xkcd

by **bhoot** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:04 am UTC

Title Text: If you pledge more than $50 you'll get on the VIP list and have first dibs on a slot on ANY of the pledge levels in the actual campaign.

I didn't know people still used kickstarter.

by **LesZedD4** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:05 am UTC

Title Text: If you pledge more than $50 you'll get on the VIP list and have first dibs on a slot on ANY of the pledge levels in the actual campaign.

This is appropriately timed. I was just reading about this on Hacker News just today...

by **VectorZero** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:14 am UTC

I first read the title text, misreading VIP as VP and thought it was going to be a Kickstarter for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

by **glasnt** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:14 am UTC

I dub thee, winner.

This reminds me of the guy who created a kickstarter to buy kickstarter.

Also, I didn't think you could have a 90 day project, the max is 60.

by **rhomboidal** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:17 am UTC

I think this is how half the web got started.

by **Eternal Density** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:21 am UTC

inb4yodawgkickception.

by **player_03** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:23 am UTC

I can certainly imagine large companies being able to set up more impressive Kickstarter campaigns than most people could on their own.

But on the other hand, videos made on shoestring budget can still go viral. Why would Kickstarter campaigns be any different?

by **Djehutynakht** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:24 am UTC

Maybe it's just me, but I don't know what Kickstarter is (and therefore this is sort of lost on me besides the fact that Black Hat Guy is in the video and therefore I know something interesting is going to happen).

Someone care to elaborate?

by **Odd_nonposter** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:32 am UTC

All I got out of it was recursive humor.

Spoiler:

by **reminiscence-tbp** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:35 am UTC

SO META

by **[username]** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:36 am UTC

Randall. Get the hell out of my head.

by **Quicksilver** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:41 am UTC

Damn, the "ception" joke was made already.

by **JimsMaher** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:43 am UTC

Recently completed Kickstarter: What Works in Development: 10 Meta-Analyses of Aid Programs

also, check out ... What the Hell These Game Developers Did with Your Kickstarter Money

by **Cal Engime** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:48 am UTC

Djehutynakht wrote:Maybe it's just me, but I don't know what Kickstarter is (and therefore this is sort of lost on me besides the fact that Black Hat Guy is in the video and therefore I know something interesting is going to happen).

Someone care to elaborate?

Kickstarter.com is a site to raise funds to reprint your series of D&D-themed comic books, develop a video game about the Ronpaul, finish post-production on your low-budget movie about Osama bin Laden coming back as a zombie, or whatever (all real projects, all successful). If the project doesn't meet its goal, the whole thing is cancelled and no one is charged, so you know your donation will make a difference. Also, you can offer rewards for different pledge levels.

by **Airbuilder7** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:51 am UTC

I keep impulsively clicking the play-video-square, and no HTML5 goodness occurs.

*twitch*

*twitch*

by **duefiori** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:53 am UTC

Thank deities, I'm not the only dumbhead that clicked (repeatedly) the start-video triangle.

by **JimsMaher** » Mon May 14, 2012 5:22 am UTC

Apparently, Randall reads Freakonomics ...
http://www.freakonomics.com/2012/04/06/how-to-crowd-fund-an-economics-book/

by **whateveries** » Mon May 14, 2012 5:36 am UTC

and growing tired of vandalising wikipedia by proxy he casts his eye upon something more deserving...

by **lingomaniac88** » Mon May 14, 2012 5:37 am UTC

Did anybody else try clicking the "play video" button in the comic?

by **Footnotes** » Mon May 14, 2012 5:52 am UTC

Isn't this basically a pyramid scheme? He gets money from them and uses it to recruit more people to give him money, while skimming some off the top.

by **Whys** » Mon May 14, 2012 5:57 am UTC

You have to click the video twice. The first time just opens a LiveJasmine window.

by **Wooloomooloo** » Mon May 14, 2012 6:19 am UTC

Whys wrote:You have to click the video twice. The first time just opens a LiveJasmine window.

...which is why one should simply copy the URL instead of clicking on it, decode it base64 and go to the site directly. ...Oh, wait. Nevermind, I have no idea what I'm talking about, yes? Good.

by **karanj** » Mon May 14, 2012 6:28 am UTC

Djehutynakht wrote:Maybe it's just me, but I don't know what Kickstarter is (and therefore this is sort of lost on me besides the fact that Black Hat Guy is in the video and therefore I know something interesting is going to happen).

Someone care to elaborate?

http://kickstarter.com/

by **aerogen42** » Mon May 14, 2012 6:49 am UTC

I'm going to make a kickstart campaing so I can make a blog where I will put up a comic that will mock the "xkcd sucks sucks sucks sucks" take of the "xkcd sucks sucks sucks" take of the "xkcd sucks sucks" take of the "xkcd sucks" criticism of the comic where Randall imagines a kickstart campaing to fund a kickstart campaing.

by **Time Kitten** » Mon May 14, 2012 7:02 am UTC

Wouldn't the increse in the popularity of Kickstarter not just increse the number of kickstarts, but the number of people donating to kickstarts?

by **Invertin** » Mon May 14, 2012 7:42 am UTC

Time Kitten wrote:Wouldn't the increse in the popularity of Kickstarter not just increse the number of kickstarts, but the number of people donating to kickstarts?

