Runaway Success, Kickstarter Blues

Careful what you promise, you might get more than you can handle.

Kickstarter First World Blues

First World Problems.. being too successful.. Kickstarter has its fair share, and I honestly thought my little project would be too self contained for such.. but.. here we are, and I'm at 600%+ of funding, facing 300+ hours of work for $5.50 an hour.

My Earlier, colourised, world map.. well, an unfinished part.. 

What went right:

I gathered a decent community of people before I started, I let everyone know months, then weeks in advance, I expected to get 50% of the way there from my own marketing, and maybe 25% from the kick on effect of that, then I'd have to promote it to cross the finish line.

I hoped to learn 3 things.. How to set up marketing for a kickstarter.. How to Run a kickstarter, and finally how to push through the funding, chasing the market to cross the finish line..

two out of three ain't bad.. but this new lesson, well that's gonna teach me.

What went wrong:

I was woefully unprepared to succeed.

I moved my goals around in the first 48 hours, which lost me a little respect.

I added a new tier without properly calculating the plausible (and now actual) end result, and I didn't do my math on the results of that new tier, adding 80% more work, for very little increase in payment.

What Happened?

Kickstarter, kickstarter happened, exactly as its meant to.

Kickstarter has an internal algorithm, If you hit certain thresholds within certain time frames, their system promotes your project. People spot it, and if they like it, they'll back it.

Because I had funded in the first 24 hours, I got an initial bump, I saw a bunch of new and increased pledges in that period as the news went out to 'saved' backers, so KS internal advertising was promoting my project.

I was hitting 10 pledges a day or so.. some, maybe 3 from external sources,  and the rest from internal search engines. Meaning, if someone came to kickstarter to browse the projects, mine was bumping into 10th place average, people were finding it often and pledging often..

External vs Internal.
Kickstarter works by having people come and pledge, if they don't come, existing pledgers might pledge, but since they have already and recently, they might have spent their monthly/quarterly amount, so kickstarter is likely to prioritize external pledges as being more of an advertising boost for them, as a result, by my staggered posts to several locations about my project, meant I was bringing in a steady stream of backers.. so kickstarter was rewarding me by keeping my project high up in the charts.

Higher than Average follow on pledges.
When someone backs a project, similar products are posted in the spot below your success screen. The problem here might be, after backing a $100 board game, I'm done for the month, so I'm unlikely to back another $100 board game.. BUT.. at $4 a map, I was in the sweet spot of.. just 1 more thing, and inexpensive.. so as often as not, I think, people were spotting my project and deciding that little bit extra was worth it.

How do I know all this? Well that's why I did a kickstarter.. to discover how their metrics work. They use a different link mechanic to record each and every backer, where they came from. If a backer spotted my project from the screen of another project.. I can see which project lead to them choosing mine.

A Break down of what happened and When:

(Apologies, Kickstarter doesn't give out data until later so I had to rig up this, which is in reverse)

The First 16 hours.. to 120% funding.

The Purple is the "make 100" limited pledge, light purple are people pledging at $4, dark purple are people pledging above $4, and red are people adjusting their $4 pledge later, I wanted to see the typical level of people understanding what they are doing up front, vs coming back and pledging more later.. (doesn't yet take into account the shift from dark purple to red, just the increase)

So far so good. People tend to be pledging at the amount they intend to pledge at, the red 'adjustment' at the beginning stays true for most of this part of the graph, that person was the first pledge, who adjusted up, not realizing he could from the very beginning.

M) The first pledge for 'just a map' it increases at maybe 2 pledges a day for the first 3 days.

A) You can (sorta) see here the jagged increases as people realise they can pledge above the base $4, some friends and family who've come in with their first backing at $10 bring up the darker purple line, A0, A1 and A2 are people pledging $10 or $12, they've got an idea of what they want on the map, and know how much they need.. so hopefully my descriptions were on par, people understand what the 'rules' were and followed along.

Between A2 and B), there are a number of people just joining with increased their pledges, note the dark purple bump up a few times.. they can see 'oooh, look, I can jump from $4 to $6 to help fund the goal.

The Psychology of wanting something to succeed is all well and good, but if you don't give people the tools to do so, how can they. People here have pledged the minimum, but to get it higher, they either need to go out of their comfort zone and sell it to their friends.. OR they can just give a little more.. yet.. what will they get for this little more, you need to reward people, just a little reward, to increase their pledge.

