Ninja All-Stars Kickstarter

I think I'm legally obligated to post this or something. (Not really, but I'd have to check my contract...)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...inja-all-stars

Anywho! Ninja All-stars looks like it's going to be a game with league format in a way similar to Blood Bowl or Mordheim, which sounds pretty cool. Build a team, fight over challenges, and upgrade your gear, hire more ninjas, etc etc.

And I guess all the sculpts are done now, so this time it's literally just kick starting the production fees so I guess December is actually reasonable as opposed to the SDE one where they took all their money and said, "well ****, let's make a ton of new models!"

.....anyway they learned their lesson I guess. Mixed with their amazing communication with backers, this looks to be a good one to get into.

Yeah, I'm liking the sculpts. How is the gameplay?

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Originally Posted by BDub

Yeah, I'm liking the sculpts. How is the gameplay?

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Nooooo idea. Gameplay video is in post production and should be posted by tomorrow I'd guess.

What I'm seeing the biggest complaint is ATM is that the core box for retail will come with generic ninja models which can be used for any clan or generic shrine. Everyone thought it came with the 6 named clans, but they cleared that up. Looks like the kickstarter will include two of the named clans in the pledge price however.

The generic water/fire clans made sense in a starter box, but the inclusion of one or more of the themed clans in the single pledge level was weird. Why not offer all the theme clans separately so you can get the one (or more) that you want? Also, I don't see an allowance to just buy from the pledge shop only - it appears you have to go all in or not at all, which I believe is a dumb move on their part.

I am not 100% on this, but I think as long as you pledge $1 (because you don't have to select a reward level) you will get a link to the pledge manager after the KS ends and can then add stuff a la carte as you like. Check the updates and comments on the ks page to see if someone has asked that question maybe.

Although, going by the retail price point of the SDE FK game at $100, if you want the base game box (assuming it will be about the same price) then it won't work in your favor to do that.

Also, not sure when this happened, but it looks like there are now 3 options at the $100 pledge instead of 1.

Yeah, but it is hard to understand what the heck the difference is. Seems like either you get to pick named clans or get generic shrines?

Anyway, they're so cute! I bet my daughter will love these.

Sorry but all my kickstarter money is tied up in Homes 4 Dogs

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...3/homes-4-dogs

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Originally Posted by GentleBen

Sorry but all my kickstarter money is tied up in Homes 4 Dogs

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...3/homes-4-dogs

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Boy, that is compelling.

In the past, they usually will organize the add-ons and freebies into a more readable graphic. But this likely won't happen until the last week maybe.
See this one from the SDE KS as an example (links to the graphics are on this page):
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...g/posts/810859

Basically the game was supposed to come with all the rules for all the clans, but generic shrine ninja models.m
They advertised heavily the 6 clans however and that confused the hell out of people.

Edit: there are two pledge levels now. One gives you all the shrine ninja and 2 clans, while the other gives you 4 clans. Beyond that, they are the same, and you sn buy additional shrine or clan ninja with the pledge manager.

They really need that gameplay video out.

Lol, now there are three pledge levels....with the last two being mods of the first. They could have easily just offered a box with generic shrine ninja and made all clans add-ons....wtf? All they need now is a weird point system and this might as well be a euro/indiegogo campaign.

All I want is one clan, dice and some ronin!!!

One thing I am unclear on, though is this: Are the generic shrine ninja ever used in a clan list, do they fill slots? They come in three of the four unlocked clan colors. What are they for?....so confuse!

EDIT: so apparently the original pledge and the new Ninja Master pledge are now identical. The only problem I see now is how are they going to resolve the 100K unlock of the extra shrine clan with the two new pledges?

Technically, since the shrine was added to the all star pledge, it is still included. So people who choose to switch to the other one are missing out on that, sort of.

I am wondering what the retail box will contain, as I would think it would come with the two shrines from the original pledge level. Which means packaging logistics for the alternate pledge are going to be weird as they can't just pack a retail set plus extras.

Originally it was supposed to be two sets of shrine ninja.

Now that they've had this backlash and changed stuff... they are reevaluating

I put money in. Looks good

It looks like new stuff has been posted. And, I heard a terrible interview with the rules author that cleared a lot up. Think variations of play, from advanced board game to Blood Bowl.

Yeah, deke furiously wrote like 5 articles on the game yesterday.

