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Idle thumbs IS BACK (Kickstarter ended) -- Funded in 3 hours
- Thread starter The Dutch Slayer
- Start date
Go away.
Not sure how it could "back fire." If the project is funded, you aren't out anything other than the time you put into planning. Additionally, it's a better deal than traditional financing (if they could hope to get it). 8% of this project is $2400. If they tried to finance this traditionally they'd probably be able to do a 5.5% loan over no fewer than 5 years, which means they'd be spending over $34,000 for $30k.
Kickstart a PS3 patch?
snoopeasystreet
Member
make the bird noise!
Similar to Double Fine, Idle Thumbs has a fantastic mix of a good product, endearing personalities, and a dose of humbleness. It loosens the purse strings fairly easily.
Also, I always wanted to pay back Big Bird for the fantastic years I spent with Sesame Street as a child.
outunderthestars
Banned
Why is weird to ask for support? The bandwidth costs of podcasts are fairly substantial after all.
I think many of us have gotten spoiled with the "everything is free on the internet" mentality of last decade or so.
If we want good online content, we're going to have to be willing to support it.
Say the wizaaard!
If I had to pay 1 dollar for every hour of entertainment I've gotten from the 80ish(?) Idle Thumbs episodes...
Chris Remo
Member
Holy goddamn shit. This is working far better than expected.
One thing to clarify for folks who (understandably) don't get why we're asking for this much money: We're doing pretty complicated, high quality rewards. It means no matter how many rewards we have to make, we still have to do full minimum print runs of a bunch of t-shirts, vinyl records, high quality art prints, etc., etc.. Even if only one person bought each of those things (which fortunately isn't the case), we'd still have to order a whole bunch of them just for that one guy. A lot of Kickstarters for projects similar to ours have much more straightforward rewards. We chose to do something a bit more complex, which means we need to reach a higher minimum to break even, and then to have a decent amount of money left over to do other fairly expensive things like rent an office, and so on.
Hope that clears it up a bit. Anyway, I can't thank you guys enough for your support! This has been in the works for months and months and it's crazy to see it pan out like this.
One thing to clarify for folks who (understandably) don't get why we're asking for this much money: We're doing pretty complicated, high quality rewards. It means no matter how many rewards we have to make, we still have to do full minimum print runs of a bunch of t-shirts, vinyl records, high quality art prints, etc., etc.. Even if only one person bought each of those things (which fortunately isn't the case), we'd still have to order a whole bunch of them just for that one guy. A lot of Kickstarters for projects similar to ours have much more straightforward rewards. We chose to do something a bit more complex, which means we need to reach a higher minimum to break even, and then to have a decent amount of money left over to do other fairly expensive things like rent an office, and so on.
Hope that clears it up a bit. Anyway, I can't thank you guys enough for your support! This has been in the works for months and months and it's crazy to see it pan out like this.
FINALLY
The amount of entertainment I got from Idle thumbs is ridiculous. Firstly, every episode was great in itself. So with that in mind, I've listened to the whole archive like two or three times. On top of that I've listened to This Year's compilation twice. So yeah, Idle thumbs have provided so much to me for free.
I have enjoyed this podcast like no other. The personalities, the topics, their views and everything in between is classic. The idea of the return of a weekly Idle thumbs podcast is beyond exciting to me.
I was going to put up $150 initially, but looking at the rewards, I'm gonna chip in $200. You guy deserve it. I wish I could afford to put up more, though
.
The amount of entertainment I got from Idle thumbs is ridiculous. Firstly, every episode was great in itself. So with that in mind, I've listened to the whole archive like two or three times. On top of that I've listened to This Year's compilation twice. So yeah, Idle thumbs have provided so much to me for free.
I have enjoyed this podcast like no other. The personalities, the topics, their views and everything in between is classic. The idea of the return of a weekly Idle thumbs podcast is beyond exciting to me.
I was going to put up $150 initially, but looking at the rewards, I'm gonna chip in $200. You guy deserve it. I wish I could afford to put up more, though
.The Big Rig
Member
I don't get how people feel weird about paying. It obviously costs money to make the podcast, so they can recoup that money through donations or advertisement. I'm more than willing to pay for my entertainment.
Right. More broadly, when external, non-internet portions of business were still thriving the internet stuff was seen as a free bonus to those hardcore online people. As the internet becomes the business itself, and there is no external stuff propping it up on its shoulders, internet stuff will stop being free all the time. It's a disappointing but ultimately inevitable reality.
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
Congrats Nick.
Tawney Bomb
Member
Nick had better be on the podcast at one point, no excuses!
So what are you going to do with all of the extra money if it ends up at say, $100k?
True. I guess my distinction is whether I feel the content is valuable, well-produced, which Idle Thumbs clearly is.
MehsterChief
Member
These are the only guys in the world I would pay to talk about video games. And so I did. Can't wait for my postcard!
Goddamnit, Idle Thumbs will actually return. This makes me happier than it probably should be.
Also, the book club is a great idea!
Goddamnit, Idle Thumbs will actually return. This makes me happier than it probably should be.
Also, the book club is a great idea!
The fact that none of the original episodes had even a single hint of advertisement ( barring strategychocolate ) speaks volumes to the fact that this money is going to be put to good use and it's not just some "cash grab" since the opportunity was always there.
