By Fire & Sword Kickstarter 4 days left - reasons to join

The By Fire & Sword Kickstarter is nearing its end with 4 days to go. If you haven't heard about it already and are interested in a very dynamic and innovative set of rules which supports and provides army lists for both skirmish level as well as division level sized games.

Skirmish level games are fights between the patrols sent to reconnaissance ahead of great armies, their size range from 12-30 bases per patrol and are composed of swift moving troops fighting for various tactical objectives in the scenarios that the book provides.

Division level games are larger battles, fought between divisions (3-6 regiments, artillery and divisional support units).

The game has several interesting aspects that make it dynamic:

1) Army lists are very historical in their nature, buildings army lists comes with restrictions to prevent players from fielding cheesy and overpowered lists made up of the best units alone. Instead you always "unlock" the next step of you army list bit by bit when you add more troops to your force - which in turn unlocks the specialist and elite units whom are limited in numbers to the size of your force. It's pretty much impossible to power game the army building in By Fire & Sword.

2) Armies and forces can be of different size, in fact the game pretty much encourages one player to field a weaker army while the other player fields a stronger army. The game features two excellent mechanics that balance the game - "tactical advantages" and "additional effects" which the weaker player has at his disposal. This means that a weaker and outnumbered player may alter the deployment zone, decide along which table edges players will deploy, place additional terrain on the table such as rivers to slow down the stronger attack etc. It gives you a feeling of the smaller army being able to pick the location for their stand against the stronger opponent.

3) An excellent reconnaissance system which is handled pre-game. Players have the option to send troops on a recon mission and may end up with a great bonus if they succeed but also risk losing troops in t he process. In skirmish level games armies that are cavalry heavy have a reconnaissance edge over slower infantry armies (which tend to be cheaper and balance this fact by more often ending up being the defender). Reconnaissance in By Fire & Sword awards the winner of the recon mission with points that can be spent on placing Ambushes, making pre-game moves or send away a unit to flank the enemy from the rear of their table edge.

4) A broken up turn sequence with many shared steps makes both players constantly involved and able to make tactical decisions and be invested in the action that take place on the battlefield from the start to the finish of each turn.

5) A great system of Command & Control, revolving around commanders, orders, instructions, command points and various combinations of these elements give a real feel of commanding troops amidst the chaos of battle. The system also enforces the tactical limitations which in turn force players to carefully plan their actions and make sure troops don't stray too far away and above all protect their commanders.

The rulebook itself, which is just over 400 pages long is a quality full color and hardback product. It contains the basic and advanced rules for the game (around 95 pages), scenarios for skirmish level games, tactical advantages for skirmish and division level games, historical background for the wars of 1648-76, historical information for each army in the book (Swedes, Poland-Lithuania, Muscovite Russia, Crimean Khanate, Ottoman Empire and the Cossacks), unit profiles and historical information about each unit. Players will be able to understand the rating and combat roles of their units as well as the concept of the special rules and national special rules in the book as these tie in with the historical sources and are well explained. 

The book also contains an index of all the historical sources used so you know that the authors put some effort into this work.

So if you have even a remote interest in the 17th century and want to play something else than the English Civil War or Thirty Year War, then By Fire & Sword provides a fresh and unique experience - allowing players to refight the wild and colorful battles of eastern Europe so vividly described in the novels of Henryk Sienkiewicz. 

Below are links to additional sources of information which might prove interesting and explain the game further.

Information on how Skirmish forces are built: LINK

Information on how Division armies are built: LINK

Review of the rules: PART 1 PART 2 PART 3

Review of the rulebook: LINK

Link to the Kickstarter, click on picture

By Fire & Sword Kickstarter is up!

Barely got home from Salute so I'm still quite spent - BUT - as I talked with Konrad at the convention yesterday I learned that they would launch their crowdfunding for the new English version rulebook this very Sunday. The book looks fantastic, the binding is very very good and improved over the Polish version (and it also includes all the errata material). I will talk more about the English book in a day or two.

There was a lot of buzz about the game at Salute when I talked to different people at various places and traders, and the limited printed run the guys from Wargamer had brought with them were selling really well - as did the boxed sets of miniatures.

