The Loading Ready Run Kickstarter

[Professor STAFF]

So we've less than a week left. I know Graham has said he doesn't want to solicit for exposure, etc., but are there any other avenues left to get the word out? Is there any other group of supporters who may have not heard about the kickstarter? Yeah, I want the D&D thing BAD, but I also want to help the troupe out and every dollar counts. Who is left to tell while there is still time?

[Narcuru]

Well someone bought out the other 8k Executive Producer Tier so that helps!

[SilPho]

That's great news! Just need some brave soul to buy out the Wii-Play T-Shirts now

[MatParker116]

That's great news! Just need some brave soul to buy out the Wii-Play T-Shirts now

I still don't know what they were thinking

[My pseudonym is Ix]

Come ooonnn, Lava Bears...

[ecocd]

Well someone bought out the other 8k Executive Producer Tier so that helps!

Graham and Paul made quite the impression at the Escapist Expo. Many thanks to the new Executive Producer whoever you are for pushing much closer to Lava Bears and Crapshots!

The Monday/Tuesday bump could now push the Kickstarter to Lava Bears even before the pivotal last few days.

[Tufty]

The last $500 level has gone, but that means there's a tennis ball up for grabs (and I'm going to be $450 poorer!)

[JackSlack]

Go Tuffy!

[AlexanderDitto]

Backer rewards are almost all sold out. Even the Tennis balls are all gone. I feel like we need some more backer reward brainstorming going on, even if it's for small, low-end stuff.

Like, $30 gets you a haiku composed by the crewmember of your choice on the subject of your choice, lovingly emailed to you.

Or, for $30, Paul takes a moodily-lit photograph of something in the Moonbase fridge and emails it to you.

For $40 you provide a type of food and Kathleen will send you a link to a recipe she's tried and really liked.

Just small stuff like that. Every little bit helps!

Then again, there are still Iron Chef slots remaining....

[Narcuru]

I'm wondering if we can come up with specific tiers for some of the frequent "non-core" members (assuming they have the time to do it and are willing to help in that way). Like things that are specific to Cam, Beej, Jer, Matt, and Alex (already kind of involved with crapshots) like Kathleen commercials are for Kathleen.

I don't have any great ideas right now (and I should be working anyways), but maybe someone can come up with stuff that the team could put to the Cam etc and see if they would be willing to help in that capacity.

ETA: Ok so I lied, just had an idea based on something Cam and Alex did last night. You pledge at the Cam and Alex "rifftrax" tier (actual name TBD) and you tell them what good movie you want them to watch and they do something like they did for Alien and give it to you (possibly release it for everyone).

[matthewm]

They could have
$200: Paul balances a thing of your choice (within limits) on his head and posts the video online.

[Elomin Sha]

A certain amount of money for another Ask An Alex Live.

[Narcuru]

They could have
$200: Paul balances a thing of your choice (within limits) on his head and posts the video online.

Yeah even if they don't get the 200,000k level they could add that tier for the followers of TomH to back at. And if they do reach the stretch goal then he could make them extra special episodes by calling out the people who donated for that weeks video.

ETA: Someone in the comments said they wanted to back at the Warriors of Darkness level but since they are gone can't; another person offered the suggestion of the Beardless Warriors of Darkness. I'm thinking same rewards as the WoD (be in a video and hang out, plus all the other stuff) but BWoD is at 3,500? I'm wondering if that might be too much of an increase.

[KiteNeravar]

$10,000 - Paul grows the beard back?

[Amake]

But then were would Graham's beard go?

Yes, I'm working under the theory that they have mutual beard.

[JackSlack]

I think new tiers wouldn't raise much more money at this point.

Know what would though?

A last second 10 add-on. Maybe an exclusive sketch, or some previously unseen behind the scenes stuff, etc. Something that costs little but you'd happily pay ten bucks for a shot at seeing.

Because y'know what? I'm willing to bet that'd cough up an extra grand or two out of us immediately.

(I'm still operating on my belief that there aren't many more new backers to be had. Any money now will come from convincing existing backers to up their pledge.)

[Master Gunner]

I have long operated under the theory that there is only a set amount of beardliness in the world. It explains why so many fewer people have beards these days, and how whenever one person I know shaves or grows a beard, another does the opposite.

[Can't Wear Hats]

I have long operated under the theory that there is only a set amount of beardliness in the world. It explains why so many fewer people have beards these days, and how whenever one person I know shaves or grows a beard, another does the opposite.

