Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I guess the wild days of 48hour final rushes are not much happening anymore in kickstarters...

Maybe there is too many kickstarters happening on top of each other nowadays and the backers have to be more choosy where to put their money now?

Also, the expectations of the backers now might be a tad too high. If it's not 4 million KS, it is a failure...?

I think the CMON kickstarters are starting to get to the point where people are being asked to buy games in the future, while still waiting on multiple CMON kickstarters they already have. Rather than the kickstarters seeming like they add value, they seem instead to be reducing the value of games. Yeah, you get a bunch of exclusives, but it seems to piss off players more than reward them (putting exclusives on the optional buys just means that you end up missing some, and if you miss some, you start to be okay with missing all). You are basically preordering a game for a year in the future, spending hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on a promise. Most people I see doing these things always have the justification that if they don't like it, they can make a profit selling the exclusives on eBay - I hope the market never falls out on that.

As such, I think the CMON kickstarters are all front loaded now, as I think most people know within the first day whether they are interested. The rising success of the kickstarters are less about getting new buyers in, and more about offering new optional buys so that the early customers raise their bid and give more money. They are less about getting a little bit from a bunch of people and now about getting a lot from a few.

I'm not a fan of how many stretch goals end up tied to optional purchases. I know it's to appeal to the FOMO aspects of the collector types, and it bugs me.

I'm still undecided. I let both the original AQ and Inferno go for a nice princely sum at auction, but we all enjoyed it and I wouldn't have minded having a new version to play.

The SciFi theme isn't resonating with me or family members as much either. A shame.

It is annoying , but since everybody had begun to realise that it was stupid to buy the expansion at full price (or more) from CMON during the KS when most would end up cheaper at online discounters

(Edit: well in the US anyway)

This meant some stuff started to miss retail as insufficient pre-orders mean they (and the distributors) thought the expansions wouldn't sell

so not only did they make less cash their Retail and those KS backers who had waited were unhappy

this way they drive expansion sales, and perversely make them more likely to show up later (if they've ordered enough to hit the 'pretty cheap to order a few more' number)

As a former CMON backer who has skipped a few lately it quit a few things.

1. Art style, Chiba is not my style and I really disliked the zombicide in space art style of aliens.
2. Wrong topics, nice again chili, but also Cthulhu are not my thing
3. The deal doesn’t seam to be there, as stated above, you have to buy all expansions to get it all the exclusives. Initial costs higher.
4. Timing, new Kickstarter starting right when the last one hit.
5. GW is back on track, while I still haven’t jumped on the GW train (except Bloodbowl), CMON and others really blossomed while the beast slept.

I like the art style, but a lot seem not to (especially as it doesn't fit with the previous AQ stuff)

and I'll agree 100% it feeling like there are too many, too fast

(on checking this is actually wrong with CMON being pretty steady as they've done 4 + AQ:Riders in 2018, and 4 each in in 2017 & 16, 5 in 2015 & 14)

but it's not helped with there being more other expensive big box projects around I might want to back instead

and as you say more cool stuff from GW means less money to spend on KS (and less interest too as you can probably get something new every couple of months rather than once a year or less)

I actually prefer SQ art style to AQ style. AQ was really blocky and ugly to my eyes. SQ is a bit more rounded and closer to SDE style, which I prefer in Chibi. I wouldnt have taken part in this KS if SQ had been in similar style as AQ.

I'm more or less quit GW games, so my hobby money can go to various boardgames instead. The only thing on my radar really is the 40K hero quest game (which is a boardgame).

yet another expansion, but a popular one

I think the 48 hour rush isn't there because CMON pre-announces its KS more than your typical KS.

While AQ is a successful franchise, iirc, it doesn't need as many duplicate sculpts as, say, Zombicide and Massive Darkness, so ends up more expensive per miniature. Both StarQuest and Zombicide: Invader didn't do as well as their previous KS (I'm sure some BGG'ers are still calling SQ a success), but I dunno if its from franchise fatigue, or the sf theme.

I'm waiting for Project Elite, myself. And maybe CMON's announcement of that game has lost sales from StarQuest. Eh, they'll still find some way to get your money!

CMON is to the point they make exclusive extensions now...I definitely agree with those saying CMON is now all about getting money from a very specific (and rich) fanbase, and nothing else. Result is here : SQ is well funded, no doubt, but the magic of the first Arcadia campaigns is definitely gone.

I hate the exclusive nonsense of CMON, but I understand why they exist. Indeed, it's easier to get the stuff once it hits retail at a discount, with all these backers selling their unwanted rewards and retailer backers taking advantage of the situation for a short time. So, no other choice than making things exclusive to keep backers pledging. A spiral CMON made themselves, and I don't think it will end soon sadly. Will only get worse.

I think the most blatant IP rip-offs like aliens, stormtroopers and so on need to be KS exclusive. It might be a too big risk to put those expansions on store shelves in case of IP dispute?

I mean there is a reason that all of the core game figures are original and not spoofs of something famous. That makes it safer to sell the core game without worrying about IP lawyers lining up behind your door?

It might be easier to get away with IP rip off stuff when it is contained in the KS (and even then CMON has had to change the looks of some models, from time to time...)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
After seeing the aliens... erm, Zenith, I've got an overwhelming urge to chibify my Space Hulk game...

A mixture of Zenith and other aliens from the bad guys to use as "genestealers" and a bunch of heroes as the "terminators".

I'm not worrying that the heroes won't look like termies. I'm just using the rules for them. So a termie w/ storm bolter is just a guy with blaster. A termie w/ lightning claws is just a dude with 2 lazer swords. And so on, and so forth...

Best result for the alien side would be if I purchased 2 Zenith invasion boxes, but I haven't decided yet. Adding some Scuttlebuts and Octo-whatevers beside the Zenith could work fine instead. As long as they don't have ranged weapons it's all cool.

kind of a big boss monster



12 hours to go

Leia is a good final SG for the campaign, but we should get at least one more after her.

And the chinese money should give us at least one extra SG (I think in Zcide:Invader we got 1 extra SG because of China).

Well, after Leia we got Terminator and Robocop. And bunch of scenarios and the box that were asked in the comments section repeatedly.

Just got my Pledge Manager email so they're starting to go out


complete by 1st November 2018 so a fairly short window compared to some CMON PMs I've used in the past so something to be aware of especially if your not based in the USA (as if you miss it the stuff will ship from the US not a local hub and will cost you a load more and may well attract taxes too)


shipping was $40.25 to the UK for an almost all in pledge (missing tokens and some dice) compared to the estimate of $20-30 for the main box only so expect moaning in the comments over costs, but it doesn't seem too unreasonable considering the bulk/weight of the extras...…. but then I'm not in one of the more expensive parts of the world shipping wise

You do have to admit that CMON know exactly what's going to be unlocked from the beginning at this stage, though - so it's legit to be unhappy with them fudging people on the shipping costs after they have already paid for a pledge. This is far from their first rodeo, after all...