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The psychology of Kickstarter
Caldicot
Member UncommonPosts: 455
There is no doubt that Kickstarter is an effective tool for game studios and developers to gain money in order to fund their projects, but perhaps an even stronger contribution to the projects comes with the side-effect of backing a project, namely the things that happen in the head of a backer. I am talking of course of the psychological biases that can follow an investment of some sort.
This phenomena is fairly new in the gaming industry (since Kickstarter has only been around for a few years), but has been studied for decades in the cognitive sciences and behavioral economics. For example, since none of us happily admits that we have made poor decision the first thing that may reveal itself is the classic confirmation bias, which is the tendency to look for, favor and be overly persuaded by information that confirm ones initial impressions, while at the same time dismissing information which tends to disprove said impressions. If we also weigh in the endowment effect (the tendency to consider something you own or have invested in to be worth more than it would be if you hadn't invested in it), and loss aversion (the tendency to feel more pain when losing X amount of money than satisfaction felt when gaining something of value X), it's easy to see that backers rationality are at risk of becoming skewed.
All in all, this helps to create a legion of fanboys. And my guess is that the "work" done by these fanboys are worth just as much for the project as the actual funding itself, whether it's about trash-talking someone who has questioned the progress of the games development or just spreading the word about the game.
From a developers perspective, I think that's where the ingenuity really lies with running a Kickstarter campaign.
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. - Carl Sagan
Comments
Hmm, I would think it would create this legion of "fanboys" because people are investing their own money and want to see thier investment NOT FAIL... But you know, whatever you say, Freud...
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!
Not necessarily a strong argument for the psychological impact of Kickstarter, but it's indisputable that Kickstarter is excellent free advertising.
Really don't understand why Kickstarter is such a hot topic on these boards.
Spot on.
The legion you refer to are the evangelists of the community. Some bring people in because of their attachment to the game, some spread the wrod because their attachment is worth more the more people are aware of it. There are a lot of parallels once can draw betwen effectively running a Kickstarter for an online game and running a cult... or Quixtar, for that matter.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
There are other things I've noticed as well. For games at least, they often tell people that they are going to be included in the design decisions of the game. And sometimes (particularly more recently) they are telling people the MORE they spend, the more inportant their input will be to them.
For x amount, you only get the last stage of beta.
For (x + y) amount, you get in beta earlier.
For (x + y + z) amount, you get in alpha.
For (a shitload) amount, you get to chill with the devs and play handball.
But the reality is different. For instance, what if 500 people felt 7 different ways about one subject. Since there are often many people with many different opinions, what really ends up happening is they shut off the noise and make the decision themselves. They are the professional designers and developers, after all, and the only reason these other people feel like they deserve to say anything is because they actually paid for it.
They ask people for more and more money for what they think is essentially greater creative control. People seem to be so desperate for the game that will fulfill their every wish, they are willing to pay to have an opinion that will likely never make it through all the other opinions and into the project.
"No they are not charity. That is where the whales come in. (I play for free. Whales pays.) Devs get a business. That is how it works."
-Nariusseldon
Of course not, and I have never stated that everyone who backs a project are biased. Furthermore, there is nothing wrong with wanting something to succeed.
To illustrate my point with a not-so-far-fetched example; If a company fails to deliver something in time for the third time in a row, that would clearly be a warning sign when it comes to whether to put trust in that company or not. If you already are commited to the company, then chances are you will make up excuses for them. "They want to polish every last bit of detail." etc.
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. - Carl Sagan