Early Bird Gets The Worm

I've backed a lot of Kickstarters in my day, though I haven't ran any, so take this post with a huge pinch of salt and with the understanding that this all comes from one point of view.

There are a lot of ways to get your product moving on Kickstarter. Interesting Stretch goals are the obvious main feature, slowly unlocking new features or improved components over the course of the campaign as more and more funding is achieved. I also like something that I saw Evil Hat Productions[1] do first, unlocking additional content based on number of Backers, rather than funding. This nicely encouraged people to share and promote the campaign to friends, spreading the footprint wider.

But some Kickstarters use Early Bird offers to encourage people to back their product early, and I have an issue with this. A Kickstarter is a marathon, not a sprint. They last four weeks, or more in some cases, Bu Early Bird offers rarely last past the first day, if not the first few minutes. The Game Canopy campaign had two Early Bird levels, a regular one and a Super Early Bird level. Both were gone within the first 10 seconds. I know. I was there.

Ultimately, Early Bird offers are supposed to reward supporters that have been following the creator since before the Kickstarter, but they're usually restricted to an extremely limited number, as they are often zero profit, or even loss-taking pledge levels. This results in a mad dash to grab them by a much larger number of Backers, resulting in a lottery system based on luck, connectivity, and even proximity to the Kickstarter servers. This incentive harms more supporters than it rewards, and leaves a lot of people with a bad taste in their mouth toward the campaign.

A way around this is to have a timed Early Bird offer, a cheaper than normal level only available for the first 24 hours, or something similar. This is better, but still leaves people who stumble on to your campaign at a later date cold, knowing they're paying more for the same product than those in-the-know. You could argue that this is to reward long-time supporters who will know about your camping before it starts, but the flip side is that Kickstarter is designed to bring in new supporters, to broaden your reach into new communities, and seeing a closed off early, cheap pledge level can turn away potential new Backers.

As a regular Kickstarter supporter, I'd advise any campaign to avoid any form of special discount that is only available to people who find your campaign early. Focus on unlockables that are available to all, either as automatically included upgrades or add-ons. Aim to spread knowledge of your campaign, treating Backers who find you in the last hour as just as valuable to your success as those who have been supporting you for years.

Because a lot of them will be there to support you the next time.

[1]- Evil Hat are currently running their own newest Kickstarter, The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game. Well worth checking out, it's a fast, fun game based in the universe of wizard Private Investigator Harry Dresden.

Board Game Carry Solution

I love board games, that much is obvious. I also love sharing my board games, and teaching folks my favourite games. I love broadening my hobby by introducing people to this amazing social activity. But transporting my games to local conventions has always been an issue.

In the past, I've employed IKEA reusable bags and other tote bags, as well as my backpack, like so many other gamers through the years. However, it rains a lot in Vancouver during certain times of the year, and this has caused issues. I've damaged more than one game box from having it out in the rain, even while it was in my backpack. I can sometimes plan ahead and wrap them in a plastic bag first, but all that is just awkward and messy.

Which was why I got so excited when I saw the Game Canopy from Level 3B on Watch It Played. It looked ideal for my needs. Sealed, safe, and water resistant, and it holds the boxes flat! No more opening up a game to teach and spending the first ten minutes sorting out a pile of cards and tokens that got knocked loose in the box.

I followed Level 3B on Twitter and via mailing list, and anxiously awaited the start of the Kickstarter. I was there the second it went live, and grabbed the Adventurer Level, which includes the Game Canopy, the shoulder strap and the all important rain cover. It's more expensive than a duffle bag, but far safer for my games. It also looks amazing! Like any hobby that isn't a sport, board gaming regularly gets dismissed as a childish, or geeky pastime, so I love having accessories like the Game Canopy that just elevates our hobby to a new level, showing it off in a professional, smart light.