Here is the link to the Kickstarter, http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1729776659/by-fire-and-sword-historical-tabletop-wargame

If I may suggest a pledge level for complete newcomers, it would be the "Winged hussar Bannerman" at 110$. This includes the 400 page thick rulebook and a skirmish set of miniatures to get you started with an army of your choice (the skirmish games are well fleshed out in the rules with scenarios and have been the standard sized tournament games in Poland during the past year.

The Winged Hussar lieutenant level at 170$ is also a great deal as it includes two skirmish sets so you can get started with a friend.

You can read my review of the rules (Polish version released last year) in these posts:

http://anatolisgameroom.blogspot.se/2011/12/with-fire-and-sword-rules-review-part-1.html

http://anatolisgameroom.blogspot.se/2011/12/by-fire-and-sword-rules-review-part-2.html

http://anatolisgameroom.blogspot.se/2011/12/by-fire-and-sword-rules-review-part-3.html

Empire of the Dead: Requiem fully funded! thoughts

Wow, it's been a great journey the past 40 days following this kickstarter which also was my very first kickstarter experience. I can see the appeal of KS from both sides, as a backer you really feel involved and enthusiastic to see that amount of pledged money increase and freebie's get added, new stuff being unlocked. As a creator I think, if you do everything right, you make people spend more than they would have under normal circumstances.

It has also been a great way to interact with other fans of the game and the creators and owners of West Wind, Andy and Wendy Cooper. Listening to the Meeples and Miniatures interview with them both makes you understand the nervousness a creator might have starting a project, it's hard to know exactly how popular your product is until you make something like this. And honestly, while I love Empire of the Dead I have had very little knowledge of how successfull it has been and how many potential backers it would end up having. This is also why I think the initial goal was quite modest with £5.000.

Following the kickstarter for 30 days, logging in to check up on it several times a day, has also been an interesting study in kickstarter dynamics. The initial explosion of backers at the beginning rushing to claim the "early bird" specials to get slightly better deals was followed up by a lull for quite a while. The campaign overall confirmed what has been said about many KS campaigns, a lot of people pledge during the very beginning and very end of a project.

It's hard to not to get demoralized during the middle part, and the mood of backers is a fickle thing, it doesn't require a lot to change that wave of enthusiasm and have people starting to drop out. And at a time this campaign really hit a wall and started losing backers and money for a brief period. It was still way over its funding goal so there was never any risk of it never being funded , but we would miss out on a LOT of very cool concepts, units, rules and miniatures. I honestly believe Andy saved it by upping the steam towards the end weeks by revealing increasingly cool and interesting factions and miniatures as an "add-on" option which not only made people spend more but attracted new investors along the way.

And as predicted there were a lot of backers showing up and money thrown in during the last 3 days. And though I think it is safe to assume that none of us believed it possible every single goal ended up being achieved and the project landed on £92.800!

Empire of the Dead has now grown from a game with 4 factions to a game with rules for vehicles of all kinds, Bedlam Brotherhood, Clickers, Order of the Dragon, Peelers, Criminal Gang, Nemo and the Nautilus crew as well as the Chinese Tong added as playable factions which will all have their own rules added to the vastly expanded PDF rulebook (which itself is something many gamers asked about since release). The amount of new characters and random models for the Vampire Wars/Gothic Horror range has also been filled to the brim. Fortunately, for those that ran out of money or couldn't back the KS campaign almost everything will be available in the West Wind store later this summer as soon as the people who supported the KS campaign have received their share of the miniatures. I think both camps (the Victorian Horror and the Steampunk fans) got a fair share of miniatures to satisfy their needs.

In the end it shows the power of Kickstarter, I can think of several smaller manufacturers that would have benefited from Kickstarter when it wasn’t even considered that such a thing would exist and work. And I’m very happy to see KS being used for other stuff that I love as well, I saw several PC game projects that have revived genres long considered lost. The topdown isometric perspective RPG games like Icewind Dale/Baldurs Gate is being brought back with “Project Eternity”, we get another (better) Shadowrun game with “Shadowrun: Returns”, a new Planescape Torment game with “Torment: Tides of Numeria” and a Fallout’esque game in “Wasteland 2”.

Kickstarter really allows for a lot of good projects without big budget backers to get funded by their fans. I can only image what more can be done with this tool, I personally also hope that someone will make a Grim Fandango 2 happen.

