Serious proposal: #30to3point6 - 1/10th of backers donate

[Sonoshee]

If they do open PayPal we can just keep the $30 on the 3rd going along with #saveshenmue. I think throwing too many numbers at people will confuse them. I've got the 30onthe3rd.com hosted on the same host as another of my sites so I can keep that live for as long as we need.

[Doom_Infinite]

Yes that sounds like a better idea. Still I wouldn't expect it to be close to what we got last time since the majority of people pledge on KS for rewards, they don't consider them donations really.

[Sonoshee]

Yes that sounds like a better idea. Still I wouldn't expect it to be close to what we got last time since the majority of people pledge on KS for rewards, they don't consider them donations really.

It does upset me somewhat that fans won't donate unless they receive a "reward" for their money. Funding Shenmue 3 should be reward enough. I think they overlook the fact that Shenmue 3 needs that cash itself - this should be the reason you pledge, especially after 14 years of waiting. The more rewards they have to produce is less $$$ for development costs, I think? Pretty sad.

[Reprise]

Yes that sounds like a better idea. Still I wouldn't expect it to be close to what we got last time since the majority of people pledge on KS for rewards, they don't consider them donations really.

It does upset me somewhat that fans won't donate unless they receive a "reward" for their money. Funding Shenmue 3 should be reward enough. I think they overlook the fact that Shenmue 3 needs that cash itself - this should be the reason you pledge, especially after 14 years of waiting. The more rewards they have to produce is less $$$ for development costs, I think? Pretty sad.

The more physical rewards they produce, the less money for development. They have to think outside the box to reduce those costs (e.g. Like they have with being a NPC, having your photo in the game etc.).

And let's be honest, Shenmue 3 is not a charity. Most people are not going to donate hundreds of pounds towards a game for no reward. If you want to, then fair enough, but don't expect everyone else to.

[Anonymous81]

Some clarifications of intent:

Continuing to use #30onthe3rd would work too!

The hashtag isn't the important element, nor the amount per se. What I'm really driving at is some kind of forum topic or other means of compiling a list of people who are willing to say, YES, I will try my damndest to do this for the next couple of years. I don't mean anything official or with rewards (though if they wanted to do some kind of subscription service for hardcore supporters, that would be something I'd be down with too!) Just on a voluntary basis through PayPal (assuming they add it.)

I want some means of gauging the potential level of support for something like this because 1) the more feasible it appears based on the numbers, the more likely others might be to donate too since it wouldn't be to a lost cause, 2) PayPal donations don't get listed on a Ticker anywhere like KS donations do, so it would be nice to have some means of at least estimating where we are. Who knows if they would release donation totals like Star Citizen or not, after all? And 3) I just like the idea of a small band of committed fans continuing to act as financial supporters of the project in unison. I love how devoted and passionate this fanbase is and I wish to continue to do what little I can to support it in whatever way I can.

[johnvivant]

And we need to create a very special campaign for the final 3 days, one for each day imo

My basic idea is, artwork and other special things, we count down from 3 (SH3) 2 (sh2) and (sh1) stories, gifs, videos ,use videos of each title. So for example streaming SH 2 on (2 days left of the KS) things like that.

i like the idea of the having lots of 'events' over the final 3 days.

[Sonoshee]

Most people are not going to donate hundreds of pounds towards a game for no reward.

Their reward is Shenmue 3.

[Dragon St.]

I think $30 on the third was a great initiative but to be honest this sounds completely unrealistic. You won't find more than a couple hundred people willing to donate (this wouldn't even be pledge) for continued months like that. :/

It is hard but I think it can be done. If something like a ''backers club'' is set up that gives users access to exclusive content or at least a first look (like artwork, screenshots of the game, interviews, more input etc.) while the game is in development, then why not? I'm sure that of the 50,000 KS backers at least 1,000 are willing to do so. That's $360,000 over a year right there and that's a very conservative number.

