Kickstarters - do they fulfill?

[GandalfPC]

I figured I would start a new thread on the topic, to move it away from the VXD thread but still allow it to be addressed.

Disenchanted had mentioned being in 4 kickstarters and wondering what their trust in being able to pledge and get fulfilled really looks like - I think thats a valid thing to discuss, here better than there.

I have backed 113 card campaigns - one of course not fulfilled, two in question - both of those two are very small makers and very sketchy campaigns that I took a knowing risk on, and I still wait patiently, occasionally asking for an update, and cross my fingers.

Overall it has been a very good experience that has worked out at least as good as shopping anywhere else, problem wise.

[bdawg923]

Will any opinions you don't like be removed in this post as well? If so, please give us a list of your opinions so we know what we can and can't say. thank you.

[Sir Toddalot]

Will any opinions you don't like be removed in this post as well? If so, please give us a list of your opinions so we know what we can and can't say. thank you.

This is a ridiculous comment. Gandalf goes above and beyond in engaging with opinions he doesn’t agree with, much more than most other people would. People had been told multiple times to keep things civil and on subject in the VDX thread, and he still engaged with and replied to all contrary opinions and comments. If he finally had enough and decided to block some comments he deemed inappropriate I don’t hold it against him, especially when dealing with such a sensitive subject as mental health and suicide. The job of a moderator is to moderate. Anyone who seriously thinks UC is ran by dictator mods who remove any opinions they don’t like, you should really spend more time on the rest of the internet. I’m sorry for replying and taking the thread more off topic.

[bdawg923]

Will any opinions you don't like be removed in this post as well? If so, please give us a list of your opinions so we know what we can and can't say. thank you.

This is a ridiculous comment. Gandalf goes above and beyond in engaging with opinions he doesn’t agree with, much more than most other people would. People had been told multiple times to keep things civil and on subject in the VDX thread, and he still engaged with and replied to all contrary opinions and comments. If he finally had enough and decided to block some comments he deemed inappropriate I don’t hold it against him, especially with dealing with such a sensitive subject as mental health and suicide. The job of a moderator is to moderate. Anyone who seriously thinks UC is ran by dictator mods who remove any opinions they don’t like, you should really spend more time on the rest of the internet. I’m sorry for replying and taking the thread more off topic.

I commented twice that he should allow discussion and not remove comments and ban people unless they break the rules. both times my comments were removed. Neither of my comments was about a sensitive subject. To me it's just very strange that he wants to remove a ton of comments he doesn't like, then comes here and asks for people to share opinions. Which is why I am asking whether opinions he doesn't like will also be removed here.

[Timmargh]

I'm currently up to 161 campaigns, 2 of which are still funding, and 2 unfulfilled: Horsemen and 1 from 2017 that will hopefully be fulfilled once the current distribution rights holder's contract ends.

I know I've been lucky regarding fulfilment although, ironically, the one I thought I could trust the most as I personally knew the guy presenting it, ie. Tony, has turned out to be my first proper dud. Although, if he got back in contact now I'd honestly be far too relieved that he's okay to give a **** about fulfilment.

[GandalfPC]

The “should not remove comments” issue had been dealt with in that thread already, and two members who wanted to argue hsbc into the ground about it were banned for a week. I simply wasn’t going to tolerate dirtying up that thread with more of it.

Had I known that people would require me saying it three times and still not get it I would have dropped the final hammer I did much earlier - and thats all I’m going to say about it now, which is more than I expected to, and as much as I’ll allow myself to.

What you can say here, or more importantly not say here without ticking me off should be pretty plain to all at the moment. We didn’t move the complaints department for that thread over here - we are discussing the general topic of KS fulfillment - that being a single unfulfilled project, that stat about it - thats where the line is on that topic.

[Evilgamer]

I dont think many people go into a kickstarter trying to pull off a scam. But I do think a lot of them are unprepared for what it's going to take to deliver.

I have only had one go bad so far (a video game that technically isnt dead..it just hasn't delivered after about 8 years).

