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There have been some notable releases through Kickstarter.

How do you expect Kickstarter to effect the Designer Board Game ecosystem? Will Kickstarter flood the market with too many bad games from people trying to get rich. Will it kill the industry like Napster did to the music industry? Will it be more like Youtube, lowering the entry field for exciting new designers, like Youtube brought us many new entertainers.

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This seems like an inherently speculative question, since it is asking people to predict the future, and therefore is not a good fit for this site. – bwarner Jan 22 '12 at 14:18
I agree with @bwarner, but I think you could recast this as a question about analyzing how Kickstarter has affected games (review/assessment, not prognostication). – Monica Cellio Jan 23 '12 at 15:08

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Many kickstarter games (at least on the RPG side) have either demo modules or playtest rules, which you can read BEFORE committing. I've seen a couple on the boardgame side as well, where the rules PDF was posted; the kickstarter was for a nice set.

I can see boardgames relying upon components to move stuff via kickstarter.

Given the typical mode for Kickstarter, you have to get people trusting that you (1) have a clue and (2) made at least a passable game, and then get them to promise money.

If you can't convince them, then you don't get your cash, and they don't get charged.

If you convince them, but they dislike the game and/or components, they can leave bad feedback... so after two or three tries, you're not going to get any but the most clueless.

So no, it's not going to bring a rash of get-rich-quick scammers. It's self-limiting.

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I think one of the most important parts here is the corollary of your mention of kickstarter funding components: for everything except the components (design/prototype/test), you don't need much money. If you want to produce it, then you need the money - so reasonable consumers can require quite a lot in the proposal, and make informed decisions. – Jefromi Jan 21 '12 at 17:11
@Jefromi Yup. That's precisely what I was implying. – aramis Feb 14 '12 at 3:55
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There is more to a games publishing company than just getting sales capital. You need to source things, advertise/promote, support, etc. Kickstarter is just one piece in a much larger puzzle of self-publishing. Also, they take a very high percentage for the 'service' they provide. Finally, Kickstarter does not guarantee that the promised service is provided. Several people I know have already gotten burned by this. I expect as it gets more popular, people will stop trusting the service as much. In short, I see little difference in the industry as a whole with the advent of Kickstarter. We should see just as many small design shops/self-publishers as before.

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I think kickstarter only wants people to trust them to deliver the money to the provider after the conditions are met. Beyond that, it is about trust (or not) the provider. – TimothyAWiseman Feb 13 '12 at 20:11

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