If GURPS did a Kickstarter what would you want it to be?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

The company is already prepared to stump up the cash for VDS. It's not shortage of seed capital which is delaying publication.

Unless the slowness is from David Pulver needing to do projects that are more lucrative.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Xenarthral

A 4E update/edition/revival of GURPS World War II.

Or maybe GURPS The Day After Ragnarok.

Those both sound very good. WWII was also too war-fixated. Lots of interesting non-war and not-quite-war was going on during that period. And ever since I read the first Bond novel, I've been mildly fascinated by the immediate post-war period.

Day After Ragnarok... I like post-apocalyptic. We already have GURPS Y2K, but I'd like to see more support for post-apocalyptic. Also more of that sweet, sweet Macgyver'ish "Dirty Tech" from GURPS High-Tech.

[Nymdok]

Originally Posted by ciaran_skye

Java is losing a lot of love in the tech world because of Oracle's mismanagement of it. Microsoft recently mentioned that Java accounted for 85-90% of malware install on recent versions of Windows and pointed out that the same Java security problems are a threat to MacOS and Linux users as well (and cross-platform Java attacks have been seen in the wild). Also, Oracle trying to monetize Java by bundling the Ask toolbar on every little update is unforgivable. I for one refuse to install it on any computer I own.

So, no, GCS is a non-starter to me.

Plus hasn't GCS pretty much been a dead project for several years now. Last I heard the lead developer quit and no one has been willing to pick it up since then. The few times I've used it it seemed extremely rough and non-intuitive, like it still needed a lot more work to even be considered a beta-quality product.

I agree that oracle is mismanaging it. As someone who uses Proxmox daily (among other things), I know the woes of java intimately. I too rue the ask toolbar.

That said...

GCS is not dead. Wilkes appears to still be at the helm and a new version was just released in June. That version I have not yet seen. But the version I have been using is neither rough nor non intuitive. It was slick, reliable, and full featured.

Nymdok

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Nymdok

It was slick, reliable, and full featured.

I thought it still had very little support for most GURPS books. Am I wrong?

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Unless the slowness is from David Pulver needing to do projects that are more lucrative.

Perhaps. If the project is too risky for the company to pay him an advance against royalties.

I really don't know whether Kickstarter makes projects more lucrative than they would otherwise have been. Do people pay more for the same product through Kickstarter? Do people pay through Kickstarter for products that they would leave on the shelf at W23? Maybe.

What it seems to me that Kickstarter is plainly good for is (a) securing seed capital for creators who otherwise face a high interest rate or cannot borrow (b) resolving uncertainty about sales. It might also be an effective marketing tool: I don't have the information to work that out.

So, what would I like to see GURPS run a Kickstarter for, specifically, rather than just announce it was funding out of company capital? Something too big for the company to capitalise? Something that would be really good if it sold well but that is not getting greenlit because it is too risky? What would that be?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

I really don't know whether Kickstarter makes projects more lucrative than they would otherwise have been. Do people pay more for the same product through Kickstarter? Do people pay through Kickstarter for products that they would leave on the shelf at W23? Maybe.

I don't know, but I can say that I've paid for Kickstarters that I probably wouldn't have bought all of that stuff at once, or whatever. So part of it is a perception that it's a pretty good deal with all the stretch goals and everything.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

Perhaps. If the project is too risky for the company to pay him an advance against royalties.

I don't think SJ Games is at all in the habit of paying advances. I do believe it is well known that they did hire Sean Punch and David Pulver to spend a number of months working full time on designing GURPS 4th Edition, but it's my impression that that was a completely singular thing.

It's royalties, and possibly a lump sum upon completion to be deducted from later royalties but I imagine even that is rare.

[Nymdok]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I thought it still had very little support for most GURPS books. Am I wrong?

Thats not how I remember it, I remebre it being quite complete. Im hoping that the June release is up to date, but as I mentioned before, Ive not had a chance to try it.

Also, Im woefully incomplete on Pyramid issues so there I could not judge its completeness in that area.

Nymdok

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

I don't think SJ Games is at all in the habit of paying advances.

If they are determined not to do so, then their running a Kickstarter to raise money won't get the money to David Pulver any sooner, and won't ease his possible need to work on lucrative products instead of VDS. Sure, they could pay an advance out of the Kickstarter receipts. But they could pay an advance out of the money under Steve Jackson's mattress. A Kickstarter as such won't make any difference to the issue that sir_pudding suggests.

If VDS were being held up by Mr. Pulver's need to work on other projects for cash flow, then to get him to work on VDS would require an advance, which would require a change of company policy, but would not require a Kickstarter. A Kickstarter would give SJ Games more capital, not give Mr. Pulver more eatin' money.

[panton41]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I thought it still had very little support for most GURPS books. Am I wrong?

That was my main problem. Support for books beyond the Basic Set is pretty much non-existent and adding new traits from other books isn't exactly straightforward and has to be done extensively and numerous - sometimes dozens of - times for virtually any character you'd want to make. Thus, it's rough and non-intuitive.

(Not that GCA is particularly intuitive when adding items that aren't already in a data file, especially if the item ends up modifying other items.)