The 2020 Digital W23 Speculation and Discussion Thread

[ULFGARD]

Originally Posted by philreed

I recommend waiting for us to release details before jumping to conclusions. This project is special and _not_ what to expect from all GURPS releases.

Ah good. Don't get me wrong - I'm excited for this. I've supported all of the rpg Kickstarters, and I've really enjoyed them. I understand that it's a great way to get publicity and ensure that a product is, at the very least, self-supporting, and that's a good thing. I just don't want it to be THE way new material (especially for GURPS) is distributed.

[philreed]

Originally Posted by ULFGARD

Ah good. Don't get me wrong - I'm excited for this. I've supported all of the rpg Kickstarters, and I've really enjoyed them. I understand that it's a great way to get publicity and ensure that a product is, at the very least, self-supporting, and that's a good thing. I just don't want it to be THE way new material (especially for GURPS) is distributed.

To reiterate: "This project is special and _not_ what to expect from all GURPS releases."

Please look closely at the title of the Kickstarter campaign, and watch for us to release details between now and launch.

Any GURPS player out there will not want to miss this project. This cannot be stressed enough. More backers = a much better deal for all of the supporters who select an actual reward level. ($1 backers, of course, get nothing.)

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

GURPS Classic: Flight 13.

Yes!! This is my favorite published GURPS adventure ever, and the one that I typically use to introduce new players to the game.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Proteus

...with eight more titles to come!

Mat Rigsby reveals that he has a second title in the collection, although not what it is. He also point out that the collection has at least some presentation in colour.

[philreed]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Mat Rigsby reveals that he has a second title in the collection, although not what it is. He also point out that the collection has at least some presentation in colour.

I now have eleven of the twelve PDFs on my computer and can confirm color.

[Proteus]

Here's what I think we know about the (potential) contents of the Kickstarter package:

• Action supplement (by Shawn Fisher)
• Action 6: Tricked-Out Rides (by Sean Punch)
• Boardroom and Curia: ???? (by Steven Marsh)
• Dungeon Fantasy: ???? (by Peter dell’Orto)
• Dungeon Fantasy: ???? (by Matt Riggsby)
• Horror item ("Horseman") (by Chris Rice and J. Edward Tremlett)
• Hot Spots: The Incense Trail (by Matt Riggsby)
• How to be a GURPS GM: Ritual Path Magic (by Christopher R. Rice)
• Monster Hunters piece ("Knight-3") (by Christopher R. Rice)
• Reign of Steel: ???? (by Roger Burton West)
• Steampunk Adventure: The Broken Clockwork World (by Phil Masters)
• Template Toolkit 3: ???? (by Sean Punch)

The pipeline is also processing two short Dungeon Fantasy pieces and a Magic title, all three by Sean Punch, but it's not clear whether those are extra stretch goals or completely independent products.

[Refplace]

From a kickstarter email on the new kickstarter above,

Steve Jackson Games' GURPS 2020 PDF Challenge
As we revealed last week, the GURPS team has prepared a dozen new GURPS PDFs that will be launching on Kickstarter next month. At the campaign's start, we will be offering a single PDF for $3. Over the course of the project, unlocking stretch goals will add more and more PDFs to that $3 reward. If the project does remarkably well, that $3 pledge will secure you a dozen different GURPS PDFs . . . so please don't miss this new project when it launches!

[Proteus]

This is an interesting funding system, given that any one of those PDFs would probably sell for more than $3 on W23. Is there really that much difference between a sudden, large bolus of money (minus Kickstarter fees) and the slow but cumulative trickle of single-title sales? I suppose there must be; I won't pretend to be a business accountant, just a curious customer and economic observer.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Proteus

This is an interesting funding system, given that any one of those PDFs would probably sell for more than $3 on W23. Is there really that much difference between a sudden, large bolus of money (minus Kickstarter fees) and the slow but cumulative trickle of single-title sales? I suppose there must be; I won't pretend to be a business accountant, just a curious customer and economic observer.

Things like "money now is always better than money later" aside as a true truism, I'm guessing that what this does is eliminate the barrier to entry to the project almost completely. So if you just want in, you get in, and at a low enough price that a reasonable number of backers will fund that first PDF.

For the rest, I have only theories . . . but I will note that not two hours ago Phil launched another of his projects on this model. It funded very rapidly, and while the initial buy-in is about a buck, the average pledge is closer to nine.

There are both "all PDF" options, many of which are Phil's back-catalog stuff, as well as some print options (which include PDFs for free).

I'm super-duper intrigued by this. I will note that I've said not-ironically that "there's nothing wrong with Gaming Ballistic's financial outlook that 1,000 more backers per project wouldn't fix."

A $1-5 on-ramp makes for a LOT of folks in the network.

That's me speculating, tho.

[Kromm]

If your goal is to show off the versatility of your generic, universal system to gamers by dropping a variety grab-bag in their lap at a reasonable price, this is a great system.

We've been very transparent about the fact that we're using Kickstarter for the power of its PR machine – not because we can't afford to create these items, we're greedy, or we're trying to guilt people into thinking we're desperate. And the PR message we want to send is indeed "our system is genuinely generic, unquestionably universal, and verifiably versatile."

As I said elsewhere:

"Two for GURPS Action, one for GURPS Boardroom and Curia, two for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, one for GURPS Horror, one for GURPS Hot Spots, one for GURPS Monster Hunters, one for GURPS Reign of Steel, one for GURPS Steampunk, one for GURPS Template Toolkit, and one for GURPS Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic."

"Five more-or-less historical/fantasy, five something like modern-day, two essentially futuristic/sci-fi."

I think that shows off what we want to show off!