Kickstarter - Campaigns of Interest (Check 1st Post 1st)

valiki7375

valiki7375

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This "first" post will have current KS campaigns that are currently live and I am following or backed. Obviously this is all very subjective since I started this forum, but feel free to mention others that might be of interest. Obviously I am sticking towards video/ board games, but always open to suggestions.

Also another good site to check for Board Games is Gamefound

Live (backed):

Hidalgo - A Co-op Cozy Adventyre Game on Don Quixote's World (12 days left 239% funded)


Live (watching)

Hopetown-A Psychogeographic CRPG (23 hours left 417% funded)


Animation VERSUS (8 days 545% funded)


Monsterpatch: A Cozy-Monster Collecting (9 days days left 1871% funded) found by FamedGuardian


Abxylute One Pro - Your-All-In-One Everday Handheld (15 days left 6855%)


I have backed the following projects

Elusive 2 (last update (last update 04/11/25 campaign ended, next steps)
A Place For All My Books (last update 04/11/25 good description regarding tariffs)
Electronic Gaming Monthly Compendium (last update 04/14/25 surveys out, mention of tariffs)
Boss Fight Books Season 7 (last update 2/20/25 book #3 eBook out, received 3 of 4 physical books)
Playstation 2 Anthology (last update 04/15/25, surevys out, printing begins in May)
SCP Foundation Artbooks Paperback (recevied all items)
 
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valiki7375 said:
Here's the reply i got from Justin..more aligned with Iomaxgnome's thinking:

"
Hey, Dominic. I cannot promise you that it will 100% be by the end of February. But I'm also not sitting here writing this to you secretly knowing it definitely won't be February either.



We have people (not me directly) working with the printer to figure out what our due dates would be for production based on our current volume, which is like 10-20 times higher than our initial pre-launch expectation. I don't have those answers yet, but I promise you we're still working on everything as though we were on the original tight timeline. I'm interviewing like a madman over here, Mollie's putting in late nights making sure the Archive won't explode when we let folks in and adding new features, and we're both working on the rest of the book.



I'd like to think that I've been fairly transparent and communicative so far, and I intend to keep that up. I can promise you that if the ship date does slip at all, we'll explain why in detail. And I also can promise you it's not going to be any kind of major delay. We're not going to become one of those Kickstarters stringing you along for months and months and months.



Yes, the survey still hasn't gone out, and yes, it's much later than we planned on sending it out. We have the questions ready to go, but Kickstarter only lets you survey once, so my understanding is we'd need to turn off Late Pledges to do so. We're still getting hundreds of Late Pledges a week. I get the cynicism of thinking it's about the money (none of which, for the record, goes to me or Mollie directly), but I see comments every day from new backers who are excited about having a chance to get this book. For me it's about sharing a project I'm passionate about with more people. The KS page, since it's already set up and going, is the easiest way to do that now, without a lot of additional effort that would take away time from working on the book and Archive."
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Thank you, that would have been a really really good update for them to just send out to everyone (and I see you made a similar reply to him also) 😅

I wouldn't have pledged if I was worried about getting a book. I just want the best possible result and it's pretty clear they're a small inexperienced team that didn't do much research into the details of Kickstarter projects like this. I do think we'll get some archive access pretty soon as that's pretty clearly been mostly done since before the campaign launched. I'll refrain from any more speculation and look forward to what we get, whenever that is.
 
Here is the most recent comment by a backer (Joseph Dart jr) on their Kickstarter campaign....(I will update if there is a reply from the Kickstarter campaign)....

""Kickstarter only lets you survey once, so my understanding is we'd need to turn off Late Pledges to do so. We're still getting hundreds of Late Pledges a week."

This is great, except that was a month ago and defeats the point of everyone who payed for the Kickstarter when it was actually active. I'm actually disappointed that I still see advertisements for this on Facebook months after the campaign was over.

It just doesn't seem right to the thousands of people who supported you on time to string them along for more preorders when you're already so successful.

