The Goblins Fan Forum

So this happened today:

I can answer questions, if you have them, but please go read what we've said publicly first.

Why the change from kickstarter?

Will the funding amount be the same on Indiegogo?
And if so, will it be a fixed goal (money only transferred if goal is reached) or a flexible goal (money will be transferred even if the goal is not reached)?

I hope it is a fixed goal, as if it is a flexible goal I am hugely skeptical to pledging.
I do not want to pledge 100 USD just to see the project get 100k of the 465k original goal (if it stays the same) and my money wasted on a project that will most likely fail because of too little funding.

I do wish you the best of luck on Indiegogo, but from experience backing other projects there, this is a move I am personally not thrilled about, especially if it turns out your campaign will be a flexible goal.

Thunt's Twitter wrote:We weren't getting a ton of support from KS, which IndieGoGo is going to supply. We also made a bunch of tweaks, polished a bunch of aspects and made some much needed improvements.

IndieGoGo is much better for film/tv. Other campaigns have crossed over like this, with great success.

We're actually going with the fixed funding method, which follows the same rules as KS. I'd hate to end up with hundreds of thousands of dollars and have that not be enough to make the animation.

So... They're hoping for better support and publicity from Indiegogo, and they're taking it as an opportunity to improve the campaign based on what they learned.

And, yes, of course it will be fixed funding. They're working hard to keep everything above board. And partial funding won't help anyone. The initial goal was carefully calculated as the minimum needed to get things off the ground.

No word yet on the goal. Might be a little higher if they need to accommodate more physical rewards. Or they might find some ways to streamline expenses to bring it down a little. We'll find out next week, I guess.

Is "early bird backer" a thing that is yet to be explained, or did I miss what/where that explanation might be?

If you sign up for email updates this week, before the campaign launches, you get a special patch added to your rewards for free.

Early Bird backers are all the people who add their names to the mailing list for the Indiegogo campaign before it launches. When those people pledge, they get the pre-launch perk added to their pledge. Since Kickstarter and Indiegogo are competitors, we can't port backers directly from one platform to the other. The Early Bird email list simplifies the transfer process, and enables us to give backers something extra for their trouble. Also, people who didn't join us for the KS campaign have a little extra incentive to get involved with the Indiegogo campaign right from the start.

Definitely fixed funding. The goal will be lower, though I can't tell you the actual number until Nov 14. We didnÔÇÖt see the original goal happening despite wonderful, amazing support from fans and readers, so we decided to restructure and streamline the campaign. Based on feedback we received, we knew we couldn't do that within the bounds of the existing campaign. The focus will be shifting from a fully animated pilot episode to a fully animated 5 minute presentation piece that we can use to let people see the real, unwatered-down Goblins comic come to life, and give audiences, investors, or producers a taste of what an animated Goblins could be.

By "not supporting you", do mean generally not caring aka, not green lighting your project, irregardless of the amount of supporters you garnered in so little time?

If you mean Thunt's comment about Kickstarter vs Indiegogo, I believe it refers to back end customer service and things like help publicizing the project and delivering rewards. Mostly, I suspect it's the word that came to mind because it's the buzzword Indiegogo uses when comparing themselves to Kickstarter.

I never heard of Indiegogo. Is it better than KS?

Same idea, different platform. There are some differences in rules and features, but on our end as backers it's basically the same. You pick your reward, you make your pledge. If the goal is met, you get charged. (They do offer a flexible funding option where the money is still collected even if the goal isn't met, at the cost of higher fees to creators, but G:TAS won't be using that.) But they have a different network of backers (people who regularly surf the various categories looking for projects to fund) and partners (people who work with creators to help make things happen). Hopefully, moving over will help get the word to more people who might be interested but haven't heard through the publicity so far. A lower, less intimidating goal might help motivate, too. Also potentially of note is that KS has a $10k per backer pledge limit, but Indiegogo doesn't. In fact, as I recall, they'll let you pledge more than once if you want multiple rewards. Kickstarter does have its advantages (for example, more people have heard of it), but hopefully Indiegogo will turn out to be a better fit.

I really hope miniatures are available at a much lower price point, but (as I explained a few pages back) I totally get that they might not be.

Someone may want to respond to some of the comments on FB before some false rumors start spreading around. It would seem there is a lack of good information and/or some people are spreading some blatant misunderstandings around.

About the lack of support: Yes, we were getting a lot of people scratching their heads about why we weren't featured on KS. We were put off by how little interest KS showed, which is why Indiegogo's attitude of "We support our projects" appealed to us.
About miniatures: We're working on it. One of the benefits to relaunching is that we have the freedom to do some things we couldn't do before.
About FB: Thanks! I'm off to put out fires.

Thanks for the info about early birds. I get it now.

I'd just like to say that while I would like to see this at some point, I don't think I can support it right now. For the last few years the ratio of story output to side projects has been pretty low, and that gives me pause when considering supporting this. It just isn't a great indicator of ability to follow through on such an ambitious project.

Do what you feel is right for you. But G:AR is basically done, and, while Thunt does consult on the scripts (which I believe are already written), Matt and Phil are in charge of the bulk of the work. We're not going to see Thunt put the comic on hold so that he can go hand draw the animation instead of the contracted studio. (He already finished the animation guide drawings, too.)

DragonTurtle wrote:About the lack of support: Yes, we were getting a lot of people scratching their heads about why we weren't featured on KS. We were put off by how little interest KS showed, which is why Indiegogo's attitude of "We support our projects" appealed to us.

If I had to guess it's because of Thunt's history with KS and the fact he doesn't have glowing things to say about them being just a google away. But that's of course just a complete guess from outside.

When will the new campaign launch?

Sometime today, I think. KS went live at midnight, so maybe tonight?

'Tis live now, if you want to go peek. http://www.igg.me/at/goblinsanimated

We worked out character miniatures, so they're available now at a much lower level. Plushies also came down in price, and we added a few things that didn't exist before, like Minmax's I AM GREAT belt buckle and a Senor Vorpal Kickass'o hat.

You talked. We listened.

I would like to know how big the Axe of Prissan replica is going to be. And will there be any customization for them (as the one in the comic does adjust to the wielder's size, I was wondering if you will get the measurements of the buyers and relay them to the smith, so the smith makes it the right size for the buyer)?
What material(s) will it be made from?

I will preface this answer with IANAS (I am not a smith). We haven't had Tony prototype the axe yet, so I'm not sure exactly what materials will be. It will depend what ends up looking right. I will ask, though, what our options are. (I've been told verbally, but I forget.) Tony has looked at the design, and said yes, it's doable. I will have our people (I'm not his contact) pass along questions.
The Axe as designed is lifesize for Big Ears. It works out to about 3 feet long and not-quite 2 feet wide, I think. I will ask if resizing is possible. It would be cool if that would work! I don't know, though. I also want to incorporate each owner's IME.
In the morning I will dig up the design spec image for you.

You guys have done an excellent job. And I just want to say, I think the fact that both you and Tarol have your own unique identifiers when responding, whic brings a new level of....mmm...intimacy...to this project. Kick-starter, love Matt king, but the fact that it was one, all encompassing voice in the sky..kind of lacked the "we're real people vibe".

So, I guess, I'm saying both thank you, good job and I really hope this works out.

So like, Thunt can't keep up with regular schedule (it was understandable with all the physical/mental problems), got his money taken by some scammer when trying to start yet ANOTHER project (the card game, at least I assume he got scammed?) and NOW he has YET YET another project so everything goes to market it and whatnot.

RIP Goblins, it was a great run. I don't expect Thunt to ever go back to even monthly comic updates honestly.