The Kickstarter has only just begun and is already a huge success. It's got over 1,000 Backers, and is about to break $150k in funding at time of writing. There are some odd features of the campaign that I hope get fixed soon. The reward levels are fixed, trying to cover ass many bases as possible with different levels, but still don't suit everyone's needs. The Level 3B team seem hesitant to allow add-ons of the Canopy bag or the smaller Vanguard to pledges, and I noticed that this has resulted in some pledge levels seeing vastly more popular than others. The worst is Game Knight Lite, with no Backers at all. Allowing add-ons would have avoided this, having less Reward Levels, but ultimately more options for Backers. I'm happy with the my level, but would definitely consider adding a Vanguard as well if it was an option. There is one with everything I have, plus a Vanguard and a second shoulder strap, but I really don't want the second strap.

The only other issue I have is that the delivery date is in the far distant future of April 2017. I'd love to have it for Terminal City Tabletop Convention 2017 in March.

It's going to be a long wait.

 

Sally Slick: Centurion Of The Century

Way back in 2012, while we were between visas and unemployable, Evil Hat lived up to the "Evil" part of their title and started a KickStarter that I had no hope of resisting. Their goal was to release a trilogy of novels based in the Spirit of the Century universe, following the adventures of the Century Club, a team of heroes that have been, quite literally, born to protect the 20th century. The books were to be true pulp action, inspired by the pulp novels of the early 1900's.

I threw in my money, and watched in joyous horror as the number in the corner went up and up, far beyond anyone's expectations! More and more novels, from more and more incredible authors were added to the line-up, and the final tally leveled out at seven books! For the princely sum of $10 that I could scrape together at the time, I got everything in digital format!

Later, after I was blissfully back at work, Evil Hat tried their hands at another crowd funded project. This time, they sought to update their Fate System, the engine upon which Spirit of the Century and later Dreden Files, was built. They chose to call the new system Fate Core, and the KickStarter was set at a lowly $3,000 asking price.

Which it managed in minutes.

I was lucky enough to get in early enough to nab one of the elusive limited Pledge Levels. As the Stretch Goals piled up, so too did my pledge, slowly rising as I sought to get more and more physical content.

And then, late in the run, Evil Hat announced a new novel as part of the Fate Core campaign!

Sally Slick and the Steel Syndicate was to be a young adult novel based before the events of the Spirit of the Century role-playing games and the previously funded novels, set around 1914, when Sally is just discovering the wider world, and the world is just about to discover her!

I was delighted! Not only was I in love with the idea of more material from the universe, but I had recently discovered the Young Adult genre of novels, and found them a wonderful, refreshing change of pace from the heavy, all-too-often dark and depressing, plain old adult novels I usually read.

I've been reading all the Spirit of the Century books as they've been released to the KickStarter Backers, and enjoying them all. Each one is crafted with love of the characters and the era. Each is packed with thrilling adventures and daring escapes. Each is a joy to read, and as soon as I finish one, I can't wait to read the next.

With that in mind, having been following the development of this whole thing from the start, it gives me great pleasure to be a part of this official world reveal!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I give you the wonderful art of Dani Kaulaki that will adorn the cover of Carrie Harris's Sally Slick and the Steel Syndicate! Take it home, Dani!

[Click to View in Full Glory]

Title: SALLY SLICK AND THE STEEL SYNDICATE

Release date: December 3, 2013

Publisher: Evil Hat Productions

Ages: 12 and up

Jacket description:

Every hero has a story. This one starts with a girl and a racing tractor.

Sally Slick knows she’s meant to be more than a Midwestern farm girl. What she wants more than anything is to be an inventor when she grows up—and she has the custom-built racing tractor to prove it. But good girls in 1914 don’t go off to the city in search of adventure. Everything changes when Sally’s big brother comes back from Chicago with a robot in hand and mobsters on his heels. With the help of her friend, wannabe hero Jet Black, Sally will risk everything to protect the people she loves.

Those bad guys are about to get a giant wrench thrown right into their plans.