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How about a Kickstarted-funded Tunisia module?


jurpo

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Kickstarter is definitely a very valid way to go about funding something like a Tunisia module, but as several posters have already correctly deduced, money isn't the bottleneck: it's our time. We're a tiny outfit working on a very complicated game, so more money doesn't necessarily solve problems by itself. In fact at BFC internally we rarely discuss anything in terms of money, but instead in terms of time. Running a Kickstarter campaign is a BIG time investment... time we wouldn't be spending on the products already in development or soon to be in development. Then with that Kickstarter money, we need to contract new people to work on the module. That's more of our time, since we're pretty picky about who we work with. These people can't just sit down and start banging away on the module right away: they need to be trained how to make TO&E (it took months before I was at a point where I could make TO&E without needing to constantly bother Steve for advice/instructions), create complicated models to strict specifications for the game systems, and the like. The programmers (of which we only have two) still would need to interact on a regular basis with the folks making the module. And more.

 

That's all time that isn't being spent on current projects, even if it is completely funded through Kickstarter and mostly made by a third party.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Kickstarter, and think it's a great tool. And I (nor Steve/Charles) don't rule it out as an option for us in the future. But it's definitely worth keeping in mind that money is only one, relatively smaller part, of our limited resources that we have to budget for.

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Thanks for chiming in there Chris.  When I look at the idea of a kickstarter campaign I could see it working if a third party group was assembled and approved as good to go by Steve and Charles (i.e. they were happy with the people, agree to send time getting them up and running).  Then those people could start and run a kickstarter campaign to raise the funds needed to pay for the development.  As Chris points out having BFC spend time raising money and then organizing more people to come and do the work that comes at a significant cost to their existing projects.  If a third party were to spend time time and effort getting organized and raising the funds then the drain on BFC would be significantly reduced.  But it would never be zero so none of this can succeed without BFC being on board.

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Then we are all knocked flat on our a$$es when BFC releases out of the blue it seems to me, CMFI.

Does my memory fail me? Anybody else agree? OUT OF THE BLUE!

Maybe I was not listening to Steve's "Christmas bone" posts. It sure seemed out of the blue to me.

It took me by complete and utter surprise - and what a happy one. Couldn't believe my eyes. Granted I didn't follow the forum quite as frequent back then as these days, but still...

And then that wonderful movie trailer that was made :)

Guess CM Touch was a huge surprise as well (don't own it). Wasn't it launched on April 1st and everyone thought it was a joke. I know I did.

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It took me by complete and utter surprise - and what a happy one. Couldn't believe my eyes. Granted I didn't follow the forum quite as frequent back then as these days, but still...

And then that wonderful movie trailer that was made :)

Guess CM Touch was a huge surprise as well (don't own it). Wasn't it launched on April 1st and everyone thought it was a joke. I know I did.

Following the forum wouldn't have reduced the surprise very much, if at all. The only inkling we had was that there was something coming that we wouldn't expect.

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I read that often if you donate to a kickstart project, you get a reward such as the final product or something special.

If we donate a specified amount ($55) would it be for sure we get the new module "free"?

Not sure how this works...

It all depends how the kickstarter is set up. You could have different pledge levels where ten bucks gets you a T-shirt, $55 gets you a T-shirt plus a copy of the game as and when it's released and a grand gets you the game and every expansion subsequently released, and a 1/72 scale model of a brain in a jar.

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Following the forum wouldn't have reduced the surprise very much, if at all. The only inkling we had was that there was something coming that we wouldn't expect.

 

 

Yes, CMFI was a surprise.  I think Steve's only hint was that they had "something nice" in the works.  That comment led to a lot of speculation including one individual hoping it was going to be a reboot of CMx1?!?!

 

However, there is a HUGE difference between when CMFI was released and today.  In 2012, CMBN was the only other CMx2 base game.  (CMSF was considered "done.")   Today, BF has CMBN, CMFI, CMRT, and CMBS all of which are crying out for additional modules and content.  Any "surprise" release would delay modules for those other games which would upset a lot of people.  Since CMBN's release in 2011, BF is averaging one or two major releases (base game or module) per year.  They released CMBS in January and the new Bulge base game is shaping-up to be the 2nd 2015 release. If they're going to squeeze in a 3rd major release for 2015 then I hope it's for CMFI or CMRT, but that's not looking good.

 

If BF released the final module for CMFI and/or a CMRT module this year then that would be a very pleasant surprise. 

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