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[worldalpha]

My Game WorldAlpha
 
Well, I am in the process of completing my social strategy MMO WorldAlpha.  It has been quite the ride.  One of the biggest questions I've had is will people be willing to pay for this. So, I did the things other devs do, and started an IndieGoGo fund, as KS doesn't work here in Canada.  It was mildly success with 44 contributions totaling $1,781. I've also just recently started to sell Founder's Packs at my site, in just a couple of weeks, I've had 5 contributors for $150.
 
 
Microfund idea
 
So, it is a beginning, but really as I have been in development for over a year, I wish there would have been an opportunity to crowdfund over the whole time, as well as build a bit more of a community that has shown support by funding it, even small amounts.
 
 
That's why I came up with a funding model that I don't think exists.  An ability for devs to crowdfund throughout their whole dev cycle, and the ability for gamers to fund even small amounts of money if they like a game.
 
 
Steam Greenlight is a good way to get infront of gamers, but doesn't give gamers a chance to fund it.
 Kickstarters and other sites allow a short time of crowdfunding, and requires funding of $5+ (I know there are some $1 levels, but that isn't typical)
 
 
Surely, there is a mix where indie gamers purchase microfund “coins” and give them out to lots of small projects that they are interested.
 Devs get invested gamers and funding, and gamers get a chance to get behind lots of games that interest them.
 

Here are some advantages I see:
 
Developer Advantages
 
Ongoing - Unlike other crowdfunding that have specific timelines, we want to provide an ongoing presence during the life of development, so people can contribute as momentum builds.
 
Worldwide - This service will not be limited by geography, so any developer will be able to microfund.
 
Community Building - Unlike set timeframes for community building in other crowdfunding options, this will allow a continuous presence that will allow you to continue to crowdfund and community build on an ongoing basis.
 
Microfunding - Most crowdfunding starts at $5 or $10, which can be a barrier, this will let lots of gamers fund as small at $0.10.  Sort of like the "bundle" ideas where a lot of people funding a small amount can raise big time money.
 
Gamer Focused - Most crowdfunding happens on a much broader site with much more than just gaming, this will focus purely on indie games.  All types of games from Flash games, Browser games, Mobile, iOS, client games, and much more
   
Gamer Advantages
 
Accountablity - Gamers can choose to have funds held until developer has created a playable demo or beta release, or they can also choose to have it released immediately.
 
Microfunding - With the ability to fund as little at $0.10, gamers can get behind many projects with just a $5 or $10 contribution.
 
Anonymous - Gamers can choose to fund a campaign truly anonymously with no email or contact given to developer if desired.
 
 
So what are your thoughts?  Would this be of interest to you as a developer?  Before I go down this path, I need to get an idea if indies would support something like this.

[Ant]

so what you're offering is a donate button?

[worldalpha]

so what you're offering is a donate button?

If in your books Kickstarter is a donate button, then yes.

Seriously though, no a community of gamers wanting to get behind games, in small to large increments.  That doesn't require a website and driving people to that website, but a chance to do that with a community that has accountability built in (again, donate buttons don't have that).  The chance to fund 10 projects with the click of a button each, and not have to go through Paypal/credit card for each one.

[SterlingDee]

it sounds like a continual Kickstarter/Indiegogo campaign with some game-specific addons? I don't see enough differentiation between what you're proposing and what already exists. Why would developers choose to use this service instead of using Kickstarter (which draws a large audience) combined with a donate button on a website.

Also, the $1 level on Kickstarter is common on other types of campaigns, so I don't see why games can't use it.

[Evan Balster]

I only find one part of this interesting, and that's giving users a means of releasing money to developers on milestones.  Knowing that a few hundred/thousand dollars are sitting on the shelf for you when you release a satisfactory update is a decent motivator.  That's a part of the publisher model that crowdfunding hasn't yet breached, and it's really well-suited to projects involving inexperienced or undisciplined developers, which usually result in disappointment under the indiegogo model.  (I will submit myself and Infinite Blank as an example -- I like to think I've gotten a lot smarter since then, though.)

Regarding the rest of it I'm pretty indifferent.

[wg/funstorm]

Reminds me of flattr.com, but more restrictive. Flattr got a lot of attention when it was announced, and I occasionally see a button for it here and there but I don't think it has really taken off in a large way.

[bateleur]

My problem with the mechanism you're proposing is that I don't see why gamers would want to put money towards it. Greenlight is free for gamers to express support for a game. Kickstarter works like a preorder. But here you seem to be suggesting that gamers pay money but receive nothing in return.

[Graham-]

It takes a lot of friction to get someone to even consider funding a project. That person has to hear about the project, go to its webpage, consume some media, think about it, go through the payment process.

Of all these barriers not having a 5 cent donation amount is a small one. Removing that barrier will not be enough. You need something more.

I like the milestone idea. What about a way to let consumers participate in dev more? Kickstarter removes the people who donate from the process. They can't contribute, get their money back, or influence the project in any way.

Solve _that_ problem in an elegant way, then maybe micro-funding makes sense. Then people will want to fund like 20 projects, because the act of funding is fun.

You'd probably also need to do something vastly different in how people discover projects on your site. Like you need an idea. Discoverability is a hard problem. You need more than the passion to just "focus on it."

[Konidias]

My problem with the mechanism you're proposing is that I don't see why gamers would want to put money towards it. Greenlight is free for gamers to express support for a game. Kickstarter works like a preorder. But here you seem to be suggesting that gamers pay money but receive nothing in return.

Yeah I don't really grasp the concept behind it either... If I fund 100 games for 50 cents each, I'm out $50 and get zero games. If I find 5 games on Kickstarter for $10 each, I get 5 games.

You are asking people to just donate tiny amounts of money and I just don't see that adding up. It's basically the equivalent of $1 donations on Kickstarter... and guess what... that amount of money isn't going to do jack for your game. Just look at the most popular Kickstarters and see how much their $1 donations brought them. Chump change compared to the rest of the money earned.