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Welp, looks like they cancelled and decided to split it into 2 Kickstarters (Utopia, then NuCoal + Peace River) starting the Utopia one in January.

I'm still going to pledge tbh, I think the minis are decent for the price and I want to support the company.

Cancelled after a week ? What an embarassing failure. Ironically, looks like they're going to ask even more for the next ones.

I think that's too harsh, they got cancelled rather than let the KS fail to fund I think that's honestly the best course of action in that situation.

I'd rather they try again and do better.

ScarletRose wrote:Welp, looks like they cancelled and decided to split it into 2 Kickstarters (Utopia, then NuCoal + Peace River) starting the Utopia one in January.

I'm still going to pledge tbh, I think the minis are decent for the price and I want to support the company.

I wish you and them luck. I'm still sitting on three armies' worth of Leclerc metals painted up that haven't gotten me any games beyond one time demos for others so I'll pass unless someone else locally turns out to be a closet gear fanatic.

HudsonD wrote:Cancelled after a week ? What an embarassing failure. Ironically, looks like they're going to ask even more for the next ones.

They probably should have done it in the first place. We're talking about second and third tier factions in this kickstarter in terms of popularity for an already niche struggling game. I suspect that despite the vocal minority that Utopia won't fund but the badlands duo will.

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
I like that they have posted a whopping 20 SGs out to $150k, while not even funded to $50k because they're leading with the ugly Utopia designs. Plus, the plastics they actually delivered were far worse than the metals and renders that they showed during the KS campaign.

Does anybody know whether the game is even selling in stores to justify new army expansions?

My FLGS refuses to stock dp9 out of personal dislike for Rob. He'll do special orders, but that's it. Not that there's been a large call for the game. Just a few players who got the kickstarter kits. Since I moved overseas, not even that.

 warboss wrote:

They probably should have done it in the first place. We're talking about second and third tier factions in this kickstarter in terms of popularity for an already niche struggling game. I suspect that despite the vocal minority that Utopia won't fund but the badlands duo will.

I pretty much agree with this assessment. I have a passing interest in some of the NuCoal gears (as in: would like to paint a few, but not build an army). I already have more metal Peace River than I know what to do with, and I have no interest in Utopia. I had backed for $6 so I could get the resin unlocks later - though the sweet Peace River patches were tempting as add-ons. I was a big backer for the first KS but there really wasn't much reason for me to back for much.

Yeah, I ended up backing for half of what I was last time, with plans to increase it to the same. But in many ways this wasn't as good a deal as the last kickstarter was.

Four starters for 130 C? This time it was two. (was not going to assume this one would explode.) I was planning on adding to my collection of "Hey let's play heavy gear" armies, where my friends who were only sort of interested could just borrow one. But if you were waiting for this one expecting the same deal as the last one? $65 C is close to the retail price of the first run of starters. So double that for two armies? The last one had them at $32.50. So for the last one I was eager to jump in and really get a solid collection going. For this one I was more hesitant. Why not wait for a general release?

Honestly what I'd do is three small ones. Maybe 20-25K each. Give each their own unlocks and add ons. toss in the general add ons such as the terrain, tape measures ect, chibies if you *REALLY* have to. Focus on each one. Lets say the basic jump in point was $70 C. Make it a starter and an extra, such as a quartet of gears that you were planning on making an early unlock. Just start them off. They won't be in the starter, but would be a backer reward to draw in the deal hunters and give a bit of ok, I'll join now. Maybe have just a few pledge levels. 1. I want to chat $1. 2. Give me a set of the special gear, where they can get a quartet/duo of a gear in the starter, like 4 warriors, or 2 crusaders ect $20-30. 3. Full starter + bonus gear. This level would get full add-ons, where the earlier one would get maybe the relevant arm/leg upgrade kits. $60-70. Maybe have a wave 1/wave 2 of this set. Finally a retail set if you feel you need one. Bam! Done.

 Mmmpi wrote:

My FLGS refuses to stock dp9 out of personal dislike for Rob. He'll do special orders, but that's it. Not that there's been a large call for the game. Just a few players who got the kickstarter kits. Since I moved overseas, not even that.

