Reply To: Kickstarter fatique……

[midnightblueParticipant 1300xp 1]

I’ve backed (and am backing) way, way too many Kickstarters.

I agree with what others have said…it’s here, it’s probably the predominant means of producing games these days, even from well-established companies, and it would be a crime not to discuss them on a gaming website/forum.

That said, from a gamer who used to truly love roaming his FLGS shelves and aisles to see what new game/supplement came out recently…Kickstarter has killed that aspect of gaming enjoyment for me.  There are very few games I buy today that don’t hit store shelves without going through KS first.

The “KS delay” would be the other aspect that is starting to fatigue me on that format.  As a general rule, KS is a process meant to get funding to create a project.  Therefore that project is going to take time, and time beyond an “estimated” delivery date is also to be expected.  My problem comes in two varieties.  One, the excitement I felt for a project for a year or more before its release has not always lasted until the project hits my doorstep.  Two, companies who use this as their primary format don’t always plan for the long haul with their KS developments in mind.  I won’t name names, but in at least one case, I received an overdue KS RPG book after the process for a revised edition of the core rules had begun.  And then with this same company, I received an overdue KS RPG book after the announcement that the entire core system was going to a new edition.

I know I’m not the strapping young lad I was when I first grabbed D&D 1E, and with all the amazing RPG (and minis games) we are seeing, I’m not suggesting we go back to those barebones days.  But I’m having a hard time keeping up.

I really envy folks that can just buy a single game, become fully engaged with it, and never feel the need to try anything else.  My “gotta have them all” personality is suffering in the days of KS.

As for fatigue from hearing about Kickstarter projects, I can’t really say I’m there.  After all, KS is merely the financing/advertising/distribution format chosen by the game companies.  I guess it would be like me saying, “I’m tired of hearing about Amazon products.”  If KS is where the games are, then as a gaming addict, I need to hear about KS projects.

Now if the question becomes, “Is KS helping or hurting the gaming/game store industry?”  I’d have a few things to say there in the negative, for sure.

Great OP topic, by the way.