https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/2/17071612/robotech-rpg-tactics-kickstarter-disaster-palladium-books
I don't know if the link will show up or not as I'm not too savvy about such things, but if it does show up you'll be able to read about a huge disaster with this Robotech based minis game. I didn't back this one, but I remember having been somewhat interested in the license back when I was a kid. I think I was more of a Voltron or Tranzor Z kind of guy, but I remember that I watched at least from time to time. Long-story-short, apparently the project released a somewhat sub-standard wave one, and have now shut everything down before making promised improvements to that wave or releasing subsequent promised waves in the line. The project was fully backed and this shouldn't have happened. Many backers are rightfully pissed right now and they want refunds. The company is trying to placate them by offering additional wave one products, but most of the backers are screaming bloody murder and want their money back. There may well be a class-action lawsuit or other legal remedies being discussed right now. The company that promised the line did so in conjunction with a well-respected company in RPG and table-top gaming, Palladium Books. I remember them from RIFTs and Heroes Unlimited. They also had the license for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a time. This debacle has a real chance of shutting them down. That's sad as they've been around for a while.
I've backed more than I should over the years, and if you don't believe me, ask the wife. She will have the rolling pin at the ready to bash me in the head if I back another one this year. I haven't been "burned" yet, but I did have one situation where MonkeyFun Studios took an extra $50.00 from my PayPal account, but I let it slide. Had I pressed it, I think theywould have taken care of me, but I was dealing with Backerkit and them at the same time and it was too confusing to be worth it. One I backed from Mantic Games took so long to get to me--combo of their delays and my sporadic appearances in the States--that by the time I did get it, I had lost all interest. I'll never back anything from them again. I have four games/source books that I've backed that are in the wind right now, but they are coming along nicely.
My conclusions: Book, DVD, non-mini based game projects are safe to back, but may be slightly delayed. Most of the time you'll get a PDF or MP3 to hold you over while waiting for the physical products. Minis--and the games that include them, handmade projects and video games are a terrible risk. They are almost always delayed by a year or more, and the product that you end up with will almost always result in buyers remorse. I have fortunately never been on the hook for any of these projects, but they are interesting to read about.
Backing the projects and waiting for them to arrive is part of the fun. My wife is wise to reign me in on them though. A friend of mine that I know from around here is about to launch one, and I'll have to beg the wife to let me back it. Need to support local artists and all that. Once his is done, it'll be better for me to stay off of the site because I want everything that I see.
My Reviews: I'm rating my overall experience and enjoyment. If you back anything, there is a chance you won't actually like what you get, but that's the given risk, just like going to a movie.
Strongholds and Streaming: TBD It's active. Go check it out. Only eight days left as I'm writing. It's the most funded traditional tabletop project to date. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/255133215/strongholds-and-streaming?ref=user_menu
7th Sea: Khitai:TBD In the wind...not due until August 2018. A continuation of 7th Sea 2nd edition this time in that world's version of the Far East. John Wick productions have always delivered...and then some. Available for preorder.
Journey to Ragnarok: A Norse Mythology Adventure for 5E:TBD In the wind...should have been delivered in February by guesstimate. First project for these guys, but it's looking good. Available for pre-order though the KS is over. They have given us updates, samples and a mead recipe. They aren't running off with the money yet.
Mutant Crawl Classics RPG: TBD In the wind. Should have been delivered August 2017 by guesstimate. This is where perception is reality. This project is very late, but nobody is complaining. They are sharing all the behind the scenes stuff. A few copies will be visiting Garycon this month, and the rest are on the way to the States on a slow boat from China...I wish they would stop my book in the UAE first, but that's the way it goes.
Hoard:**** Delivered on time and nice. This one is a cute, card game from a NZ company called Cheeky Parrot. I bought in for the artwork. I haven't even played it yet, but I wouldn't be afraid to support them if they did any other interesting projects.
DnD 5E Condition Cards:**** Arrived on time and in good condition. This one was by Crit Games. As it says, these cards give you conditions and combat situations in an easy to access way. I thought I would get more use out of them, but they are nice.
Bedlam Hall:*** A game set in Victorian times by MonkeyFun Studios. It was a good project with a decent amount of swag for backers. There was confusion with my credit card, so I used PayPal...but then the credit card was charged anyway. A mess all around. I like the company though and to save me a headache I let it go. In retrospect I should have just waited for the preorder.
7th Sea 2nd Edition:***** The project that keeps on giving. I got all first edition books in PDF form, a hard-cover of the core rule book, two PDF novels,MP3 soundtrack and PDFs of all 2nd edition releases--which they are still coming out with to this day. It's to the point where I haven't read half of them and they keep on coming. I almost didn't back Khitai because I don't know when I'll have time to read it. This was at the $60 level...there was even more for people who wanted to spend more. I measure all KS projects by this one. BTW among traditional tabletop RPGs this is the project that was just surpassed by Strongholds and Streaming as the most funded.
