Thursday, August 25, 2011

Ain't That a Kick in the Head?


With the obligatory channeling of Dean Martin behind me, I want to talk to y’all about a potential Kickstarter campaign for OVA. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, Kickstarter allows creators to raise money to fund their projects. Fans pledge varied amounts of money, with higher pledges netting them increasing rewards, benefits, and goodies. If the total amount of pledges reaches a number set by the creator, the project is funded. If it falls short, no one pays a dime. It’s a low-risk way to support projects you care about without worrying if it will actually happen or not.

What I’m curious about is what sort of incentives will actually interest you enough to pledge. I’ve included a list below of ideas I had as additional bonuses to the basic “preorder the book” option. Which fill you with excitement and a prurient desire to part yourself from your money? Which instill only a tepid response?

A ranked list isn't required, but whatever time you can spend detailing your interest would be greatly appreciated. I want to gauge which of these are wanted most, and how much you would be willing to pledge to attain a given reward.

Under each item I have included a description and additional points of inquiry for discussion.

Early Access to the PDF
Self explanatory. How much earlier than its release date would you expect to see it? What would the least amount of time be to feel you’re getting something?

Signed Copy of the Book
Would personalized inscriptions increase your interest in this?

Trading Cards
Cards featuring art from the game. May also include quick reference for character stats or an extremely simple mini-game.

Limited Edition Box
A box including the book, quick-start player books, character sheets, and a set of dice.

Art Prints
Frame-able prints of artwork from the game. What size would you want to see most? Or would you like to see it poster-sized?

Wall Scroll
Artwork from the game printed on a wall scroll just like the ones you see for commercial anime.

Character Figure
A painted mini sculpture of one of the OVA characters, similar to ones common for most anime. Which character would you most want to see given this treatment?

Personalized Character Pin-Up
An illustration of your OVA character as part of a custom-designed character sheet.

Lifetime Wise Turtle Subscription
Free access to all future Wise Turtle products. Includes PDF and print versions. FOREVAH.

So? What do you think?

18 comments:

  1. Top choice: early access to PDF. I wanna play, and earlier is better.

    Of the other choices, I think the art prints and Trading Cards would be nice. Personally, I don't want to ask for anything that will add development time. Again, I want to play.

    But I did get some signed art with a copy of North World I ordered once, and it was on these awesome little hand drawn scenes (with the blue lines still intact!) that were the same size as the manga book. That would be an awesome prize.

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  2. Don't worry, none of the incentives will affect production time at all. Most either require little work or will be done after the book is ready to go to printers.

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  3. Mm, I'm not much hand for guesstimating price ranges, especially sight-unseen as this sort of speculative list needs to be, but things I would definitely be interested in:

    - Limited edition box! Especially with the additions you list above? I would be there with bells on.

    - Early PDF access, because early game planning is a good thing.

    - Art prints, especially depending on what art and which characters.

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  4. I would go far a premium version of the book. By premium, I mean an extremely durable and well made book that would stand the tide of multiple gaming sessions. I have a BESM 2nd book that bled the colours on the pages together, as well as the bind slightly coming undone.

    That would get an immediate pledge from me.

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  5. Well I figure me and anyone else actually following this will be making a purchase anyway. So a pre-order isn't really much of a stretch. Guessing the point is what will get me to spend -more- than just the cost of a pre-order.

    Wall scrolls and boxed sets are cool ideas. PDF bundling is a great idea. Some of the others might be interesting but would probably cost more than I would consider. Signing is cool but it's the kind of thing that mostly means something to me if I've met someone.

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  6. I don't know if you can do this legally, but if you do trading cards, I'd love for them to have stats on the back and full image on the front, along with triple triad numbers along the edges like in FF8. XD

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  7. Early PDF access would be good, though the personalized character pin-up would be VERY tempting. The lifetime Wise Turtle subscription, while also very tempting, might well be at a funding level beyond my means......

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  8. Would the success, or lack thereof, of a Kickstarter affect the release date of OVA2e?

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  9. I agree w/ Aaron; a premium book would get a pledge from me.

    If the personalized character were someone integrated in to the book/PDF, that would rock =)

    But, like Metalman says 'I wanna play, and earlier is better.'

    So, PDF access ASAP is tempting.

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  10. My preference would be early access to the PDF so we can influence the final product and a boxed set. I love RPGs in boxes and would be especially enthused with dice unique to OVA and special play-aids.

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  11. I would love a Kickstarter campaign. I've been ready to give you money for months now, haha. I just wish I checked your blog here a little more often. Early PDF Access would be wonderful. I can also see myself paying more for a limited edition and trading cards, depending on the price.

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  12. I'd love early PDF access as an incentive. The character pinup is a good bonus too. My cyberpunk Armitage knockoff needs some art love.

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  13. I'm with DJ above me. Did this ever happen, and is OVA2nd Edition ever gonna come out?

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  14. So, I've found out about this one just now. If Kickstarter is still an option, let us know. On the other hand, I saw that there's a 5$ coupon rolling in over at RPGNow/DriveThruRPG for those, who are buying OVA just now.

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  15. Hmmm...any update to the release at RPGNow?
    RPG-Blog

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  16. Any updates on the progress of this game?

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