I think you made the right call, and that’s from a person (me) who honestly has no issue with early birds on KS (so long as they’re timed for like 72 hours and not limited to a certain number). There’s even some worse examples out there where the item being offered is exclusive to those $1 pre-backers and not even purchasable in the campaign and that’s just unacceptable imo. On top of that, backers already have to keep track of so many things for the games and publishers they love, this just adds another layered requirement to show their support and get the most out of their support and it just feels unnecessary. Lastly, and I know Stripe is pretty good, but this just has people needing to out their financial information out there into multiple additional places which, while Stripe is considered secure, still adds additional risk to any consumer.
I've seen a few reversals of this decision recently, and I have also come to see the $1 pre-pledge as an "Early Bird Special" repackaged. In the end, I feel what it does to your customer is tell them they're merely your funding source instead of your treasured community. Giving something to everyone is far more endearing than the in-group and out-group scenario caused by the $1 pre-pledge. I think it worked so well in Botany's favor because it was new to this board game space and because Botany attracted so many non-gamers new to KS.
Glad to see you listening to the community. It seems like all the campaigns doing this were part of LaunchKit/LaunchBoom. I had messaged with the Ostia publisher, they are Japanese, and were told them that this is common and popular to the American audience.
I'm glad to hear this. To be honest if felt weird and I had to double check the project was actually legitimate before submitting the $1 payment. I think not having a PayPal option is what threw me off the most. Best to just share the goodies with everyone like you've decided. Looking forward to the kickstarter!
If possible, I would LOVE to reach out and chat to you about this! We did the same thing for Chroma Arcana (the $1 pre-KS pledge, then cancelled it), and we are so happy we did! We still honoured the $1 backers we had, but we stopped offering it as soon as we understood the reasons why people didn't like it.
I was completely fine with the 1 dollar thing. There should also be an option for people to donate that 1 dollar to you, I for one don’t want and need it back… it’s yours.
Thank you for listening to your community and your gut on this one! I look forward to seeing what you have for us in your upcoming campaign.
I'm excited to show you more! Thanks for your support on this!
Appreciate the candor. Will certainly be looking at this at launch.
Thanks so much for your support!! See you on April 23rd! 🙂
I think you made the right call, and that’s from a person (me) who honestly has no issue with early birds on KS (so long as they’re timed for like 72 hours and not limited to a certain number). There’s even some worse examples out there where the item being offered is exclusive to those $1 pre-backers and not even purchasable in the campaign and that’s just unacceptable imo. On top of that, backers already have to keep track of so many things for the games and publishers they love, this just adds another layered requirement to show their support and get the most out of their support and it just feels unnecessary. Lastly, and I know Stripe is pretty good, but this just has people needing to out their financial information out there into multiple additional places which, while Stripe is considered secure, still adds additional risk to any consumer.
Yep all fair points! Thanks for your support. I learned a lesson and will strive to keep learning and trying new things!
I've seen a few reversals of this decision recently, and I have also come to see the $1 pre-pledge as an "Early Bird Special" repackaged. In the end, I feel what it does to your customer is tell them they're merely your funding source instead of your treasured community. Giving something to everyone is far more endearing than the in-group and out-group scenario caused by the $1 pre-pledge. I think it worked so well in Botany's favor because it was new to this board game space and because Botany attracted so many non-gamers new to KS.
Thanks for taking in community feedback. Much appreciated and just another reason why I like supporting your games.
Glad to see you listening to the community.
It seems like all the campaigns doing this were part of LaunchKit/LaunchBoom.
I had messaged with the Ostia publisher, they are Japanese, and were told them that this is common and popular to the American audience.
I'm glad to hear this. To be honest if felt weird and I had to double check the project was actually legitimate before submitting the $1 payment. I think not having a PayPal option is what threw me off the most.
Best to just share the goodies with everyone like you've decided. Looking forward to the kickstarter!
Thanks so much. Comments like these make me feel like I've made the right decision.
If possible, I would LOVE to reach out and chat to you about this! We did the same thing for Chroma Arcana (the $1 pre-KS pledge, then cancelled it), and we are so happy we did! We still honoured the $1 backers we had, but we stopped offering it as soon as we understood the reasons why people didn't like it.
Sure - reach out to me at jay @ offthepagegames.com (delete spaces - trying to avoid bots!)
Can we elect to let you keep the dollar?
That's nice of you - but I already found a way through Stripe to refund everyone - and it's already done! I appreciate the support!!
Kickstarter Exclusives are the bigger problem.
I was completely fine with the 1 dollar thing. There should also be an option for people to donate that 1 dollar to you, I for one don’t want and need it back… it’s yours.
You're so kind! Thank you but I've already refunded everyone! With Stripe it was easy to do it in batches! You can help by backing on April 23rd! :-)