Heck even GFW had ads if I'm not mistaken.
The Dutch Slayer
Member
Thanks Chris I'll add it to the OP
Yeah those where general 1up network ads but they those are ads to!
nckillthegrimace
Member
Is it panhandling if you get something in return? Isn't that just a normal transaction?
hey_it's_that_dog
benevolent sexism
Would any of you mind explaining to me why you see this as begging/panhandling and not something morally neutral, like "securing funding."
This seems like a novel use of the free market to me. Is the problem that people are paying for something indeterminate? That there's no accountability, ultimately, for the person collecting donations?
Are there Kickstarter horror stories that I'm not aware of? I'm trying to understand why anyone would oppose this. I mean, it gives people who want something the opportunity to pay for it and have it when it might not otherwise exist. What's the downside?
snoopeasystreet
Member
If you make it to three hundred thousand dollars, will you make a point and click adventure game?
aggro crag
Member
I hope so. Gotta get that Double Fine money.
The Dutch Slayer
Member
Also maybe I looked over this but when are you thinking of actually coming back?
Maybe start before the thing is over/at the end?
Because GDC is the 5-9th and all the people you want to talk to are in town at that moment.
So I think you will need to think about at least have a few guest/interviews recored the "old way" (with in my book was just fine).
Because next time that happens is a year from now.
Maybe start before the thing is over/at the end?
Because GDC is the 5-9th and all the people you want to talk to are in town at that moment.
So I think you will need to think about at least have a few guest/interviews recored the "old way" (with in my book was just fine).
Because next time that happens is a year from now.
snoopeasystreet
Member
what's a reddit? some rich dude?
I thought 30k was ridiculous at first because regardless what people think you don't need a lot of money to get your podcast out there.
Then i watched the video and saw what they wanted to do with it, get an office, launch another cast etc. and it's completely understandable now, personally i was never a HUGE fan of it but since it's already reached 20k first day i can tell it means a lot to a lot of people so i am going to throw $50 at it in support, clearly this means a lot to the gaming community and who knows maybe i will get into it, i am gonna check out a few cast later today.
Then i watched the video and saw what they wanted to do with it, get an office, launch another cast etc. and it's completely understandable now, personally i was never a HUGE fan of it but since it's already reached 20k first day i can tell it means a lot to a lot of people so i am going to throw $50 at it in support, clearly this means a lot to the gaming community and who knows maybe i will get into it, i am gonna check out a few cast later today.
aggro crag
Member
I think it would be cool if they streamed live gaming or live pods.
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Not saying that these scenarios apply to this, but I've heard about one thing.
"Let's do this...and see if we can get some extra cash, even though we're about to do it anyway. Just don't tell anyone we were going to do this anyway."
Or there was a particular group who had come reasonably close to their goal, but was not going to hit it - so they had their own guy throw $1k at it to break the barrier so they'd still get the money.
That's certainly against the rules, but I don't see anything in place stopping that sort of thing.
outunderthestars
Banned
Agreed. I think that going forward we are going to see niche products like this be able to thrive as their audiences get more comfortable with paying for it.
I don't see a problem with either of those scenarios. I would never fund any project in which the lead didn't have some skin in the game.
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Well the thing is, if you don't hit your goal, people get their money back as it didn't hit the goal. If you push a little cash at it (and are just going for a cash grab) this ensures that they get that money.
For me personally, cutting out cable TV a few years back was the psychological hurdle I needed. Now I would much rather pay for the entertainment I actually enjoy and consume directly than spend close to $100 monthly on a service I barely use, in order to subsidize channels I never watch. Just so happens the entertainment I enjoy is mostly served online.
Even with a few donations and subscriptions here and there, it's less money than monthly cable expenses for me and more meaningful to the content creators. I'm a big fan of this new business model, for sure.
PetriP-TNT
Member
Well for me it eventually boils down to bullshit like this:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/817307185/black-tambourine-reunion-shows-new-ep
Big name, very established band wanting money for things like shows that are already sold out and does the world really need two more Ramones cover 7"'s (which pretty much any indie label would have soiled their pants for to release anyway). There are thousands of examples like this in the music business. Soon you are going to be paying $100 to get a download code for the new COD and a personal fuck you note from Bobby Kotick.
I don't think you'll be F5'ing this in March, already at $22k+
Cirekiller
Member
Exactly, just put in $50 without any hesitation. Idle Thumbs has given me so many hours of entertainment that I won't hesitate to give something back, also the shirt looks rad.
Edit: Just changed my amount to $100.
The Wizard
Member
This pleases me greatly.
$30 is well worth it for the podcast alone, the rewards are a nice bonus.
$30 is well worth it for the podcast alone, the rewards are a nice bonus.
And? People are pledging money ostensibly because they WANT the project funded. Why would they be upset that the project hit its goal? That's insane.
outunderthestars
Banned
I've never actually heard of Idle Thumbs until this. I donated $10 because I like the idea. Any suggestions as to an episode in particular I should start with?
Also, if any of the Idle Thumbs guys are reading this: Please make sure that your book selections have a Kindle/Nook version so we can quickly buy it and keep up.
I honestly don't see anything wrong with this. Why can't they contribute to their own cause? It's not like they're swindling people out of their money; their money was already pledged so presumably they wanted to see the kickstarter succeed, not fail.
Can you put some werewolves in Oblivion?