by Keith
January 2nd, 2013Gaming Related -
I spent quite a bit of time this evening re-organizing my Advanced Squad Leader Scenarios. I originally had them in two binders, but have had to expand to three because of the sheer volume of content available for this game. I don't even own nearly as much Third Party Producer content as most folks. I've stuck exclusively to the Bounding Fire Productions stuff because of the continually high quality releases like Blood and Jungle and Crucible of Steel.
I've also been reading through the rules on King of Tokyo, and Reds! The Russian Civil War 1918-1921.
Daily Rant: Kickstarter & Up Front
Today, I was pleased to see just how many contributions poured in over the final 72 hours for the [geekurl=http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1325766284/up-front-the-...]Kickstarter project[/geekurl] for Up Front! In particular I was impressed to see just how much is coming with this set. It did, however, get me thinking about the viability of this project. It has been discussed quite a bit on the forums here and I'm not looking to rehash those conversations, some of which became very confrontational!
Instead, I'd like to focus on a couple of the larger issues related to this particular game related to Kickstarter contributions and whether or not it will hit contributor's front doors.
First, let me say that I am a huge supporter of Kickstarter. I have only ever contributed to one project, but the Kickstarter movement has a lot of positive aspects because the consumers drive the creation of content they want to see the most. Whether it's helping a local musician get their latest album off the ground without major label support, or a boardgame startup looking to get the seed capital to launch a new game/company I think it's generally positive.
The rub, however, is that Kickstarter has a lot of inherent risk that people are afraid of taking on when they contribute. In terms of boardgames you risk the game never getting off the ground, the quality of the components being misrepresented, the ruleset being improperly vetted and tested, or a myriad of other problems that delay/kill a project. In addition to these issues are potential legal issues that surround any game release. Things like security the game's rights from developers (previous publishers?) and other considerations like getting an artist to contribute high quality work to the project prior to a dollar of income finding its way to their pocket.
I think the best way to approach Kickstarter, and what I've always tried to tell myself, is that you're contributing to a project that you'll be delighted to receive. If you want to reduce your risk and help get a game off the ground, then it might be worthwhile to just stick with the P### programs available through many established game publishers like GMT Games. The risks are very real and the stakes can be high if the supporter level you want to contribute at is pricier than what you might pay in a retail setting for a similar game or project!
The other risk, of course, is to established publishers who may be missing out on great game designs that they can dedicate a team of professionals to refining, doing artwork, playtesting, and giving sound advice to walk the project from start to finish through the publication process. While I don't have intimate knowledge of the process to bring a product to market, I suspect the final design and ruleset rarely look exactly like the prototypes or initially pitched rules for a game! If it did, everyone would be making highly successful boardgames. When publishers miss out on great games that never fully mature it can sap some potential talent from the market and sour publishers on having open relationships with their designers. Overall, that has the potential to hurt publishers quite a bit if the cycle continues. Imagine, for example, if Chad Jensen had gone through Kickstarter with the initial version of Combat Commander: Europe? Perhaps it would have been a huge hit, but perhaps the guidance, advice, and refinement that GMT put into it wouldn't have helped it be such a wild, and long lasting, successs.
This brings me to a quick point I made earlier, specifically about Up Front's Kickstarter project. When a "reprint" or "reimagining" of a released game goes up on Kickstarter when does a publisher intervene to proteect themselves? This seems very murky because it is important to protect IP and trademarks. However, doing so before a Kickstarter is funded risks making the company seem like a bully for something that might not even happen. Attacking a successfully funded Kickstarter project AFTER it's been funded risks alienating a large community of gamers who clearly want the content. In that case you're saying, "We're no providing this game to you, and furthermore, despite your loud demand for it ... we're not going to create an avenue where you can get it." That puts companies in a tricky spot. So how should it be handled?
Obviously, nobody wants to threaten, or take part in legal action. It's messy all around and expensive for an industry not known to be full of readily available funding to undertake battles like this. It seems much more sensible to approach both consumers and the Kickstarter sponsor to have a conversation up front regarding the risks. By waiting, you're continually fighting that uphill battle with alienation and anger. Games Workshop Ltd. image never recovered after their content purge campaign of 2010 ["Dear Games Workshop..." - A Geekgold Contest with a Serious Undertone.&The Games Workshop Files Purge of '09]. I suspect future efforts will be as organized, or moreso, than that to actively disrupt public sentiment which further reinforces the need for honest communication at the start of a project.
So will Up Front actually land on my doorstep? The best I can say, is hopefully. Will it be by June 2013? I'd be VERY surprised if Radiant Gaming makes that deadline given the demand, extras, etc. that will yet need to be produced and sourced prior to shipping copy 1!
Daily Quote:
"It's not so important who starts a game, but who finishes it." -John Wooden