It was encouraging at first, but a month without any updates and the same excuses of "selling 10-20 times the volume than we anticipated" as a reason it's being delayed yet you're still selling more. Close the Kickstarter, focus on filling the backers orders, and worry about selling more copies later.

It's starting to look and feel scummy.

I backed at the highest tier, and I understand delays, but blaming delays on your after-Kickstarter sales while keeping said sales open is bad optics. I'm not looking for a debate on the subject, I'm looking for an update on a project that took my $250+ two months ago under the guise the Kickstarter was ending and you were going to honor the original release date still. I'm glad you were so successful in post, but what does that have to do with anyone who got here on time?
 
Replies from Josh Harmon in the comments section (copied from Kickstarter page)

#1
I want you to know I hear this feedback and I'll pass it along. I am not the one running any ads, I'm not the one deciding when to turn off Late Pledges, and I can promise you we do have a lengthy update hitting on a lot of stuff ready to share as soon as we get approval to do so. In the meantime I am working hard on the parts of the project I do have control over—the book and the archive.

Hope to share more as soon as I can.

#2
We'll have another update very soon—waiting on final approval to post. Sorry.
 
valiki7375 said:
Replies from Josh Harmon in the comments section (copied from Kickstarter page)

#1
I want you to know I hear this feedback and I'll pass it along. I am not the one running any ads, I'm not the one deciding when to turn off Late Pledges, and I can promise you we do have a lengthy update hitting on a lot of stuff ready to share as soon as we get approval to do so. In the meantime I am working hard on the parts of the project I do have control over—the book and the archive.

Hope to share more as soon as I can.

#2
We'll have another update very soon—waiting on final approval to post. Sorry.
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My questions for the guy would be as follows:

I am not the one running any ads
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Who is running the ads?

I'm not the one deciding when to turn off Late Pledges
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Who does decide when to turn off late pledges?

I can promise you we do have a lengthy update
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Who is "we" exactly?

stuff ready to share as soon as we get approval to do so
Click to expand...
waiting on final approval to post
Click to expand...
Approval from whom?
 
Yeah, this whole thing is turning scummier and scummier...still continuing to take it late pledges. Then again there is no backlash against them or any recourse any of us have now that the campaign is over. Most "we" can do is comment on the facebook page.

My guess is Fall 2025 for this to hit and Summer 2026 for the "lost" issue to hit
 
I feel bad for the backers who are brand-new to Kickstarter. The campaign has 15,823 (and counting!) backers, so there are bound to be some noobs in there who have no idea how awry a Kickstarter campaign can go.
 
On the Electronic Gaming Monthly Facebook page, back on November 13, 2024, "they" wrote, "TODAY IS THE FINAL DAY for you to help us preserve the legacy of Electronic Gaming Monthly on Kickstarter! [...] Don’t get left behind".

After promoting such fear-of-missing-out sentiment, accepting late backers for so long after November 13 is quite a slap in the face for the people who made sure to back on time.
 
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Huh? If someone sets a deadline, one assumes they are being truthful and serious about the deadline, so one might rush and do any number of certain things to meet the deadline. Then to find out the deadline was false...that's a slap in the face.

Or what's the point of backing a Kickstarter campaign at all if one can just order the "rewards" at any time?

______________________________________________________________________

In the Kickstarter comment section today, campaign collaborator Josh Harmon wrote, "But I promise you, this is not a scam".

Huh? Who's talking about a scam, Josh? I did Ctrl+F on the page to see who else might have mentioned "scam". No one else that I could find. Josh Harmon is the only person I found who used the word "scam".
 
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All Kickstarters are set periods of time, that's how Kickstarter works, and their point is to help get something made, not make something inherently limited.

If you're backing a Kickstarter just to get something you hope will be limited, you're doing it wrong. There might be Kickstarter exclusive perks or version, but pretty much all backed products, especially games, are made available at a later date to the general public.
 