Ah of course, it's like that old proverb - "When one beard closes, another must open."

[Ptangmatik]

That's great news! Just need some brave soul to buy out the Wii-Play T-Shirts now

I still don't know what they were thinking

It was all a cunning ruse, a ruse that has failed. The actual kickstarter was a distraction, a feint if you will. The real plan was to be finally rid of the wiiplay shirts, but the internet saw through it immediately.

[Narcuru]

A last second 10 add-on. Maybe an exclusive sketch, or some previously unseen behind the scenes stuff, etc. Something that costs little but you'd happily pay ten bucks for a shot at seeing.

Because y'know what? I'm willing to bet that'd cough up an extra grand or two out of us immediately.

While I tend to disagree that there aren't many new people left to back (we have an average of ~20 per day for the last week. This means, assuming that the trend continues, then we have 120 new people that will show up and back. That's a 6% increase of people from now and that assumes we don't get any increase of people during the last few days), I do think they should look into doing both.

They need to add some more tiers (limited or otherwise) that will allow people to back at them and then add on like the Definitely Illegal or the All-Everything. I originally got the DIB tier because that was the max I could afford (wanted the DVD too but easier to buy that later). When they added the Kathleen Commercial I convinced my business partner to have our business chip in 80 dollars so I could back there and get the DIB addon. I found a way to get them an additional 80 dollars I couldn't normally afford just because they had a product I could convince my friend to pay for.

Now that all said your idea is good and is basically what we are talking about here just in a different form. Small add-ons are roughly the same as small tiers they just hit different markets.

The tiers help new people (and previous backers who are at the AEB or DIB level) get something cool and interesting while still allowing them to add in AEB or DIB. A new cheap add-on allows older backers to potentially raise their pledges assuming they have extra money to spend (I don't but I'm sure there are other people that can afford to bump it up 10-15 dollars.). Ideally they should do both if possible (maybe even the same reward if possible).

[AlexanderDitto]

I have long operated under the theory that there is only a set amount of beardliness in the world. It explains why so many fewer people have beards these days, and how whenever one person I know shaves or grows a beard, another does the opposite.

Ah of course, it's like that old proverb - "When one beard closes, another must open."

The alternate persona of one of the computer science professors in my department wrote this up as a paper in the 1980s. It's known as the Law of Conservation of Beard.

---

I dunno. I refuse to believe there aren't still more backers we haven't reached. After all, our backer count IS going up, and LRR has way more followers on Twitter than backers (even Kathleen or Graham alone have more followers than the Kickstarter has backers). So clearly, there is money left to squeeze out of pockets.

I think strangers might be inclined to pledge twenty or thirty bucks for a haiku or a recipe or something. Or a vial of Alex's tears.

[KiteNeravar]

I have long operated under the theory that there is only a set amount of beardliness in the world. It explains why so many fewer people have beards these days, and how whenever one person I know shaves or grows a beard, another does the opposite.

So you're telling me that the Duck Dynasty guys are hording a whole of beard just for themselves? Why is no one doing anything about this?

[empath]

Do YOU wanna tell these hunters to shave?

[matthewm]

I think new tiers wouldn't raise much more money at this point.

[....]
(I'm still operating on my belief that there aren't many more new backers to be had. Any money now will come from convincing existing backers to up their pledge.)

These two things aren't mutually exclusive. How many people have joined the Kickstarter after the initial limited tiers disappeared? If you found out about the Kickstarter (or were only able to donate because you got paid) after the first week you couldn't really have gotten any of the cool, limited stuff. Adding new tiers allows people who have already contributed (for like a DVD or something) to change their contribution so that they get _more_ cool stuff.

It's not guaranteed, but I'm pretty sure any limited tiers (say, under 20 available) that went up would disappear before the end of the Kickstarter.

Of course the other factor is, every new tier/add on creates more work. It's possible that the LRR people are happy with the amount they've raised (more than they originally asked for!), and don't want to have to make more content of any sort afterwards because they are already incredibly busy.

[JackSlack]

True enough.

Still, I do think a last minute add-on is not a bad idea at all. I'm in at... erm, cough... morethanIshouldbe... cough...

But I don't think I'd hesitate to kick in ten more dollars if it was worth it. And I'm willing to bet a hundred or so folks agree with me.