Information Lords of Xulima Indiegogo Campaign Begins

[HiddenX]

Europeans use Paypal or bank transfers, no credit cards - get it?

Let's say PB would make a new Gothic game with crowdfunding, their main fan base is Germany. Only 20% of all Germans use credit cards.
They would use Indiegogo with their Paypal option, too and not Kickstarter. Ghost of aTale was successful with Indiegogo for example.

 

[thesheeep]

It's not like you're getting pledgers from the platform directly. You get them from everywhere else.

The actual statistics disagree with you.

What statistics? Or more importantly, who created those statistics? I'm sorry, but trusting in statistics seems very naive to me. If you want to prove some argument with a statistic, you will be able to interpret the results in any way you like. Only very rarely are statistics really "bullet proof". Read further and you might understand why.

All you have to do is look at the amounts generated via KS vs Indiegogo. http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/30/kickstarter-owns-indiegogo-with-around-6x-more-total-dollars-raised-average-success-rate-much-higher/

Indiegogo campaigns were found to have raised far fewer successful dollars than Indiegogo, with around $98 million total all-time, while Kickstarter had about six times that, or $612 million. Kickstarter has had 40 projects cross the $1 million threshold, with only 3 doing the same on Indiegogo, and Kickstarter’s average success rate is 44 percent, while Indiegogo’s is around 34 percent (which doesn’t take into account the many delisted projects that failed to raise at least $500. Including those delisted efforts, the previously reported 9.3 percent success rate on 142,301 total campaigns matches up nicely.

Kickstarter has more campaigns posted and has more users. Of course it has a much higher sum of $ raised. No doubt about it. But you fail to see that this does in no way guarantee anything. More people posting on a platform for funding does not mean that each project has a higher chance of being funded. That article is throwing numbers around as if they had any meaning, but the only meaning is that people are impressed by big numbers.
You are also bringing in the "high budget" titles as reference (or the article is). As I said, IndieGogo is not really suited for large projects (that Ubuntu Edge thing being on IndieGogo was really strange, yet they still raised 12M!). But it is much better for smaller scale campaigns as the entry barrier is so much lower. You do not need to waste months of time just for getting your campaign set up on the platform.
This is also the reason for the 44% vs 34% success rate. On IndieGogo, you will find far more bullshit campaigns than on Kickstarter. Seriously. Far more.
Take out all of that crap and I think you will see the same success rate. I'm curious what numbers they have about projects that failed because they were just screwed up campaigns to begin with (bad communication, silly pledge levels, unrealistic target, etc.). Oh, they probably do not have number about that. Too bad. Guess we'll have to think ourselfs and apply some logic instead of trusting random statistics.

But you are right, it is doable, but far from easy. Especially for really small teams. Shadowrun Online did it, but they are a rather large team in comparison. I find IndieGogo to be a far better platform for smaller teams/goals.

From memory:

Sui Generis - a couple of UK guys
Legends of Eisenwald - a small Belarus company
Conquistadors - small Denmark company
Divinity - a Belgian developer
Some Russian company that was making a space sim that we all laughed at.

And I'm sure that all of these would also have made it/reached the same amount of money if they were on IndieGogo. I know that Divinity and Conquistators had some really good communication going on. That's what makes a campaign successful. And I'm not only talking about regular updates.

Uhm... IndieGogo is just as hassle-free. I can do what you describe there as well. Not sure what you try to claim here.

Once you make an account. My point is that the US gaming market is the biggest and people who have one account have it on KS. For them it's much easier to throw twenty bucks at a new project on KS (takes no effort) than open a new account, which requires personal investment into the project.

Do you really think that anyone who is already registered at dozens of websites (I think almost everyone is, at least everyone interested in gaming) is too lazy to register at another one? I seriously doubt it.
Also, funding campaigns are all about personal investment. If someone wants to pledge, it is because he likes the idea/project. And if someone wants to part with his money (something which really does need a motivation), I'm sure that person has a high enough motivation to fill out a registration form. I cannot imagine someone thinking "I really want to give those guys 20$, but registering at the platform they choose for funding? NO WAI!!!". And I'm the one with a negative opinion of... other people.

 

[tuluse]

It's not like you're getting pledgers from the platform directly. You get them from everywhere else.

The actual statistics disagree with you.

What statistics? Or more importantly, who created those statistics? I'm sorry, but trusting in statistics seems very naive to me. If you want to prove some argument with a statistic, you will be able to interpret the results in any way you like. Only very rarely are statistics really "bullet proof". Read further and you might understand why.

