Weta Workshop cancels Districts 9 Kickstarter

[blipvertus 12359xp 1]

Title says it all. The email sent to backers indicates they’ll rework the game and try again.

It appears the main complaints were the price, shipping costs and symmetrical  factions.

Too bad, as I backed. I hope they try again.

Edited typographical errors.

[avernosKeymaster 33947xp 11]

wow, people are wankers, 50 quid and 20 postage from the other side of the world is too much?

some people need to take a long look in the mirror and then fuck off because they clearly haven’t got a clue

[Anonymous 0xp 3]

I agree with Gerry.  Kickstarter is turning into a bunch of people who expect everything for nothing and then wonder why companies don’t deliver or the stuff they get is pure garbage.

[limburger 21707xp 0]

Damn, this sucks.
I had done the usual and ‘saved’ the game with intent to commit in the final 48h.

Given the kind of shipping costs our Australian friends have to pay for almost anything it’s not even worth complaining about that part IMHO. I tend to be more worried about hidden costs like customs duty fees. And even those I accept, because international shipping can be a pain in the posterior for companies not used to these things.

Assymetrical factions are cool and one of the things I like in games, but they can be tricky to balance.
Heck, the only thing I didn’t like (and this is a rather minor complaint) is the art style.
It didn’t match the serious tone of the movie.

Ungrateful backers are the result of companies treating Kickstarter as a glorified webshop. People tend to forget that mistakes and delays will happen when a product needs proper development before shipping.  Never mind the chance of failure …

 

[dagsParticipant 3591xp 3]

Clicked on this out of random interest, and I do appreciate for the people looking forward to the game it is disappointing, I have had one I was really looking forward to fail to fund but fortunately it found its way to market by other means.  So for those interested lets hope it does eventually make its way out

However some of the comments surprised me, ultimately the kickstarter didn’t fund and Weta clearly didn’t believe it would fund, so regardless of comments by backers the issue was it was a product they couldn’t sell.  I would also add Weta using the platform as a pre-order has let them see that before further investment, we aren’t talking about a tiny company that couldn’t publish (albeit at a risk) without.

On the cost front, as is often said it is subjective in the hobby, I often here the same person de-cry the cost of one product then rave about an other which I personally think is hideously overpriced (plus I know has been made for a about 20% of retail if that after development is re-paid) so economics rarely factors accurately into it.  Heck I buy stuff that I know on a purely economic analysis is poor value because it has other perceived values.  As an aside its more £75 plus postage that is before any potential drop off in the pound

Sorry for the rant but at seems all to easy to yell at other people being twats, when really the game failed appeal to enough people to attract the necessary funding.  If it had done that then any complaints would have been idiots gibbering on the web

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[onlyonepinman 18061xp 2]

£75 plus shipping isn’t cheap and I can see postage from NZ to Europe being quite pricey. I don’t think people are wankers for not wanting to shell out £100 for the district 9 board game – looking at it I don’t think it looks like something I would pay £100 for. That’s not a criticiam of the game and your mileage may vary.

I do feel for them a little though, I think they are at a geographical disadvantage being in New Zealand and shipping to the large European and American audiences is always going to add a significant amount to their kickstarters.

[blipvertus 12359xp 0]

I misspoke in the original post and have edited it.

People were complaining that the factions were symmetrical and they wanted asymmetrical. That and the price seemed to be the main complaints.

My only real gripe was having to pay extra to allow 5 to 6 players. I thought it should have come in the core game.

This probably good for Weta. It’ll allow them to really analyze what’s going on and perhaps learn something.

I backed GKR and love it but their support following its release has been nonexistent. Maybe they’ll learn to engage the community more.

[limburger 21707xp 0]

@blipvertus : a lot of companies have trouble supporting games post kickstarter.
And to be honest .. GKR didn’t look like a game that was going to have a lot of extra content.

I suspect the location of WETA vs the rest of the world makes any kind of support tricky.

It’s always good when companies decide to cancel a kickstarter instead of trying to finish something that barely reaches the target.

@onlyonepinman : I wonder if licensing fees and their location were a factor in that price.
OTOH … them being closer to China might have made outsourcing cheaper.

[coxjul 13301xp 4]

This ability to “Fail fast” without committing to significant investment into a product that might not sell is precisely why a company like Weta should use KickStarter.  This isn’t pre-ordering a tried and tested product line for them (unlike CMON), it’s a chance to dip their toe into the murky waters of the industry we love and see if their idea will float – which in its current form clearly will not.

Sorry – potential customers aren’t “wankers who feel entitled” if they look at an offering based upon a niche IP and decide – in what is becoming a very crowded and competitive space – they don’t see value in that offer in its current form; and I don’t just mean model count or sculpt quality it’s much more complex a mix.  That’s listening to your customers and refining your offer to match their expectations. That’s sensible 21st century business practice.

[Author]

Posts