Backers/Attackers
It took me a long time to not be skeptical of Kickstarter. When it first started, a filmmaker who was a friend of a friend hit me up for a low-budget movie he was working on and after a barrage of emails, I finally chipped in $15 just to get out of the guilt parade. Little did I know that I’d get many more emails as the project went on. I never saw the movie.
Kickstarter has evolved since then from an outstretched hand asking for help to a weird hybrid marketplace of wonders where you’re not just helping an artist fulfill their dreams, you’re actually buying in on products before they even exist in order to get a bunch of extras, perks and early access to the thing.
More recently, I contributed to (or rather bought into) a music album from a band I love and supported a website that has given me about 15 solid years of free entertainment. I’m probably going to jump in on this other one even though the last thing I need around here is more boxes with stuff in them because I love the first game and my brother’s unabashed enthusiasm for it is infectious. Much like a zombie bite.
We’ve even discussed using Kickstarter for a future project related to this site. The idea of creating stretch goals and rewarding people for helping you out sounds both exhausting and exhilarating, like running a BBS back in the day when people dialed in to your house to post message on a virtual message board that you owned. It feels like the future in many small ways.
Kicking the starter
Kickstarter has been nothing short of a delight for me since it came out. I’ve used it to get some awesome artwork, my current minimalist wallet, Zombicide and some upcoming video games that I’m very excited about (Leisure Suit Larry!). Those are just the projects where I actually bit the bullet and went through with funding. There have been countless other awesome endeavors that I really had to talk myself out of shelling out my cash for.
In writing this post, I’ve realized that over the last year I’ve spent about $500 on Kickstarter projects. Oops.
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