Kickstarter - designers too generous?

[undercovergeek]

Take for instance the Warmachine - Tactics kickstarter - now sat at c.£950,000 with a goal of £550,000 - its passed, brilliant and i cant wait for the game BUT.............

why the stretch goals? whilst nice, you had me at 'this is what we want to make and heres a video to show it with some info' that info didnt include 'extra bits' but you still got my money - you got my money because i believed in the core concept and im happy with that - so what if you get £1million, make the game at the estimated 550,000 and bask in the glory of the other 450,000 - please, please dont feel guilty about the extra money, dont add on other stuff noone asked for, bits than could break the game, bits that could extend the programme - just make what you told us you wanted to make - were all happy to pay for that

There was a double fine project that took over 600 percent of its goal and they added so much to it theyve now run out of money and time trying to justify the over subscribed original concept - it doesnt matter

[bayonetbrant]

Kickstarter encourages the stretch goals as value-adds for people who got in early to help recruit more funding.

Sometimes those stretch goals get freakin' awesome, like the Reaper minis campaign last summer.

[Nefaro]

From what I've seen, the stretch goals generally aren't a ton of work unless the difference is pretty large.  If anything, they're making more money for it.

[undercovergeek]

From what I've seen, the stretch goals generally aren't a ton of work unless the difference is pretty large.  If anything, they're making more money for it.

as long as they dont overextend the original project which is what most people will have signed up for theyre cool - i suppose im aiming more at the 'we got so much more money we have to justify it angle'

[Arctic Blast]

...

Nah, I've crapped on Kickstarter and people getting in over their heads enough.  ;D

[son_of_montfort]

Arctic decided not to do it, but I think he has a subtle point hidden under the joke. Increasingly, I am seeing KS projects get too ambitious with the stretch goals so that it holds up, delays, or otherwise sabotages their main game. Case in point, there is a silly lighter minis battle game called Krosmaster coming from France into the US (based on the Dofus universe, if you know it). But they offered so many promos and such that the second shipment of promos got caught in customs and charged heavy duty fees (apparently figures have duty taxes and board games do not, who knew). So backers are waiting on the customs delayed package to get the base game that is already in the warehouse.

Initial release was early-June, then early-July, and now it looks like late July or early August. The backers are getting really irritable, particularly considering that people might be able to buy them at Cons (notably GenCon) before they get their KS-backed game.

The PC game KS projects are even worse. I've backed a good handful of them and only actually gotten a released game with about 2-3. For these one-man outfits, the chance that they will ever be "finished" seems remote. Not every indie game is going to be Minecraft.

[bob48]

I've been waiting for this one, which reached its target in April. So - where is it?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1893407396/war-stories

[TheCommandTent]

Wasteland 2 is running in a similar problem.  They have some much extra content to include from stretch goals and people still donating money after the fact that they won't meet the original release date but hope to open the beta on that data.  In this case I am not to worried as they have communicated very well with us backers.  I would rather they take the time and get it done right.

[undercovergeek]

Arctic decided not to do it, but I think he has a subtle point hidden under the joke. Increasingly, I am seeing KS projects get too ambitious with the stretch goals so that it holds up, delays, or otherwise sabotages their main game. Case in point, there is a silly lighter minis battle game called Krosmaster coming from France into the US (based on the Dofus universe, if you know it). But they offered so many promos and such that the second shipment of promos got caught in customs and charged heavy duty fees (apparently figures have duty taxes and board games do not, who knew). So backers are waiting on the customs delayed package to get the base game that is already in the warehouse.

Initial release was early-June, then early-July, and now it looks like late July or early August. The backers are getting really irritable, particularly considering that people might be able to buy them at Cons (notably GenCon) before they get their KS-backed game.

The PC game KS projects are even worse. I've backed a good handful of them and only actually gotten a released game with about 2-3. For these one-man outfits, the chance that they will ever be "finished" seems remote. Not every indie game is going to be Minecraft.

That's exactly what I meant!

They say we need 300k to make this game - I give them my money because that game is exactly what I want - then they say ooo we can give you XXX now - no, no, no I wanted what you'd said you'd make that's why I paid

[son_of_montfort]

Wasteland 2 is running in a similar problem.  They have some much extra content to include from stretch goals and people still donating money after the fact that they won't meet the original release date but hope to open the beta on that data.  In this case I am not to worried as they have communicated very well with us backers.  I would rather they take the time and get it done right.

Thankfully, Shadowrun Returns looks to be ready and to be released this week, somewhat on schedule!

I worry a lot about Cthulhu Wars, which asked for a small amount and made over $1 million! For a boardgame, that is insane. And they kept adding extras. I put a lot of money into that KS, because I wanted the whole shebang, and I hope that it doesn't get a massive delay.

I'm still waiting for Ogre Deluxe Edition, which got waylaid by its extras and the fact they couldn't fit them into the box! It is past due by about a year now.

[Staggerwing]

Somewhere in my massive horde of junk I have (or had) a copy of OGRE in the little plastic box. I have not laid eyes on it in several years.

[GDS_Starfury]

Steve Jackson games FTW!!!

[Nefaro]

Thankfully, Shadowrun Returns looks to be ready and to be released this week, somewhat on schedule!

Yes, but I worry much about it.

Having pined for a good Shadowrun RPG on the PC for years, I've been afraid that this was whipped up a bit too quickly.  At the price, I'm also wary of how short it will probably be out of the box so even if the system is up to snuff.. it may well suffer from lack of extensive content despite the editor tools looking quite friendly and what seems to be a large fanbase to use it. 

If only one release turns out good this year - please let it be this one!

[Kushan]

Wasteland 2 is running in a similar problem.  They have some much extra content to include from stretch goals and people still donating money after the fact that they won't meet the original release date but hope to open the beta on that data.  In this case I am not to worried as they have communicated very well with us backers.  I would rather they take the time and get it done right.

And unlike double fine, they are still within budget even with the increase in scope. 6 weeks behind isn't all that bad all things considered.

[son_of_montfort]

Steve Jackson games FTW!!!

Oh, this Deluxe edition is going to be glorious. If they ever ship it to us.

Nefaro, I hear you regarding Shadowrun. I was worried it would be too short and buggy as well. Hopefully it won't or they will use the profits and the new engine to produce cheap DLC, expansions, extra adventures, or whatever to improve longevity.