Spotted Online – “Why Did the Play With This Too Kickstarter Project Fail?”
Now that the project has ended, it’s time to start examining where things went wrong and how the Lost Protectors Kickstarter project could be refined, improved, and prepped for a relaunch. There are no doubt going to be a lot of discussions about the project over the next week or two, but to start I think all of you should take the time to read “Why Did the Play With This Too Kickstarter Project Fail?” at allspark.com.
Lots of great ideas and wisdom in there, but I want to point at one specific line right away because it is so true about how Kickstarter projects work.
“For every milestone you make in both completing your project and getting closer to your goal until finally being funded, the job is never done – it’s only ever just beginning.”
Even after a project has shipped it is still not over. It’s almost as if a successful Kickstarter project becomes a part of your life . . . forever. So you have to be pretty certain about a project before launching it, because succeed or fail that project is going to be a part of you and your life for a very long time.
Check the allspark post for a lot of great insight and commentary on the Lost Protectors project.
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I think the lack of painted prototypes really hurt. I think having all the stretch goals up front made a lot of people take a wait and see approach.
The problems I could not see until recently were people being overwhelmed how to navigate pledges. I saw so many people complaining after the campaign ended that they could not simply order Desolataur and Bloodbath. They could have done so of course but they were confused into inaction.
My own theory I haven’t seen much of is that people want to have good guys in a toy line also and there were no heroes available on the Kickstarter.
@mazintotoro – “Heroes.” Man, you may be onto something I’d never even considered. You’re right. This line was missing a heroic side to the story and that probably did have a negative impact.
Gives me something more to think about.
It was (is?) a really cool concept. I wasn’t hot on the designs myself, but the ideas behind–constructable drone figures–them were pretty solid. It said that “These figures will be sculpted with great detail by a master sculptor…” which makes me wonder who that might be. So either they didn’t have that person lined up or it was too early to announce. Just speculation, of course.
@Jay – I assume they were going to use their factory contacts in China for the sculpting. I know that many of the factories are able to work with concept art to take a design from a drawing to a finished state.
I second allspark’s assertion that the Rewards were just too messy. The multitude of options, combined with all the concept art, made it way too difficult to figure out just what you’d be getting.
Hell, looking back at the page now, it’s also a mess aesthetically. There’s no contrast anywhere, making the confusing read painful also. I imagine using a darker background on their concept pieces to break up all the white on white on light purple (which reads as white) would’ve kept people more interested.
@ShenaniTims – I agree. The project was confusing for anyone who wasn’t completely familiar with the promotion leading up to the launch. Cutting back on the number of rewards, simplifying the page, and focusing on a few specific characters would have helped them meet the goal.
I still hope they try again and take the lessons learned to improve their plan.
Great read! I pledged a LOT of Mythic Legions, and I was sort of interested in the Lost Protectors, but the high price tag per figure really scared me off. The confusing options didn’t help, either.
@Yakkotank – Would have been awesome to have seen the two projects cross-over. Maybe PWTT can contact the Four Horsemen and share sizes/joint designs so that the heads between the two lines could be interchangeable.
Matthew Ignash’s toxic involvment in this probably had a lot to do with it failing too.
Hell the TFW2005 thread is full of people saying how they backed out of backing/backing the higher tiers because Ignash/Scaleface was pissing them off with his sycophantic fanboying.
Having painted prototypes helps a TON. I know for both HACKS and Mythic Legions, I spent so much time each day just looking at the figures and trying to figure out who I wanted. It’s the closest thing to the old catalogs from the 80s… spending time looking at all the figures and lusting after them. You just don’t get the same feel from concept art.