Your FLGS wouldn't be in Montréal, would it ? DP9's real popular in their hometown...
I'd go on the DP9 boards to twist the knife, but then, most things DP9 fall in CGAA territory these days.

 Firebreak wrote:
Uh, well then.

Maybe not.

Is there information on how many backers there are, as opposed to just dollars? I'm wondering if a bunch of people bailed, or just a couple big ones.

I'm shocked that the non-iconic HG stuff didn't draw anywhere near what the Pod expected (an easy and quick run to match the revenue of the first KS with the factions people actually wanted).

Tracking the Monopoly money total works just as well when the drop is "only" -$180 - it's obviously a net loss of -1 or -2 people leaving. And then they gained back $10 today. What's surprising is that they threw in the towel so quickly, as most KS like this take a few more days postponing the inevitable cancellation.

The Update is amusing, but reveals a lot where they admit wanted to launch just to launch in 2017, but not really caring whether it would fund. I wonder how well the next couple campaigns are going to go, now that they've got the stink of failure on them.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Mmmpi wrote:
Honestly what I'd do is three small ones. Maybe 20-25K each. Give each their own unlocks and add ons.

This is probably the most sound approach, although a big part of the Pod's problem is having to make each army set comparable to the previous sets.

If the single army goal is $20k, and they want people to pledge $50 for the army, they need 400 backers. If they only got 232 backers across all 3 factions, I think their next KS is automatic failure. OTOH, if they target for 200 backers at $50 each, that's only $10k - unless they have other profits / funds, $10k won't be enough to tool an entire army.

But then again, the Pod was obviously expecting to get the full 1,000 backers in the 1st KS in for an average of $150+ each...

I've suggested on the DP9 Forum that they do Peace River and NuCoal first rather than after Utopia, which is likely to fail.

Plenty of Kickstarters fail and come back for a second, successful pass, but Utopia IMO isn't every going to be worthy of plastics. There just isn't the interest. I also suggested they put the resin stuff as add-ons right up front, or Kickstart those on an individual basis if they really can't front the cash themselves for them. I've got way too much Peace River to back for plastics of same already, but I would have put down for probably 2 of anything new for PR in resin, meaning by backing total would have been much higher.

How big a seller are those chibi stuff they push out? It feels like every time I get a notification from them, they're pushing a new chibi something. You need to kickstarter your plastics, but you can just have a sculptor up a make you a chibi on a rush, in time for Christmas? It makes me agree with most of you when you're questioning their priorities.

I also pointed out this KS has delayed stuff that's been ready for months that could be pulling in retail dollars now. The Jackal has been ready since mid-August to go to pewter.

Honestly, this is as unsurprising as unsurprising can get. Last KS there were a fair amount of non-USA pledgers who got kind of burned when the time came to pay the shipping costs (which were kinda horrendous, at least to ship this side of the ocean, from what I've been told). That, coupled with no actual way in hell to get DP9 stuff over here other than ordering direct (with more horrendous shipping costs) means there's a snowball's chance in hell for those backers to do repeat business.

Add to that the fact that they're asking more for less, and that they're leading with Utopia and well... foregone conclusion.

Plus, some of us old backers are getting quite annoyed with all the inane spam we're getting from their old KS to shill this one... is there any way to block updates from an old KS?

Yes, but I can't remember how at the moment.

 Albertorius wrote:
Honestly, this is as unsurprising as unsurprising can get. Last KS there were a fair amount of non-USA pledgers who got kind of burned when the time came to pay the shipping costs (which were kinda horrendous, at least to ship this side of the ocean, from what I've been told). That, coupled with no actual way in hell to get DP9 stuff over here other than ordering direct (with more horrendous shipping costs) means there's a snowball's chance in hell for those backers to do repeat business.

Add to that the fact that they're asking more for less, and that they're leading with Utopia and well... foregone conclusion.

Plus, some of us old backers are getting quite annoyed with all the inane spam we're getting from their old KS to shill this one... is there any way to block updates from an old KS?

I forgot about the international shipping issue last time; yeah, that would definitely stop me from ordering if I were abroad and inclined to in the first place. As for updates, if you go to your KS profile (upper right corner when logged in), then settings, notifications, you can select which projects can send you nofitications. I actually kind of appreciate it as I don't regularly go to their website or forums anymore for years.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 John Prins wrote:
I also pointed out this KS has delayed stuff that's been ready for months that could be pulling in retail dollars now. The Jackal has been ready since mid-August to go to pewter.

