The Barren Wasteland of Kickstarter

1st Dec 2024

Barry

3 mins

I’ve funded quite a few things through Kickstarter, and I’ve received…some stuff in return. Generally I’d had a good experience with the crowd-funding premise and the product that results from it even if I probably don’t appreciate them commensurate with how much I’ve paid for them. This notion was swiftly and expertly dashed through the process of funding two projects through Mythic Games, Hel: The Last Saga and 6Siege.

I’ve had my stages of grief and I at least have something to show for 6Siege – though arguably less than I originally had anticipated – and thought about how Kickstarters support community play. Or rather don’t.

In general, Kickstarter offers the opportunity to bank roll smaller would-be developers and they’re a one and done. There’s not much that comes after since all the enticing milestones like extra minis or the neoprene mat is delivered at the same time. And that differs from bigger developers that would trickle out products over time. And this is where that insidious thought emerged from my mind.

I wish someone else had made 6Siege.

I mean I wished that long ago when all the trouble at Mythic Ganes started, but the one and done model of delivery has absolutely crushed any future that game might have had. The game came out with all the usual milestones with character packs, maps, and of course the neoprene mat. Mythic going under was unexpected (apparently) and the original intent was for there to be a store where others could get the game, and it would be possible to start a competitive community.

But there is the thought that the game might have died anyway without the trickle of products to expand it drawn out. Indeed who is to say? Games have a lifecycle anyway and perhaps a Kickstarter game like 6Siege just has a shorter one since there’s no community to carry it on. And we’ve all bought a game wishing it had some kind of community to support it. *

My new one is call GKR: Heavy Hitters** because I’m a sucker for cool looking mech.

  - Barry

*Do not buy 6Siege – there’s a Discord channel full of angry people who haven’t received anything still.

** I wish Abbie had told me about this game before I paid so much for it.