What's this, A Kickstarter? - Details and Q/A

Greetings everyone, happy weekend. 

This week you may have noticed that we have now gone live with a Kickstarter page for Shining Song Starnova: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sekaiproject/shining-song-starnova-idol-anime-themed-visual-nov . This page also features the first two episodes of the Starnova Net Show so if you have not checked these out yet we highly recommend doing so. 

Moving on in this post I am going to go into a bit of detail about why we have done this, what this means for you as Patreon backers and lastly how you can take advantage of the merchandise available on the Kickstarter page.

Before that just a quick update on Mika's route and beta 0.5, after a few timetable disruptions from events and other business in July and early August we are now back on track. We still have a few areas to tidy up including the last few CGs but we are really close now to giving you the next fix of Starnova so bear with us a little longer. 

Just look into those eyes, she is as excited as we are.

Why have you done this? 

This isn't us saying that your monthly backings so far have been in vain or are not appreciated, if anything we wouldn't have made it this far without all of you and for that our Patreons are always going to hold a special place in our hearts as you keep us operational. No this is more about giving things a good boost towards the finishing line and ensuring that we can get all the other assets and audio recordings done promptly so then we can purely focus on the code, writing and giving you guys the content you want to see.

It also allows us to get a better idea of interest in merchandise and ensure that we manufacturer enough to satisfy everyone while not going overboard and having to dedicate a room at LiS HQ to lonely hung up dakimakuras for cast member [REDACTED]. 

What this means for us Patreon backers? 

Essentially there is no effect, pledges on Patreon will not effect Kickstarter and vice versa. Those who are eligible for a copy of Starnova on launch will still get it and the same for those who are eligible for the digital artbook. All this will mean is that there are more options to support us and our visions for the remainder of the Starnova project. There is no right platform as we appreciate the support no matter the banner it is under, the choice of which is entirely down to you with each platform operating different approaches to rewards:

Kickstarter: Merchandise only for Starnova (including digital/physical copies of the game)

Patreon: Early access on content, previews and bonus perks based on lifetime contributions for Starnova and beyond. (For Starnova this will be a full digital copy of the game for either Steam (all ages) or a non-DRM (18+) download. For those using Steam just like with our previous games there will be a Denpasoft Mod that will allow you to restore the 18+ content).

While also a long way away as it can only happen once the merchandise is manufactured, we will be looking at doing some Patreon exclusive give aways too. This will give those of you who are feeling luckily or who were unable to pledge for Backerkit at the time a chance to get your hands on some goodies. This is something we will come back to at a later date so for now hold any further questions on this until we reach that point.

How can we take advantage of the merchandise available on the Kickstarter page? 

When it comes to the merchandise we wanted to keep the experience streamlined so the process is as simple as possible. Due to the fact that Patreon and Kickstarter are two separate platforms that are incompatible with each other this means that we had to make a decision of the best way of doing this for all parties. After discussions it was settled on that the choice would be for all merchandise to be done through the Backerkit as the tools it provides are useful for us as the distributor and for all the users as it is simple to understand, navigate and manage.

So how does this work? By pledging $1 against the 'Backerkit Access' tier you will get access to the platform when the funding period has ended and the invites have gone out. It is that simple, wait for your invite and then decide on your add ons. Any additional pledge beyond this will be recorded as credit that you will then be able to use against the add ons (merchandise).

An example would be if I was to pledge on the 'Backerkit Access' tier $21 that would mean that I would get access to the kit when the invites go out and have $20 credit which I would then be able to choose which add on merchandise I would like to order. If I then decide that I want to include more merchandise later on but do not have enough credit I will be able to update the value of my pledge to include my newly selected add ons.

It is important to note that these prices do not include shipping which is a figure the kit will calculate separately. Additionally your country may have additional tariffs or custom fees that you will need to settled separately as this will not be included in the shipping cost.

For those of you who want to pledge a higher tier, no problem you will just need to select that tier as normal and then once the Backerkit invites go out you will be able to add additional merchandise to your bundle which will then update your pledge to the required amount.

Still have questions?

Feel free to leave a comment, send us a PM or email me directly: ben.jennings@loveinspace.net and I will get back to you when I can. 

Glossary

Backerkit - A external service from Kickstarter that provides powerful surveying tools allowing backers to manage their pledge and rewards after the funding campaign on Kickstarter ends. Email based invitations to access the Backerkit are released at a point following the Kickstarter was successful.