"pretty much all backed products, especially games, are made available at a later date to the general public."

Exactly. A Kickstarter project is an absurd proposition from the backers' perspective. If the "reward" is something one really must have, then just buy the thing when (if) it gets released. Why endure the potential risk and headache of possibly being strung along for who knows how long.
 
🤦

Again, it's to help get something made. The whole idea is to raise funds, same as using any other investors. People back because they believe in the product. If everyone waited and no one backed, then nothing would get funded to be made.

I really don't think you understand.
 
From Josh (contributor)

"So, couple things: One, the decision to turn on Late Pledges (again not mine), was literally made the last day of the campaign. "

Yet, they are still taking late pledges. This is the part that feels scummy. Now, he has also stated there is a lengthy update that is "held up in the approval process". Whatever that means.

I do not think it is fair that HaloGX states "I realy don't think you understand"

I feel confident in saying most of us here are intelligent people and when the campaign manager is sticking behind the original Feb 2025 release date even when many are pointing out that it's unrelastic (again from the sidelines point-of-view) that is what stinks about all of this.

Yes, the while idea is to raise funds, but when the campaign ends shouldn't you stop doing that and move towards completing the product? Instead it was like "Hey, hold my beer" there's more people throwing money at us.

Also if you read some of Joseph Dart's comments he expresses a lot of things rather well. Especially his point that Josh was very transparent during the campaign and active on people's comments. After the campaign (until recently) it was silence. I have given up trying to comment o nall the EGM ads on facebook because it seems like no one is listening and the money is still coming into them (EGM).

Just a shame this campaign took this kind of turn. Not a lot of good faith there anymore.
 
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HaloGX said:
🤦

If everyone waited and no one backed, then nothing would get funded to be made.
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I think a lot of the stuff would get made anyway without crowdfunding. Some campaign creators are just using Kickstarter as an advertising gimmick or just because they want the money now and to put all the risk on the suckers (consumers).
 
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In an update on November 14, 2024, campaign collaborator Josh Harmon wrote, "We’ll be finalizing our Backer Survey and sending that out soon."

Over two months later, the backer survey has not been sent out. What is his idea of "soon"?
 
Here's a nice bit of text from the "Risks and challenges" section:

"[...] we cannot absolutely guarantee our current editorial timeline will hold. Likewise, we cannot finalize our printing and distribution contracts until the campaign completes, which may further impact our expected timing."
 
For Kickstarters I always say a normal Kickstarter is what they said for delivery +- 6 months or so. Just like LRG, I just don't expect anything to come on time and when it comes I usually care less about it unless it's something evergreen like RA Deluxe (I love Reiner Knizia board games).
 
That's great if you are a backer who knows and doesn't mind that Kickstarter campaigns can take much longer than advertised to deliver rewards. But what about the other 16,155+ backers. How many noobs are there who are expecting to have their rewards delivered on time (February 2025)?
 
I still don't understand people giving money towards this. You've been able to get these magazines digitally for years for free.
 
Eight days ago in a comment on the Kickstarter page, campaign collaborator Josh Harmon wrote, "We'll have another update very soon—waiting on final approval to post."

The update has still not been posted. What is his idea of "very soon"?

Who is giving this "final approval"?
 
Sounds like this KS is showing some red flags? I backed tons of bad KS but this one, just felt off... like they kept seeing more money then they ever imagined and prob spent a lot of on coke and hookers.
 
Vinny said:
Sounds like this KS is showing some red flags? I backed tons of bad KS but this one, just felt off... like they kept seeing more money then they ever imagined and prob spent a lot of on coke and hookers.
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I sure hope not. This was my first ever KS. I couldn’t hold back from the nostalgia of EGM.
 
On January 22, 2025, campaign collaborator Josh Harmon wrote, "We'll have a big update out covering progress on everything within the week."

By "within the week", he must mean by 11:59 PM on Saturday, January 25, 2025. Right?