Empire of the Dead:Requiem 5 days left update!

With only 5 days left the kickstarter campaign for West Winds expansion of Empire of the Dead is going really well. Several stretch goals have been passed and a ton of really cool additional factions and miniatures have been added to the original "Requiem" list.

There are now a faction based on infernium powered machines "The Clickers" which is probably the single most cool faction imo and I hope to get a box of those myself. We also have the Bedlam brotherhood, made up of insane asylum inmates added as a faction with miniatures.

Perhaps the most exciting thing is that the PDF rulebook has swollen with a ton of new content, rules for all vehicles and contraptions as well as new factions have been gradually added to as these have been unlocked. What we are looking at is not only an expansion of the miniature range to fill gaps and add new models, but also a proper expansion of rules content.

It may be worth checking out all the new stuff if you haven't already or wasn't particularly interested in the initial offerings. It is also possible to buy a lot of those additions outside of the "requiem" level pledge, and of course the PDF rulebook as can be purchased separately as well by those who may want to check out the rules and save their miniature purchases for later.

And West Wind have now also made sure to make the "free shipping"  to most of the world a bit more visible with a banner of its own.

Empire of the Dead: Requiem collectors guide

There have been a lot of questions on the Empire of the Dead Kickstarter about the miniatures and what faction they belong to, how you combine them, which are ”good/evil” etc. I decided to put together some general guidelines based solely upon the existing factions in the hardback rulebook.

Bear in mind that West Wind appear to be gradually releasing rules for new factions and characters which may differ from the list below. However EotD many of the miniatures in Empire of the Dead have potentially more than one use and aren’t as strictly locked to a specific “faction/army”   the way miniature ranges often are for other games out there. Nothing prevents you from using some of the new characters from something like the Nemesis box as a regular Gentlemen’s Club.

Allegiance is also something that isn’t very strict when it comes to certain factions, while others are almost dead certain. I will include the allegiance types of each box/single character  as best I can based upon the current factions and common sense within the Empire of the Dead universe. If you use the miniatures to make your own faction then you naturally pick the allegiance that fits your creation the best and not strictly the allegiance I have marked them with.

In any case here is my own non-official take on the miniatures:

Set 1 and Set 2: London Bobbies 
Allegiance: Good /Neutral
Bobbies  are used during a jailbreak scenario in the core rulebook, where one player controls cops instead of his usual faction. There is also an upcoming Supernatural Branch faction which will utilize many of the bobbies armed with special weapon. 

Set 3: Gentlemen with guns
Allegiance: Good/ Neutral/Evil
These models act to fill a gap in the current range, allowing the Gentlemen’s Club and all of its variations to field special weapons such as the portable Gatling gun.

Set 4: Armed Brothers
Allegiance: Good
Just as with Gentlemen with guns this pack completes the Brotherhood faction by adding weapon options that were missing. The primary function of these miniatures are to be included in the Brotherhood, you could however use them as cultists or something similar for a faction of your own design.

Set 5: Order of the Dragon
Allegiance: Evil
It has already been announced that there will be a Order of the Dragon faction in the PDF if we make it to that stretch goal. Not taking that into account these would fit right at home in the current Nosferatu (vampire) faction. There are no rules for the Vampire in Bat form or the madman though which is why the Order of the Dragon rules will be welcome.

Set 6: Vampire Slayers
Allegiance: Good
If West Wind give these guys rules of their own they will most certainly have a “Good” allegiance. If no rules are released for these models use them as regular Gentlemen’s club members with “Vampire slaying” flavor to their appearance.

Set 7: Baker Street
Allegiance: Good
Sherlock Holmes and Watson have a “Good” allegiance in the PDF Gentlemen and Jackanapes so it would be natural for the rest of the miniatures in the blister to follow suit.
Again as with the Vampire Slayers you could always use the models as regular Gentlemen’s Club members. There are special rules for Holmes and Watson out there already so you could always have a double purpose for those two if no faction rules are released.

Set 8: Nemesis Criminals
Allegiance: Evil
Evil is the most likely allegiance for this lot, though I guess it could be stretched to neutral if you are feeling generous. Same as with Vampire Slayers and Baker Street, use them as a Gentlemen’s Club. Since they are made up of classic “bad guys” it would make sense to give them the “Darklfire club” affiliation (the faction branch which can summon zombie mobs). It is however encouraged to come up with your own clubs don’t feel restricted.