The campaigns that have released the stats show large percentage of their money coming from people who were directed to their campaign from another link on kickstarter itself. Showing that there is a good amount of money generated just from being on a popular platform.

 

[Jim Cojones]

But it's an UI, its only job is to be easy to use. So if an interface is readily understood even by Bejeweled moms, then it's a good interface.

The other job of interface in RPGs is to provide interesting options for interacting with the gameworld. A game that simplifies interaction by limiting your input to a single action button will always have an interface that is far easier to be understood by Bejeweled moms than a game in which the player is supposed to think which skills, stats or items can he use on which object.

 

[Wizfall]

Looks excellent.
I got strong a Wizardry vibe from the story and the blobber combat system.
Only thing i dislike is the awful blobber UI and in a lesser extent the character portraits.

I disagree by claiming the contrary: the only thing I dislike is the isometric view. Everything else would be perfect - even if every battle took place within the 2D blobber window, but I would like a 3D environment to walk around in. But whatever, it can't be changed. Lucky for all the isometric lovers, unlucky for the FP blobber lovers

I think you misunderstood me.
I like blobber combat a lot, the problem is not the perspective but the UI of the blobber : no text, hit point jumping with a little heart...
I like the graphics of the monsters and the perspective but not the graphics and presentation of the UI.

 

[Marquess Cornwallis]

Europeans use Paypal or bank transfers, no credit cards - get it?

Let's say PB would make a new Gothic game with crowdfunding, their main fan base is Germany. Only 20% of all Germans use credit cards.
They would use Indiegogo with their Paypal option, too and not Kickstarter. Ghost of aTale was successful with Indiegogo for example.

Not that it matters much in this case (cf. the Amazon Payments availability issue), but I've been wondering for some time whether this is some sort of a hugely popular misconception or whether I'm missing something. While credit cards are indeed not so popular in Europe, I was always under the impression that debit cards are extremely common everywhere (there are 97 debit cards per every 100 people in Slovakia and I wouldn't expect the ratio to be lower in Germany of all places), and while most webstores in existence will ask you for your "credit card", I have never in my life come across a single one that won't accept a regular VISA or MasterCard debit card - Kickstarter included.

 

[HiddenX]

In Germany most people have so called "bank cards" you can pay with them in many shops, but not online.
You can withdraw real money at cashpoints from your bank account as well with them.

Visa and Master cards are only common as "Kredit Karte" = credit card (not debit card) in Germany.

 

[InspectorRumpole]

So you don't buy stuff online in Germany?

 

[HiddenX]

We do, but via Paypal or via "Bankeinzugverfahren" = automatic debit transfer system or "Lastschrift" = direct debit.
The rest (20% of all users) use credit cards.

 

[Grauken]

sure we do -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_debit#Germany

 

[Onholyservicebound]

Ugly art, no backing.

 

[InspectorRumpole]

We do, but via Paypal or via "Bankeinzugverfahren" = automatic debit transfer system or "Lastschrift" = direct debit.
The rest (20% of all users) use credit cards.

Yeah, of course. Disregard my post since i cannot into reading.
Interesting though, i thought most people used credit-/debitcards these days.
Anyway, pledged!

 

[Numantian Games]

Thanks people of RPGCodex, we really appreciate your support!

About the Kickstarter Vs Indiegogo discussion:

In Indiegogo, you can pledge whatever you like without registering in Indiegogo or Paypal. You only need a credit or debit card and you can pledge in few seconds. You can also pledge with Paypal if you have an account there.

In Kickstarter you must register there to start pledging.

None of them guarantee that your reward will be fulfilled. So the “vaporware risk” is present for both portals. It is true that in Kickstarter, you have to pass a submission process before launching the campaign, so some really bad/garbage projects are filtered.

Of course, the relevance and the fame of Kickstarter are bigger, especially for videogame projects. But, Kickstarter cannot be the “only one crowdfunding platform in the world” if only people of three countries can open projects there.

Lords of Xulima is exactly the same videogame project regardless which crowdfunding platform is chosen. We tried to use Kickstarter, but it was a real pain and even legally risky so we had to give up and move to Indiegogo.

We hope that if you like this project and you want to support it; you do it regardless the platform chosen.

