Quote:
Originally Posted by LauraKat
I don't think it's at all fair to suggest that the difference in success between DFA and Jane's kickstart has anything to do with the pitch video.
In my opinion the difference in success comes down to the following factors:
1.
Tim had around 50,000 twitter follows when he released his kickstarter!
Jane had only just set up her twitter and facebook accounts and did not have many followers
2.
Tim has made successful games in other more mainstream genres and as such has a wider name and fanbase.
3.
Tim has generally promoted himself as a 'name' in the gaming world and has built up stronger communication channels.
The thing is, if Jane had kept any communication channel open I would have been right there listening for news as would many other fans, but those channels just weren't there until very recently. I would regularly check Jane's Gray Matter blog just in case some kind of update had been posted but it was so rarely updated.
I desperately wanted to have a means to follow what she was up to but it just wasn't there.
I'm not saying this to critisise Jane, she has every right to her privacy and to not keep up a public persona.
4.
People weren't just pledging to support a Tim Schafer game. They were pleding money to support a bigger message. That message might have been "Adventure games aren't dead!" or "Fans should be deciding what games are made, not publishers!" or many other messages that meant something to the person pledging.
I think people feel like they've already made their point and got that message across now and they don't need to do it again for every other kickstarter that comes along.
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Exactly. Tim's video and message went viral. He's a bit more plugged in than Jane is. Also, he's made a lot more games that have reached wider audiences: His Sierra work, Brutal Legend, Psychonauts, Stacking, etc etc.
And like Laura, said, that's not criticism, it's just that when someone who uses social media tools for communication regularly (Tim has a gazillion followers) plugs into a fundraising mechanism that is fueled by that mechanism, it's going to be a hit.
Jane's a bit old school - nothing wrong with that, but when she uses a new school method, there's going to be some growing pains.
...now, I feel a little red-faced because I thought her campaign would go gang busters in the same way, because I felt there was a groundswell of "silent majority" type people. I still do - but i think laura's right. They're not plugged in, and they quite frankly, might not be Kickstarter users.
HOWEVER,
can we hold off on the teeth gnashing until the campaign is over? Please! It's not a success or failure until the whistle blows, and it's likely a lot of people are waiting to pledge or haven't heard of it yet. Kudos to Jane for going for 41 days. Obviously, us old school adventurers take longer to reach. Probably because we live near old boarded up white houses.
Some might people (like me) might be waiting to pledge or raise their pledge (like me) based on what KS make it, and are waiting for 5 days to go.
And finally, Jane's video is not dark, mysterious, brooding! It's hilarious - done in the same vein as Tim's, just with her dark humor. I love it, and think it's perfect, with one caveat (I just can't let it go), it's a bit too long to go viral.
also, I hadn't thought of it, but I think Tim did tap into the idea that his supporters were part of a movement, a collective FU to the publishing establishment. This one is more of a campaign for those of us in the know.
I've supported and plan to do more. Because to me - ALL OF THESE kickstarters - are FUs to the publishing industry, and it could use it.
The best thing in all of this is that Jane will learn, the community will learn, and the genre will grow and learn by the lessons we're finding out by such an extremely intimate connection through Kickstarter.
I mean - this whole thread has gone in an emotional direction because of how close KS has got us to our games and passion. So in closing, Go Team!