13 days of funding, 630%, 20 hours to go... 

Now, the next stage in the process.. the goal has been achieved.. but I had 12 days left.. How to keep it going?

Kickstarter has this stretch goal system, adding more and improving your product to raise more capita, Its not directly created by kickstarter, it was done by some board game projects and has just become 'the done thing'. I didn't expect to have to do this, so my initial stretch goals were just 'pie in the sky' thoughts, but now.. at almost $400, I had to consider, I was actually going to hit $500.. I needed to have more realistic goals... AND means to achieve them.

So I added in the $3 Easter Egg pledge.. (I named it 'a little thing' but later I couldn't change the name, another lesson learned) but.. note the rocky road after.. no.1 was the first cancelled pledge, there were some adjustment pledges in there, people giving up their $4 pledge for a $2 map, but straight away, it gets snapped up (99 of 100 taken.. 1 left... fear of missing out.. people jumped on it)

People who had backed before, were not 100% keen on the change, some voiced it, some acted on it. My experience is, for every 1 person that does something, 25 people are thinking it. I hope I addressed the concern in my next update message, that I had no intention of diluting the project, I just didn't want anyone to miss out.

C) from here starts The New Yellow Wedge, the new $3 Easter Egg pledge, which as you can see goes as strong as the map pledge.

D) Some people like to help out, this was a map pledge +, just helping the project to get to the $750 tier.

E, F and G) Once it was understood that there were no real bounds.. some people just started pledging crazy amounts, some, to break the rules of the map (which was allowed.. i.e. you pay for it, I'll break it) and some want whole kingdoms of stuff going on..

For 200+ backers, I've had only 5 cancelled pledges.. I understand this is very very good, but maybe in the last 24 hours, some might quickly jump out. (I understand some advertising companies, pledge to access your details, then back out in the last 24 hours)

So there I am..

The graph doesn't show, someone bought the map, and pushed the total to $1830 at the time of writing..  have 20 hours left of the project, so if you've just seen this pop up in your feed and want to grab a final slice of the pie, feel free.

I don't know where this will go from here. There is enough interest, so I'll likely post a drivethuRPG map PDF for $4 or something fair to the backers (can't have it cheaper than the KS price), Many of the backers have asked I do another.. which I'll consider. but won't have it as cheap as this (I'd like to gauge what kind of interest people would have if it was twice the price...)

KICKSTARTED!

So, I was umming and ahhing about what to do as my first Kickstarter..

Something small, easy to deal with, easy to produce, just enough to cut my teeth but not too much if it got a bit crazy

Then I saw the Make 100 Challenge.. only make 100 of something..

Well I said.. I can do that!

So I DID!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1203688183/make-100-fantasy-locations

Its Simple Enough, I'm going to draw 100 locations on a map, so fellow GMs and Authors and Artists and anyone interested, can just have a cool little map for their own.

I draw these kinds of maps for people from time to time as commissions, I've charged as much as $200 for them, its usually 10 hours of drawing after 25+ hours of preparation and discussion with the author / games designer. So its not too far off what I've done before.

The Interesting part (for me) is getting 100 different locations into the map, I'll have to sort them out, structure them, get a feel for what goes where, interpret them from some backers it might be confusing mess..

So lets see where this goes. I'll post some thoughts on Kickstarting a project and How it all works out in the coming weeks.

Heres the Kicktraq for it

DD12 Cataclyzm Playtest Diary II

I've been playtesting Cataclyzm to get a feel for how the game flows well, as its not a traditional roleplay and has moments where even I as GM get fazed and left wondering if I'm making a fun game or forcing an idea. So I decided to blog my thoughts..

DD12 Cataclyzm Playtest Diary #2

The Bleak Rocky Landscape of Cataclyzm

Ok, So this week was a bit of a bummer..

A) With a two something week hiatus from Christmas and New Years, we all sorta forgot where we left things.

B) We were down 50% of the group, Normally I would cancel if I know that 50% are not coming, its the threshold, too many decisions are left unanswered with half the group being mute torch bearers.

So, when half your group is going to miss out on XP, plot, mapping, adventure.. how can you continue? Side-Quests!

except.. and this is probably where Cataclyzm is lacking right now..

