Aloha 2013: “Happy International Hangover Day”
Its that time again. 2012 has kicked the bucket and 2013 has declared squatter’s rights for the next 365 364. You’ve probably just discovered a tiger in your hotel suite bathroom and that, with a sufficiency of alcohol, facial tattoos sound like a good idea (Advice: if you’re looking for your friend, check the roof…). Needless to say, I won’t keep you long–I’ve got my own tiger to deal with, and I understand that if you start squeezing before the ink dries you can get most of it out… (That’s not how it works? Damn it! Well, I’ve got a brand new conversation starter for Wednesday morning…)
I think 2012 was a pretty decent year. We weathered an apocalypse AND a protracted election season (which by my count is TWO apocalypses). I saw some decent movies, read some decent books. There were a lot of opportunities for personal growth, which I feel were well taken. All in all, I feel like I’ve got a lot to be thankful for (and I am).
There’s lots to look forward to in 2013, from Iron Man 3 to Pacific Rim, and the Wardenclyffe Horror (yeah, I went there), its going to be a year full of delights for the geek-inclined. So forget auld lang syne–set course for the future!
Happy New Year, everyone.
Staying Resolute
This time of year the most iconic lists are without a doubt the naughty and nice kind. I’m not much of a Christmas person, so I didn’t get enough presents to really determine which category I fell into. Today I want to talk about the third list – the list of things that so many people make about how next year is going to be different and how the new and improved you will finally be let out to shine.
I’m talking of course about New Year’s Resolutions. Want to hear about mine? Keep reading!
Tremendous Value or Signs of Weakness?
A few days ago, Chris discussed the high profile project that is Pathfinder Online. He hit all the high notes, the comments lit up, and I truthfully considered the matter covered and closed… until last night. Pathfinder, in a move that falls somewhere between shrewdness and desperation, has decided that this must happen and are willing to give away the store to ensure that it does.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water and all that, so let’s give it another look, shall we?
Airport Nightmares
Christmas is not the season to travel anywhere. I mean, it is the season where you should travel, to see friends and family, to be home for the holidays, but it is hardly a good idea. Well, this weekend, when I decided to return home to California to visit, it couldn’t have gone worse.
So far and life I have had pretty good luck with air travel. Like most of you, I have had the occasional weather delay, or spent an absurd amount of time waiting on the plane for take off, but the plane has always taken off. Not so this time around.
A Big Year for Small Minis
(Note: This week’s “I’m a backer” will be delayed, as we are waiting on interviews from a couple different projects. We will, of course, bring these great projects to you just as soon as they have time to get back to us. While the Christmas season is a busy time for everyone, I am certain it is doubly so for anyone trying to wrap up a successful Kickstarter.)
According to Kickstarter, 2012 was the year of the game, and while games of all sorts did exceedingly well this year, one category really stands out to me as being a huge winner. Despite Doublefine’s excellent performance in the vanguard, I wouldn’t say that it was video games that took the prize (though I suppose if you insist on including the Ouya in games instead of technology, where it belongs, you could make an argument.) The record breaking success of projects like Boss Monster, and Dice Rings, might even lead you to argue that it was more traditional gaming mediums like board games or RPGs that really carried the year, though of course I must disagree.
This year, the projects most worth watching, the ones that seemed to generate the most discussions on boards and in the comments section were definitely miniature games.
Season’s Greetings from Caffeineforge!
It’s been quite a year at Caffeineforge.
For one thing, Caffeineforge is now a real entity, no longer a figment of our imagination. And we’re looking at publishing not one, but two graphic novels this next year, with a third taking shape in the latter half of 2013 for release in early 2014. From there, who knows how things will escalate? Perhaps a few Christmases from now, David and I will gaze down from the thrones of our comic and gaming empire, reigning despair delight down upon the huddled joyous masses.
Or perhaps not.
One thing is for certain: none of the success of this year would be possible without our readers and backers, so from the bottom of our hearts: Thank you and have a safe and happy holidays!
Gift Giving that Never Ends
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through Kickstarter… Okay, I can’t keep that up. The only rhyme I can think of is ‘martyr,’ and I don’t see that one ending well. Besides, I don’t celebrate Christmas. I mean, I participate to a limited degree because my friends and family do, but as a rule I’m not a big fan of the idea that you must buy things on a certain day for someone. If I see something that one of my nearest and dearest would appreciate, I tend to get it for them, regardless of the time of year. Christmas is great, if you celebrate it for religious reasons, or you have kids. Beyond that, I don’t have much positive to say.
Maybe that is one of the reasons I like Kickstarter so much. The idea of getting random presents (backer rewards) at some point in the future appeals to me in much the same way. As I already said in a previous article, many of those rewards will show up late, and some may never arrive – but according to the calendar next year is going to be one hell of a year in the ‘stuff’ department.
Kickstarter and Timelines
One of my former bosses loved that saying Dick Cheney was so fond of, about known unknowns and unknown unknowns. It’s an interesting way to divide the large and murky subject of things we don’t know. One of them we can prepare for to a degree, but the other – those are the ones that will stop us in our tracks. Though we can never be sure what made the white rabbit late for his appointment with the Duchess I think (as he seems to be a very careful fellow) that we can safely put the mystery cause into the unknown unknowns.
This is a thought process that could and should be thought about by any would be project creators out there as well.
Reward Levels
Did you know it took weeks to tweak every last detail when we created the Kickstarter project for The Wardenclyffe Horror? I’m talking every available night and weekend too, not just a few hours here and there. Though in retrospect I think there are still a couple things we could have done better, I feel like the time we spent allowed us to iron out most of the major flaws in our presentation and strategy. On Saturday though, during an interview for the second Kick-a-Thon, we discussed how you need a lot of skill sets to make a successful project; your product requires you to be good at one set of skills to make a product worth supporting, but those same skills are not necessarily the same ones that will allow you to market your work persuasively to your prospective backers.
A couple weeks ago, one of my regular readers asked me how we went about deciding what to set our reward levels when we created our project. This is an interesting question – with many possible answers. As many of you know I do a lot of research on Kickstarters and I don’t think I have yet seen this topic covered in detail anywhere.
Today is as good a day as any though – so why don’t we talk about it right now?
I’m a Backer: Blackwood
Is there anyone that reads this blog that doesn’t know that I like comic books in general, and the horror genre, specifically? I mean, it’s not like my partner and I wrote something along those lines, or that I talk about them several times a week or anything. This week, it should come as no surprise that I am backing a product that is deeply in that vein: Bleeding Ink Productions’ new project, Blackwood.
Blackwood is an homage to so many things, that it might better be described as a pastiche or a medley. Want to know what the hell I mean by that? Me too – I mean… read on.
Caffeineforge 