djplaeskool
Member
That would be one hell of a slippery slope though...
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Alpha Colony Kickstarter misses its $50,000 goal by $28 dollars.
- Thread starter chubigans
- Start date
That would be one hell of a slippery slope though...
Karak
Member
Correct indeed! And since actual Kickstarter members can't add to their own project, when you are that close it can happen. I have seen a couple P&P games succeed but less than 100 as well.
It would've been indeed had they bent the rules.
Failed Kickstarters happen all the time, that's true. However, it is all but common that a Kickstarter misses its goal by 0.0005%. This is not as much a problem of a mediocre or not satisfying project as it is bad luck. Saying "Go back to the drawing board" makes sense when a Kickstarter fails to pick up at all, but not when you were just 28$ apart from hitting your goal.
Edit: It's interesting to see that they've lost half of their initial pledges the second time around. Not as surprising as that they are asking for just 10% of the initial funding goal, though! What did they change to reduce costs so much? Looks a little shaddy, side by side.
A Kickstarter either makes its goal or doesn't. The amount by which the goal is missed is completely inconsequential. Their actual Kickstarter presentation was poor, in my opinion. That is what I meant by my "back to the drawing board" comment. It's not so much the game that needs to be rethought, rather it's how they go about selling the game to Kickstarter supporters.
Slightly off-topic: Kickstarter presentations should be straight and simple. Here's an example of a good one. Not too much information, not too little. Everything is neatly packaged in easily digestible tidbits. Examples of art and music included. And the interesting hook of a custom handheld gaming machine on which to play your game (which is something I've never seen on Kickstarter before).
I find it interesting that people can cancel pledges in the last hours. Kickstarter has a rule about not being able to cancel in the last 24 hours if that would bring the project below its funding goal, but it seems that there is nothing that prevents people from noodling around if the project hasn't reached its goal yet.
funkystudent
Member
Tough break.
I bet they will do it and then some if they retry it though.
I bet this gets them some publicity.
I bet they will do it and then some if they retry it though.
I bet this gets them some publicity.
that would be fucked up
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
It has happened since Kickstarter is a "promise" of paying the money when pledge ends, and it doesn't charge directly like Paypal donations would. I can "promise" $1 million to a pledge and the project will still fail to be successful as I don't have that kinda money lol.
So here's the twist: the dev is glad the funding failed, as it would have barely covered any costs:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...ony_Kickstarter_misses_funding_goal_by_28.php
Some bits:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...ony_Kickstarter_misses_funding_goal_by_28.php
Some bits:
I have zero interest in this game but if they did this I would give them 2 bucks for the sake of good humor.
That's not the way it works, as you would know if you had actually bothered to read this thread.
exmachina64
Banned
People really shouldn't bother to make Kickstarters under those circumstances.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
This, right here, is something
For future sake, get the calculation right, know how much it'll be, set certain items as "Limited" to pull in impulse buyers and collectors, and make sure you have enough money to make and distribute the software without begging people over at Steam Greenlight to vote. "Minimum goal" means Minimum that you need to complete the entire game with all the distributions. A lot of them assume that they will meet minimum and people are just tossing money left and right, and that stretch goals are where they decide how much they'll need for the game.
That might have happened here.
Huh? What would they contest?
They supposedly have protections in place so that once a project meets its funding goal, the site will not allow it to fail. If someone's cancellation will bring the project below the funding goal, the cancellation won't be allowed.
edit: I know I read this a few days ago but I can't find proof yet.
Prophet Steve
Member
For all the people that are saying that they should have just asked somebody to donate the difference:
I am going to assume that the pledge total fluctuates a lot in the final hours and they could not predict where the final goal would end up to be. If there final amount was like this for some time they probably would have made somebody donate extra, but it is unpredictable for everybody involved.
Hindsight is 50/50
Also, Kickstarter are not dicks for not letting the project continue. It does not make sense to allow project to continue if they are 1% away from the limit, because you got the same scenario with projects that would end up with 1.01% away from the limit. You have got to draw the line.
