I could chalk this up to Maptool Users being cheap. I mean, MT (and Mote for that matter) are "free"... so why pay for it?
Or I could chalk it up to many RPG Players being cheap. Heck, I *know* my players are cheap. Many will spend more money this weekend going to the movies or grabbing some dinner out than they've spent directly on PnP gaming in 20+ years. And, of course, it's programs like MT that continue to support that proud tradition of free-loading.
But I don't really think either of those two accusations (no matter how true they might be) are the real cause for the modest backing Mote has, thus far, received.
I really think it's because many players and MT users who would be willing to throw some beer money at the Mote Kickstarter just don't even know it's going on.
And that's a big problem. One that the Rptools forum can assist with by putting up an Announcement that will notify users who have subscribed to the Announcement forum and/or, even better, send out a mass email with a notice of the event.
Don't get me wrong, an average of almost $42 per backer is pretty impressive for an open source project without perks that really drive higher pledges (BTW, props to the big spenders who are carrying the rest of us lightweights!
) But, that said, the quantity of backers is what sets off my warning lights.Point in fact: Lee has probably submitted more patches for MT in the last year than anyone else and has certainly been much more present and active during a period that our "core developers" have become mere shadows and figments of our once wild imaginations. If it wasn't for him and some very notable (you know who you are!) modders and macroscript gurus around here, MT and the RPTools forum would be a ghost town after the dryspell we've been going through.
And, with Mote, Lee's put together a potentially huge and meaningful kickstart to MTs 1.3 development that will become the defacto 1.3 version of MT. That is, it will *become* the default Maptool in much the same way that 1.3b89 is currently the default Maptool.
So, here is my proposition:
1) Lets see an Informational Announcement that will tag Announcement Subscribers and let them know something *big* is happening in Maptool's corner of the world (certainly the biggest thing since Trevor handed over the reigns). It should be enough to note that, "It is not an Official Rptools Production", but that it is, "A significant evolution of 1.3, by a notable community developer, with a significant number of features, UI improvements, & bug fixes--all while remaining fully 1.3 compatible." There doesn't have to be anything else said to sell the project. Just point out the broad bullet points and put up a link to the Kickstarter that is, "Worthy of consideration by current and past Maptool users to provide support for continued development."
I believe that would be a fair and modest approach.
2) And if, for some reason, that doesn't help get the project funded... I can almost guarantee a mass mailing would.
Again, I'm not proposing "selling Mote to users". I'm proposing notifying them that it exists and letting them consider whether supporting it is right for them. People can't do that if they don't know it exists.
