I'm banning myself from Kickstarter.

[Kyle]

I swear it started out innocently. I went on a binge about six months ago and- over the period of a month or so- I ended up supporting three games and a graphic novel (Games: Godforsaken Scavengers, Babies and Bears, Lazer Ryders; Graphic Novel: Flutter). The nice thing about Kickstarter is that the good operations (and everything I've supported has ended up being good) keep you posted regularly on the progress and printing and if there's going to be delays. So there's no real reason to go back to Kickstarter to check the status there because you're already informed through email.

So today I thought, "Hmm. I think I'm going to get some games delivered soon. I know I got updates, but I can't remember if they're all in August or if some are in June. Hmm. I better go to Kickstarter and check."

Let's be honest. If I'm going to retrospectively dissect my motives, then the rational part of my brain knew I didn't have to really go check because they'll be here when they'll be here. And the only reason I felt an imperative need to check was just to browse Kickstarter. But still my brain goes through the exercise of "consciously" finding a perfectly acceptable reason to go.

Sure enough. I spend three minutes looking at my projects, and then thirty browsing the tabletop games. $45 later I've pledged to One Deck Dungeon to get the revised copy of the game with the new expansion pack.

I just need to ban myself.

[Tahlvin]

I think I've only backed 3 things: 2 Numenera things from Monte Cook Games, and a Pathfinder conversion of Sovereign Stone. The Numenera projects have gone well, but there have been problems with the Sovereign Stone project that have been partially outside the control of the guy running the project. Backed a few years ago, I think, and I still haven't received all of the stuff I'm supposed to get. Certainly makes you appreciate the projects that are run professionally, like those from Monte Cook Games, and makes you leery about who you back. That, plus having to pay college tuition, are two of the big reasons I'm able to stay away from Kickstarter.

Now, if Caz happens to post a Kickstarter for Mars Needs Cows, I'll certainly be backing that project!

[Mike]

In general, I expect maybe a month or two late on anything I Kickstart, so if it turns up on time, I'm pleasantly surprised. And, like Kyle says, the updates are pretty regular for the ones I backed, so I'm never in the dark. When there are glitches in the Matrix, the projects I back have all warned me well ahead of time and let me know in detail how that affects their schedule, etc etc. I've been lucky so far.

[Stan]

I've slowed to almost a stop after getting a few things that were ok but not exciting - I got caught up in the enthusiasm and forgot it's not totally my thing. From what I've seen, books/rpgs do alright, though I doubt Tales of the Floating Vagabond will ever come out. I had my doubts at the funding time but went ahead anyway. If most or all of the content is already created and their just collecting funds for printing costs, I've never seen serious issues.

Be very leery of major software creations and all new hardware. Very often, the creator vastly overestimates the complexity to make a major game or new product and they have little experience. Examples are a cool new drone, a smart watch, a new game console, and most big video games. They are likely to be over a year late if at all and underwhelming.

[Eliahad]

Watch out for musicians, too. They'll totally be late on their stuff.

[Cazmonster]

I promise, should I get backing for MARS NEEDS COWS, it will be on time.

[Eliahad]

Don't do that, Caz. It's a noble goal. It really is, but it's communication that's key. The more you let people know what's up, the less it matters, I think. I mean, don't be years late. But a couple of months. Things come up that you can't anticipate. Better to be open and honest than set a deadline that doesn't can sometimes limit your ability to create a superior product. (Which we know MARS NEEDS COWS! totally is.)

[Cazmonster]

Okay, I will keep that in mind Eli. Given that this is my first shot and I'd be doing all the sourcing myself, I should not over-commit at all.

[El Jefe]

Just do the ban after you go support the Jury and the rest of Posthuman. Because Eclipse Phase 2.0 is one freaking gorgeous looking book. Plus, helping a company that booted their Red Pill/MRA community to the curb and effectively freely torrents digital copies of their games under Creative Commons.

[Phoebe]

Robot Turtles was a super effective, successful Kickstarter game. Maybe the creator would answer questions about how he did it, including dealing with the usual unpredictable snafus in production. Seems like one has to budget time for it.

Also not sure if this is relevant in your area, Caz, but where I live there are at minimum three production labs where, for reasonable low fees, people can do 3D printing, wood cutting and etching, and so forth. With some tech support. This is a huge resource for game creation, I'm guessing.