1 Color Relaunch of Meeples with Early Birds

[Lukeout]

Thanks to all the help from this forum, I've finally got my deck ready for Kickstarter and just launched it. I really appreciate all the advice - you guys were amazingly helpful. I'm super happy with how the cards turned out, but I'm going to be letting the backers guide the deck box design during the campaign as I think it can be better.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1590934883/meeple-playing-cards-limited-edition

Luke 

[Yashi]

I was worried for a while that this had a one-way back until I realized it wasn't (unless I'm wrong again). I have mixed feelings on this one. Starred for now since there's no Early Bird. I'd like to see more of the court cards though.

[Don Boyer]

I congratulate you and wish you good luck.  You'll need to promote it a lot among the gamer community - it's a rough market out there for decks now and any good deck has to reach beyond the card collector community in order to really go big.

[Lukeout]

You'll need to promote it a lot among the gamer community - it's a rough market out there for decks now and any good deck has to reach beyond the card collector community in order to really go big.

I agree Dan. This deck was made for folks who don't normally look at playing card project. It's also the reason I didn't do early birds (they are getting a bad name on the gaming side of Kickstarter lately due to some shenanigans). I expect the campaign to start slow as the product isn't really a bulls-eye for either group (it's not a big euro game and it's not a deck specifically for collectors). Going to take some work to get over the line for sure. Hopefully this deck and decks like it can grow the playing card collecting community.

[Don Boyer]

I agree Dan. This deck was made for folks who don't normally look at playing card project. It's also the reason I didn't do early birds (they are getting a bad name on the gaming side of Kickstarter lately due to some shenanigans). I expect the campaign to start slow as the product isn't really a bulls-eye for either group (it's not a big euro game and it's not a deck specifically for collectors). Going to take some work to get over the line for sure. Hopefully this deck and decks like it can grow the playing card collecting community.

Why do people insist on calling me Dan when my name is Don...? 

What shenanigans?  This is the first I'm hearing of it, but that shouldn't be surprising since I'm no gamer.

Here's an interesting thought - create a tier for a board game that uses the deck!  It can be a simple but entertaining beer-and-pretzels game that comes with Meeples!  It doesn't even have to be something new, just something that comes with the deck.

[Lukeout]

I agree Dan.

Why do people insist on calling me Dan when my name is Don...? 

What shenanigans?  This is the first I'm hearing of it, but that shouldn't be surprising since I'm no gamer.

Here's an interesting thought - create a tier for a board game that uses the deck!  It can be a simple but entertaining beer-and-pretzels game that comes with Meeples!  It doesn't even have to be something new, just something that comes with the deck.

Sorry about the name thing, as a guy who grew up being called Luke Skywalker his whole life, you think I'd be more careful. 

I'm actually working a game that uses the cards - printing the rules on the two extra cards. Can't announce anything yet as it's got an issue I need to figure out still.

Some folks over in the game space are creating early birds to give the feeling of a "deal that you have to act quickly on" then when it is about to get filled, they add a bunch more spaces to it. On the backer side, there are whole groups of folks who pounce on all early birds, and then 90% of them back out if the campaign doesn't hit a bunch of stretch goals. When spots open up on the "Early Bird" space it makes a campaign look really bad. That doesn't seem to happen on playing cards as much so I'm probably over reacting.

[Don Boyer]

I'm actually working a game that uses the cards - printing the rules on the two extra cards. Can't announce anything yet as it's got an issue I need to figure out still.

Some folks over in the game space are creating early birds to give the feeling of a "deal that you have to act quickly on" then when it is about to get filled, they add a bunch more spaces to it. On the backer side, there are whole groups of folks who pounce on all early birds, and then 90% of them back out if the campaign doesn't hit a bunch of stretch goals. When spots open up on the "Early Bird" space it makes a campaign look really bad. That doesn't seem to happen on playing cards as much so I'm probably over reacting.

Seriously, whip up a game game - something with pieces and such, maybe a simple board.  It could even be printed on paper and rubberbanded to the deck or something, I dunno.  Just takin' some stabs in the dark here.

Early birds are used on the playing card side to spark early interest in a project.  Most of the time, people hold them.  The only time they don't is when the creator doesn't allow add-ons to an early bird.  The reason they might do that is that some people complain about not being able to afford the deck at full cost and the early bird gives them a chance to do so - by restricting the early bird to no add-ons, only people interested in a single deck or two decks (and who might not otherwise be able to afford the deck) will take the early bird.  They only surrender it if they decide they want the add-ons and can afford to give up the early bird - in which case someone else is glad to snatch it up.  But I've never seen ADDITIONAL early birds get added after the first round runs out - they're early birds for a reason.

