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Buzzsaw, thanks for this OP (and the addendum). It's detailed, informative, and well worth saving for future reference for anyone considering running a kickstarter campaign!

At some point it might be worth making into an article, or even just another thread with a more generic version- "Kickstarter approaches" or the like. I am a little sick of hearing about Through the Breach but I find the lessons learned from it and other campaigns fantastic and very interesting.

 Alfndrate wrote:
Bob, between the simple grammatical mistakes, the underhanded conspiracy comments, and the general tone of the posts between you and I, I think we're done here. Besides, it's clear you and I have different definitions of casual gamer and until we agree on that, we'll never agree in this argument.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 cincydooley wrote:
I feel like this is something they should have announced sooner than 2 weeks before the due date.

Yeah, though to be fair, I think you and I were talking with Mack a bit in the TtB thread and asked about the plushies for EBO, and he said that they weren't in yet. It could be that he simply wasn't aware of that aspect of things since EBO wasn't his baby, it was Justin's. Though they do work together, I'm sure the topic of EBO came up. I understand they pay a lot in shipping overseas, but I almost think that with this blunder that they should send out everything else, and send the plushies last. I'm also very surprised we haven't seen digital sculpts of the minis coming with it.

Right on. Weird how such a small company compartmentalizes so much. Personally, I'm of the opinion that I'd rather they junk the plushie if it's causing such issues. Hopefully they can chalk this up to "lesson learned" and wont have similar problems for the 450ish folks that are getting one of those burlap sack dolls

2nd the surprise on not seeing any kind of sculpt for the stretch minis yet. Who are we getting again? Jack the Ripper and....?

I don't know who is making the plushies for the EBO, but I believe the company name for the wicked doll was captioned under the picture for it.

I think we're getting Jack the Ripper, Eric the Red, and Lizzie Borden?

 Alfndrate wrote:
Bob, between the simple grammatical mistakes, the underhanded conspiracy comments, and the general tone of the posts between you and I, I think we're done here. Besides, it's clear you and I have different definitions of casual gamer and until we agree on that, we'll never agree in this argument.

Yeah, you're right. I re-read my earlier posts and I was being an hole. I apologize.



Something I think is important for a successful kickstarter is a "big tent" of pledge levels or add-ons for people who simply do not want the main attraction. Usually this takes the form of an entry-level pledge for roaming backers-in-waiting to dive on, such as a pdf rulebook or $25 worth of minis to get the KS foot in the door. Sometimes, however, it can take the form of a base pledge ($1 or some shipping cost) that allows customers to purchase stretch goals or add-ons. Mantic's Kickstarters had multiple levels for just rules, just minis, both, add-ons or whatever. KDM went even further and included homage figures that tied into popular games to tap already existing markets outside of his own. Trollforged offered bases to get people who don't care for space worms to pledge, and many backers ended up pledging more as more value was added to the Host and Queen levels. DFG had pledges for just troops, just walkers, smaller walkers, vehicles, etc. to appeal to people who might not be after a giant robot, or not just a giant robot.

I was pretty annoyed to see Santana Ortega being given away to entice pledges. As a Henchmen I had to work my butt off to earn one and to see it being tossed out as an incentive for this was kind of a slap in the face.

ooberallen wrote:
I was pretty annoyed to see Santana Ortega being given away to entice pledges. As a Henchmen I had to work my butt off to earn one and to see it being tossed out as an incentive for this was kind of a slap in the face.

While there are just as many henchmen that feel the same way you do, there are just as many henchmen that feel as I do, Santana was given to us as a thank you (remember you did get something else out of running all of those events too), and this was given out as a thank you as well. Besides, being a henchman isn't about getting paid in gifts or other such compensation, it's about spreading a game you enjoy.

Buzzsaw, Thanks for this article. We have been looking at doing a kickstarter and I think your analysis and the feedback from everyone has been great!

My familiarity with Wyrd has been mostly second-hand. I've purchased a grand total of one miniature from them but would occasionally check in on their various product lines to see if anything caught my fancy.

When I first read about their kickstarter campaign I jumped to the TtB page as soon as I saw the link. Fully expecting to find a plethora of new miniature concepts or prototypes, I was a bit disappointed to see an RPG since, typically, I don't involve myself much with those (for lack of options). While disappointing it was not immediately off-putting. I'd purchased RPG books before, knowing full well they'd likely never be used for their intended purpose; if the quality of the book was sufficient, I'd happily invest.

I had always wondered about Malifaux and there never seemed to be any shortage of people praising its quality or that of Wyrd themselves. It was a brand I was told I could trust and was eager to learn what this KS campaign could offer, minis or not. In fact I viewed the RPG book as a potential good starting point to explore and jump into Malifaux the miniatures game.

