Graywalkers - Interview @ The Id DM

Russell Tomas the Creator/Team Lead of Graywalkers Purgatory was interviewed on The Id DM to answer a few questions. Here is a small part of the interview.

Your first Kickstarter campaign aimed at bringing Graywalkers to life was not successful. What lessons did you and your team learn from that process? What needs to change the second time around for the Kickstarter to fund?

With our first Kickstarter, we learned a lot. There were many factors that affected what happened and I think we are more prepared now. I can honestly say that we were totally unprepared for the first one. I guess that’s why I never truly felt that bad that we didn’t make it the first time around. I did my research and prepared but there were many things we failed to do beforehand which would have improved our chances. For one, we didn’t do much in the way of marketing. We didn’t do any pre-marketing, and marketing during the campaign was limited. I think the only reason we even got to $44K was simply on the fact that many loved the idea of the game. Our video wasn’t all that great as well, so that was another drawback. It was too long and lacked gameplay video. We only got gameplay footage after the campaign was going for over a week. Also, luck and timing was not in our favor. When we came out, it was like all the best RPGs all went to get funding. We were competing with other games I personally felt I would like to pledge to. In the end, many of these great games didn’t get funded as well. They said one major reason was the string of bad PR for indie game groups in KS that didn’t keep their end of the bargain and also because of KS fatigue. Being too close to Thanksgiving and Christmas also didn’t help, as well as having the launch of PS4 and XBox One happen those same weeks. Everybody was simply tapped out of excess cash.

What is it like to see some campaigns be wildly successful and others struggle? I imagine it’s a mixture of hope and anguish!

It is frustrating, exhilarating, stressful, and exciting. The Kickstarter campaign is one of the most grueling things you can ever do to yourself physically, mentally and emotionally, all at the same time. For the whole time of the campaign, you will not be able to properly sleep, eat, rest or anything else. Kickstarter will be your world every waking minute that you have till it’s done. I don’t recommend it for everybody but if you relish the challenge, then by all means, go for it. It definitely builds character and I truly believe that it’s worth the risk. It is a unique opportunity and if you have an idea or a dream, you have an opportunity to reach it. You just have to be honest to yourself about the support you get. Based on the feedback, you can tell if your product is a great one or not.