[Lukeout]

I'm actually working a game that uses the cards - printing the rules on the two extra cards. Can't announce anything yet as it's got an issue I need to figure out still.

Some folks over in the game space are creating early birds to give the feeling of a "deal that you have to act quickly on" then when it is about to get filled, they add a bunch more spaces to it. On the backer side, there are whole groups of folks who pounce on all early birds, and then 90% of them back out if the campaign doesn't hit a bunch of stretch goals. When spots open up on the "Early Bird" space it makes a campaign look really bad. That doesn't seem to happen on playing cards as much so I'm probably over reacting.

Seriously, whip up a game game - something with pieces and such, maybe a simple board.  It could even be printed on paper and rubberbanded to the deck or something, I dunno.  Just takin' some stabs in the dark here.

But I've never seen ADDITIONAL early birds get added after the first round runs out - they're early birds for a reason.

Game is designed now!, and I'll be play testing this weekend at a gaming/music convention called MagFest where I am a speaker (If I can get my car out from under all this snow..). The rules should fit on the two extra cards! The game right now is a twist on "Chase the Ace" - and if it's as fun as I think it will be, it'll be a nice addition.

As for the early bird trickery, they aren't setting up a new backer level, they are changing the limit. You can't alter backer level descriptions after one is taken, but you can alter the number available. So creators put up a "early bird" with 50 slots, then when 45 of them are taken, they raise the limit to 75 slots... I actually left a campaign that did this once I was so insulted. I don't think "marketing = trickery" when you have a product you believe in.

[Don Boyer]

Game is designed now!, and I'll be play testing this weekend at a gaming/music convention called MagFest where I am a speaker (If I can get my car out from under all this snow..). The rules should fit on the two extra cards! The game right now is a twist on "Chase the Ace" - and if it's as fun as I think it will be, it'll be a nice addition.

As for the early bird trickery, they aren't setting up a new backer level, they are changing the limit. You can't alter backer level descriptions after one is taken, but you can alter the number available. So creators put up a "early bird" with 50 slots, then when 45 of them are taken, they raise the limit to 75 slots... I actually left a campaign that did this once I was so insulted. I don't think "marketing = trickery" when you have a product you believe in.

Good luck with the game!

The "EB totals" trickery - that sucks.  I've not yet seen a deck campaign do this.  That's really low.

[John Spade]

Dat simplicity

[Lukeout]

Alrighty, so it looks like there is little/no chance of the Meeple deck hitting it's goal with two different card back designs unless something drastic happens. I'm thinking about canceling it and relaunching the concept quickly with a single back design so I can cut the goal in half. Has anyone done that before? If I go that way, I'll do a shorter campaign (hoping to get all the old backer to jump over quickly). I'd also relaunch with early birds both as a reward for folks who backed before when they come over and to allow a lower cost for folks who might be looking at getting in early to save a few dollars.

Thoughts?

[PurpleIce]

Alrighty, so it looks like there is little/no chance of the Meeple deck hitting it's goal with two different card back designs unless something drastic happens. I'm thinking about canceling it and relaunching the concept quickly with a single back design so I can cut the goal in half. Has anyone done that before? If I go that way, I'll do a shorter campaign (hoping to get all the old backer to jump over quickly). I'd also relaunch with early birds both as a reward for folks who backed before when they come over and to allow a lower cost for folks who might be looking at getting in early to save a few dollars.

Thoughts?

The legacy deck is also having a similar situation as yours, although their will most likely get funded, but without hitting the stretch goals. You can take a look at the discussion, link as below.

http://aethercards.com/discourse/playing-card-plethora/legacy-deck-4pm-designs/

Looking at your pledges, there is not a pledge that would make me want to jump in and pledge first. It gives me a feeling that i could just wait till the last day to pledge and i could still get the same thing as one who pledged on the first day. Therefore, early bird specials or special limited decks or freebies could be a good idea to get the initial boost.

[Don Boyer]

Alrighty, so it looks like there is little/no chance of the Meeple deck hitting it's goal with two different card back designs unless something drastic happens. I'm thinking about canceling it and relaunching the concept quickly with a single back design so I can cut the goal in half. Has anyone done that before? If I go that way, I'll do a shorter campaign (hoping to get all the old backer to jump over quickly). I'd also relaunch with early birds both as a reward for folks who backed before when they come over and to allow a lower cost for folks who might be looking at getting in early to save a few dollars.

