Post by florianbingart on Jul 7, 2015 8:47:48 GMT -6
I greet you, army of the night!
now that Bloodstained is funded for quite some time and the "bloodhoneymoon-phase" is over, let's have some important talk.This will a guide to enjoy the contents of this kickstarter. You can apply it to many other kickstarters and apparently it is more aimed to the less seasoned persons that use kickstarter for the first or second time, than favourites with many projects under their belt-
So let's get to business:
First off, be aware that problems can and will arise and mostly it is beyond the grasp of those creating the game for you. In any case, it pays off to have a cool head and see things from a rational point of view, how hard it may be. So keep that in mind. If anything else the TL;DR would be: EVERYBODY BE COOL, YOU BE COOL!
Expectations vs. Reality: A fight where every party loses!
With pledging, everyone has their ideal picture of their game in mind. Unfortunately, reality might not meet that.
This starts already that the gameplay might deviate from concepts and mock ups. It could still be a very enjoyable and great game, but not the one you dreamed about.
Don't fret though and just roll with it, the game might end up much more to your liking, because it is different. If anything, voice your concern decently and in a polite manner; hyperbolic complaints and non-constructive feedback will get you nowhere and give it first a try if nothing is too outlandish.
If polls happen and your choice didn't win!
So what is if the developer was giving you a choice to vote on a specific thing in the game and your choice didn't win? Well, yeah it sucks, there is already one point in the game that might be not to your liking.
It helps to recall, that you at least had the opportunity to make your voice heard. If the game would be created with a budget from a developer that character would be chosen from the intel of focus groups with no say from you.
Just cherish the fact, that you did your best and maybe you can drum up a campaign to show popularity of a specific item, that didn't make the cut, but still has a cult following; maybe it can be incorparated in the game in a smaller scale! So don't be discouraged and do your best!
Delays happen!
This should go without a saying, but I would love to mention it. Delays happen and this is not something out of the blue. Here is something I found on twitter a long time ago and this will hold true, thoughout the development:
99 little bugs in the code
99 little bugs in the code
Take one down, patch it around
117 little bugs in the code
And that is not the only source where delays can happen. Just be releaxed, the game will come out and your enjoyment of it will be much better, than a rushed job. Same goes with the rewards that go along with it.
You want quality (hey, you payed for it!) So do yourself a favor and wait for the quality, then. In the end it will pay off for you, because let's be honest, you don't want to complain that the finished project is a bug-ridden mess, do you?
Surveys, when will they go out? I thought we are getting them?
Patience is key here. Your surveys will come out eventually and find your way to your inboxes, they might not ask everything right away, but what they need at a certain stage. Usually surveys happen closer to when the project is done. So don't worry, if half a year passed since the kickstarter and nobody seemed to bother asking if you want to go with a Wii UI or PS4 version. The benefit of that is, that you might need to change things and still can. What if you get a PS4 down the road and want to enjoy the graphical fidelity it brings, despite first envisioning having the game on Wii U... or you get some physical goodies and you move inbetween. A later survey helps with that!
Incidently the last Update (#28) addressed this point, here a survey will be sent out sooner than later, though I guess with a more longer date to finalize everything and don't fret if you forget. My firm believe is, if things are getting locked down, they will give us enough ample time!
Budget can be tight sometimes!
No matter the planning, Budget might be a bit tighter and things need to be dialed back from what was first presented within the kickstarter. This is by far no indication of mismanagement, but a feature, everyone thought was easy to create turned out as a huge beast, where the options are either the cutting room, or pumping huge amount of cash into it.Nobody likes that, especially not the creators, so don't give them unnecessary flak, because of it.
Though usually a developer will do their best, so that this situation never arises!
Consider your money gone... gone, gone in the wind!
Okay, that sounds akward and more doomish and gloomish than it should be.
However the reality is, your money is gone and you don't know how everything will be in the end. So rather consider your money gone. Sure that pill is easier to swallow if you put in $5 than $500, but you pledged out of passion.
Personally I use the rule of thumb: I only spend as much money on a kickstarter I still would feel okay, if the creator runs away with the money for a good holiday at Hawaii. Sure, I would point out misbehavior where I see it and do my best to not support this group / person any more. But I also would not blindlessly throw away my savings and be surpised if that kickstarter failed to meet my set expectations. After all, nobody hold me on gun point, when I entered the amount I would pledge for.
Naturally a decent developer will strive for fullfilling your rewards, but again, consider your money gone.
What i try to say here is, don't go in compare the value of the game with what you pledged. It might let you feel bad. Enjoy what you got for your pledge! It will go a long mile! If you really think this was absolutely a mismatch between your pledge and contents of what you got, just learn from it.
Reasses what was promised and what you expected!
Believe me, I've seen in plenty of times, where persons get all upset, about something that was not even promised within the original kickstarter and got added later on in development. That is plain rude and unfair to the developer!
So, if you think you had been treated unfair, check the kickstarter page, especially the section of rewards and features. It will save you a lot of stress and you don't go all grumpy over something that should not get you grumpy to begin with.
Read the Updates!
This should be a given, but again, I encountered where people asked questions about things that was addressed in the very update, where they asked!
Don't skip over something, since you might think it would be uninteresting, read the whole entry, even if the update goes sometimes off-topic (i.e. highlight another kickstarter). Usually you get a mail, when an update hits (if not might want to check your spam folder, or see if you turned off notifications at your kickstarter settings). Either way, read them and if you missed some, read past updates, too!
And especially, read the whole thing!
What if it turns out a stinker?!?
Bad luck mate, bad luck. As said before, your money is gone. You can plea with your bank and try a chargeback, but it will only leave you with a bad credit and in shifting times like these, you don't know when this will come back to haunt you.
Again, your money was gone, the time the pledges got collected and you certainly learned your lesson.
That is not to say that you should avoid every kickstarter, but recheck if you really need to plunge in $500 or just add in the mininum. Read the Project with caution and remember that you can cancel or manage your pledge during the lifespan of a campaign. I did that a lot of times, when I was not 100% sure. Just be aware, the next one could also turn out a stinker, too.
To give you perspective; In my Kickstarter experience, I have yet to encounter a COMPLETE stinker. Some projects didn't live up to what I expected them to be, or came too late for me to care about, but nothing that really startled me. As long as you keep your hype at a decent level (but don't drop it) you will be in good waters!
- - -
So that is it for me. I know there are some hard pills to swallow, but Kickstarter is a wild place and These Guidelines will bring yourself some better enjoyments.
- Your friendly neighborhood bat