For current and future reference, on January 22, 2025, he also wrote, "Happy to issue a refund if you'd prefer that. Don't want you to feel like we're going to hold your money hostage."

I am surprised he can offer refunds. Is he in charge of that? Doesn't he need to get "final approval" from the Shadow Masters before offering refunds?
 
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Cagg said:
On January 22, 2025, campaign collaborator Josh Harmon wrote, "We'll have a big update out covering progress on everything within the week."

By "within the week", he must mean by 11:59 PM on Saturday, January 25, 2025. Right?

For current and future reference, on January 22, 2025, he also wrote, "Happy to issue a refund if you'd prefer that. Don't want you to feel like we're going to hold your money hostage."

I am surprised he can offer refunds. Is he in charge of that? Doesn't he need to get "final approval" from the Shadow Masters before offering refunds?
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That "offer you a refund" was to me :ROFLMAO:

I dount that he has any control over that and as I stated there; this isn't about the money ( well maybe the greed they are showing), but about them being upfront and realistic about their expected date.

But as someone pointed out to me, at least we have something to wait for....silver lining is that at least Josh is more active now even if it is a lot of "sorry" and "update soon replies". The first rule of KS is we don't talk about the Shadow Masters.

....although part of me is waiting for them to say; "Oh by the way we need "X amount" more due to rising shipping costs"
 
It’s absolutely laughable they need to get approval to say “yeah we ain’t delivering in 2 weeks”

And it’s probably that they want a full update announcement before they say anything but the longer they delay the greater the resentment and vitriol will grow. And frankly, it’s insulting to people’s intelligence for them to not at least acknowledge that Feb 2025 shipping ain’t happening.

Something as simple as “you can probably gather we will not be meeting the originally stated goal of Feb 2025 shipping but a full update is coming next week” would go a long way.
 
from Josh (1/23/25)

I agree (and you know I agree) that we should've provided a few updates by now and more transparent communication. I'm working to make sure we improve on that front, both with the content of this update and the pacing of future updates

And if I were to imagine myself as a backer with no special inside information, I would agree with you that it seems unlikely everything would arrive to me by the end of February given that it is late January and they've yet to collect my address. I would also be hopeful that the campaign would soon provide me with a new, clear delivery estimate, a transparent explanation of why the date was pushed back, and clear and specific updates on progress that reassure me any new delivery estimate would hold. I would also have preferred to get that update sooner, ideally in December.

I don't think wanting more info is unreasonable, but I'm not sure what I can say other than to repeat that I'm working on everything—the project and communication with backers—as hard as I can.

I hope that when the update arrives it reassures any major concerns you have, and if it doesn't, I would be happy to get your pledge refunded. I'm really not trying to be snarky with that. It's an earnest offer, because the one thing I don't want is for you (or anyone else) to feel like you're in a situation you're unsatisfied with.
 
Update today 1/24

Josh " start with the most important update: For reasons we'll outline below, we need to push back our original delivery estimate of February. You can now expect your physical copy of The EGM Compendium to ship this summer, with the current shipment date now planned for late July 2025."

There's more on the site if want to check it out
 
Another Kickstarter campaign isn't going to deliver on time? What a shocker.

I haven't read the update yet, but how are they planning to compensate backers for pushing the delivery date five months out?

Try being five months late with anything in your life and see how that goes for you. But these mismanaged Kickstarter campaigns get away with it with no consequences.
___________________________
"we are already gearing up for production of the other rewards".

Wait. They are just now starting production of the other rewards, the rewards that are supposed to be delivered in February 2025!?

________________________

About one month ago, in the Kickstarter comment section, campaign collaborator Josh Harmon wrote, "We're not going to become one of those Kickstarters stringing you along for months".
 
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Cagg said:
Another Kickstarter campaign isn't going to deliver on time? What a shocker.

I haven't read the update yet, but how are they planning to compensate backers for pushing the delivery date five months out?