Whether its what its going to cost to deliver, the work to actually get into production or the producers not living up to expectations.
Or just getting things shipped. Im not particularly worried about any of the myriad card KS I've funded recently there is one producer that I still think is in danger of getting in over their head.

It's all about risk tolerance, never give a KS more than you are willing to lose. Even the ones that have a history, but be even more diligent about the new ones.

as for the injected thread here

[hsbc]

Will any opinions you don't like be removed in this post as well? If so, please give us a list of your opinions so we know what we can and can't say. thank you.

We're just volunteers working to keep things here civil and inviting -- it has nothing to do with differing "opinions"

[rousselle]

I've backed about eleventy billion KS projects. Some have taken ridiculously long to fulfill (four creators/projects leap immediately to mind) but did eventually arrive, a couple are never going to be fulfilled, and another pair of projects by the same (previously reputable) creator is likely not going to see the light of day, either. The ratio of good projects to bad is tons and tons to very few.

There are red flags you can look for. I think I and a couple other folks have posted lists here from time to time; I'll see if I can dig up any of those lists of red flags.

But, for the most part, I've found KS to be a pretty reasonable place to find some pretty cool decks.

The only playing card project on KS I am aware of that was almost certainly a scam from the very beginning was The Founders.

That one is legendary in how much work they put into the scam.

[Adamthinks]

I've backed 161 projcets, and so far only 5 have not fulfilled. 3 that I'm sure never will at this point ( G Deck, Cinderella, and Sea Monster) and two that still might ( FLWR Holographic & Horsemen). There are red flags to look out for ( are they asking for enough funding? have they named a printer?, are all the cards shown?, etc) but usually it's easy to tell which are for real. The 3 i know I'll never see had clear red flags I should have seen coming, and the others just had unfortunate circumstances.

[Bradius]

In my main Kickstarter Account, I show I have backed 575 campaigns . Very few have not been fulfilled, but it is definitely not zero. I haven't kept great records on which have been fulfilled and which have not been fulfilled. A few, like an Eagle Project sponsorship, the creator owed me nothing for backing. I can say the ones that were most at risk were the more complex campaigns. I had one for a spinning top with a gyroscope inside that had one problem after another. However, after something like 4 years, it was fulfilled. So, I always seem to hold out hope longer than most folks. One for a wearable device to check your water saturation is still out there and probably will never be delivered. I got it for my mom and she has passed, so yeah not helping me even if it is delivered now.

I have seen a few cases where someone like an artist created a campaign to produce a book and really struggled with getting the book published and especially with the exorbitant cost of international shipping. In one case, several of us pitched in some extra funds to help her out. In that case, she was just a great artist, but the logistics and planning were not her thing. I still love the books she did though.

[GandalfPC]

575? Holy Hanna!

[GandalfPC]

So, I had an inquiry as to when it might be ok to discuss the VXD project here in more unbound fashion - and I would have to agree that any attempt to define decorum were frustrating for me and unwelcome for many.

So, with Admin aware of the situation I’m going to let everyone handle it, everyone but me. Knock yourselves out, and should it wander into the area that got 2 users banned, be fair enough to unban them.

I personally am going to take a few days not watching it best I can..

[Honeybee]

I personally would be overjoyed if nobody felt the need to. That people find the need (their needs come first!) and have to buck all authority even volunteer moderators helping keep a forum respectful can be disheartening - don't let it get to you GandalfPC

[Harvonsgard]

So, I had an inquiry as to when it might be ok to discuss the VXD project here in more unbound fashion

Someone still feels the urge to beat a dead horse? I'm chuckling in disbelieve about that (the need to discuss it that is - not the horse) and close with a sincere lel on that topic.

As for kickstarters in general. I'd say it ebbs and flows like everything. In the past it was kinda clear which campaigns will fulfill and which are scams or came from a creator not up for the task but with a rising uncertainty in the production chain, economy, etc. it has become more blurry and a bit more of a gamble.