I am going to assume that the pledge total fluctuates a lot in the final hours and they could not predict where the final goal would end up to be. If there final amount was like this for some time they probably would have made somebody donate extra, but it is unpredictable for everybody involved.
Hindsight is 50/50
Also, Kickstarter are not dicks for not letting the project continue. It does not make sense to allow project to continue if they are 1% away from the limit, because you got the same scenario with projects that would end up with 1.01% away from the limit. You have got to draw the line.
Good post. The Banner Saga is a good example of what you're talking about. The game looks amazing, and I'll buy it when/if it comes out. But producing, packaging and distributing all of those bonuses is going to be a major headache. And I don't believe they have enough funds to outsource that sort of thing to a third-party.
+1
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
Agreed. One thing good about The Banner Saga is that it's one of the few Kickstarted games to have actually release a beta, so I guess they are progressing somewhere.
I totally agree with you. I worked on three indie projects and am interested in putting together a small team and running a Kickstarter in 2014. It is my aim to do exactly as you suggest, which is to reserve physical bonuses for the really high levels and to do everything else digital-only.
Having said that, I prefer physical items as rewards, and would love to hand these out to contributors. But that would leave me with only one option regarding backing, which would be to work the cost into the Kickstarter goal. And that is money I would rather spend on development.
It's worth noting that Peter Molyneux feels the same. Check out his Project GODUS. He's a multi-millionaire and could surely afford physical rewards for the lower levels but instead has them reserved for the $1600 and up crowd. Sound financial thinking, I reckon, even if it would not necessarily be my preferred way of doing things.
Ya, I remember watching my account closely during that so I could successfully fund Project Eternity.
This is totally unprecedented. Usually if you can make it to 75%, you're golden. Although that only applies to projects with a couple thousand backers, which this didn't.
I admit, though, I had no fucking idea they had re-launched this. If I had, they might not have missed it.
I admit, though, I had no fucking idea they had re-launched this. If I had, they might not have missed it.
Onion_Relish
Member
What a bunch of cunts. I like how after failing he says a big hail Mary thanking the benevolent universe for killing his project.
IF YOUR GAME IS GOING TO BE SHIT WITH THE FUNDING GOAL YOU SET, YOU SHOULD REMOVE THE KICKSTARTER YOURSELF.
this is why I will never, EVER support kickstarter, no accountability whatsoever.
IF YOUR GAME IS GOING TO BE SHIT WITH THE FUNDING GOAL YOU SET, YOU SHOULD REMOVE THE KICKSTARTER YOURSELF.
this is why I will never, EVER support kickstarter, no accountability whatsoever.
Well it's not that these incentives are a waste of time, because they're important for motivating higher pledges, but a lot of times people don't really factor in the cost/reward very well, which is a problem.
Project Fedora did it right. There was not one physical reward below the $75 level, but there were a bunch of interesting digital/downloadable rewards. Digital rewards obviously have no "per unit" cost, so they're great for the lower tiers, which have the highest numbers of pledges. That means they only have to make T-shirts and what-not for $75 and ups, which was like 25% of their campaign (and for most campaigns that percentage is below 10%, but PF managed a lot of big pledges). They kept their rewards fullfillment costs down to like $50,000 out of the $600,000 they raised.
Zoe
Member
I dunno, they didn't even make it to half of their first attempt.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
There's no accountability in life except for the trust system, or if you plan to sue someone to enforce your rights. Pledgers had all the information they needed to understand that this was a scaled back, reduced vision of the game--they had already launched a KS before with a much higher funding goal. Context is key. I didn't pledge to this game because it didn't interest me, it looked too early to meet the deadline, the dev's experience did not have any connection to the game they were pitching, and the cost was too high. In the mean time, your no compromises attitude ensures that you will miss out on some projects you might otherwise have liked.
Who has scammed me?
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Well, first, I can't believe I missed the fact that it relaunched... and second, I can't believe that it missed its goal by 28 dollars. Jeez.
Yeah, setting a goal that doesn't actually meet your needs? That's a shitty thing to do to those who backed the project. Sounds like the backers dodged a bullet.
shira
Member
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