Your problems with kickstarter?

[Caffiene]

I dont tend to be too worried about KS delivery times... Its nice to get them when estimated, but KS isnt designed for pre-ordering from large retail companies. Things happen, and while it can be disappointing its really a matter of if you dont want to be disappointed then make sure to be very careful what you back.

 

Only KS Ive backed that has been due for delivery so far is Order of the Stick. None of the others have reached their estimated delivery times yet; apart from the Reaper Sophies and paints, but Im both international and traded my Sophie in. OOTS was/is great. Technically hes fallen behind on some of the stretch goals, but thats due to unforeseen injury. More importantly, his communication has been phenomenal - Id put it even ahead of Reaper. Frequent, clear, concise, accurate, and also charming. A++ Would Back Again :P

[Bruunwald]

Any company that is more than a guy or two in a garage with a great idea and a bank account of $10 using Kickstarter is a problem for me.

 

I just don't think solvent companies with more money than I will make in my lifetime using the thing is in the spirit of which it was intended. (Though now that they are a household name making oodles off of the deal, don't expect Kickstarter to go any way but the Path of Etsy.)

[MonkeySloth]

Several miniature companies, Freebooter's is probably the best known, have admitted that KS is the way way they're all going for new products because it's risk free for them. You know if people like your concepts or sculpts because they're purchasing enough to break even, or make some money, off of production.

 

A lot of the European miniature games have pretty much done this.

[Doug Sundseth]

Any company that is more than a guy or two in a garage with a great idea and a bank account of $10 using Kickstarter is a problem for me.

 

I just don't think solvent companies with more money than I will make in my lifetime using the thing is in the spirit of which it was intended. (Though now that they are a household name making oodles off of the deal, don't expect Kickstarter to go any way but the Path of Etsy.)

 

From the evidence available to me, I'd say you're in the minority in this. Certainly I don't share your opinion.

 

I don't see any special virtue in smaller companies and will happily support any company where the value proposition makes sense to me. (And note that I do not consider "value" to mean only "monetary value".)

 

Econ 101: Offer me with something that is worth more to me than what you're asking in return and I'll at least seriously consider the offer. It's not a religious, ethical, or moral issue.

[vejlin]

I have backed:
- Warlord Video Game Project. This one got funded and subsequently was changed into an entirely different project, which has yet to materialize. This is hardly surprising and I consider myself dumb for backing a software project that was this obviously under funded.

 

- Reaper Bones. No complaints so far. Excellent kickstarter and subsequent communication.

 

- Dreadball. Excellent value, awesome game and delivered on time. There was poor communication and some really weird decisions regarding how it was released which got me annoyed. Waiting for my package for 3 weeks while seeing the game on shelves in stores was NOT fun.

 

- Gruntz Barracks. Technically not a kickstarter since it was on indiegogo. Pretty big delays on delivery and minor quality issues with the printed product. Still I consider this a success and well worth my money.

I think kickstarter is a great concept and especially so for larger companies. This is a great way to produce niche products in a risk free way. In essence, the kickstarter concept is helping us see products we would not otherwise see. Kickstarter matches supply with demand and cuts out the middle man that a loan would have been. This is win-win in my book.

Edited January 23, 2013 by vejlin

[smokingwreckage]

The thing is if you're solvent and want to stay that way, new projects need to be funded. So we may very well be funding a project that would otherwise never have happened, even when interacting with a fairly major player. This certainly means small-medium companies will take on much riskier projects.

 

I don't have a problem with that, but then, I have been in business. To me it's an amazing, magical new funding arrangement where you get funded by the people who want the product. That's revolutionary, and really has the potential to bring business people, artists and concept people, and customers way closer together in a really brilliant and exciting collaboration. That's just awesome!

 

Of course it also means consumers taking a risk. Consumers are not used to that. Personally I think it's fun, but I'm really not normal.

[ObsidianCrane]

My problems with Kickstarter all revolve around not having enough money to pour into it.

I have another problem with this; not having time to paint all the minis or play all the games I have purchased in KS.

 

More seriously the only KS I've had a concern with is the Westward RPG which was due in Oct (funded July) where information is sparse and oddities like the most recent suggesting they were still writing the game.

 

Less seriously is the issues with the 4E Midgard Bestiary where the printer's screw ups are going to result in me getting 3 copies of the book!

 

Out of 18 completed& funded KSes I've had 2 deliver as promised (Shadows of Esteren Book 1 & aStar Wars minis map), every other KS is either late or unlikely to ship on time at this stage. However I'm not worried about them (except Westward) because delays happen, and as long as I see signs of progress I'm ok with it.

 

Silence from the project owner is by far the greatest sin in a KS.

[MonkeySloth]

I'm in on Westward too but had thought they had been doing monthly updates. Could be wrong though.

 

I will say that unless a RPG is 100% finished at funding time you should expect delays as they always take longer then expected.

Edited January 23, 2013 by MonkeySloth

[Trodax]

I backed eastern fronts dwarf gladiators which were supposed to be shipped in dec, it now might not be delivered until April

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/607885648/dwarf-gladiators-finely-sculpted-28mm-resin-miniat?ref=live

 

-Eastern front studios originally planed to ship multiple shipments (which wasnt told to backers until it was funded) and then later said that doing that wasnt in the budget and now we are left with no shipping date.

 

 

I am concern about Dwarf Gladiators and I found a few forum stating bad previous experience eastern front. I am probably being paranoid but the fact that they start two other kickstarters further worries me (the more backers equal the more profitable for the creator to default rather than to deliver).

 

Should those forum posts exist before I hop on board I would not have back that kickstarter.