About Casual Vs Hard-core:

Lords of Xulima is a TRUE RPG, with friendly interface and beautiful graphics but with the essence of the classics. Combat is not JRPG; it is an evolution of Might and Magic and Wizardry. Dialogs are mature, intense and with lots of subtle details that surely only few people will be able to discern. It is easy to play, but very challenging, you have to take lots of decisions about everything: exploration, combat, character development, managing resources (food, money, herbs,…), even in normal mode you will die lots of times. And the story is… in my opinion, the best part of all…

 

[Kem0sabe]

I hope you guys either end up getting a better translator or a better writer if the problem is at that end, because what little i can read from the screenshots is a bit clumsy.

 

[Metro]

Gameplay and exploration looks solid and I really like the art. I'm sure you'll make the $10,000 easily but good luck with the stretch goals and getting Greenlit.

 

[Numantian Games]

I hope you guys either end up getting a better translator or a better writer if the problem is at that end, because what little i can read from the screenshots is a bit clumsy.

You are right, apologies for that. The screenshots have some mistakes because they were translated quickly by the programmers.

But don't worry at all. Our American partner Aric, who usually writes here, is our translator and, as part of the team, he will do (indeed he is doing) a perfect translation and localization keeping the same quality as the Spanish one.

Also we have two more American collaborators who will review and check the English version of Lords of Xulima. And of course, in our beta testing phase, lots of native English beta testers will notify us any mistakes in both languages.

 

[felipepepe]

I hope you guys either end up getting a better translator or a better writer if the problem is at that end, because what little i can read from the screenshots is a bit clumsy.

No, YOU should learn spanish, filthy casual.

This game offers a rich setting full of real-world languages; if you go to a village where people speak a foreign language, you must either learn it yourself or experience a extremely realistic simulation of how you would fare in a foreign country without speaking their language. Quite .

 

[Kem0sabe]

I hope you guys either end up getting a better translator or a better writer if the problem is at that end, because what little i can read from the screenshots is a bit clumsy.

No, YOU should learn spanish, filthy casual.

This game offers a rich setting full of real-world languages; if you go to a village where people speak a foreign language, you must either learn it yourself or experience a extremely realistic simulation of how you would fare in a foreign country without speaking their language. Quite .

I hate the spannish almost as much as i hate mainland Portuguese.

 

[Hobz]

It's not like you're getting pledgers from the platform directly. You get them from everywhere else.

The actual statistics disagree with you.

What statistics? Or more importantly, who created those statistics? I'm sorry, but trusting in statistics seems very naive to me. If you want to prove some argument with a statistic, you will be able to interpret the results in any way you like. Only very rarely are statistics really "bullet proof". Read further and you might understand why.

The campaigns that have released the stats show large percentage of their money coming from people who were directed to their campaign from another link on kickstarter itself. Showing that there is a good amount of money generated just from being on a popular platform.

Indeed. Swen provided a screenshot of those stats on his blog. That's about 20% of pledges that came from the game being featured on Popular and Discovered as we can see here :

Spoiler

 

[Grauken]

Ugly art, no backing.

Actually, I agree. Some of the art has an amateurish vibe, nearly ugly. Some of the perspectives look odd. But the overall impression I get is that it's a game like M&M3-5 that prides itself in being ugly just for the occasional fun of it and still provides solid entertainment. It sacrifices polish in certain areas for a unique style that will offend some but on the other hand will look the tiny bit different to make it worth it. Just speculation though

 

[Magellan]

Ugly art, no backing.

Actually, I agree. Some of the art has an amateurish vibe, nearly ugly. Some of the perspectives look odd. But the overall impression I get is that it's a game like M&M3-5 that prides itself in being ugly just for the occasional fun of it and still provides solid entertainment. It sacrifices polish in certain areas for a unique style that will offend some but on the other hand will look the tiny bit different to make it worth it. Just speculation though

I agree, that's the kinda the vibe I get too. Nothing wrong with that. Certainly worth the $15 investment IMO.

 

[mikaelis]

Come on guys. It's as easy as Kickstarter. True that you need to type in your details if you don't have an account there, but there is no reason why you should refrain from backing it up. We really need another platform so that KS is not reaping all the fruits, you know. Backed it for $30.

 

[Magellan]

Come on guys. It's as easy as Kickstarter. True that you need to type in your details if you don't have an account there, but there is no reason why you should refrain from backing it up. We really need another platform so that KS is not reaping all the fruits, you know. Backed it for $30.

I've never used indiegogo before, but mikaelis is right, it's super easy. Took me less than 5 mins

 

[drae]

Setting a $250,000 stretch goal is taking optimism to absurd new heights. I'm just hoping it gets funded.

 

[Maelflux]

It definately looks interesting.., so I might back even, even though IndieGoGo rubs me the wrong way for unknown reasons. (Maybe because of the design or all the crap there)