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KS vs GFM

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ssm
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I didn't know where this should go so I chose here.

I know the impact board games have had on Kickstarter & how many games go there for funding.

My question to most is-
What makes Kickstarter better than Go Fund Me for you?
Is it the kind of built in board game community?
The terms? Exposure?
Never knew there were other options?

I am really curious because I don't care for Kickstarter much. I very much like how GFM functions.
In case you don't know, the big difference is on KS you must meet your goal before getting anything; whereas on GFM you pull money out as you need/want it.
This appeals to me as I see it as a way to build whatever you are doing, as long as funding comes in.
You can set your own goals, let's say-
I want $3,000.
I can plan and state my plan as the first $300 is for X, the next $800 is for Y, and the remainder is for Z.
I see it working better than KS for my mind and how I go about working out a project.

What about you? Any thoughts on it?

questccg
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Umm... I think you should reconsider...

Nobody but YOU needs to know what the money is for. Having to say X = this, Y = that is rather "RIDICULOUS" IMHO.

Kickstarter is simple: You set your minimum goal so that you can print 500 games. Included with that might be the cost of artwork and other fees that you might include.

Generally speaking you don't want to be held accountable for EVERY PENNY you earn. And it's pretty much an OPTION to say X = 25%, Y = 30%, etc. Some people claim to say what the money is being used for - how accurate this is - nobody knows because financial accountability does NOT exist on Kickstarter. Delivery accountability exists to make sure you deliver on your promise...

But having to divulge how much everything costs - is YOUR business not anyone else's (IMHO).

Don't worry if you KS, you will be doing the same math... Just that you don't need to full disclosure over each dollar earned.

KS is very much a business and in business your figures remain confidential unless your work for the IRS. Then you have accountability.

Also KS-ing as a BUSINESS instead of a PERSON also has a big factor too. As a business you pay taxes when the game is delivered to backers (liability). As a person you pay taxes in the year you got them (direct income).

ssm
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The figures don't really

The figures don't really matter much; it was a thought of something to do.

I know the numbers behind KS, the real numbers.
Like-
For a couple years now, solid publishers won't touch a KS game.
Over 80% of fully funded games will never be released due to the designer being heavily in debt after the funding comes in.

So maybe a change in question?

Why put all your eggs in one basket, instead of gaining funding at each stage of development?

questccg
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Not 100% certain - but...

ssm wrote:
For a couple years now, solid publishers won't touch a KS game...

Who cares?! My Publisher is KS-ing the game and even has contacts for direct distribution WITHOUT having to go through distributors. Some retailers are so big, the off-set their Brick & Mortar sales with ON-LINE sales too. If you can sell 100 games for 50% off MSRP and have no middleman - that's pretty impressive...

ssm wrote:
Over 80% of fully funded games will never be released due to the designer being heavily in debt after the funding comes in.

I don't think it's 80%. If it would be - Kickstarter would have closed its doors a long time ago. Accountability in Kickstarter exists - it's not just a fairy tale... To be real honest - I can't even say 20%... If this was such a problem, Kickstarter would have revised their policies to correct the situation.

As this has NOT happened - my guess is that there is a MINORITY of CrowdFunders that have fallen into debt. I would dare to venture that it's probably around 2%. Something larger would make KS rather questionable as a platform for funding projects...

ssm wrote:
Why put all your eggs in one basket, instead of gaining funding at each stage of development?

I "think" I understand your idea: it's like venture capitalism. You basically do "Rounds" of funding, whenever you need money. To be honest my first game I invested money and lost a fair amount of a nest-egg. My second game cost me HALF to produce (and it still has not been Kickstarted). It takes REAL MONEY to drive these Board Game "ventures"... Don't kid yourself.

You can do the math: my second game has cost me about $10k to make (to date)... Before hitting up a Publisher ... and they are investing MORE money in it too!

