Developer Diary: One Week

It's been a little over a week since my Kickstarter launched. My activities over the past week have been a frenzied whirlwind of trying to spread the word about Manaforge, answering questions, keeping up with social media, and wrestling with various little problems that have cropped up.

Since there's too much to go into any great detail, I'll just post another list:

• I've been posting some of the new game artwork that has come in since the prototype copies were printed. I've posted a couple on the BoardGameGeek website, in order to try to stir up some interest in the game over there. I can't say it's been particularly successful so far, but I'm not done yet.
• I've been very active on Facebook, and so that's where a lot of the response to Manaforge has been centered. However, I'm surprised at the amount of interest I'm getting in the game from the images I post on Instagram. Seems like every time I post an image, I pick up another follower or two. I don't know if that translates into attention for my Kickstarter, but it can't hurt.
• I've been fielding a few questions and complaints about the price of Manaforge. I wish I could have made the price lower, but the amount it's set at right now really does reflect a decent balance between making it affordable for the backers and being able to fund the project. If I lower the price, sure I'd attract more backers, but I'd also *need* more backers to fund. The target number right now is about 460 backers; every $5 I lower the price adds about 70 to 80 backers to that number.
• I've also had a lot of questions about international shipping. This is one area where I could've done better before I launched. I'm going through a company called ShipNaked, which has a service where they guarantee that backers don't have to pay customs fees or import taxes or whatnot. However, I did a poor job of making that apparent on the Kickstarter page. That oversight has been fixed, I just hope it didn't cost me too much.
• I've been making appearances with the people from the Geek Street Station network. I've done both a video interview and an audio podcast with The Thirsty Gamers, and I'm going to be on a Facebook live stream with the team from For Geek's Sake. Dunno who would want to watch me make a fool of myself online, but there you have it. :)
• I have a survey in progress, trying to help me decide on the name of one of Manaforge's cards. The survey is here is you haven't been to it already. The results are becoming pretty clear, but I figure I'm going to leave it up for a full week before I stop it and announce the winner.

That's all I have on my mind right now, just trying to keep up with everything. If you haven't already, please take a look at my Kickstarter campaign and consider backing it.