Damien wrote:
But apart from the people on this forum and those who already know about the game (and will purchase it when it's released anyway), who would that kickstarter attract?
Quite a few people if properly advertised. A "
lot"
(relative) of Linux gaming sites keep a very close eye on Indiegogo, Kickstarter and the likes, for example.
Current DROD players can also spread the word. There are a few indie devs among us, with their own reputation and quite a few followers, who could tweet about that, for example. There's
no telling what the result might be. It's certainly not guaranteed, and doesn't guarantee success for the campaign, but it could help the campaign a lot. Y'know what they say, "
every little bit helps"
.
Provided the set goal isn't unrealistic, I don't see why it
couldn't happen, honestly. But.
It will probably need FDROD as a helper. Furthermore, if FDROD gets recognition for its multi-language support, then it's not entirely impossible that people will expect TSS to have that from the get-go.
Many people helping fund on Kickstarter are eager to play the game early, and, from what I've seen thus far, are often willing to pay a little more to get that early access. Even if it's broken. Even if it's incomplete. Heck, sometimes even if it's a very barebones tech demo.
They're also eager to get some kind of "
funder-only"
bonus, no matter how small it is: the symbolism behind said bonus looks like it's the most important.
DROD is a niche game. You can't seriously expect people to flock to the campaign like lemmings to a cliff. The disadvantage is in numbers. The advantage is that people who will support the campaign, methinks, will know exactly what they'll be getting themselves into. And FDROD will be invaluable for those who hesitate.
There's talk in this thread of better (art, for example) assets. It would probably be best if some of the potential quality could be shown somehow, even if through mockups. Better yet: a trailer. People seem to love trailers. People choose to support a campaign based on a trailer.
It will also take serious incentives to get the most fortunate people to pledge big piles of cash. I'll be stating the obvious, but not offering a SmS as a bonus at all is better than offering a SmS as a bonus for $50 more than the option without it.
All in all, attempting a kickstarter could be a good idea. Problem is: it's getting kind of late on that front, people are getting tired with kickstarters. The question is: exactly
how late is it exactly?
A failed attempt wouldn't exactly be bad news either. Caravel would have (potentially, still) raised awareness about DROD to new people, be they few or legion.
My only fear is, as with all KS campaigns: "
make your mark in the game, we'll implement something you want"
. Tell that to a dog and he'll probably pee on your couch. A customer is more often than not a simple player. His views may be completely off, and he may not know what the implications of even a simple change/addition can be. I buy games
for their creators' vision. Not that of
anyone else. Be they rich or poor. I could indeed trust some people from this forum with this kind of things, there are great holds with great ideas out there, and they're able to stretch the game mechanics to a nice extent. But not someone who never played the game. And that would just seem elitist.
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Fanatics make unreliable friends.