Single miniatures  1
(I will try to make this a very short summary of each model probable faction affiliation and allegiance).

Vic Queen/Vic Queen with Gatling gun
Allegiance: Good
Faction: Gentlemen’s Club or character for hire

Vic John Brown:
Allegiance: Good/Netural/Evil
Faction: Gentlemen’s Club or character for hire

Victorian Grim Reaper
Allegiance: Evil
Character for hire/something to be summoned by magic powers or unusual occurance

Steam Cannon
Allegience: Good/Neutral/Evil
Faction: Sculpted for the Gentlemen’s club, (also useable in The Brotherhood, Nosferatu)

Tesla Projector
Allegience: Good/Neutral/Evil
Faction: Sculpted for the Gentlemen’s club, (also useable in The Brotherhood, Nosferatu)

Constable in Perambulator boots
Allegience: Good/Neutral
Faction: Police/Supernatural branch

Gentleman on Perambulator boots
Allegience: Good/Neutral/Evil
Faction: Sculpted for Gentlemen’s club

The Hound
Allegience: Evil
Faction: Character for hire or something to be summoned by an unusual occurance/magic.

Single miniatures  2

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Allegiance: Good/Evil
Faction: Character for hire
What would make most sense is that these two would make a 2 in 1 character where you deploy Dr Jekyll who can turn into Mr Hyde during a game.

Jack the Ripper
Allegiance: Evil
Faction: Character for hire (already has rules in Gentlemen & Jackanapes PDF)

The Baron:
Allegiance: Good/Neutral/Evil
Faction: Gentlemen’s club, Nosferatu, Order of the Dragon, Character for hire
Miniatures such as this one could have multiple uses as he is generic enough to fit into many factions in one way or another.

The Monster:
Allegiance: Evil
Faction: Character for hire

Dorian Grey
Allegiance: Good/Neutral/Evil (possibly fleeting)
Faction: Character for  hire
There are interesting options here if West Wind can come up with rules based upon the events in the story for this character. Maybe he could have a fleeting allegiance that determine whether he will stay or leave your faction when he can’t be kept around anymore.

The invisible man
Allegiance: Neutral/Evil
Faction Character for hire
Again there are very interesting possibilities here for special rules if he gets any.

Allan Quatermain
Allegiance: Good/Neutral
Faction: Gentlemen’s Club, character for hire

Captain Nemo
Allegiance: Neutral
Faction: Character for hire

Professor Cavor
Allegiance: Neutral/Good
Faction: Gentlemen’s Club, character for hire

The inscrutable Tong
Allegiance: Evil
Faction: Gentlemen’s club, possible future Tong faction, Character for hire

Professor Gecko
Allegiance: Evil
Faction: Character for hire

Lightning Jack
Allegiance: Good/Neutral
Faction: Gentlemen’s Club, character for hire

Empire of the Dead kickstarter update

Just a small update on the current kickstarter campaign for West Wind's Empire of the Dead: Requiem. The first day was a bit chaotic and overwhelming, I read somewhere that WW was funded in less than two hours!

Since day two Andy has put up a list of stretch goals and unlockable stuff which was missing on day 1 (I don't think they expected people to race past their initial funding goal that fast). From what has been mentioned there are additional stretch goals and unlockable content lurking in the background should the end of the first list be reached.

Perhaps most important to know is that the popular "Early Bird" offers which vanished quickly during the first day have been boosted by another 100 of each type so that the fans in America and time zones outside of Europe too can get this deal (currently 40 left of the £75 and £100 pledge). So if that was making you sit on the fence go check it out:  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/832150598/empire-of-the-dead-requiem-0

Empire of the Dead: Requiem KICKSTARTER

West Wind went live today with their Kickstarter campaign for Empire of the Dead: Requiem which is a rather massive expansion of miniatures fleshing out existing and adding new factions. I'm really excited about some of the really weird steampunk stuff and filler models that I have been missing up to this point (specialist weapons for Gentlemen's club among other stuff). Some gamers out there will probably be equally happy to see that there are core rules in PDF to be released as well, it's often something that people ask about. I jumped on the bandwagon myself for the "Early Bird" which focuses on the new stuff and stretch goals for £75.