Bring Back Mystery Science Theater 3000:***** Speaking of most funded projects. This one is the most funded of all time in all categories. I was glad to be a part of it. Even when swag showed up broken or otherwise in error, the team took care of everybody. We got more MST3k and even another season on the way.
Dungeon Saga: The Dwarf King's Quest:** The first project I ever backed, and unfortunately the one to leave a bad taste in my mouth. They ultimately made good, but it was literal years before I got what I backed...and then I kind of had buyer's remorse about the whole thing.
Lastly, a couple of words about former kickstarter projects that I bought after the fact:
Mighty Number Nine:*** An infamous video game project that should have been like the Mega-man games. Backers hated it. I picked it up on XBox Live for $20 and I think it's a good little game. Had I invested more money and waited years to play it, I would have felt differently I'm sure. As it stands, I like it and have lots of fun with it.
Oh, You're So Cool Brewster--The Making of Fright Night: ** We can subtitle this one, the joys of living abroad. I'd love to see this DVD...but I haven't seen it figuratively and literally. I contacted the company and they said sending to Dubai was a problem...seeing as how I live in the outskirts of Abu Dhabi and not actually Dubai..well, you know. I did get the coffee table book companion, but my local mail man, knowing that I would rather have a severely damaged book jammed into my P.O. Box rather than come inside the post office, jammed that shit into said P.O. Box damaging the spine of the book to the point of ruin. Fortunately, the pages are not damaged, but man, what a waste. I still want to see that DVD...my pirates aren't into Fright Night though apparently.
Fragged Empire: *** The system wasn't my cup of tea. I bought it for the artwork, but the problem is that the text is so small that I would need a jeweler's glass to read it. What I can make out of the rules are too convoluted to describe to players who don't have the book, so it seems this one will never be played or even fully read. They did deliver it to me on time and in good condition.
Ryuutama: ***** This one is my cup of tea and then some. I've shared my love for this system early and often, so I won't say much more about it. If I'd heard about it on KS, I would have surely backed it. Glad it was funded and that I was able to get a copy.
At the end of the day, I for one have to say that Kickstarter has brought about a golden age for RPGs. I wish I had the money and time to explore them all.
I don't know if the link will show up or not as I'm not too savvy about such things, but if it does show up you'll be able to read about a huge disaster with this Robotech based minis game. I didn't back this one, but I remember having been somewhat interested in the license back when I was a kid. I think I was more of a Voltron or Tranzor Z kind of guy, but I remember that I watched at least from time to time. Long-story-short, apparently the project released a somewhat sub-standard wave one, and have now shut everything down before making promised improvements to that wave or releasing subsequent promised waves in the line. The project was fully backed and this shouldn't have happened. Many backers are rightfully pissed right now and they want refunds. The company is trying to placate them by offering additional wave one products, but most of the backers are screaming bloody murder and want their money back. There may well be a class-action lawsuit or other legal remedies being discussed right now. The company that promised the line did so in conjunction with a well-respected company in RPG and table-top gaming, Palladium Books. I remember them from RIFTs and Heroes Unlimited. They also had the license for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a time. This debacle has a real chance of shutting them down. That's sad as they've been around for a while.
I've backed more than I should over the years, and if you don't believe me, ask the wife. She will have the rolling pin at the ready to bash me in the head if I back another one this year. I haven't been "burned" yet, but I did have one situation where MonkeyFun Studios took an extra $50.00 from my PayPal account, but I let it slide. Had I pressed it, I think theywould have taken care of me, but I was dealing with Backerkit and them at the same time and it was too confusing to be worth it. One I backed from Mantic Games took so long to get to me--combo of their delays and my sporadic appearances in the States--that by the time I did get it, I had lost all interest. I'll never back anything from them again. I have four games/source books that I've backed that are in the wind right now, but they are coming along nicely.
My conclusions: Book, DVD, non-mini based game projects are safe to back, but may be slightly delayed. Most of the time you'll get a PDF or MP3 to hold you over while waiting for the physical products. Minis--and the games that include them, handmade projects and video games are a terrible risk. They are almost always delayed by a year or more, and the product that you end up with will almost always result in buyers remorse. I have fortunately never been on the hook for any of these projects, but they are interesting to read about.
Backing the projects and waiting for them to arrive is part of the fun. My wife is wise to reign me in on them though. A friend of mine that I know from around here is about to launch one, and I'll have to beg the wife to let me back it. Need to support local artists and all that. Once his is done, it'll be better for me to stay off of the site because I want everything that I see.
