So I was browsing kickstarter and indigogo the other night and thinking about how I could use it to help focus my efforts once I am back.
What I am thinking is that it's a fantastic way to go big and do some really polished, high production cost things that I always dreamed of doing.
First though, I think I will use it to fund a small miniature production or two just to get used to the kickstarter process and do something I can deliver without effort.
So when I say big, I am talking things like modular plastic kits in full color printed boxes. Boxed set rules with dice, tokens, figures, cards, measuring gizmos and full color glossy handbooks. Commissioning artists we love to do wot dey do. Game apps.
Big stuff. Stuff that requires me to hire hirelings and actually pay them money.
This kinda thing is all possible now. It's daunting but amazing too.
In the near future I want to do some digital prints now that my caster has low temp silicon. It seems silly not to use my decade plus years experience modeling digital characters. This could be a good opportunity to experiment with modular models with a goal of resin or plastic production. That's the beauty of kick starter. No risk production.
I have made a few posts about how I would run d&d and warhammer to both better fans and profits... The response is positive. Shall I put my money where my mouth is and get serious? Shall I kick start a business that goes beyond one guy pushing putty around in his spare time?
Is tantalizing stuff. The idea of having money enough to make something special. Something you know folk actually want because they paid in advance.
Tempting.
I think starting small with something you know you can deliver easily is the best bet. That way you earn a good reputation and can build on that with the next kickstarter.
ReplyDeleteI dont know if youve been watching Tre with the various Red Box kickstarters, Warploque's and Ramshackle Games efforts. There are lessons to learn from each I think.
Can we even use kickstart in Australia? Indiegogo really seems to be the poor relation and attracts no where near the same attention.
"Shall I put my money where my mouth is and get serious? Shall I kick start a business that goes beyond one guy pushing putty around in his spare time?"
ReplyDeleteI think you already know the answer to the question.
I'm not a RPG guy so I can't really comment on your plans in that direction but I would love to see (and support) you doing more old skool figures and accessories along the lines of Bederken.
ReplyDeleteWhatever you decide I'm sure it'll be a hit, not to mention suitably quirky. A game-in-a-box would be hard work, but if properly realised absolutely amazing. The excitement I felt when I bought Space Hulk a few years back was almost childlike; for some reason box sets do that to me! Maybe because I busted my gaming cherry with HQ?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I haven't offered my condolences on your recent loss which I would like to do now. Very sorry indeed: I'm sure that family and hobby will help you to cope through this difficult time.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI'd definitely recommend the start small approach. Take a look at Curtis Fell and Ramshackle Games for example. He's now launched two very successful campaigns, the first to release an expansion to Nuclear Renaissance and the second a new faction for the game. Both succeeded at least in part to the fact he had plentiful images of completed sculpts and a solid product rather than the likes of the new Rick Preistly game which floundered due to only having very nebulous information on it.
I have also heard that you really need to go through your sums before a launch as some of the hugely successful projects found that despite getting lots of cash, by the time they got all the stretch goals and freebies out the way, they made a rather hefty loss.
I'm hoping to launch a small kickstarter in the next few months for my Rusty Robots and am aiming for a very limited campaign featuring about a dozen models for one faction and maybe one or two stretch goals rather than a massive one for a full game. That way I can concentrate on each faction in separate campaigns that that are spread over a year or so. This will hopefully ensure that I dont get overwhelmed with work!
Whatever you do I can't wait to see what you come up with as Skulldred looks great and fits in nicely with a bit more complexity than song of blades but not overwhelmingly so. Also some new figures, be they plastic, resin or metal would be great as long as they had a bit of character!
All the best!
Oh yes definitely start small for the first campaigns, and lots of info, vids and Greens!
ReplyDeleteIt's a dream of mine to do a boxed set game, as thats how I got into dnd originally!
Doing the math carefully is a great tip. I wonder about all these stretch goals people offer. Seems risky to pile up the work like that. Diverts effort and focus from the core project.
I love how kickstarter can help people kick start projects that otherwise would have taken years to get to the level they are now, but am sometimes surprised how badly some are prepared.
ReplyDeleteSome well thought out examples are the coolminiornot and reaper kickstarters, for which, allthough they were backed by a large company, the campaign was done very well, as well as that the math and production schedule had apparently been worked out quite nicely.
I like your idea of starting with some small projects and will defenitly follow those. But building up some more fame is defenitly a good idea before going for a big box.
A boxed set sounds great and I would love it, not only because I got also in this hobby via heroques and the D&D boxes.
Also my condolences with you recent loss, I haven't followed you blog for a whil, but still would like to wish you all the best.