If you want to learn more about the game you can check my review of the rules HERE

There is also a long written interview with one of the two authors Nigel Atkinson HERE

Below is the information about the campaign from West Wind themselves:

WEST WIND PRODUCTIONS KICKSTARTER

Empire of the Dead – Requiem – Proposed Miniatures Release

-Q&A-

What’s it all about?

Requiem is West Wind’s huge miniatures release for its acclaimed Gothic Horror / Steampunk skirmish game, Empire of the Dead.

What’s in the release?

If we are successful, we plan to make over 80 New miniatures, plus 12 New Victorian machines, carriages, steam powered walkers and Time machines, etc.

What scale are the miniatures?

28mm pewter miniatures, on a 30mm round bevelled base. The carriages will be resin and white metal.

What made you choose the Victorian period and Gothic Horror/ Steampunk ?

We have a long history of games and miniatures based in this period, Vampire Wars was our first Victorian game and Empire of the Dead has its roots in this game.

What kind of miniatures can we expect?

If you love the fictional world of the Gothic novel then you will be very familiar with a lot of the characters we have planned for Requiem; ranging from Vampire Counts to Great Detectives, we have them all, plus more ideas too….......

Tell us more about the Victorian Machines.

Victorian streets were filled with people and machines, in fact if you look at old photos of London around the 1880’s, you can’t move for horse drawn vehicles! You can expect a London Omnibus, a Hansom Cab, a Victorian horse drawn Fire Engine and a lot more……….

What about the Steampunk stuff?

We have an ingenious Time Machine, ala H.G. Wells, a Steam Powered Exo-skeleton, a Spirit Canon, a steam powered Gyro-copter and many more……...

Why have you gone to Kickstarter?

Its fairly simple, you have to keep up with the times. We want to fund the out sourcing of our mould making. Currently Andy Cooper splits his time between mould making and sculpting. This is really slowing us down and we need to find a different way to bring our products to market in a more timely manner.

What can we expect from West Wind in the future?

As far as Empire of the Dead is concerned, we have a third part planned. We think it’s a great twist on the traditional Steampunk background but you will have to wait and see.

Can we expect to see Requiem releases in the game stores?

Yes, we are planning on having six new boxed sets on release this summer. However, you will not see any new stuff in shops before we fulfil the pledges to our backers made on Kickstarter.

So is every model made?

No absolutely not, the range is about 40% done. You will see a lot of concept stuff on the Kickstarter. We will be posting up some video updates on where the newest sculpts are up to, and if we achieve our funding, Andy will be freed up to get on and sculpt the rest of the range.

-----------------------------------------------------

West Wind Contact Details

Please feel free to ask us any questions throughout the Kickstarter, or indeed, if you have any ideas of your own to help things along, we would love to hear about them. If you need to contact us, please do so via email to mail@westwindproductions.co.uk or phone on 01457 879330.

Writer's Dice on Dicecards [Kickstarter]

Dicecards are a lovely little concept that takes the notion of dice-on-cards to the next logical extreme. Well, "logical" may not be the adjective that comes to mind when you see the sheer plethora of dice and randomizers that appear on each DiceCard.

playing cards
polyhedral dice
pirate die
fudge die
werewolf roles
other games
distribution dice
meeples

elements die
weather die
RPSLS die
treasure map
target
compass
poker chips
craps dice
dreidel
crown and anchor
slots die
dominos
letter tiles
short straw
zener card
runes
tarot
coins

and Writer's Dice!

There are so many interesting data sources in each card. The mind reels. REELS. So back the project!

Do: Fate of the Flying Temple

There is big news from Evil Hat's Fate Kickstarter! The latest stretch goals include a new Do game built from the newly streamlined Fate Accelerated system. This is great news gamers out there who loved Do's Avatar-meets-Little-Prince setting, but wanted a more character-focused style of play. This is also great news for the legions of Fate fans who haven't yet had a chance to explore the worlds of Do.

In Do: Fate of the Flying Temple, the Flying Temple has mysteriously drifted away from its home in the center of the sky. It's up to the Pilgrims to explore the worlds of Do to uncover the mystery. Along the way, they must raise a young dragon left behind after the temple's disappearance.

