Anybody with an idea - or without one, for that matter - wants to have a piece of the crowdfunding pie. Sure, it seems easy enough to set up, and the fact that no investments are needed to start such a campaign makes people jump in head first. There are quite a few projects out there that really deserve all the funds they can gather and I tip my hat to them. Then there are the piles of questionable projects, some of which get ridiculous amounts of attention. Luckily, most of these jokes don't get any attention at all and are buried fast, but the simple fact that they exist makes everyone's job harder. Sifting through garbage is not pleasant nor efficient. Something similar happened when the blogging services became popular. People suddenly had access to some fantastic tools to spread their ideas around. Many did it simply because they could. The information got diluted and finding relevant stuff became ever so harder.
Our little game project is serious enough to provide solid grounds for a crowdfunding campaign. What's the problem, then? Fear. The truth is that I fear what might happen if the campaign would be a success. More precisely, I fear of what we need to do to make it successful. We might need to start doing things differently, in a more organized and corporatistic manner. We don't fancy that. We are already working in the system and taking on another job would probably kill us. If not literally, then spiritually. If Backfire will ever feel like work, we'll drop it. It's not even a principle we live by (we don't want to drop it), it's just something we cannot avoid. I know, it sounds vague and philosophical.
The differences between a game with a budget and one with no budget, in our particular case, are not that significant. The funds will buy mostly cosmetic stuff, like professional voice acting and maybe some great sound effects, but nothing vital that could bring the project to a halt. The game can be completed either way, with or without bling. It can't be completed, however, if we burn ourselves up trying to meet deadlines for the sake of contributors. It might seem like I'm making a fuss over nothing, like we could actually harden the f#&! up, bite the bullet and dive right in. No, not this time. Perhaps in the future, when we're in a more comfy context. For now, the question remains. I'll have to get back to you on this.
Our little game project is serious enough to provide solid grounds for a crowdfunding campaign. What's the problem, then? Fear. The truth is that I fear what might happen if the campaign would be a success. More precisely, I fear of what we need to do to make it successful. We might need to start doing things differently, in a more organized and corporatistic manner. We don't fancy that. We are already working in the system and taking on another job would probably kill us. If not literally, then spiritually. If Backfire will ever feel like work, we'll drop it. It's not even a principle we live by (we don't want to drop it), it's just something we cannot avoid. I know, it sounds vague and philosophical.
The differences between a game with a budget and one with no budget, in our particular case, are not that significant. The funds will buy mostly cosmetic stuff, like professional voice acting and maybe some great sound effects, but nothing vital that could bring the project to a halt. The game can be completed either way, with or without bling. It can't be completed, however, if we burn ourselves up trying to meet deadlines for the sake of contributors. It might seem like I'm making a fuss over nothing, like we could actually harden the f#&! up, bite the bullet and dive right in. No, not this time. Perhaps in the future, when we're in a more comfy context. For now, the question remains. I'll have to get back to you on this.