 

Yeah, of the 10 or so projects I've backed, this is the one that has had me worried (and still kind of has). Not so much that it's late, actually (I thought Dec 2012 sounded overly optimistic from the outset), but more a general feeling that the project creator isn't entirely on top of things.

 

To be honest, I had some misgivings even when the campaign was running (which kind of makes me a fool for not dropping out, I guess...). First, when the money wasn't really coming in, all the stretch goals were compacted to be just $1000 or $500 apart (they were initially much more widely spaced). I would have thought that stretch goals are based on some kind of math ("if we get this much extra money, we can afford to also produce this and give it to you for free"), so this felt a bit odd to me. Then there were also some things that to me seemed to be shouted out mostly on a whim during the last couple of days of the Kickstarter ("we will produce everything in metal instead of resin!" - I never saw any consideration of international shipping costs, which are free for almost all pledge levels, on this one, for example).

 

Then after the campaign ended there was almost complete silence, and instead two more Kickstarters were started. What really got me annoyed was the last one of these, Midgard, where the Dwarf Gladiators Kickstarter was used as an example of "we have a lot of experience in delivering Kickstarter rewards." (I'm thinking delivering should mean getting product into customer hand.)

 

To be fair, after I and others started bugging the creator with comments and PM's, there has been a pickup in communication and we've had a couple of updates. And I do think that we will probably, eventually get the stuff we pledged for, but... I don't know, let me put it this way; this is the Kickstarter of the ones I've backed where I'd probably be the least surprised if some "unexpected problems" turned up down the road. "As it turns out, we won't be able to do free international shipping because of the recently raised costs for this", or something like that.

 

Gods, sorry for the rant; I'm normally a happy fellow.

[ObsidianCrane]

I'm in on Westward too but had thought they had been doing monthly updates. Could be wrong though.I will say that unless a RPG is 100% finished at funding time you should expect delays as they always take longer then expected.

Promised Weekly at the start of October and its having a 6 month blow out because they took 3 months to actually finish writing the game (which considering they were not writing the core rules is bad).

 

Yes RPG books get delayed, however I think my issues with Westward stem from failure to update on the KS while updating on their site and starting to push their next project in October when Westward was clearly still in development back then.

[ChristianSt]

Yesterday I've backed my 20th project (starting with Kickstarter exactly one year ago). Most of the projects are late - but as long as the project creator keeps the backers informed, I have zero problem with that.

 

The Kickstarter I still think is the best Kickstarter I participated (The Order of the Stick Reprent Drive), is horribly delayed (the only Project I've backed with a higher Amount/Target ratio is Bones, so the scale of the project was much larger than anticipated - 1.25M$ of a 58K$ goal. Problems with manufacturer and ultimately an accident of the creator are the reason of this). But with regular updates I really know what is going on, I think the longest delay between updates is maybe three weeks.

 

As long is I'm informed why delays happen, I have no problems with them. Problems can arise with projects in many ways. But not communicating with your backers is the only problem that is not acceptable.

[MiniCannuck]

My biggest challenge with Kickstarter is with companies that use it to sell goods that are already made or currently in production. Unless a Kickstarter is about letting someone expand/speed up their way of doing business (i.e. Bones) or allowing an artist get their ideas to market (i.e. Red Box Games), I have no interest, regardless of the deal.

 

Our FLGS have enough competiton from online vendors. We don't need to add large companies who are basically giving the wholesale discounts directly to the consumer. Let's keep KS to it's original intention - kickstarting new projects.

[buglips*the*goblin]

I'd hoped to back a couple more than the Reaper one, but Elmore and the old folks heroes one came too close to christmas for my finances to indulge. So Reaper's the only one.

 

I haven't had any problems yet, but I also don't have anything coming that's not in the Bones shipment. I swapped the Sophster and didn't get any paint. The paint issue, if I was in on it, I'd forgive because when you rely on external supply things don't always work as planned.

 

Similarly, if something happens to delay fulfillment of Bones in March, if it's due to customs or external production/supply problems I'd be forgiving of that, too. There's nothing Reaper can do about that, it's an external matter, and I'm not going to jump on them over it because, when you think about it, they would have been as screwed over by it as we were. And equally unhappy.

 

So far it doesn't look like any of that is going to be a problem. But I'm aware that the potential for logistical SNAFU still exists, so I'm mentally ready for it. I know that Reaper is going to try their damnedest to get it all done and delivered as promised, and I'm fully confident they'd go above and beyond if a problem came up to try and fix it and stay on schedule. So if things go wrong, at least we know it's not because they took our money and then just sat around picking their noses.

[Nocturne]

I've not had any real issues as yet with delays but the only ones I've had come to delivery time are non-miniature ones. I can live with delays as long as it's well communicated. I know with the Trial of the Clone book the hardback copies got delayed on the publishing end but they kept it well communicated and it was only a short delay.

There's a couple that have ended which aren't due yet which I'd like a bit more communication from but that's more with Indiegogo than Kickstarter, their system doesn't seem to be as user friendly.

[Qwyksilver]

My biggest issue with Kickstarter is the horrible formatting of the comments section.

 

I've backed 9 projects.

Sedition Wars, Pulse Fate/Fudge dice, Reaper, Red Box, Kingdom Death, Blackwater Gulch, Superfogeys, Bombshell babes, and Chibi Dungeon

 

There are a few that are now late, but I have been happy with the level of communication and never considered the delivery date as a carved in stone date so much as a "if everything goes perfectly smooth and the planets align this date might work." A think a lot more Project managers are realizing the importance of trying to get better estimates and I think we will are already starting to see longer delivery dates after projects close just in anticipation of delays.