[elfshadowreaper]

Again, we need to think of new blood. This has to be our next campaign. The Shenmue fans have spoken and donated. Now we need to evangelize. How? No clue, but I'm thinking hard. It's going to have to be viral but I don't know what exactly. Right now all we have is the Kickstarter and we can't assume PayPal will be a reality. We have to focus on getting the word out to the gaming world especially the younger generation.

Whatever we think of we need to do it fast. It has to be easy to start up and easy to share. And we can't rely on the media. Its going to have to be socially shared.

EDIT
When brainstorming I keep coming back to capsules but I don't know what we can do with them.

[Anonymous81]

Again, we need to think of new blood. This has to be our next campaign. The Shenmue fans have spoken and donated. Now we need to evangelize. How? No clue, but I'm thinking hard. It's going to have to be viral but I don't know what exactly. Right now all we have is the Kickstarter and we can't assume PayPal will be a reality. We have to focus on getting the word out to the gaming world especially the younger generation.

Whatever we think of we need to do it fast. It has to be easy to start up and easy to share. And we can't rely on the media. Its going to have to be socially shared.

I'm all for that too. This isn't mutually exclusive with other initiatives of course. But I feel we also need to be prepared for the unpleasant possibility that Shenmue only has niche appeal, and that it might really be entirely up to us. I'm willing to participate in a list of backers committed to donating every month over the next two years, and I think it could be a useful evangelizing tool in and of itself. "Check out (enter site url) to see the growing list of SaveShenmue soldiers! Want to help make history? Commit today!" or some such. Hell, we could even USE the 30onthe3rd website and just continue to make that our rallying cry. Whatever works.

We may be faced with the stark reality that if we don't reach 10 million, trying to get fellow existing backers to continue to donate may be the only way to get the game we want to see rather than something much smaller in scale (and thus potentially less likely to succeed financially and justify 4 and 5, which would be devastating now that we know the story doesn't end with 3.) I'm willing to make that commitment (informally, of course) and participate in such a thread.

Is anyone with me? If I went ahead and made such a thread when and if PayPal is revealed, who here would put their user names down? That's what I'm driving at. A pledge on a forum. A way to at least guestimate where we stand, and then try to grow from there.

I agree that more backers would be the better solution, but I think we're going to need to try both. Anyone with me? I'm trying to float the idea.

[yesteryeargames]

I have given all I can afford and more ,
Been sharing it daily on facebook and I don't knew what else I can do .
Only other way I can help fund is If anyone wants to buy my shenmue 1 White label set I will happily use all the funds to buy more kickstarter copies

I have already given $560 and I am basically skint now and having to resort to sell some of my collection .

[Anonymous81]

I have given all I can afford and more ,
Been sharing it daily on facebook and I don't knew what else I can do .
Only other way I can help fund is If anyone wants to buy my shenmue 1 White label set I will happily use all the funds to buy more kickstarter copies

I have already given $560 and I am basically skint now and having to resort to sell some of my collection .

That's okay! You've done your part. It has made a difference. No one will (or at least, no one should) think less of anyone for not giving more. You've given more than I did.

This is just about: for those who CAN, IS this a feasible alternative?

Or, if 1/10th donating 30 a month is too much... how about 1/5th of backers donating 15 a month? I bet we could get 10,000 people to commit to that at least in principle if we worked to get the word out. That's all I'm trying to assess: IS there any will to actually get out there in the trenches and make this happen? Or is the plan to simply allow things to fall where they may once PayPal is announced (again, assuming it is)? Which is also fine of course, I'm just trying to determine that in advance if at all possible. And this community seems like the ideal place to put feelers out.

[joka]

The idea of prompting people to give a small amount of their salary going forwards is a good idea imo BUT an ongoing PayPal donation system hasnt been confirmed yet and I'd say its still a big question mark whether that will happen personally.

It probably does depend on the other funding they have

[Anonymous81]

Yes, but, again, assuming they do... who's in? That's what I want to know.

[Jackie Fhan]

The only things you have a big chance of going viral is overly simple and a bit dumb or overly crazy. It's not easy for "good, heart warming" things to spread. So, it's rather difficult imo