In a bleak, rocky, dark, nothing terrain, there are no side quests.. yet..

Normally I have a backstory for the world, whats going on in nearby villages, what things are problematic for the locals. I've had brave peasants ask the very high level heroes to dispatch goblin camps, for a few gold they managed to scrape together. Or on the other end, I've had lower level characters asked if they feel up to taking out the evil wizard that has set up a lair in the mountains, complete with crypts, graveyards and some giant undead dragon guarding the front door.

Its up to the players to gather the information and make an informed decision on if they want to take on a side quest.

But here I was, 3 players, ready to play, I have zero side quests. Nothing..

So, my fall-back.. character development.. While camping between travel, what do your characters talk about? Who ARE you? This was a little lacking, as 3 players down, meant we'd have to repeat all this again next week.

So what else could I focus the plot on? Starvation..

Cataclyzm is supposed to start getting your characters thinking about where they are, what they are doing.. walking around looking for food is the draw card to get players to move, look around, find stuff. sometimes horrid stuff..

They went back to the Turtle thing from the previous week, poked it with a stick, got some flesh from the carcas, but then promptly discarded it when they realised it'd likely be off.. They tried to clear some of it, so they could use the shell as a huge shield or something, but that acid blood kept them at bay (the idea, not any actual acid blood)

Eventually, they decided to carve their bone clubs into weapons.. Now, I was thinking, this is where it'll get interesting.. cept it didn't really..

The Skills system in DD12 is more static than full Dungeonworld, and as a result, crafting rules are less creative and more 'roll=>pass=>apply modifier', I'm thinking, at the very least, DD12 Cataclyzm would need the full crafting rules..

Thats an aspect of the differences that I've been working for..

Lets say your players LOVE combat, combat stats, working the numbers.. so they start with DD12, then add the DW-combat system into it, the rest of the rules on all other stats and skills are DD12, nice, simple, clean, easy.. but combat, uses all the bells and whistles..

Eventually when all 12 rule sets are structured, it'll all work nicely, but until its all built. its a mishmash of rules and broken mechanics.. work needs to be done, play-testing needs to be done.. and it all takes time.

The Encounter rolls were interesting.. first they found a fellow human, I rolled aggression and got way above 20, so this 'thing' was an insane leftover warrior.. he'd lost his tribe, gone nutz and was just eating anything and anyone he fought.. I adjusted his health to account for the battles he'd gone through, even still, he fought a good fight before going down. The group gained some battle scarred weapons and armour, that'll likely help them for a fight or two.


Next was a Wraith.. The point to rolling up things that are impossible to battle, is to show how the world works.. The Wraith had no life-force, its very existance was eating away at itself, exertion, of any kind, just drained itself away to nothing.. the players managed to startle the thing into moving, which caused 8 of its last 10 HP to blurr away into nothing.. the players figured it out, but decided to try a different approach, and they used their crystals. One player now has a red "wraith infused" crystal.

While I was GMing, I was asking myself.. what would other GMs do? How can I make sure Cataclyzm is playable by other GMs with less experience, less creativity?

I'm thinking of making several random charts, with random effects, but after playing a few games with decks of cards, I feel the aesthetic of drawing a card from a deck, so players get a sense of what it is they are facing too, is very pleasing and adds to the game play.

Roll on a chart for a base monster.. ok you got a Wraith, its 7th level, the group is 3rd, so draw two flaw cards, the 1st?: Slow.. ok cool.. and 2nd? dying.. niiice, ok, so my players now have a chance to defeat it, and I don't have to re-roll. 

The Twelve Archtypes of Christmas

Having a new player watch the game, who can't make up their mind as to what to play, You start with something simple, but then suggest increasingly complex character choices..

On the First Day of Roleplay, My GM said to me:
Play as a Warrior in Chain.

