- It didn't take very long, but I'm finally done with Kickstarter as a thing that I follow. I don't have anything personal against the site. It's just that the system doesn't work for me any more.
- To date, and much to my wife's chagrin, I have backed six projects. Two of them, Double Fine Adventure and Wasteland 2, I backed because they were projects I believed in and I wanted to see happen. I backed Idle Thumbs Podcast because I missed that podcast something crazy and I've always wanted to repay them for all of the joy I got out of it. I backed The Order Of The Stick Reprint Drive because the $25 dollar pledge level came with an obscene amount of perks. And I backed the Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack and Spirit of the Century Presents: The Dinocalypse Trilogy out of a combination of cheap rewards and naked curiosity.
- That won't be happening anymore. Especially with video games. I've been following The Banner Saga, Leisure Suit Larry, Shadowrun Returns, Grim Dawn, and Storybricks as each of them scrambles for their goal. However knowing that I'm putting out money from some eventual payoff on a game that I'm not sure I would even like is a huge gamble. I backed Double Fine because I believe in that team and I love the documentary idea. And I backed Wasteland 2 because I want to see how they interpret an old school RPG the right way. For the rest of those, I rather wait until they are released and decide then. As for the various board and card games I'm following, I already own too many that I never play. I shouldn't be spending some outrageous amount on a product that I won't even get for months.
- I'm sure that something will come up that gets me excited again, something that I want to insure gets made. But until that time, I'm out.
© 2012 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.
Wow, that's a lot to dabble in. I'd have a tough time coming up with the spare time to play that many if they came to fruition. I've backed Wasteland and Shadow Run Returns so far.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you might say that I overdid it. Thus, the very public breakup with the site. I probably should delete my bookmark as well.
DeleteAnd forget the URL.
And the name.
I should probably just delete this post so that it doesn't remind me that it exists at all.
I am a bit weary about kickstarter myself. in theory I love the approach, direct funding without many risks and especially without paying for labels and distributors nesting between the artists and the consumer.
ReplyDeletebut it's grown at such dizzying speed, with more and more projects that look very professional, are in fact not really 'independent' or ask for backup on stuff that isn't essential to their release. half the time I wonder how dependent a project really is on the kickstarter money - not that it's forcing anyone to fund a shady deal, but still the original idea of kickstarter was different (for me). a bit like when ebay & co. started to get flooded by big businesses.
I also resent the current 'trendyness' associated with KS - "hey, I backed 20 projects so far. what are you backing?".....it's like the coolness olympics. I wish I had that much spare money to pledge around, but I don't. it starts with 'only' 1$, but it usually doesn't stay there.
It is a good idea. But just in certain circumstances. I don't mind so much that it's used as a pre-order system, so long as it works toward my interests. But you're right, I hope that original, independant projects don't disappear under the flood of big companies using it.
Delete