Try being five months late with anything in your life and see how that goes for you. But these mismanaged Kickstarter campaigns get away with it with no consequences.
___________________________
"we are already gearing up for production of the other rewards".

Wait. They are just now starting production of the other rewards, the rewards that are supposed to be delivered in February 2025!?

________________________

About one month ago, in the Kickstarter comment section, campaign collaborator Josh Harmon wrote, "We're not going to become one of those Kickstarters stringing you along for months".
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Compensate? That's funny....although Josh (in the update) mentioned that the porject has expanded....

Interesting, no back survey yet
 
Cagg said:
How about now?

They clearly aren't in a hurry. And why would they be? They can continue to move the goalposts for years if they want to, like other mismanaged Kickerstarter campaigns have done.
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If you look on the comments section people are still posting that they just backed the campaign as of yesterday. They have until July now. I wouldn;t say this is mismanged. more like, hey we are still getting money from people so don't close the doors just yet.
 
Okay. Instead of "mismanaged", how about "shady"?

They haven't done what they said they would at least three times now.

1. About one month ago, in the Kickstarter comment section, campaign collaborator Josh Harmon wrote, "We're not going to become one of those Kickstarters stringing you along for months".

Except they are doing exactly that by pushing the delivery date out five months.


2. In an update on November 14, 2024, campaign collaborator Josh Harmon wrote, "We’ll be finalizing our Backer Survey and sending that out soon."

The survey still hasn't been sent out.


3. On the Electronic Gaming Monthly Facebook page, back on November 13, 2024, "they" wrote, "TODAY IS THE FINAL DAY for you to help us preserve the legacy of Electronic Gaming Monthly on Kickstarter! [...] Don’t get left behind".

It wasn't the final day.
 
Cagg said:
Okay. Instead of "mismanaged", how about "shady"?

They haven't done what they said they would at least three times now.

1. About one month ago, in the Kickstarter comment section, campaign collaborator Josh Harmon wrote, "We're not going to become one of those Kickstarters stringing you along for months".

Except they are doing exactly that by pushing the delivery date out five months.


2. In an update on November 14, 2024, campaign collaborator Josh Harmon wrote, "We’ll be finalizing our Backer Survey and sending that out soon."

The survey still hasn't been sent out.


3. On the Electronic Gaming Monthly Facebook page, back on November 13, 2024, "they" wrote, "TODAY IS THE FINAL DAY for you to help us preserve the legacy of Electronic Gaming Monthly on Kickstarter! [...] Don’t get left behind".

It wasn't the final day.
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100% agree with all of this. There was a push about updates and since there has been one...and only 1 (like a week ago now). I thin know they have set a more realistic timeframe, but with them still taking pledges it is super shady (and Josh now offering to give people a refund feels like a dick move).

I will give 2 more weeks before I ask if they have stopped taking money in (if there is not a new update). I hate to be negative, but part of me also worries since this has gotten to be bigger and they had to switch printers of the product if the quality will be hurt by that.

Like I said, I will wait and see for a bit. The last time I posted about asking for an update people kept telling me to relax and that EGM said Feb. I mean if it sounds like a duck, looks like a duck...it just might be a duck....
 
valiki7375 said:
If you look on the comments section people are still posting that they just backed the campaign as of yesterday. They have until July now. I wouldn;t say this is mismanged. more like, hey we are still getting money from people so don't close the doors just yet.
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This was my first KS ever. I have to ask… what’s the point of saying “30 days to back” or “one more day to back” if they can extend the campaign indefinitely? at what point is it all a scam and illegal to just keep delaying and taking funds?
 
Romeo said:
This was my first KS ever. I have to ask… what’s the point of saying “30 days to back” or “one more day to back” if they can extend the campaign indefinitely? at what point is it all a scam and illegal to just keep delaying and taking funds?
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I also have to think this is a book. Once it is made, wouldn't it be easy to print another batch to sell on amazon?
 
It does seem like a potential instance of false advertising for a business to state emphatically (in all caps) that "TODAY IS THE FINAL DAY" but then be all like, Just kidding--it's not really the final day.
 
