Am I the death of Kickstarters (aka Thon Kickstarter)

[manatic]

While I'm not happy about Kickstarters failing, I'm hoping that this leads to some positive development and more realism in KS goals - and also makes gamers consider their spending a bit too. It seems that people aren't really pitching in to invest and show their support (you know, one of the basic ideas of crowdfunding) but rather just wading in, looking to get a bunch of minis on the cheap when/if the KS really takes off. When the KS doesn't turn into a bargain extravaganza, they withdraw their pledge. That really makes me sad, as it doesn't matter if a project reaches its funding goal when people start going "wait, actually...there's a more successful KS over there, I'm moving my money over" and quitting their support.

[ink the troll]

What actually happens with stretch goals, if the Kickstarter falls below the target for a stretch goal allready reached due to people cancelling their pledges- do they get locked again?

[tnjrp]

Given it's KS we are talking about, I doubt there are any hard and fast rules about that... Not sure about common practices either. Mongoose I believe has announced that they will do all the stretch goals from their Rogue Trooper KS that were unlocked + the Sourther Staff Car that didn't quite become so before people started pulling out. It's likely that most companies would follow suit but not a given.

[robertsjf]

Mongoose I believe has announced that they will do all the stretch goals from their Rogue Trooper KS that were unlocked + the Sourther Staff Car that didn't quite become so before people started pulling out.

They had already started the ground work on the car and the pillboxes

[Kitsune]

Often wondered - whats to stop someone from piling into a KS for, say, £250,000 to see all of the stretch goals and then cancelling the pledge, just to see what is planned for the KS?

[Major_Gilbear]

Often wondered - whats to stop someone from piling into a KS for, say, £250,000 to see all of the stretch goals and then cancelling the pledge, just to see what is planned for the KS?

 Glad I'm not the only one who wondered that!

[Ithaquatini]

I think that might have happened in Reapers KS to a minimal extent, a few thousand $ to see the next stretch goal, then the total went down.  I forget what the response was to it though. (all those goals were eventually passed anyway of course).

[Love_the_Lash]

Must confess that I had considered the possibility of trolling kickstarters for giggles (which I won't do because I'm not a dick) by pledging monstrous sums and then withdrawing the pledge.

Certainly seems to be a glitch that can be exploited.

[rwwin]

I would imagine that you could only pledge up to the credit limit on whatever card you have attached to your Amazon account.

[tnjrp]

That would probably limit making huge single pledges, yes. Not sure if Amazon allows you to open an account without a viable creadit card tho. OTOH Hundreds of minipledges are limited by the very of having an Amazon account. It would take a serious effort to fabricate masses of them so not many would go through with it just to take the piss out of a KS.

That said, some people have been talking about "KS trolling" which I assume refers to exactly the kind of behaviour where you pledge big without ever intenting to follow through. Not sure how you would determine who is trolling and who just gets disappointed and leaves tho. Maybe the trolls brag about it afterwards.

[rob_alderman]

The KS company can contact any 'trolls' and actually ban them from any future kickstarters.

Prodos Games always wait a little bit, to see if a target is hit. However if trolls are doing that (putting in higher bids than they can actually afford), it means that a company like Prodos who are only starting designs when a stretch-goal is hit, are going to suffer losses...

Prodos Games come from a Business/Marketing background, and also a Graphics Design/Engineering background. They are as open as possible to the consumer and are honest about the cost of their product, without devaluing themselves just because it is a Kickstarter.

[tnjrp]

Not sure if Amazon allows you to open an account without a viable creadit card tho. OTOH Hundreds of minipledges are limited by the very of having an Amazon account. It would take a serious effort to fabricate masses of them so not many would go through with it just to take the piss out of a KS

Hmm, just pledged to a KS and it "phished" my credit card without going through the Amazon account. This system might conceivably allow "pledge spamming" if there is no crossreferencing of credit card numbers that Amazon at least used to run.

[Ramshackle_Curtis]

What actually happens with stretch goals, if the Kickstarter falls below the target for a stretch goal allready reached due to people cancelling their pledges- do they get locked again?

Locked and Unlocked are just jargon. Its not any kind of real thing. The kickstarter guidelines say you have to attempt to fulfill the actual project. Any add ons are not enforced in any way. So a company that sets a stretch goal is just adding marketting to a campaign. If they fail to deliver then, well, you dont trust them in future, but you cannot seek recompense or in anyway hold them to the promise. It is that, a promise, not a contract.

So some companies may uphold a stretch goal that was hit then went under, or they may not. Stretch goals are based (or should be based) on how much proffit comes from the campaign up to that point. For example, it I sell a figure for £1.20, and it costs £1 to make and send out, then I make 20p. If I sell 1000 I make £200. I could then use this to make a new figure, which might cost £100 to commission, £50 to have the mould made and £50 to get enough stock. If I then go under my  1000 required it will cost me out of money not raised by the kickstartet. Maybe this is do-able, maybe its not, but it comes down to how much capital I have to invest outside that I raise in my kickstarter!


It is pretty annoying when backers pull out! Im just glad my campaign worked, Im really excited about getting it all done and sent out!

[beefcake]

Just read on a kickstarter I'm backing about one of the project developers saying they would punch the backers that have given negative feedback if he ever met them. People are unhappy because it was due out October last year and the little updates that come through always say they are 99% finished. Then he goes on to rant about how he has put a load of his own money into the project.  I usually don't get fired up easily and have been perfectly fine with delays but saying you would punch someone for complaining. What a dork.

It's a computer game though not minis.