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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Kickstarter - Codename: Morningstar - About to be Kicked From it's High & Lofty Goals and Crash Back to Earth



So, it looks like folks sent a message to Codename: Morningstar, as it has six days to meet it's lofty goal of $425,000 and is currently sitting at less than $68,000.

Remember this wonderful quote?
"not pledging is telling the industry that you are happy with the status quo."
Yep, just like it's biblical namesake, it seems to have been rejected by the vast majority. Yes, hubris without being able to back it often leads to similar results. This isn't being happy with the status quo, it's not wanting to back a shitty product.

What's in the future for Codename: Morningstar? I suspect more of the same. There is simply too much invested in this money sink already for them to abandon it. Instead, they'll have to actually try and sell it once they have an actual working product.

Go figure that one out ;)

4 comments:

  1. I think everyone should pledge now. We all need to sit at the game table with our little computers to play with rather than interact with each other. Otherwise we're just rule-playing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. They must have never heard of Indiegogo where even if the project doesn't fund, you can still opt to keep the money. . .

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was as irritated as you at their guilt-trip approach. I was in the beta before it canceled and would have liked to see it succeed. Since I don't play Pathfinder, though, I had no interest in this version. Also: I don't mind funding a Kickstarter for a tiny independent shop (especially if it's 1 or 2 people), but if you've got 16 employees or whatever and some existing funding, come back when you have something you want me to buy.

    They should go back and take Capitalism 101 again to understand what this is actually telling them (and the industry).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, a lot of software companies see Kickstarter as Free Money Town.

      I do feel a bit for their predicament. They got into bed with Wizards of the Coast with no promise from WotC to "buy the cow". They did a poor job on the contract. They should have had some financial buy-in from WotC for certain milestones achieved.

      They may not have gotten a contract on those terms, but they would have better known where they stood from the get-go.

      Unlike Eric, I'm not certain Morningstar will live on in its current incarnation. They may have to break it up into smaller apps, which lessens its overall utility.

      They could probably release just a character builder alone right now, but without the other features, that becomes a much less interesting product.

      Delete

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