Video is supposed to be out early next week. I really, really wonder why they waited so long though. I'm guessing it had to do with SDE, but still...

Is there any indication that the KS is going to change again? I want to make sure it is settled before I commit.

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Originally Posted by RealGenius

Is there any indication that the KS is going to change again? I want to make sure it is settled before I commit.

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As far as I know, the pledges shouldn't change. But we are kind of in the dark ATM, it varies on when we unlock clan Kitsune and Tanchyo, but even still I can't see why they would change again.
I think deke might have an update today? Not certain because of SDE update due today.
Although being kickstarter you can back out at anytime I think...

Yeah, you can change or cancel a pledge up until the end. KS will preauthorize/put a hold on funds for whatever payment you use in the interim but won't actually actually charge your card until after the KS ends.

Another thing, based on how they have run the pledge manager in the past, if you aren't sure whether you want to go in for one pledge level or both, you can pledge for one and then add money to select the second after the ks using the pledge manager. It doesn't help raise the ks total for stretch goals and such, but also doesn't overcommit you if you are uncertain. Plus gives you an extra month or two to stretch out payment.

This is where I am sitting currently, as not sure if I care about the shrine teams or not.

There's a rumor that once they hit 1500 backers, they'll add clan Kitsune.

Yeah, I was looking at the SDE ks just to compare, and it seems like they planned stretch goals and such based on the funding they received then, but for whatever reason this one is just not taking off the same way. Which then leads to the issue of people not wanting to back as the options stay limited, so the goals continue to not be met. I imagine they need to reset the stretch goal line-up and increments right now to unlock the other stuff and get some momentum going again.

I think things may pick up once the gameplay video is out next week.

Also, one of the founders gave the okay for beta testers to spill rules and such in the comments, as long as they don't post pictures. They will also release beta rules to everyone next week and are not opposed to tweaking numbers here and there based on feedback.

I think they need to reduce the stretch goal increments form 25k to 10k, particularly to get the other 2 clans unlocked.

I just remember watching the malifaux rpg ks stall out, specifically because the stretch goals were too far apart in terms of dollar amounts, so then people stopped backing, then started dropping, and it exacerbated the problem. When they finally got around to adjusting things, it was a bit too late as the community had built up a distaste for how the project had been run.

Granted, you can make the argument that people shouldn't have the sense of entitlement to getting more than what was there when the ks started, but the stretch goal precedent has been set, in part due to the way the RK campaign was run, so expectations are based on that now. So people expect to be getting a super awesome deal as opposed to being happy with a moderate one.

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Originally Posted by morella888

I think they need to reduce the stretch goal increments form 25k to 10k, particularly to get the other 2 clans unlocked.

I just remember watching the malifaux rpg ks stall out, specifically because the stretch goals were too far apart in terms of dollar amounts, so then people stopped backing, then started dropping, and it exacerbated the problem. When they finally got around to adjusting things, it was a bit too late as the community had built up a distaste for how the project had been run.

Granted, you can make the argument that people shouldn't have the sense of entitlement to getting more than what was there when the ks started, but the stretch goal precedent has been set, in part due to the way the RK campaign was run, so expectations are based on that now. So people expect to be getting a super awesome deal as opposed to being happy with a moderate one.

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It probably stems from the huge success that the Super Dungeon Explore kickstarter was, that Soda Pop thought they would get similar numbers. Sadly it didn't turn out that way! However as we're seeing, they are super good at communication with customers, so I think with these changes in the stretch goals, they've adjusted to a lower forecast based on demand, and will run out the models they have made and ready at a reasonable time and get about 500-600k out of the project.

Also, the Relic Knights kickstarter was run by CMoN, which has it's own...way.... of doing things.

Speaking of SDE, looks like my set of Forgotten King will be here by the 10th of April! Huzzah!

Speaking of SDE - I got the update on fulfillment, but don't recall seeing anything about Wave 1 and Wave 2 before. Tried looking through some of the updates, but couldn't see anything in the titles on it. Do you know what's the what on that?

Yeah, due to the delay they just barely finished production before Chinese New Year. However, the time it would take to sort out various pledges for add-ons to the core game pledge would take way too long so they shipped out the stuff everyone is getting (core box, unlocked freebies) as wave 1. Wave 2 however is everything else being sorted and shipped in mid April.

Thanks. I figured it was something like that, but couldn't find the relevant update.