or 'we made more money than we thought...does any-one have any extra ideas...'. The real issue comes when there aren't enough people pledging to reach the needed target...
To be brutally honest sometimes this is often because the idea is terrible, or has been done to death already, or has been promoted poorly...or on occasion 'all of the above'. Ironically the most successful Kickstarter projects have been done by people who probably could have got legitimate funding anyway as they have an already established product or idea but the simple fact is that some of these things just fail...
There have been piles of shit that have funded and works of genius that fail...I'm afraid that's just the way it is...but at least you get your money back if they're unsuccessful. The simple fact is that people are fickle and it's possible that while a RPG based around the UK children's TV show Thomas the Tank Engine* seemed like a great idea to you...most people will probably think it's the worst idea in the history of ideas...
*I didn't make this one up...no seriously it actually existed...it got £130 of it's £20,000 goal and had a grand total of 10 backers...
Further Dangers.
Kickstarters can be kinda addictive and the phrase 'Limited edition' or 'Kickstarter Only' seems to have a strange effect on some people. We as gamers (of all descriptions) are basically collectors and collectors like to have everything...and this can get expensive...very quickly...
'Stretch Goals' are of particular danger in this area as each new expansion, extra model, expanded rule-set, supplement, etc. becomes a thing that we could easily be persuaded that we 'need' rather than just 'want' and it's best to remember that when you first pledged to one of these projects you were presumably perfectly happy with the core product or you wouldn't have thrown your money at it in the first place. It's also vitally important that your significant other never gets to see your final pledge total if you've go a bit...carried away...
...small countries could have been run fairly easily on the money I spent on the Toughest Girls of the Galaxy Kickstarter and there's only do much you can get away with claiming that they 'added for free', lol.
Estimated Delivery Date.
Miss Watson's reaction in the above gif neatly sums up my experience of estimated delivery dates. The emphasis here is obviously on the
estimated bit of the phrase and I've received a grand total of two on time and only one early (a week early is all it was but early nonetheless) and some were over a year late.
The primary issue is that by definition most people running Kickstarters don't have a vast amount of experience with all the various issues that a business venture might come across. It's also entirely possible that they've been given 'estimates' as well and their estimates are based on the estimates of another who for all we know probably is working off an estimate as well...if you see what I mean...
I've heard every excuse you can imagine but they generally fall into either the 'supplier A didn't do this on time' or the 'sorry we didn't know that it took eight months to do that...' or some combination of the two. Additionally when existing licenses are involved (such as in the case of Prodos Games Aliens Vs. Predator miniatures game) then every decision can need to go through half a dozen different people and that's just something you can't accurately quantify...apparently...
Also beware of getting too hopeful if you a receive a 'everything seems fine now' update as something else can go wrong...and probably will...Dr House has obviously received a few himself judging from his reaction...
In Conclusion.
Don't let the negatives put you off as I did list some positives as well, lol. Kickstarters need people to take risks every now and again in order to ensure that we still get innovative new products rather than the same old shit over and over again. Just accept that it's unlikely to arrive on time and whining about it isn't going to make any difference other than pissing off every-one else involved that actually knows how such things work. The following web comic sums up the correct attitude perfectly...
My current 'in progress' Kickstarters can be seen in the sidebar of the blog should you be interested.
Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.
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