Kickstarter thoughts
Added 2021-03-09 16:46:36 +0000 UTCI've been asked before about doing a Kickstarter. Lots of times, actually. My response has usually been a mix of "Why do that when I can just publish the way I usually do?" and "I would have no idea where to begin." However, as I work on Mythic Complete, I'm starting to wonder if I should put this on Kickstarter.
I'm curious to everyone's thoughts on this.
I know very little about Kickstarter other than the obvious, but I'm sure I can figure it out. The advantage of doing Mythic Complete as a Kickstarter is potentially raising more funds up front and making a bigger, better product. The downside is this will take longer: what would have been a 6 month project turns into a 12+ month project.
I feel a little pressure taken off of me to modernize Mythic with Mythic GME Revised coming out first. I think that is what has gotten me to thinking about this as a potential Kickstarter.
I don't know what kind of stretch goals I could include, but first thoughts: a high quality hard cover edition, a The Mythic Art Of Jorge Munoz artbook, a Mythic Complete card deck (more likely multiple decks covering different rulesets in the book).
I honestly don't know if the interest is out there for this. At the end of the day, Mythic Complete is a compilation of existing material, so this effort isn't to produce anything new or groundbreaking but to present what already exists in a better format. I can do that without Kickstarter. But if it was successful, would the extras that go with it be worth it?
Comments
I agree with you both. Kickstarter has advantages and strengths for certain kinds of creative endeavors, but I don't think Mythic is one of them. Mythic already has a community, roots, and channels to move in. I appreciate your perspectives, it's helpful to me since I'm not too familiar with the Kickstarter universe.
Tana Pigeon
2021-03-10 17:10:12 +0000 UTCHmmm i tend to agree with James on this question. Kickstarter is truly to enable big, unknown or creatively so different that there are no other means to make them exist. Mythic on the other hand is a well known, used and loved name and as I see it it’s strengths lie in the clever ways it easily enables a LOT of things that previously were though impossible to do solo (realistic npc interaction, detail knowledge, etc..) not in the extra content like illustrations. It’s a whole universe that exists in print and I think you’re totally right in prioritising a fresh Mythic for a new age. I think you could use Kickstarter perhaps to launch a special solo RPG that is uniquely made for Mythic and expands even further the system, perhaps looking at what Mörk Borg did with the whole website, character generator, dungeon generator, arts and expansions.. then the stretch goals would come naturally. But as it stands, I see no need for a Mythic Kickstarter as it seems to fare pretty well on DrivethruRPG especially when something new launches. 🙂
Alexandru Popescu
2021-03-10 11:35:01 +0000 UTCHi Tana. Honestly I'm not a fan of kickstarter. I've backed plenty over the years and it has always felt like a gamble t the point where I've run out of steam with it. Now I just wait for the second hand market which ends up cheaper in the long run as I simply buy less stuff. I am always concerned that the project overpromises and then despite tyring to improve quality actually ends up disappointing. Although I've never run one I get the impression there's a lot of pressure on project creators to 'run a good kickstarter' regardless of the product. You've also got to deal with a lot of 'opinions' on what you should be doing . My personall feeling is you should keep creative control and publish by normal means. The only 'extra's I can see being useful to me are cards but they can be published by other means. Living in the UK getting POD stuff can be problematic though so a kickstarter might help from this point of view. Other than that I would say don't bother. Just my opinion though.
James McMillan
2021-03-10 08:12:39 +0000 UTC
