I got my copy of Pyramid #4/4: Fantasy/Magic II today.
This was part of a Kickstarter.
Maddeningly, I had no idea the Kickstarter started. I missed it entirely. I gather there was a Daily Illuminator, but sadly, I don't check the SJG homepage every day. I thought if such a thing happened Kickstarter would alert me. But nope. I get them for TFT Kickstarters but not this one. I'd have promoted it here, and pledged for the other two issues.
Oh well, at least I get to see my completed work, "Tome Raiders." It even got reviewed and I missed it.
Weird, I got email alerts from Kickstarter (well, from SJG through KS). Specifically, Pyramid Scheme 1 had an update asking people to save Pyramid Scheme 2 for when it went live (later that same day). So did both the 2020 and 2021 PDF Challenges.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've found that it's worth it to take the option to have Daily Illuminator sent to your email daily. It's easy to delete if you don't care, but also you don't miss things. I admit, it's only rarely GURPS stuff, and the happy fun stuff like Illuminated Site of the Week has largely been dropped, so I don't find myself caring often, but when I do it makes me happy not to miss it. It's also fun to see SJ geeking out over things like 3D printing or whatever his current enthusiasm is.
It just goes to show that if you want to ensure your message gets out, you need to use as many channels as you have. Had they either alerted me by direct email (as a prior supporter) or by forum message (on the thread where the authors were kibbitzing over ideas) I'd have gotten it.
DeleteI had the same issue with Bones V - they alerted everyone about the need to lock in pledges only via Kickstarter Update. They eventually resorted to email, which worked, since I wasn't reliably getting the update notifications.
Yeah, but also conversely if you want to ensure that you get the messages, you need to open as many channels as you can stand, I think.
ReplyDeleteI suppose you're right, but how do I know I have enough channels open? Do I need to lurk in Discord, read the DI, read the forums, subscribe to email alerts, and more just to ensure I know what's up? Seems a bit much.
DeletePlus a good chunk of my work involves sales . . . I can be sympathetic to the seller, here, but a lost sale because you expected your customers to choose the communication channel you prefer is still a lost sale . . . and an avoidable lost sale. This cost me two PDFs at a lower cost than they'll be later, but I could have also allowed people who read this blog but don't follow SJG closely to get in on the KS. I'm as annoyed that this meant I couldn't promote it as I am that I couldn't back it. Probably more so - I already got a comp copy of the issue I wanted the most.
"how do I know I have enough channels open?"
ReplyDeleteAs I said, if you have as many as you can stand open. Depending on your tolerance, you still might miss things, but then you simply have to recalibrate your tolerance for open channels relative to your desire not to miss things.
As for the rest, sure, but in this case they sent it through nearly every available channel except personal emails to potential customers. I know that I got word through at least three previous Kickstarters, which I have set so that KS sends me notifications of new updates even on the finished Kickstarters, and the Daily Illuminator, which I have set to send to my email directly every day (it's no hardship to hit "delete" once a day for the dice games, card games, and Munchkin notifications). That's four notifications to me, so I didn't miss any. Next time it's likely to be five due to the most recent KS campaign.
Actually, if I recall correctly, they may also have sent out a notification in the monthly SJG newsletter, too. I may not recall correctly, as I can't find it in the 28 July edition at the GURPS News Archives, and mentioned in the 31 Aug edition only as a finished campaign. That is probably not surprising in retrospect, as the whole campaign occurred between those two issues of the newsletter.
It was, however, also mentioned in the 5 Aug post at Dr Kromm's Dreamwidth blog. So that's another channel I received it through, since I have DW set up to send me notifications when that account posts a new item.
I mean, it sucks that you missed it, for both your own sake and your potential to get the word out to others, but really you can't fault them for not trying. Heck, if I'd known you weren't getting any of the various methods they used to get the word out I'd have let you know myself. Usually, though, you seem much more plugged into what's going on there than I am. If you'd like, I can try to remember to keep you updated about such things in the future, as long as you keep in mind that I'd be doing that as a volunteer and it'd be subject to whatever vagaries obtain in my life and mind at the time.