Thoughts?

As stated, done before.

Don't shorten the duration of the project.  Keep it the same length and set a stretch goal for getting the second deck made.  You'll need to know all of your costs cold in order to get it right, but many deck projects have done this successfully in the past, adding even a third, fourth, fifth, etc. deck.

[PrincessTrouble]

Have you tried hitting the forums at Board Game Geek and advertising it there?  The deck might appeal to folks over there.

I pledged (love board games) and hope it gets funded.  Good luck!

[Lukeout]

I actually have some ads running over there now!

[Lukeout]

Hey Folks,
  Jordan and I pulled the trigger and cancelled the Meeple deck Kickstarter campaign that had two different colored backs. It was pretty clear we weren't going to make it to $12K. At the same time, we retooled the campaign as a single colored back and we just relaunched with a $6200 goal - something that we think we can reach. As everyone knows on this board, that number won't cover all of our expenses, but our plan is to sell the remainder of the decks at gaming conventions this Summer, so we're comfortable taking the financial risk.
  This also gave us a chance to take some advice from this forum and add early birds to the backing options - so if you didn't back before due to lack of Early Bird savings, then now would be a good time to check out the Meeple deck and save a few bucks.
  Thanks again to everyone on this forum for your excellent advice and feedback - it's been super helpful to Jordan and I as we take this journey!

new campaign link: http://kck.st/1dDIsxb

Luke

[badpete69]

looks like a limited version of the deck is now live on kickstarter.  I did not start a different thread

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1590934883/meeple-playing-cards-super-limited-edition

[Don Boyer]

looks like a limited version of the deck is now live on kickstarter.  I did not start a different thread

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1590934883/meeple-playing-cards-super-limited-edition

I know - Luke did.  Hey, Luke - it's better to keep your deck to a single topic so it's easier to find info about it later one.

Good luck with this one, Luke.

[Yashi]

Jumped in on 1 early bird. I liked the tuck box in the 2 color launch though. Are you planning to release the other color as a stretch?

[Lukeout]

looks like a limited version of the deck is now live on kickstarter.  I did not start a different thread

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1590934883/meeple-playing-cards-super-limited-edition

I know - Luke did.  Hey, Luke - it's better to keep your deck to a single topic so it's easier to find info about it later one.

Sorry about that Don/folks, I hadn't picked up the one-thread-per-topic faux pas thing - my bad! Also, thanks for all the good advice, the new campaign is off to a much better start thanks to the advice I got here!

[Don Boyer]

You should tweak the home page a bit.  You mention two first names in the Challenges section of the page.  The average Joe Kickstarter won't have any idea who those two people are unless you tell them somewhere higher up, such as perhaps the first paragraph, "Hi, we're So-and-So and So-and-So, etc."  Because of some failed projects in the past, some people get wary when they see a company name and no individuals identifying themselves on a project.

[Lukeout]

You should tweak the home page a bit.  You mention two first names in the Challenges section of the page.  The average Joe Kickstarter won't have any idea who those two people are unless you tell them somewhere higher up, such as perhaps the first paragraph, "Hi, we're So-and-So and So-and-So, etc."  Because of some failed projects in the past, some people get wary when they see a company name and no individuals identifying themselves on a project.

Change made. I was hoping go keep it casual to first names as Geek Dynasty has done a KS project before and it shipped on time, and I am one of the owners of another company called Fun to 11 and that group has done 4 that all shipped on time or early. But there is no downside to putting our names earlier I guess!

[Don Boyer]

But there is no downside to putting our names earlier I guess!

Just ask the people who backed the Founders deck, the Bicycle Asylum deck, the Ultraviolet deck...etc.

[vmagic]

It may just be me, but why are their numbers on the backs of the cards? Seems kind of pointless. Also not sure how these appeal to gamers then again I ain't much of a gamer.

[Don Boyer]

It may just be me, but why are their numbers on the backs of the cards? Seems kind of pointless. Also not sure how these appeal to gamers then again I ain't much of a gamer.

We went over this in the previous topic about the deck, Victor.  It's for use in some games as a sort of points counter.

The appeal to gamers is that the "meeple" is to Europe like the generic pawn piece for board games is to the United States, particularly for specialty board games that you don't typically see in a place like Toys-R-Us or Target but instead have to find at a games hobby shop.