Pairing that approachable rule set with a family-friendly setting like Do feels like a perfect fit! If you want fresh new Do, go back the Kickstarter now and tell your friends!

I'm Designing a Deck of Cards for Fate!

The title pretty much says it all! I'm designing a deck of playing cards for Evil Hat's Fate system! Well, technically it'll only happen if the Fate Core Kickstarter reaches its stretch goal. What's so special about this 100-card deck?

• The back can be used as a handy-dandy Fate Point chip.
• The faces show one of 81 possible combinations of a 4dF roll.
• The faces also have colorful phrases to add even more flavor to your results.
• PLUS: We're still figuring out ways to layer in even more information on the face of each card for even more cool game potential.

What you see above is all I've designed so far as a quick example. If you want to see the whole deck layed out, go back the Kickstarter now and put me to work!

Survey Results: Crowdfunding Project Creator Updates

I want to put together a nice infographic of results from last week's fulfillment survey, but it's been an eventful few days. I'll fill you in on the details of that soon, but for now, here's a taste of some of the anonymous comments regarding creator updates. In that survey, I asked:

Care to say a little bit more about your feelings about creator updates?

Generally the positive responses cited the necessity of updates to track actual progress in the job (or lack thereof)

Regular creator updates are vital, regardless of whether news is good or bad. Getting an update announcing a delay or problem in project completion and fulfillment, with an explanation of the reasons/causes of the delay/problem, is far preferable than not getting an update at all. Some creators have given the excuse that frequent updates detracts from their time available to work on the project; but I (and probably many others) consider this a very poor excuse for inadequate communication.   

I like them. They make me feel that the creator's still invested in her project, and it's neat to see the process in something like real-time.

I like them when they have something to show, or when there's a big breakthrough on the project, less so when it's excuses about timing, etc. In those situations, I'd rather hear less, rather than be reminded they've blown their deadline, so long as I get an assurance that they're working on it.

It's the thought that counts - if a delivery date has been delayed, regular status updates (whether it's "Hurricane Sandy left us without power for a week" or just "We've run into some delays but are working hard to finish the project") are the best way to make peace with backers. At least we'll know you haven't fallen off the face of the earth.

A handful mentioned their annoyance with updates in which there is no discernible progress with the project.

"When product is going to be delayed for what ever reason an updated should be posted to give the funders an idea of what is going on.

Essential, but frustrating when they're just fluff with no real indication of progress.

"Still no progress" updates are annoying. 

And that leads us to the negative responses regarding creator updates. Some of these responses called out grievances against specific project creators, but I don't want to make this a forum for any particular project's complaints. I do recommend you contact that project creator if you wish to find out the project's status. Unfortunately, no one is going to keep creators accountable but the backers.

I usually accumulate a number of updates for a given project before I get around to reading them. That said, I do appreciate communications from the creator. Even unread updates in my inbox let me know that the project hasn't been abandoned or something. 

Most of the projects I funded I kind of funded for the general good.  I read the updates, sometimes, and sometimes I didn't.  Once they got funded, it kind of felt out of my hands how they proceeded.

I find that most updates are pointless. They're either the creator whining about why fulfilling their project is so hard or telling us about awesome things that don't affect us. For example, it irks me that Goblins Drool is late to ship to me but there's tons of people who got to play it at GenCon. As a backer, I should be the first person in on the fun.

I don't need twenty-six updates in two months about a project. If there's a ton of stuff happening that's really cool about the development and fulfillment of your project, consolidate that into a weekly update.

Most of the time, they're kind of worthless fluff pieces. I prefer much more concere progress reports, just often enough for me to not forget about the project and feel like its actually progressing.

And a slight tangent to address video updates. First, a detractor:

I pay less attention (I skim) to ones that aren't about actual product delivery, "go here and download this", etc. They're high volume. Long ones, I just don't have time to read through. Videos, similar issue around time investment.

And a fan:

I usually skim them, to see if there are any updates about ship dates, delays or production previews. For projects with supplemental content (videos on the making of the product, for example) I pay extra attention.

But overall, the comments highlighted the mixed blessings of creator updates.

Without a doubt the most variable part of the crowdfunding experience. As the sites become more standarsized in their part of the equation it is this place where a developer's rigorous (or not) detail orientation as well as transparency position come out.