My Reviews: I'm rating my overall experience and enjoyment. If you back anything, there is a chance you won't actually like what you get, but that's the given risk, just like going to a movie.
Strongholds and Streaming: TBD It's active. Go check it out. Only eight days left as I'm writing. It's the most funded traditional tabletop project to date. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/255133215/strongholds-and-streaming?ref=user_menu
7th Sea: Khitai:TBD In the wind...not due until August 2018. A continuation of 7th Sea 2nd edition this time in that world's version of the Far East. John Wick productions have always delivered...and then some. Available for preorder.
Journey to Ragnarok: A Norse Mythology Adventure for 5E:TBD In the wind...should have been delivered in February by guesstimate. First project for these guys, but it's looking good. Available for pre-order though the KS is over. They have given us updates, samples and a mead recipe. They aren't running off with the money yet.
Mutant Crawl Classics RPG: TBD In the wind. Should have been delivered August 2017 by guesstimate. This is where perception is reality. This project is very late, but nobody is complaining. They are sharing all the behind the scenes stuff. A few copies will be visiting Garycon this month, and the rest are on the way to the States on a slow boat from China...I wish they would stop my book in the UAE first, but that's the way it goes.
Hoard:**** Delivered on time and nice. This one is a cute, card game from a NZ company called Cheeky Parrot. I bought in for the artwork. I haven't even played it yet, but I wouldn't be afraid to support them if they did any other interesting projects.
DnD 5E Condition Cards:**** Arrived on time and in good condition. This one was by Crit Games. As it says, these cards give you conditions and combat situations in an easy to access way. I thought I would get more use out of them, but they are nice.
Bedlam Hall:*** A game set in Victorian times by MonkeyFun Studios. It was a good project with a decent amount of swag for backers. There was confusion with my credit card, so I used PayPal...but then the credit card was charged anyway. A mess all around. I like the company though and to save me a headache I let it go. In retrospect I should have just waited for the preorder.
7th Sea 2nd Edition:***** The project that keeps on giving. I got all first edition books in PDF form, a hard-cover of the core rule book, two PDF novels,MP3 soundtrack and PDFs of all 2nd edition releases--which they are still coming out with to this day. It's to the point where I haven't read half of them and they keep on coming. I almost didn't back Khitai because I don't know when I'll have time to read it. This was at the $60 level...there was even more for people who wanted to spend more. I measure all KS projects by this one. BTW among traditional tabletop RPGs this is the project that was just surpassed by Strongholds and Streaming as the most funded.
Bring Back Mystery Science Theater 3000:***** Speaking of most funded projects. This one is the most funded of all time in all categories. I was glad to be a part of it. Even when swag showed up broken or otherwise in error, the team took care of everybody. We got more MST3k and even another season on the way.
Dungeon Saga: The Dwarf King's Quest:** The first project I ever backed, and unfortunately the one to leave a bad taste in my mouth. They ultimately made good, but it was literal years before I got what I backed...and then I kind of had buyer's remorse about the whole thing.
Lastly, a couple of words about former kickstarter projects that I bought after the fact:
Mighty Number Nine:*** An infamous video game project that should have been like the Mega-man games. Backers hated it. I picked it up on XBox Live for $20 and I think it's a good little game. Had I invested more money and waited years to play it, I would have felt differently I'm sure. As it stands, I like it and have lots of fun with it.
Oh, You're So Cool Brewster--The Making of Fright Night: ** We can subtitle this one, the joys of living abroad. I'd love to see this DVD...but I haven't seen it figuratively and literally. I contacted the company and they said sending to Dubai was a problem...seeing as how I live in the outskirts of Abu Dhabi and not actually Dubai..well, you know. I did get the coffee table book companion, but my local mail man, knowing that I would rather have a severely damaged book jammed into my P.O. Box rather than come inside the post office, jammed that shit into said P.O. Box damaging the spine of the book to the point of ruin. Fortunately, the pages are not damaged, but man, what a waste. I still want to see that DVD...my pirates aren't into Fright Night though apparently.
Fragged Empire: *** The system wasn't my cup of tea. I bought it for the artwork, but the problem is that the text is so small that I would need a jeweler's glass to read it. What I can make out of the rules are too convoluted to describe to players who don't have the book, so it seems this one will never be played or even fully read. They did deliver it to me on time and in good condition.
Ryuutama: ***** This one is my cup of tea and then some. I've shared my love for this system early and often, so I won't say much more about it. If I'd heard about it on KS, I would have surely backed it. Glad it was funded and that I was able to get a copy.
At the end of the day, I for one have to say that Kickstarter has brought about a golden age for RPGs. I wish I had the money and time to explore them all.