[STLBluesNut]

i have backed 187 KS projects, 186 are playing cards, since late 2018. 1 has not fulfilled and 1 is very late. i have really slowed down in the last year or more, mainly just due to less and less impressing me. also, not supporting projects with decks locked behind buying non deck items, projects that charge ridiculous amounts and projects based on hype and artificial rarity. for me, KS has been a great avenue to purchase playing cards. in fact, i rarely purchase any decks apart from KS and i now have over 500 unique decks in my collection.

as for this ''Will any opinions you don't like be removed in this post as well? If so, please give us a list of your opinions so we know what we can and can't say. thank you.'', i feel like UC is a fairly lenient forum. i have had disagreements with some moderators here over the years. i have been part of, or the cause of, a few heated topics. i realize i can say some controversial things but im just to the point in my life where i am not going to mince words most of the time if i feel like speaking about something. right, wrong or indifferent i am generally going to state fact, my beliefs or my opinions regardless of someone elses feelings about it. i also know i can stray over the line of being a shit head. rarely, but it has happened.

however, i do feel like the moderators here do give multiple warnings and unless you are downright attacking someone else personally, in a vulgar way, pretty much everything is allowed. rarely, are comments deleted. there are a handful of places i have been for saying very benign things. recently, i was banned from a twitch stream for saying one of the characters on an RP server was horrid. no personal attacks to the player, just didnt like the character. point being, that i feel like it is pretty fair and lenient here. one topic i can recall here was a fairly heated political/social issue. lots of heat was lobbed from both sides of the fence. it was a couple years back and without going back and rereading, there was maybe one warning to keep it civil, but that discussion i think was pretty hot for days. no bans or deletions that i can recall and myself and Gandalf were certainly not in agreement.

if i had to put an arbitrary number on it, i would say 90%+ forums, comments, social media platforms, etc are so overly GD sensitive about everything, especially when it comes to the creator or moderators banning folks over not liking their view, but this place isnt one of them, imo.

[th4mo]

So i have backed a total of 299 successful Kickstarter projects (plus an additional 142 that didn't fund - but i guess those are kind of irrelevant) since early 2013. I just looked it up and it's kind of stunning because in the last 5 years I've only backed about 25. Probably 99% of the projects I've backed have been for cards. I discovered custom playing cards basically through KS and Ellusionist, and never looked back. It's been years and years since I bought anything from E, but I still check KS pretty frequently. Ultimately I became much more selective in my taste, which is why I don't back as often any more. I learned pretty early on though, to not commit a lot of money to projects from unproven creators (Founders was the 4th project I backed! ). I don't know the exact number that haven't fulfilled, but I'd guess it's somewhere between 5 and 10. That seems like a pretty good ratio to me. And even though I would easily give up many of the decks i bought in those early years (I was a sucker for Elite Playing Cards ), I am so happy that I discovered the early or debut projects by people like Jackson, Uusi, Stockholm17, Giovanni Meroni (TWI), Emmanuel Jose and Lotrek. So if anyone were to ask me if KS is worth the risk, my answer is an enthusiastic yes! Besides, if you are reading this here at UC, you already have access to the greatest tool out there for spotting and revealing the overpriced, unprepared, in-over-their-head, and outright dishonest projects. So I say, if you see something that resonates with you, and people at UC generally give it the OK, go for it! And in cases where there seem to be (a few) red flags, be cautious but consider that it may be worth gambling a few bucks if you think you've come across the next Lorenzo! (Damn, remember when single KS decks used to go for less than $10? )

as for the sub-topic... the mods here are awesome! I've only breezed through a few other online forums, so I can't compare a heck of a lot. But no other forum has made me want to stick around for more than a few minutes. Back in the day, the previous owner Mike (the 1st) was a bit unpredictable, but today's mods do an excellent job of being fair and allowing genuine discussion (except for that Sviatch Tom ). I do think it's tragic what happened to Pipchick though. I'd give anything for her to return...