My guess is that you need to have money if you want to "venture" into the Board Game Design "world". So while you struggle to have the finances, I struggle to make certain I make them back! LOL As I like to say: "It's an EXPENSIVE hobby..."

Cheers!

questccg
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Not as aware

Since you mentioned the "Go Fund Me" (GFM) platform, I figured I'd do some Googling about it... Well it turns out one of the FIRST GFM results was SCAMS on the GFM platform.

And that wasn't something I had thought of originally...

But I was going to ask you this: What if you fund $X and the $Y later... And you decide "Fnck this shit... I'm no longer designing this game?!"

Then what happens to all those people WHO PAID or invested in your milestones?

Are you expecting them to be screwed?? Just curious... because it sounds a little bit "illegit".

Meanwhile I bet Kickstarter' stronger accountability practices HELP out the backers in making sure projects complete successfully. I'd go and DARE to say that MOST (50%+) don't complete in the expected time... Usually it takes LONGER to produce than anticipated ...

On this one I would agree, it's probably HIGH.

I Will Never Gr...
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ssm wrote: I know the numbers

ssm wrote:

I know the numbers behind KS, the real numbers.
Like-
For a couple years now, solid publishers won't touch a KS game.

Not at all true. There are many games that have gone through KS that then went on to be picked up by a publisher and/or publishers themselves KS'ing games.

Quote:

Over 80% of fully funded games will never be released due to the designer being heavily in debt after the funding comes in.

Where on earth are you getting this from? Not even remotely true in any way. There have been a few cases like this, but it's nowhere near that high (probably closer to 1% really).

Quote:

So maybe a change in question?

Why put all your eggs in one basket, instead of gaining funding at each stage of development?

Because a platform like GoFundMe is a donations platform. Who is going to donate money to you to do whatever you're doing? In reality, GFM is for people to donate money to others who need it for (X) and who expect nothing in return. Consider it more like a Charity platform.

Kickstarter is a fundraising platform that you offer physical reward to those who back your project, complete with some level of accountability to actually do so. Kickstarter has an audience of people looking to back games.

I'm not going to say don't try GoFundMe, but I really don't think it will do what you want it to do. Looks like you need to do more homework on the subject.

The Professor
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KS has the presence

While Indiegogo is starting to cut into KS market share, KS is still the place for serious game designers to turn for their projects.

ssm
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Ok, I guess this is dead.....

Ok, I guess this is dead.....

The Professor
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What's dead?

...the thread, the conversation, or your project?

ElKobold
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ssm wrote:In case you don't

ssm wrote:

In case you don't know, the big difference is on KS you must meet your goal before getting anything; whereas on GFM you pull money out as you need/want it.
This appeals to me as I see it as a way to build whatever you are doing, as long as funding comes in.
You can set your own goals, let's say-
I want $3,000.
I can plan and state my plan as the first $300 is for X, the next $800 is for Y, and the remainder is for Z.
I see it working better than KS for my mind and how I go about working out a project.

What about you? Any thoughts on it?

This is exactly why KS is the best option.
Because it protects consumers and they feel more secure about pledging.

I`m much more likely to throw my money in if I know that there won't be a situation where money is spent, but the game won't be completed. (Granted, it still happens on KS due to poor budgeting, but those cases are relatively rare).

In addition, it's almost completely pointless to spend those small amounts during the campaign as manufacturer will require at least 50% of the entire print run cost from you before they start which will likely be close to your funding goal anyway.

Friendly advise: don't go into self-publishing if you don't have disposable income. It won't end well.

I Will Never Grow Up Gaming wrote:

Looks like you need to do more homework on the subject.

I've got exactly the same feeling after reading the OP.

The Professor
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Some KS Stats

Just to give you a perspective from KS...with stats:

As far as stats go, Kickstarter is the “go-to” platform for board gaming. Here are some staggering stats:

$364 million pledged all time to tabletop games
$114 million in 2016 alone
1 million backers
Over 6200 successful projects, with a 55% success rate in tabletop gaming

Cheers,
Joe

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