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Penny Arcade Kickstarter

Sure, why not. Doesn't have to be content exclusive. Doesn't matter if it's non-profit or not. People get paid.

This doesn't bother me, if they want to do pledge drives then so be it. Kickstarter was probably just a handy service to handle it through.

They aren't adding revenue as much as replacing revenue.

If they wanted to ask for donations without removing a revenue stream, yeah.. that's BS.

People think this is just a money grab.. but they would be removing a revenue stream.

Honestly I think the truth of the matter is they looked at their ad revenue, which is probably as high as it'll ever get, and then looked at potentially how much they could make off donations and saw that going the donation route will make them much, much more

And when the donations dry up to at or below levels from the days of ads? bring back the ads! There is no risk to this for them, just huge potential profit with no work involved.
 
they have like two or three people just for handling the ads on their site. if they are greedy they will fire them the second this is getting funded since they don't need'em anymore.

It's a business, they make a profit after paying wages. It is not charity on their part to employ anyone.
 
Has it crossed anyone's minds that this is their stab at the absurdity of kickstarter as a whole? At the very least, you'll see tomorrows comic about this...

no. because if i think something is absurd and i want to make fun of it, i don't make that thing tens of thousands of dollars in the process of mocking them.

if i own a website, which is, i don't know, seemingly custom designed to mock things, i probably just use that website to mock whatever i want to mock.
 
Huh? How does adding content with out adding revenue work? Curious on that, school me on your CPA skills on how you actually run a business void of revenue?

Take out loans or give up equity in your company in order to fund alternative revenue streams that will allow your company to survive beyond a year without going back to the reliable donation scheme.
 

NPR/Public Television provides actual, tangible rewards for pledges on a range of levels that take some modicum of time and effort to produce, not cynical jokes and zero effort propositions. They also are funded by a mix of viewers, sponsors and taxpayers and that's been the deal since it was established. I'm not sure what to think that they feel it's a comparable endeavor.
 
NPR/Public Television provides actual, tangible rewards for pledges on a range of levels that take some modicum of time and effort to produce, not cynical jokes and zero effort propositions. They also are funded by a mix of viewers, sponsors and taxpayers and that's been the deal since it was established. I'm not sure what to think that they feel it's a comparable endeavor.

you know that you don't have to provide a single reward when you start a kickstarter right? that it's completely optional? and that it's completely optional on both sides, because you're free to pledge without claiming a reward?

Honestly though... does anybody here not use Ad Block Plus already?
why would i block the adverts on the sites i choose to visit? why would i want to kill their revenue streams if i like them?
 
Take out loans or give up equity in your company in order to fund alternative revenue streams that will allow your company to survive beyond a year without going back to the reliable donation scheme.

THat sounds like terrible idea.
 
I supported the Wasteland 2 kickstarter, because, yay Wasteland, and I donated to the "get a boxed copy" tier. Now, I'm not sure if it's only because I signed to a tier where I required to give them a name and address, but I'm pretty sure they would have gotten my name and address anyway.

How much money is your name and address worth to advertisers? Is PA gonna sell off your personal info in a year?
 
THat sounds like terrible idea.

It's better to abuse the loyalty of their fans instead of doing what other for-profit businesses do when they need more capital. I can see how free money is better than taking on the risks and costs yourself, but it doesn't make me view it as anything other than a greedy action.
 
I supported the Wasteland 2 kickstarter, because, yay Wasteland, and I donated to the "get a boxed copy" tier. Now, I'm not sure if it's only because I signed to a tier where I required to give them a name and address, but I'm pretty sure they would have gotten my name and address anyway.

How much money is you name and address worth to advertisers? Is PA gonna sell off your personal info in a year?

you don't have to take a reward that requires you sending them your name and adress and you can still pledge whatever you want. shocking i know.
 
It's better to abuse the loyalty of their fans instead of doing what other for-profit businesses do when they need more capital. I can see how free money is better than taking on the risks and costs yourself, but it doesn't make me view it as anything other than a greedy action.

Seriously: How is it abuse when you offer something to the fan in such a way that the fan can choose to either donate or not? There are no guns to anybody's head here.

It really sounds like your problem is that you feel that they're too successful and they owe their fans something in addition to what they already produce.
 
you know that you don't have to provide a single reward when you start a kickstarter right? that it's completely optional? and that it's completely optional on both sides, because you're free to pledge without claiming a reward?
Absolutely! They are free to experiment with the value proposition of their reward tiers however they desire. And when I compare what they've come up with against previous successful Kickstarters I've contributed to or felt good about, they come across as lazy, snarky and not at all comparable to NPR's way of funding.
 