I always have to brace myself when backing a new project to receive way more emails, because I know that in addition to the updates I care about, many creator updates will just be advertisements for other Kickstarters or similar marketing.

Additionally, different creators use updates before and after funding success differently. I prefer creators who use post-close updates simply as a "here's where we are in our production timeline" rather than, "here's more information about the project itself." Wormwood Saga is a good example of the first, Project Eternity is a good example of the second."

Most Kickstarter creators are diligent about updates during their campaigns and directly afterward, but once we get into the long, dark, tea-time of the actual manufacturing process, the updates usually dry up.  As a prolific backer, I find that I may forget about a given project without regular updates.  At least until I go look at my history and review what I am still waiting to receive.

Updates that are simply new information, updates on progress need to be MORE distinct from updates that require active response from backer. I believe the current system of sending out surveys and NOT getting positive confirmation back from creators is problematic.

This list of best practices seemed to sum up most people's feelings on the subject.

I really appreciate updates, WHEN THEY ARE RELEVANT. To whit:

1. You are telling us about a new stretch goal.
2. You are informing us of an exciting new funding level!
3. You are showing us a how-to-play, an instructions PDF, a Print-n-Play, or the like.
4. You are updating us on how the game is shaping up, where we're at with regards to production, and shipping, etc.

I EMPHATICALLY DON'T CARE TO BE UPDATED ABOUT OTHER PROJECTS, WHETHER YOURS OR SOMEONE ELSE'S.

But this was my favorite comment.

Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple was the only project I backed where I actually wanted to get updates.

Aw shucks! Thanks!

POLL: Kickstarter/Crowdfunding Delivery Survey

It's time for another Kickstarter/Crowdfunding poll! This time, we're focusing on the delivery/fulfillment timelines for crowdfunded projects backed between January 1 and August 31 of 2012. Answer in the questions below and I'll put together an infographic next week.

Risk and Renders: "Kickstarter is not a store."

Many view Kickstarter as a new pre-ordering system. However, Kickstarter just updated their guidelines to reinforce their position that they are NOT a store. Towards that end, they've made two major changes to their guidelines. Here's how they affect game projects.


RISKS

Today we added a new section to the project page called "Risks and Challenges." All project creators are now required to answer the following question when creating their project: “What are the risks and challenges this project faces, and what qualifies you to overcome them?”

The intent of this change is to allow backers to judge the creator's likelihood of completing the project promised. This also forces the project creator to acknowledge the risks inherent in any project. For a board game or role-playing game, these risks are:

• Delays in production
• Delays in distribution
• Rules errata
• Staff changes
• Margin of error in estimated costs
• Components that are different than shown in early promotion
• Different specs than initially promised

And any number of other unforeseen circumstances. If you're doing your project right, you should already be aware of those risks. Now Kickstarter requests that you be public about those risks with your backers.


RENDERS

There are also several changes to the Hardware and Product Design categories.

Product simulations are prohibited.
Product renderings are prohibited.
Offering multiple quantities of a reward is prohibited.

These changes do not yet apply to other categories, like games. So you can still show component renders and example box art in your Kickstarter promotions. In all honesty, you should have example of play videos with real people anyway. The more accurate a representation of your play experience the better.

Hardware creators are understandably crying foul at this restriction, though. Why can books and films show trailers, but hardware can only show their prototypes? Expect some fallout from that complaint.

And as for the quantity restriction, games are still unaffected by that new change. However, games are affected by another recent change: No bulk product orders. That means you're not allowed to set up a tier where backers can get more than ten of the same product. For most game creators, that's okay since few local game stores would order more than ten anyway. Still, it's a restriction to keep well in mind.


How else will these changes affect how you approach Kickstarter? Does it fit your perception of their service? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Kickstarter Stretch Goal Perks: More or Better? [POLL RESULTS | INFOGRAPHIC]

Following up on the poll earlier this week, I asked if you prefer Kickstarter stretch goals that add more perks or improve the perks you already expected. This question got a lot of really great responses and the voting was very tight. Interestingly, though BETTER won the day, MORE had far more supporting comments. Granted, comments from either side had plenty of caveats.

"MORE!... Assuming the base product is already high-quality."
"BETTER!... Depending on the type of product."

So what do you think of the results? Surprised? Relieved? Share your thoughts in the comments!