Romeo said:
This was my first KS ever. I have to ask… what’s the point of saying “30 days to back” or “one more day to back” if they can extend the campaign indefinitely? at what point is it all a scam and illegal to just keep delaying and taking funds?
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The whole "late pledges" is a relatively new concept in the KS world. It used to not be a thing. This is (from my perspective) the most overused aspect of late pledges I have heard of and it is not etting a lot of attention. Of course, if you are late to pledging you think tose of us that have been here the entire time are complaining and impatient, but "we" only wanted them to be upfront about what's happening.

At this point it is almost a parody of the video game industry as a while and I am simply waiting for a delay.
 
www.backerkit.com

Track The Electronic Gaming Monthly Compendium's Kickstarter campaign on BackerTracker

by EGM A Definitive History of Video Games Through the Pages of the #1 Gaming Magazine
www.backerkit.com www.backerkit.com

This was an intersting look....it follows the KS campaign unitl it "ended" on 11/13/24

If look at the graph it raised just under 1 million. Currently it sits at 1.4 million. This is the first I have ever seen this, so I do not know if the total is still increasing (I was trying to see if late pledges were still be accepted, although it does say last updated 14 hours ago)
 
valiki7375 said:
The whole "late pledges" is a relatively new concept in the KS world. It used to not be a thing. This is (from my perspective) the most overused aspect of late pledges I have heard of and it is not etting a lot of attention. Of course, if you are late to pledging you think tose of us that have been here the entire time are complaining and impatient, but "we" only wanted them to be upfront about what's happening.

At this point it is almost a parody of the video game industry as a while and I am simply waiting for a delay.
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Agreed. As a far timer of kickstarter, though i‘ve watched many over the years and am familiar with the structure of it… the whole late pledge ability is just plain wrong in my eyes. The whole phrase “you snooze you lose”. If you don’t sign up In the 30 day campaign window, that’s your problem. Letting infinite pledges in ruins the exclusivity in my eyes.

I was personally talking to Josh one on one outside of kickstarter, and our conversation months back got me to invest over $300 in this product. The way it’s shaping with the late pledges specifically, I may contact him and ask for a refund since it’s been brought up in the comments of the updates.
 
Romeo said:
Agreed. As a far timer of kickstarter, though i‘ve watched many over the years and am familiar with the structure of it… the whole late pledge ability is just plain wrong in my eyes. The whole phrase “you snooze you lose”. If you don’t sign up In the 30 day campaign window, that’s your problem. Letting infinite pledges in ruins the exclusivity in my eyes.

I was personally talking to Josh one on one outside of kickstarter, and our conversation months back got me to invest over $300 in this product. The way it’s shaping with the late pledges specifically, I may contact him and ask for a refund since it’s been brought up in the comments of the updates.
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The Late Pledges really damaged this whoie experience and EGM (Josh) got in way over their head and now look like simple scummy money grabbers at this point. I am kind of waiting for them to either take things away or ask for additional funds based on the scope of this project now. I could not find any definitive answer if they are still taking late pledges.

I am in it for $75. At this point the hassle of a refund isn't worth it. The money is long since gone. I would probalb y feel very different if had been more money (and the worry that they would change what they "promised")

Although this all reminds me of my recent experience with Atari. Ordered the 7800+ on black friday, couldn't cancel. Recieved Dec 12th. Returned and had to include pictures of return with shipping had to pay for (their policy). Yesterday (1/29) after many emails and posting on Facebook/Twitter finally got their attention to give me my refund. Still waiting for refund to hit the bank (expect Friday or Monday).

I say this becuase I grew up with Atari and would have enjoyed sharing that experinece with my kids, but going through all of that has tarnished all of that. Feel the same way with this project. What was once a collection from growing up is now skewed.

True, someday I won't recall Atari return issues or the dragging on of KS campaign, but right now it's fresh
 
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