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Post by dmikester on Apr 28, 2018 12:42:47 GMT -5
Hi everyone, just a note that today is the last day of the Indiegogo campaign if you're interested in this. A number of us here have been solving the pregame Easter Egg puzzles together, and at least in my opinion, they've been really excellent and creative puzzles, some of my favorites that I've worked on in a long while. The creator, Shawn Harris, is also very nice and responsive, and he may join the forums here to check in on people's progress and just say hi.
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Post by Geodus on Apr 28, 2018 14:36:19 GMT -5
I just joined as a backer. He's had a surprisingly low number of backers. I'll admit I was a bit turned off by the cash prize factor.
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Post by dmikester on Apr 28, 2018 14:46:31 GMT -5
There just hasn’t been all that much promotion for it. I honestly don’t care about the cash prize (especially since it’s so low) but I assume that he’s doing it to emulate Ready Player One.
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Post by Geodus on Apr 29, 2018 1:41:19 GMT -5
The other thing I didn't like about it was the early-access and clues for paying -- as someone on FB pointed out, it feels too pay-to-win (despite his assurances that the final puzzle has no early access). I would have preferred some other reward for backing, and I think he has too many backing levels. I think he's sincere but not modeling his funding campaign well to fit the potential audience.
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Post by dmikester on Apr 29, 2018 11:13:37 GMT -5
I don’t disagree that the pay system is a little weird. But honestly, I’m part of a couple of Discords for this, and the majority of people on them don’t care about the competition part of it and are instead just going to enjoy the puzzles and the experience. Calling it pay to win seems needlessly reductive to me.
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Post by mkarrett on May 3, 2018 0:29:30 GMT -5
I got a refund for Grandpa's VCR. WT blue F I didn't request for a refund.
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Post by dmikester on May 3, 2018 0:44:28 GMT -5
I got a refund for Grandpa's VCR. WT blue F I didn't request for a refund. Yeah me too. Very weird. I’ll email Shawn about it tomorrow; likely a good on his part.
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Post by banister on May 3, 2018 1:01:27 GMT -5
If you go to the campaign page now, there's a yellow bar at the top that says
"This campaign has been closed by Trust and Safety due to a violation of our Terms of Use. The campaign will no longer be accepting contributions, and the Campaign Owners no longer have access to the campaign."
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Post by dmikester on May 3, 2018 1:13:22 GMT -5
Wow that’s crazy. Glancing over the Terms of Use section in Indiegogo, it looks like it could have violated the no profit sharing clause, though that seems awfully ticky tacky to me. Well hopefully the game still happens!
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Post by Geodus on May 3, 2018 2:10:43 GMT -5
I think you're right, dmikester : would seem to prohibit offering financial rewards as part of the game. I hope he does a second iteration of the campaign without the cash rewards (which I didn't really care for). I'm happy to support the creator just for his effort. I also don't need stickers, shirts, or any merchandise. I get enough of that stuff at work.
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Post by mkarrett on May 3, 2018 13:09:24 GMT -5
Just got the e-mail. Basically Indiegogo just gave him a boilerplate e-mail as a breakup. You can still donate for perks, here's the link www.grandpasvcr.com/indiegogo-sucks/Game launch is delayed by a few days but with obv good reason.
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Post by dmikester on May 3, 2018 13:10:26 GMT -5
Email just sent out to anyone who backed him on Indiegogo just now. The game is going to be delayed to next week, and he's allowing people to pledge via Paypal on his site if they want to get the perks back. Here's the link to the new site where you can pledge: www.grandpasvcr.com/indiegogo-sucks/What's interesting is that he got rid of most of the super high level perks; the most you can spend now is $38. Also, there's going to be another Easter Egg puzzle, which makes me very happy at least.
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Post by Geodus on May 3, 2018 13:29:26 GMT -5
I'm disappointed with the "Indiegogo sucks" motif -- it strikes me as immature and not a smart business decision. It may, in fact, "suck" that they canceled his campaign with no advance notice or explanation, but that's not the right way to message your customers. It took me less than a minute to guess how he might have violated the TOU agreement, and surely Shawn could have figured that out as well. The right way to move on would be to describe briefly what happened, explain why you think it happened, and tell the backers what your next step is -- all without any negativity.
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Post by dmikester on May 3, 2018 13:44:10 GMT -5
I dunno; I'm annoyed at Indiegogo too, though I guess I understand that they can't monitor every campaign. But you would think that they wouldn't just cancel a campaign suddenly without warning and especially after it's already over. This probably could have been handled better by all sides.
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Post by mkarrett on May 3, 2018 13:51:36 GMT -5
Knowing how my brain works I would have totally gone down the "INDIEGOGO SUCKS" route. Don't get me wrong it comes off totally childish but if I was working on a product for 13 years, working on basically a word-of-mouth advertising, and about thisclose to launch I would have probably blown a f*cking gasket.
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