There was nothing immediately off-putting, like I said, but as I kept reading and discovered the time sensitive nature of pledging required to unlock Miss T., the high cost of entry to any but the lowest tier, as well as the lack of, what I consider, content or even incentives for the campaign I was disheartened. Of all the talk about companies using kickstarter campaigns as nothing more than a pre-order system, this was the first that I would categorize as such. The book was going to be made and, really, the campaign as it stood would have no effect on the finished product.

I decided not to pledge and dismissed the whole notion.

 Dentry wrote:
When I first read about their kickstarter campaign I jumped to the TtB page as soon as I saw the link. Fully expecting to find a plethora of new miniature concepts or prototypes, I was a bit disappointed to see an RPG since, typically, I don't involve myself much with those (for lack of options).

May I ask how you heard about the kickstarter? Because all of Wyrd's promotions for the thing (facebook, twitter, their website), my thread here on dakka, even other sites like tabletop gaming news all say, Through the Breach: A Malifaux RPG.

 Alfndrate wrote:
May I ask how you heard about the kickstarter? Because all of Wyrd's promotions for the thing (facebook, twitter, their website), my thread here on dakka, even other sites like tabletop gaming news all say, Through the Breach: A Malifaux RPG.

Sure. It was through an email from a friend of mine. He basically told me it was something I might enjoy since he knew of my passing interest in Wyrd and my recent kick on kickstarters.

 Dentry wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:
May I ask how you heard about the kickstarter? Because all of Wyrd's promotions for the thing (facebook, twitter, their website), my thread here on dakka, even other sites like tabletop gaming news all say, Through the Breach: A Malifaux RPG.

Sure. It was through an email from a friend of mine. He basically told me it was something I might enjoy since he knew of my passing interest in Wyrd and my recent kick on kickstarters.

Okay, fair enough

ooberallen wrote:
I was pretty annoyed to see Santana Ortega being given away to entice pledges. As a Henchmen I had to work my butt off to earn one and to see it being tossed out as an incentive for this was kind of a slap in the face.

Considering the number of people who commented on having bought theirs off ebay, I got the distinct feeling that either HM earning multiples was the rule rather than the exception, or a lot of HM worked their butts off for a tidy $100-200+ bonus to their soul stone allotment.

Please note, I am by no means disparaging those hardy souls who committed to dozens if not hundreds of hours of tournaments, leagues, contests and demos to earn those figures, and was a vocal champion in several threads that they should be permitted to do what they wished with them.

And after having had exclusive access to them for several months, the general community got a shot at them (including HM if they felt they wanted more on hand) with a minimum buyin of $125 ($158 if outside of the US) and an estimated delivery date of September (but hopefully August or earlier), they will have been in HM hands for nearly a year before the rest go 'into the wild', as it were.

Is having something first for up to a year (given the EBO KS delays, possibly even longer) and given for 'free' (on top of efforts already being rewarded at a standard rate) not enough?

Following the advice above, I'm working to convert this into an article. Question: are there any specific topics people would like added? Bearing in mind the article will not be focused on TtB specifically, but be a more general article on what tends to work in campaigns.

The article sounds awesome. I'm not sure of any additional topics to add, but I'm looking forward to seeing this made into a more general look at Kickstarter success/failure/tactics.

You might also want to look into this Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/138469072961355/

Is it going to be more 'What Not to Do' or a 'How To' on kickstarters?

That's a rather interesting summary.

I plan on starting a kickstarter for my own RPG project, so it gives me something to think about to be sure.

 Dentry wrote:
Is it going to be more 'What Not to Do' or a 'How To' on kickstarters?

It's more of a tips and tricks, like, "these are things that have worked, and these are things that didn't work, and these are the things that were changed to make those things start to work."

Cyporiean wrote:You might also want to look into this Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/138469072961355/

Thanks! A lot of interesting information in there.

Alfndrate wrote:

 Dentry wrote:
Is it going to be more 'What Not to Do' or a 'How To' on kickstarters?

It's more of a tips and tricks, like, "these are things that have worked, and these are things that didn't work, and these are the things that were changed to make those things start to work."

Ehhhh, more like what paradigms I have observed. I think it would be presumptuous of me (since I haven't run a campaign) to write a pure "how-to". New patterns are always arising, but it's interesting to see how the information here applies, for example, to Beyond the Gates of Antares;


The early spike is reminiscent of TtB and other campaigns that build initial numbers off of fans and other low-threshold backers, and the mini-bump on January 8? Seems to nicely coincide with the reveal of the first green for the project.

Excellent article. Little surprised to see a link to my quote.