I wasn't aware of that. That sucks.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Mmmpi wrote:
How big a seller are those chibi stuff they push out? It feels like every time I get a notification from them, they're pushing a new chibi something. You need to kickstarter your plastics, but you can just have a sculptor up a make you a chibi on a rush, in time for Christmas? It makes me agree with most of you when you're questioning their priorities.

That was the only thing left that Phil LeClerc (sp?), the guy who brought us the modern blitz pewter minis look, did anymore for them (at least when I was paying attention). According to John above, they're still coming out with pewter minis too which I wasn't aware of.

 warboss wrote:

That was the only thing left that Phil LeClerc (sp?), the guy who brought us the modern blitz pewter minis look, did anymore for them (at least when I was paying attention). According to John above, they're still coming out with pewter minis too which I wasn't aware of.

If by 'coming out with' you mean 'sitting on until they get KS money'. I can't think of anything more important to a miniatures line than regular releases to keep people interested. Even if it's one new model a quarter, at least you're keeping the line alive.

 Albertorius wrote:
Plus, some of us old backers are getting quite annoyed with all the inane spam we're getting from their old KS to shill this one... is there any way to block updates from an old KS?

Log into KS and go to your account. There should be an option to uncheck updates being emailed to you.

 John Prins wrote:

 warboss wrote:

That was the only thing left that Phil LeClerc (sp?), the guy who brought us the modern blitz pewter minis look, did anymore for them (at least when I was paying attention). According to John above, they're still coming out with pewter minis too which I wasn't aware of.

If by 'coming out with' you mean 'sitting on until they get KS money'. I can't think of anything more important to a miniatures line than regular releases to keep people interested. Even if it's one new model a quarter, at least you're keeping the line alive.

You're going to accept your once a year new mini (the annual Chibi whatever) and like it, Mr. Prins! I agree totally (both with regards to HG and Robotech, the latter of which is in even more dire straits).

 ScarletRose wrote:
Welp, looks like they cancelled and decided to split it into 2 Kickstarters (Utopia, then NuCoal + Peace River) starting the Utopia one in January.

Probably for the best. I pledged for the NuCoal faction, but I was really more interested in the Utopia faction. If they didn't reach that stretch goal (which they probably would not have) I'd likely have cancelled my pledge before the KS ended, anyway.

 warboss wrote:

You're going to accept your once a year new mini (the annual Chibi whatever) and like it, Mr. Prins! I agree totally (both with regards to HG and Robotech, the latter of which is in even more dire straits).

I usually put in a Christmas order to get the latest stuff. This year, there isn't any latest stuff - chibis don't count - and no order from me. Still no word on the 25th anniversary edition of the HG RPG, either. I was excited for the rumored 28mm line that would go with it, but so far, crickets.

 John Prins wrote:

 warboss wrote:

You're going to accept your once a year new mini (the annual Chibi whatever) and like it, Mr. Prins! I agree totally (both with regards to HG and Robotech, the latter of which is in even more dire straits).

I usually put in a Christmas order to get the latest stuff. This year, there isn't any latest stuff - chibis don't count - and no order from me. Still no word on the 25th anniversary edition of the HG RPG, either. I was excited for the rumored 28mm line that would go with it, but so far, crickets.

I hear you. The esports arena shooter FPS that no one asked for still isn't a functional game either and even the limited functionality they did have hasn't worked since September.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/416020/discussions/0/1488866813768313160/

I suppose that as long as the yearly royalty payments keep coming in so the lights stay on in Montreal then DP9 won't care about that licensed product either.

And they've started discussing the Utopia KS.

http://dp9forum.com/index.php?/topic/18221-kickstarter-take-2-utopia/

Set to go in 33 days. Guess I'm sitting this one out.

$30,000 goal with a $70 buy-in?

They only need to 430 of the most recent 238 pledges to fund!

This should be amusing.

Not every faction needs to be/should be in plastic imo. We'll see if Utopia fans can match their talk with funding. I suspect it won't come close to funding.

