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Okay how many of you have sent away for game related stuff or the like? A good example would be with the dragonball z card game with the capsule corp points (proof of purchase) to get exclusive cards. I have always loved the old G.I. Joe flag points, decipher giving out exclusive stuff with star trek, score withd dbz, bandai had exclusive resident evil promo release cards....

My friends and I are working tward a kickstarter. We are having a debate. I would like to solve this with a relevant community voicing an opinion.


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I so put this in the wrong forum....can I get a mod?

Just use it for one-of-a-kind cards- nothing overpowered or must-haves, but still unique. Maybe injokes, or variants of other games' characters or some such.

Thanks for the move

A bad idea for stuff with different rules as people will be justifiable upset (especially if the rules are good)

but not a bad idea for alternate sculpts of figures or 'decorative' bits for bases, art cards etc

GW had the SKULLZ program which was pretty good. Most of the stuff was swag which was not used in the games (beltbuckle, keychains, statues like FW stuff) and the few models they did release were alternate sculpts so you didn't *HAVE* to have them.

While GW is not a great model for a lot of things, this was late 90s, early 2000s when they were very successful.

People hate exclusives for in-game content. Exclusive models are fine as long as it doesn't hurt gameplay.

I'd be fine with alternative models for named guys, but would rather see Proof-of-Purchase rewards be things like shirts and stuff.

Sweet. How often would be too often? Like every 4 months? And how do you all feel about phase outs? Like after a year no longer available, or after a year its on the website for direct purchase?


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BTW unless there is an influx of votes we are just looking at alternative sculpts atm.

GW's loyalty program was before my time, but I've tucked away enough Mantic points for at least one of their lower or mid tier rewards. Would have to plan out future purchases to see if it's worth cashing in early or saving further. So no, I haven't actually used one, yet, but I'm a fan of such programs, generally.

"Spend more, win more" tends to alienate FAR more people than it encourages, so powerful exclusive units are out. Even if balanced, I (and I imagine many others) don't like the idea of exclusive models with exclusive rules. Alternate sculpts of existing models, though, and non-model or even non-gaming items (anything from custom dice and objective markers to game/faction pins or patches to coffee mugs and bottle openers) would be of interest.

As for rotation/phase-outs, I would imagine that models also going up for general sale would be best. A lot gets invested in a sculpt and its subsequent casting, which you don't want going to waste. You'd want to cash in on any overstock or potentially missed sales, if it proved popular but difficult to obtain, initially. New or occasional customers with a shallow pool of points might feel cheated, though, if the items just disappear after a set time. The same is true, if to a lesser degree, of non-gaming items with outsourced production. Don't know how long I'd make the period if you were going for at least temporary exclusivity, but I wouldn't suggest making the rewards limited runs - at least not exclusively.


To work a completely different but potentially relevant angle: If items are available for purchase via money OR points, know that you're putting an exact (if variable) dollar amount on customers' loyalty. It may not happen, but "I bought an army and they gave me a cool character sculpt and a key fob. How nice!" could turn into "I dropped $500 and they said 'spend another $100 and we'll toss you a $3 mug.' Gee, thanks..." Something is generally better than nothing, but token gestures can backfire - got a watch for lengthy service to your company? How nice. As severance pay? The bastards! Happy customers are gracious customers, though, so a well-meaning startup is less likely to run afoul of their customers with such a program than an ambivalence-breeding behemoth. Likewise, the greater the perceived value of normal purchases, the more loyalty rewards seem like icing on the cake.

Look at Mantic's program - based on the Mhorgoth model, which can be purchased with money or points, one Mantic point is equal to about $.50. He costs 25 points, so it's very much a case of "buy several armies, get a free HQ for one of them... with your next purchase." I have piles of Mantic boxes and I still couldn't get him for points. Since "big armies, low cost" is one of their major selling points, though, I'm inclined to simply continue purchasing as I normally would, snagging freebies if and when able, than think "What's the point? I'll just cut my losses and get a signed poster. Wait, I'd have to pay shipping or tack it onto another order? that!"

I would love it under two caveats:

First, that the item in question wasn't so overpowered that it was a guaranteed win. The Methos/Duncan box sets for Highlander were just such 'exclusive items.'

Second, that the items weren't so worthless as to be unusable.

I think a good way to do this might be some kind of alternate sculpt/artwork for minis/cards that was only available through a proof-of-purchase system. THAT might be really awesome. Just an off-the-cuff idea.