May 2013 Kickstarter Updates

Yeah, I'm a few days early but its the weekend. There are still some Kickstarters I want to back. There are a ton I haven't backed. There is a lot of doubt in my mind, as to how useful Kickstarters are to the end user. There are some where the freebies can be tempting enough to make one have an impulse buy, such as the Dwarven Forge terrain one going on now. There are others that appeal to me due to their unique nature like the Kensai one or the East Asian Village one. Funds being what they are though...

I've only supported two since my last report. I received my tax refund from the state. Last year I didn't as it went straight to parking tickets. They also charged me to use my money in that manner. Thank you Chicago! And then people wonder why the city population is shrinking eh? I went in for Drake and Dungeon Crawler.  My love of monstrous miniatures will be my downfall. Especially as I'm still waiting on so many to hit the shore.

28mm Demons & Devils: Late. Communication has been good. Turns out one of the perks, King of Dragons, aka Tiamat, was well underpriced and is one of the pieces that's going to cause this to be even later. Ah well.

1650s Rulebook:  Due last October. Communication has been terrible. I know I'd never back anything these guys do again even though the figures are awesome. I'd just order them after they were cast from some third party website or live without them.

Assimilation Alien Host: Not late yet but man, with all the drama going on involving Trollcast, Red Box Games and other bits, like Ed moving, I would be very surprised if this came in May.

Imbrian Arts: Remember when I mentioned drama with the above kickstarter? Imbrian was part of it. They were supposed to have several figures already sent out to certain level backers and well, that hasn't happened due to the Trollcast issue. We've seen some of the metals coming out and they do look fantastic so I'm hopeful with this one.

Reaper Bones: I signed up for a higher custom level pledge and Reaper responded by putting the complex orders at the end of the list because, you know, complex! In addition, I also signed up for a year of metal and Reaper hasn't actually put out any figures in months. Curious to see where that one winds up. You know, for example, an extension of the 'Year of Metal'. I suspect we'll get an 'official' answer on that one soon as the Reaper folks were busy with their convention.

Red Box Games: Tre is a fantastic sculptor. I'm glad he tried out a new method of delivering the goods. This one though is pretty much a disaster. Going on... seven months late.

Relic Knights: They already got ahead of this one and announced... yeah, late. Massively late. If I didn't back for some exclusives I'd have asked for a refund right away. I am weary of incompetence at these higher levels. This wasn't some small job, it pulled in $900,000+.

Tectonic Craft Studios: Dan is a nice guy. I met him at Adepticon. This is still a disaster. It will be almost one year late. I'd buy stuff from him again that was fitting a need or purpose, but man, actually funding another Kickstarter or anything like that? Not going to happen.   

Dwimmermount: Does anything need to be said about this one? Mind you, the communication has been great. Tavis has been in front of this one the whole time. While I probably won't back anymore Kickstarters, I will continue to watch and buy items that meet my interest.

It Came From The Stars: The book is on the way. I count no chickens before they are hatched as we still haven't got the final PDF. Another one that's going on a year late. Another one I put in for stuff for a year and well, they really haven't done much in that time period so a wasted perk even with the extension.

Midgard Tales: Something like vie months late going on probably six or seven? M'eh. I never liked the patron angle from Open Design because your paying a little premium to be part of the design process and really, I just want the goods so I'll always weight in the future unless it's some fantastic deal.

Pathfinder Online: So in January they met their funding goals and they still haven't been able to get people the freeibes even? You know, the PDF of already existing material? This one will be interesting to watch as it moves on.

Steampunk Musha: Wow. Failure all over this one.  I understand people get sick. I understand people have real life issues. But this is another one that's supposed to be from a game company. A game company that's allowed their 'official' website to go black.  One that mind you, has been putting out other material. This one went without an 'official' update for three months and we've head some improbably things like, "I thought the site was being updated!" even as they talk about how its an important project and will see the light of day! I gotta tell you, if it's an important project, you wouldn't "think" it's being updated because you would keep yourself in the loop in an actual professional manner and not have to have people bothering you on different social sites. Ugh. I have a lot of doubts about this one due to the unprofessional manner in which the game company has kept up to date on things. While Dwimmermount has its numerous issues, Tavis kept everyone in the loop. In the age of instant communications, a three month black out is unacceptable. These guys and my money? Never again.

So to me, it doesn't appear there is a huge difference if you're doing miniatures or role playing books. Running a successful on time Kickstarter appears to be something very difficult and something only a handful of companies have done in the past. I'm looking forward to seeing how Kickstarter continues to evolve as a means of funding as well as taking responsibility for the different aspects of a Kickstarter.