It's interesting to see the tank. Not sure why it costs $85 though. Seems a bit pricey. I wonder how closely it conforms to the idea I posted on their Utopia thread awhile back.

edit: And now I know the answer to both.

from Rob himself:

"The Gilgamesh Command Tank is big at 191 mm long x 90 mm wide x 62 mm tall (7.5" long x 3.5" wide x 2.4" tall), with 4 drone carrier side pods added on the sides of the tracks its 128 mm wide (5" wide). :-) "

They did borrow most of my idea. It'll be 100% if it has modular weapons.

Then I vote we call it the Gilgammmpiesh.

 Mmmpi wrote:
It's interesting to see the tank. Not sure why it costs $85 though. Seems a bit pricey. I wonder how closely it conforms to the idea I posted on their Utopia thread awhile back.

edit: And now I know the answer to both.

from Rob himself:

"The Gilgamesh Command Tank is big at 191 mm long x 90 mm wide x 62 mm tall (7.5" long x 3.5" wide x 2.4" tall), with 4 drone carrier side pods added on the sides of the tracks its 128 mm wide (5" wide). :-) "

They did borrow most of my idea. It'll be 100% if it has modular weapons.

...huh. Just for reference, a 40k Rhino is 115x75x50...so that thing is almost twice as long and about 25% wider and higher... for a 1/144 game. and $85, because their stuff is not crazy expensive as it is already.

Right. That doesn't sound stupid at all. Something Rhino sized is already too fething big for that scale, so what the hell, let's more than double it.

 Albertorius wrote:

 Mmmpi wrote:
It's interesting to see the tank. Not sure why it costs $85 though. Seems a bit pricey. I wonder how closely it conforms to the idea I posted on their Utopia thread awhile back.

edit: And now I know the answer to both.

from Rob himself:

"The Gilgamesh Command Tank is big at 191 mm long x 90 mm wide x 62 mm tall (7.5" long x 3.5" wide x 2.4" tall), with 4 drone carrier side pods added on the sides of the tracks its 128 mm wide (5" wide). :-) "

They did borrow most of my idea. It'll be 100% if it has modular weapons.

...huh. Just for reference, a 40k Rhino is 115x75x50...so that thing is almost twice as long and about 25% wider and higher... for a 1/144 game. and $85, because their stuff is not crazy expensive as it is already.

Right. That doesn't sound stupid at all. Something Rhino sized is already too fething big for that scale, so what the hell, let's more than double it.

That's bigger than the 40k Land Raider according to this:

https://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Scale_Model_Kits_for_40K

Yeah.... I'm not seeing that happening especially as a resin/metal kit at $85. The HHT-90 is $130 and they had to bump that up to that price when they offered it through the retail chain up from around $100 iirc... and that was like 5 years ago. Then factor in possible currency fluctuations like what happened last time and they're just begging to for a problem yet again.

 Albertorius wrote:

...huh. Just for reference, a 40k Rhino is 115x75x50...so that thing is almost twice as long and about 25% wider and higher... for a 1/144 game. and $85, because their stuff is not crazy expensive as it is already.

Not that DP9 stuff isn't generally more expensive than their competitors, but in all fairness you are comparing a mass produced plastic model to a limited run resin model (not limited as in LE but limited in the number of people willing to buy it)

Right. That doesn't sound stupid at all. Something Rhino sized is already too fething big for that scale, so what the hell, let's more than double it.

The size of the vehicle does match the fluff, FWIW. Admittedly, it does seem stupid big for the scale of HG, but then I think a lot of the bigger Forge World Imperial Armour vehicles are stupid big for the scale of 40K. Some people just like ginormous tanks.

 mdauben wrote:

The size of the vehicle does match the fluff, FWIW. Admittedly, it does seem stupid big for the scale of HG, but then I think a lot of the bigger Forge World Imperial Armour vehicles are stupid big for the scale of 40K. Some people just like ginormous tanks.

It's not worth much. That fluff was made to justify the model's size as it was to be offered soon after in the failed KS and likely the actual model was either already done or in the process of being done simultaneously.

http://www.dp9.com/content/gilgamesh-utopian-multi-component-vehicle-new-model-rules

DP9 wanted another giant tank and they made one while crafting the fluff to match.