Sunday, March 4, 2012

Wow

The Dwimmermount Kickstarter has been live for just about 48 hours and it's already within spitting distance of achieving its initial funding goal. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it'd achieve this level of success so soon. I am deeply gratified and humbled by this turn of events and cannot thank you all enough for this.

Wow.

38 comments:

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    1. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we already have some extras ready to go, though, if the pledges keep coming at this rate, we may need to think up some additional ones ...

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    2. Next bonus goal on tap is a donation of James' original notes on the dungeon and the character sheets and other stuff produced during play. The Play-Generated Maps and Documents Archive will make scans freely available to the public online, while the actual documents will be donated to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Collection at Texas A&M University for use by scholars. Apart from the coolness of this glimpse into the birth of Dwimmermount, the hope is that others will be inspired by this example to donate documentation of other eras of the history of roleplaying that are at risk of being lost.

      But yes we probably do need more! What do y'all think about a quickstart guide to running Dwimmermount, with a specific focus on using it as a demo or convention game? It would be great if Dwimmermount become a point of entry for new players and a touchstone for experienced ones, similar to classics such as Keep on the Borderlands or Tomb of Horrors. Giving all backers a PDF of instructions for running Dwimmermount as a public open-table event could help make this happen, and I'd be eager to compile James' insights from last year's OSR Con and as the experience we'll be be developing through the events scheduled througout the Kickstarter campaign.

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    3. A collection of James' blog posts on his home campaign would be awesome. I realise that they're all here on the blog, but they get presented in reverse-chronological order, which isn't the right way to read them at all. I've always found that process of gradual, incremental creation really fascinating to follow, and together they form one of my favourite primers on running a game - not just as a set of advice or instructions, but as a living example.

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  2. Perhaps you should set up a second kickstarter for Petty Gods. I'd contribute to that one as well.

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    1. We were just talking about that today! I have some ideas about how we could use Kickstarter to honor its status as a community-generated project and achieve the original intent of making it available as inexpensively as possible. More about that later.

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  3. I don't think you should be too surprised when you've contributed so generously to us all through this blog.

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    1. Very well said, PCB. James's work on this blog and in other print products well deserves support and reward.

      That said, and again, get back to work on the project. Thank-you notes help, but you might have spent the 129 words of this blog post and comment on Dwimmermount.

      Can you tell I'm eager to part with my money?

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    2. Jay, we're all committed to seeing Dwimmermount succeed and reach fans in August, but I'm not sure it's appropriate to expect James to spend every word he writes on this project. When we were scrambling to launch the Kickstarter, I'd been talking with him about an Open Friday post asking about how people record the party's progress in their dungeons in order to help the megadungeon tracker design. Then when I thought we'd be delayed, I encouraged him to break the news as a different Open Friday post. At no point did it occur to me that there wouldn't be any Open Friday; it seemed really important that the Kickstarter not get in the way of Grognardia's existing traditions.

      As a reader, the frequency of James' posts was as important to getting me hooked as their thoughtfulness. As a blogger myself, his dedication to his readers amazes me. And as a publisher, I didn't feel right saying that James' commitment to his backers on Dwimmermount should get in the way of his pre-existing commitment to his blog and its readership. When we did the time of completion estimates for this project, I didn't expect to see any more of a reduction in posting at Grognardia than we did when James was dedicated to other projects of comparable scale like Thousand Suns.

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  4. Fantastic news.

    Next month's gaming budget is going to my pledge. That megadungeon tracker looks really neat.

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  5. well, better have those extras prepped and ready, it's already there!!

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  6. I like the idea about information for convention play. Also, when I refreshed at 8:30 EST it had reached the exact goal.

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  7. I've really enjoyed the Dwimmermount write ups you've presented, so pledging was a no brainer. Really looking forward to this. :)

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  8. I raise that "Wow" to a "hell yes, funded!" :D

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  9. This is excellent news. Looking forward to the final product and perhaps more projects to follow. Using this vehicle to finish Petty Gods is a great idea.

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  10. Like many of those frequenting your blog, I have been entranced by your vivid descriptions of Dwimmermount, fascinated by your campaign reports, and literally enthralled by the rich history you've developed for your setting over time. I have been waiting for a long time for you to get this project off your blog and into print, and I can't wait to get the hard copy in my hands for use with my gaming group. I have no doubt that it will be worth the wait.

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  11. James, you've done all the hard work. Thank you for your contributions the past several years.

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  12. That is excellent, but by no means unexpected, news. Well-deserved, too.

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  13. It's a vote of confidence. Knock it out of the park!

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  14. I'll second the comment about seeing the process behind the product: for me one of the biggest lessons of watching it unfold was seeing how little was needed to get it started and how that was a conscious decision. I imagine you take pains to preserve that in the book somehow, but nothing beats tracking the actual development.

    And now I'm going to add fuel to the problem...

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    1. Bonus goal #1 is making the original campaign notes available online to the public via PlaGMaDA and to scholars via Texas A&M. This + the record of development via session summaries etc. here at Grognardia + the finished product should help make sure that there are multiple routes to preserving this process.

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  15. Congratulations! More quality works for the community will follow, I'm sure! I'll be looking forward to seeing what comes in the months ahead, as I'm a huge mark for homebrew campaigns and love seeing their genesis.

    I'm interested in Dwimmermount for its own sake, as well as the applicability of it to a Holmes/Labyrinth Lord Campaign. But picking this up also serves as a thanks for all your oft-entertaining reviews, the various thought provoking exchanges on the hobby that occur here, the frequently useful gaming posts from your settings over the years, and the series of posts on the past history of RPGs, I hope. Not to mention I'm a big believer in patronizing small business.

    And, oh yeah... Fight On!

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  16. No doubt this will go gangbusters for you! Your probably the most read old-school blog out there.

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  17. Late to the kickstarter party here ... I'm impressed and happy for you. It must be rewarding to see that real people will spend actual money to buy your product. Well done!

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  18. Two ideas: Include a link to the Kickstarter in posts like this, where you talk about it, and perhaps include a label for your Kickstarter related posts.

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  19. Your welcome. I'm glad to give you some money for so many years of insightful and entertaining writing. Looking forward to holding the book in my hands.

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  20. I'm getting the vibe that this is what it would have been like if the fans had been given the opportunity to publicly fund Castle Grayhawk, back in the day. I'm pretty new to Grognardia but I just get the sense that Dwimmermount is almost at the same level of anticipation.

    Fortunately, in this case, it looks like Dwimmermount will actually happen, and not as a cruel joke at the creator's expense.

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  21. Congratulations you earned every bit of this, and looking forward to it's release.

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  22. Dammit. I haven't even had time to kick in my donation yet.

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  23. Congratulations! This is great news!

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  24. I truly wanted to donate last night before it hit the goal, and I still want to donate today, but stupid Amazon Payments says the functionality "has been disabled for this account."

    Apparently Kickstarter and Amazon know about this bug and are trying to work it out, but dammit, I want to throw my bit in the ring!

    (6-month reader, first time poster. Started playing 2nd Ed in 93, but love the history of the form and all of the attention and love it is getting from the community the past few years.)

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  25. I would like to support it, but I am not US citizen, and I heard you can register on kickstarter only with US bank account.
    I is it true or there is special way to register to this site?

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  26. Hey, James... what's the status of Petty Gods? Is that still in the hopper? I've been waiting with baited breath for months with no word from the Source.
    TFotH

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