It's better to abuse the loyalty of their fans instead of doing what other for-profit businesses do when they need more capital. I can see how free money is better than taking on the risks and costs yourself, but it doesn't make me view it as anything other than a greedy action.
THey are pretty clear about what they need money from. If people are willing to support them for that, what's the problem? You're free to spend your own money whatever way you want and run your own company however you want. So please don't try to deny other people's right to do exactly the same thing.
 
I'm definitely guessing they will have still advertising for the PAXs if this pulls through (which it will)?
 
you don't have to take a reward that requires you sending them your name and adress and you can still pledge whatever you want. shocking i know.

To donate using a CC, you give kickstarter that info. I'm not clear on if kickstarter hands that info over on request to PA, if PA oly gets that for mailing based awards, or if PA has to do all their mailings through KS themselves or what.
 
$59k already, what a dark day.

i hate to shock you, but people like stuff you don't like, and some of those people want to support those things you don't like.

that didn't change today, and if today represents your realisation of these facts, it's not a dark day at all, but the day of your awakening.

To donate using a CC, you give kickstarter that info. I'm not clear on if kickstarter hands that info over on request to PA, if PA oly gets that for mailing based awards, or if PA has to do all their mailings through KS themselves or what.

no you don't. Amazon handle all the transactions.
 
To donate using a CC, you give kickstarter that info. I'm not clear on if kickstarter hands that info over on request to PA, if PA oly gets that for mailing based awards, or if PA has to do all their mailings through KS themselves or what.

That info gets given to Amazon, so they can process the transaction. Once the transaction is processed, Amazon takes its cut and delivers the remaining amount to the recipient.

Amazon is always the middleman for Kickstarter.
 
The more popular PA becomes, the more expensive their adspace is.

The more people make it ad-free, assuming the content improves or stays level, the more popular the site is...

Making their adspace even more valued...increasing costs of the yearly Kickstarters...

Oh my!

jack-nicholson-nodding.gif
 
That info gets given to Amazon, so they can process the transaction. Once the transaction is processed, Amazon takes its cut and delivers the remaining amount to the recipient.

Amazon is always the middleman for Kickstarter.

Cool, TY.

Now I remember, I didn't have an Amazon acct, so I had to sign with KS, and they just bounced me to Amazon to sign with them.

That was a fun global conspiracy I had for a minute, but I've moved on to my PAX sponsors blacklist PAX conspiracy theory a couple posts up.
 
THey are pretty clear about what they need money from. If people are willing to support them for that, what's the problem? You're free to spend your own money whatever way you want and run your own company however you want. So please don't try to deny other people's right to do exactly the same thing.

I would never want to do that.
 
Cool, TY.

Now I remember, I didn't have an Amazon acct, so I had to sign with KS, and they just bounced me to Amazon to sign with them.

That was a fun global conspiracy I had for a minute, but I've moved on to my PAX sponsors blacklist PAX conspiracy theory a couple posts up.
shouldn't you wait for evidence of a conspiracy rather than presuming there must be one, and trying to figure out what it is?

kickstarter threads really confuse me. it's just someone asking for money to do something. either enough people think it's worth funding, and it gets funded, or there isn't enough people and no one gets charged anything.

i do not get why people flip out over this stuff.
 
kickstarter threads really confuse me. it's just someone asking for money to do something. either enough people think it's worth funding, and it gets funded, or there isn't enough people and no one gets charged anything.

i do not get why people flip out over this stuff.

Tycho and Gabe have personally used their morals to wage war on the internet quite a few times in the past, and part of the entire websites following is reading these guys news posted or video recorded opinion on games industry stuff and otherwise, in which the topic of ethics is frequently raised.

To see them barrel roll the fuck over a shit load of moral and ethical inner arguments straight to "money now plz" is, unsurprisingly, a bit of a shock to a lot of previous fans, and even to people that didn't like them much but respected they wouldnt do something this downright tacky.

Hey loyal Continual Upkeep of Penny Arcade Corporation's Office Space Rental and Wage Fund donater, you could be 2013's Paul Christoforo. Or are we not supposed to realise Gabe put more effort into an internet witch hunt than just sitting down and penning one of these "impossible due to ad sourcing busyness" projects there and then.
 
As much as I like Penny Arcade, Kickstarter should not be used for this...

Why not offer premium subscriptions on their own site? Anyone who donates a certain amount gets to browse with no ads, if a certain total is reached, the site goes ad-free for everyone.

They won't be getting as much money going this route either since Kickstarter takes a cut.
 
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