On the Second Day of Roleplay, my GM offered me:
Game as a Ranger, or just
Play as a Warrior in Chain

On the Third Day of Roleplay, my GM offered me:
to Sneak like a Rogue,
Game like a Ranger, or just
Play as a Warrior in Chain

On the Fourth Day of Roleplay, my GM offered me:
to Pray like a Priest
Sneak like a Rogue,
Game like a Ranger, or just
Play as a Warrior in Chain

On the Fifth Day of Roleplay, my GM offered me:
a Spell Caaaasting Maaaaaaage,
Pray like a Priest

Sneak like a Rogue,
Game like a Ranger,
or just
Play as a Warrior in Chain

On the Sixth Day of Roleplay, my GM offered me:
a Snooty Elven Noble,
Spell Caaaasting Maaaaaaage,
to Pray like a Priest

Sneak like a Rogue,
Game like a Ranger,
or just
Play as a Warrior in Chain

On the Seventh Day of Roleplay, my GM offered me:
a Book Academic,

Snooty stuck up Noble,

Spell Caaaasting Maaaaaaage,
to Pray like a Priest

Sneak like a Rogue,
Game like a Ranger,
or just
Play as a Warrior in Chain

On the Eighth Day of Roleplay, my GM offered me:
a Short Dwarven Blacksmith,

Book Academic,

Snooty Elven Noble,

Spell Caaaasting Maaaaaaage,
to Pray like a Priest

Sneak like a Rogue,
Game like a Ranger,
or just
Play as a Warrior in Chain

On the Ninth Day of Roleplay, my GM offered me:
to Haggle as a Merchant,

Short Dwarven Blacksmith,

Book Academic,

Snooty Elven  Noble,

Spell Caaaasting Maaaaaaage,
to Pray like a Priest

Sneak like a Rogue,
Game like a Ranger,
or just
Play as a Warrior in Chain

On the Tenth Day of Roleplay, my GM offered me:
to Croon like a Bard,

Haggle as a Merchant,
Short Dwarven Blacksmith,

Book Academic,

Snooty Elven Noble,

Spell Caaaasting Maaaaaaage,
to Pray like a Priest

Sneak like a Rogue,
Game like a Ranger,
or just
Play as a Warrior in Chain

On the Eleventh Day of Roleplay, my GM offered me:

a Medieval Doctor,

Croon like a Bard,
Haggle as a Merchant,
Short Dwarven Blacksmith,

Book Academic,

Snooty Elven Noble,

Spell Caaaasting Maaaaaaage,
to Pray like a Priest

Sneak like a Rogue,
Game like a Ranger,
or just
Play as a Warrior in Chain

On the Twelfth Day of Roleplay, my GM offered me:
a Mind Bending Mystic,

Medieval Doctor,

Croon like a Bard,
Haggle as a Merchant,
Short Dwarven Blacksmith,

Book Academic,

Snooty Elven Noble,

Spell Caaaasting Maaaaaaage,
to Pray like a Priest

Sneak like a Rogue,
Game like a Ranger,
or just
Play as a Warrior in Chain

Happy New Year to All

Happy 2019 to everyone, those whom are reading this, those who are not, and everyone in between.

Do you celebrate New Years in your game / world?

Every now and then, I check the notes of the calendars of my world and see if its appropriate that locals are having a festival.

Festivals are important for people, to mark the passage of time, If you want to really get into this, go interview some people in small towns about their local festivals, how they plan it, how much time is put into it, and what they do inbetween time.. often its 'plan the next festival'

If we look at modern times, what with the work week, schedules, productivity and such, we've lost a lot of good ole fashioned festivals. We've managed to hang on to a few religious ones, a few non religious ones and some cross-overs.. such as Christmas, New Years and Easter.

Christmas and Easter, might be a tad hard to just plonk into your world, Maybe a great hero from a great time, might have stood for some goal, and people celebrate his birth and death, but I think its a fair call to say that marking the passage of time, the end of the year, would be universal.

So what do your folks do for New years? Local Wizards blowing off some fireworks spells?

In Estonia, we walked to the gravestones of ancestors and gave thanks, said hello. So maybe witches might summon up the spirits and communicate each year?

Russian New years is kinda like Australian Christmas, hand out pressies, eat a big meal, stay up to midnight and give your besty a hug before falling asleep somewhere that's not often your bed.

What of the aftermath, Russian New years is 10 days long, no-one goes to work, they just stay indoors, eating, drinking and so on, If your adventurers arrived in town mid-festival, would they find closed shops? full Inns? people sleeping in the street?

How about mid adventure...

"Hang on guys, before we enter the next room and solve the traps and kill the monsters, I'd just like to say a few words and count-down for New Years, about how much I appreciate you all!"