Steve Jackson Games' GURPS 2020 PDF Challenge

[philreed]

Originally Posted by Rasputin

Why worry about this? It has hit all the stretch goals. Folks jumping in at $3 is a good thing. This Kickstarter is giving us an estimate of the number of folks online who are willing to throw even a little money at GURPS, and the more the merrier.

Agreed the $/backer isn't an important metric. The important thing is the number of backers, especially the number of backers who may be new to GURPS.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by philreed

Agreed the $/backer isn't an important metric. The important thing is the number of backers, especially the number of backers who may be new to GURPS.

Yes – this!

I'm happy that we unlocked all 12 PDFs.

I'm thrilled that we did so with both time to spare and an excess of funds!

But the best part for me is the number of backers. With effort, I can – in the run of normal business – work with freelancers to create PDFs that are at least somewhat profitable. It's exceedingly rare that I can reach 2,600+ people, though! Even back in the "Golden Age" of tabletop RPG book sales, reaching that many people wasn't a guarantee.

[Dragondog]

We've passed $55,000 with 2,699 backers. 114 of whom at the New to GURPS level.

[Hide]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

Yep! 101 at this time(...)

How do you know who's new?

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Hide

How do you know who's new?

There's a "New To GURPS" level in the Kickstarter, which gets you the dozen new PDFs and the Basic Set at a discount. That's what's being referred to here. It may be that there are people new to GURPS at other levels, but the ones at that level are very probably new to the game.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

There's a "New To GURPS" level in the Kickstarter, which gets you the dozen new PDFs and the Basic Set at a discount. That's what's being referred to here. It may be that there are people new to GURPS at other levels, but the ones at that level are very probably new to the game.

Originally Posted by Hide

How do you know who's new?

What TBC said :) Biggercake's webpage has some nice data to play with while you're waiting for the drive to wrap up. The Pledge tab takes you to a text field giving the current (as of the last time the page was updated) number of backers at each of the top pledge levels, and a pie/donut chart that shows the relative number of each pledge level's backers. The $49 level has the fewest backers and isn't shown when I look at it on Chrome (I think it might show it on other web browsers?), but by hovering your mouse pointer on that section of the pie chart, you can get the most recent count. Right now, it's at 115, which I take some (completely undeserved) satisfaction in :D

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

What TBC said :) Biggercake's webpage has some nice data to play with while you're waiting for the drive to wrap up. The Pledge tab takes you to a text field giving the current (as of the last time the page was updated) number of backers at each of the top pledge levels, and a pie/donut chart that shows the relative number of each pledge level's backers. The $49 level has the fewest backers and isn't shown when I look at it on Chrome (I think it might show it on other web browsers?), but by hovering your mouse pointer on that section of the pie chart, you can get the most recent count. Right now, it's at 115, which I take some (completely undeserved) satisfaction in :D

I'd note that for those wanting to get started in GURPS, while the $49 is good, the $99 is better. That "$54.99 for two PDFs at retail" is effectively $43.55 due to the credit. Or, you can say it's about $55 of your $125 credit, plus another $70 of "worked examples," "tech books," "Power/Skill enhancers," and/or "adventures."

If you have a good idea for what you want to do...that $99 is fantastic for a newcomer. So it's quite possible that there are new folks in that level as well!

[Joseph Paul]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

There's a "New To GURPS" level in the Kickstarter, which gets you the dozen new PDFs and the Basic Set at a discount. That's what's being referred to here. It may be that there are people new to GURPS at other levels, but the ones at that level are very probably new to the game.

If I hadn't been about $126.00 away from wrapping up my Wishlist of GURPS things for some projects I might very well have gone for the $49.00 deal.

I am very curious to see how many of the PDFs in the Challenge can be used with strictly the Basic Set. Every reference to a Skill/Advantage/Disadvantage/Limitation/Enhancement that isn't in Basic is a point of frustration for the New Guy. The Forums listings of "Skill/Adv/Disad of the Week" is certainly a help if that is the case. Thank you to all who help with that.

But if this sort of challenge is going to go again I wonder about making one that is dedicated to Beginners. A smorgasbord of PDFs that showcase GURPS adaptability across genres and time periods. Small amounts of work from existing volumes like Low/High/Ultra - tech. Scenario adaptability across those tech levels. Synopsis setting descriptions, either entirely new or cut down from existing sources (as a taste of what they are). Maybe one PDF that ties it all together in a grand metagame of time and dimension hopping. Pepper them with references back to the Basic Set - "If a car chase ensues reference the rules on page xx."

[philreed]

Originally Posted by Joseph Paul

I am very curious to see how many of the PDFs in the Challenge can be used with strictly the Basic Set.

From the project page (specifically, the $49 reward level):

"Please note that the PDFs created for this campaign are not stand-alone titles; to use the new PDFs, you will also need to purchase other PDF titles."

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by philreed

From the project page (specifically, the $49 reward level):

"Please note that the PDFs created for this campaign are not stand-alone titles; to use the new PDFs, you will also need to purchase other PDF titles."

That said, I don't think Incense Trail refers to anything but Basic.