There are more people who want money than people who are willing to give money.

by **'); DROP TABLE users;** » Mon May 14, 2012 8:43 am UTC

Djehutynakht wrote:Maybe it's just me, but I don't know what Kickstarter is (and therefore this is sort of lost on me besides the fact that Black Hat Guy is in the video and therefore I know something interesting is going to happen).

Someone care to elaborate?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=kickstarter

VectorZero wrote:I first read the title text, misreading VIP as VP and thought it was going to be a Kickstarter for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

Why would you read title-text first? It usually references the comic itself, and often actually follows on as the next line of dialogue or narration after the strip.

by **WilCSUN** » Mon May 14, 2012 8:56 am UTC

It will be interesting to see how the various crowd funding projects launched through Kickstarter pan out.
I'm not aware of any projects that were successfully funded and have already come to fruition (and I've not done a speck of research to find any), but it will be interesting to see what kind of final goods and services are produced.

I'm really excited about the DoubleFine Adventure game project, and Republique, and I'm certainly going to buy my copies when they're out on the market, but I really do wonder if this will become a suitable alternative to more traditional marketing and funding techniques.

What I'm really interested in though, is finding the first colossal failure.
Not a fake Kickstarter (which some have already been exposed) but a legitimate effort by a legitimate organization, that gets completely funded, but falls flat on it's face.
Might take the wind out of this whole phenomenon.

by **Daimon** » Mon May 14, 2012 9:03 am UTC

Wait, "T'u" be able to?

by **madjo** » Mon May 14, 2012 9:59 am UTC

duefiori wrote:Thank deities, I'm not the only dumbhead that clicked (repeatedly) the start-video triangle.

I didn't think to click on it. What if Randal had put something under there, I'd have missed it!
I'll start clicking on those start video triangles from now on.

by **peewee_RotA** » Mon May 14, 2012 10:23 am UTC

I think that xkcd trending with other web comics to satire the same idea is lame. Especially since this one was extremely less funny than the PA comic that beat 'em to the punch:

by **Primis** » Mon May 14, 2012 11:02 am UTC

Dear Randal,
GET OUT OF MY HEAD
Sincerely,
The guy who just started a kickstarter last night

by **Eutychus** » Mon May 14, 2012 11:26 am UTC

madjo wrote:
duefiori wrote:Thank deities, I'm not the only dumbhead that clicked (repeatedly) the start-video triangle.

I didn't think to click on it. What if Randal had put something under there, I'd have missed it!
I'll start clicking on those start video triangles from now on.

I was just about to ask whether anybody hadn't clicked on the triangle.

I expect you're the only one, who didn't, though...

by **sohmc** » Mon May 14, 2012 11:41 am UTC

Eutychus wrote:
madjo wrote:
duefiori wrote:I was just about to ask whether anybody hadn't clicked on the triangle.

I didn't click it but I did mouse-over it to see if it was clickable. Has a bit disappointed, but also relieved, that it didn't become animated.

by **Kredal** » Mon May 14, 2012 12:39 pm UTC

WilCSUN wrote:It will be interesting to see how the various crowd funding projects launched through Kickstarter pan out.
I'm not aware of any projects that were successfully funded and have already come to fruition (and I've not done a speck of research to find any), but it will be interesting to see what kind of final goods and services are produced.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sjbrown/boardcrafting

This one was for a very nice wooden Catan board... One of the lower tiers was for the digital files so I could get the tiles made myself with a friend with a laser cutter. It was sent out like a week after it was 100% funded. The actual boards and such are still being sent out, and most of them have been sent. He didn't just run off with the money, it just takes time to get stuff done. (:

A couple other things I've kickstarted *should* have sent rewards by now, but haven't... I'm not holding my breath too hard though.

And then there's the Pebble watch. I *SOOOOO* hope they actually send me my watch somewhere close to the timeline they're predicting, just because it looks so cool.

by **Fire Brns** » Mon May 14, 2012 1:01 pm UTC

Funny enough considering I just found an online show I like that was make by kickstarter and that I want to support.

by **SerMufasa** » Mon May 14, 2012 1:02 pm UTC

peewee_RotA wrote:I think that xkcd trending with other web comics to satire the same idea is lame. Especially since this one was extremely less funny than the PA comic that beat 'em to the punch

If you ignore the fact that it's two completely different jokes, I guess?

PS: I have a musician friend that uses Kickstarter successfully, so I like it.

by **VanI** » Mon May 14, 2012 1:19 pm UTC

Eutychus wrote:I was just about to ask whether anybody hadn't clicked on the triangle.

I really wanted to, but then I saw the bottom right corner was a little out of square. The bad thing is, when I looked away, the urge kept coming back, because the deviation is too slight to spot in my peripheral vision. It's scary how Pavlovian that little white triangle in a black rectangle can make us.

by **scaredyfish** » Mon May 14, 2012 1:21 pm UTC

WilCSUN wrote:I'm not aware of any projects that were successfully funded and have already come to fruition (and I've not done a speck of research to find any), but it will be interesting to see what kind of final goods and services are produced.

Several board game projects seem to have been successfully funded, printed and shipped over the last couple of years (and there are several current such projects that I'm at risk of spending money on)

Cal Engime wrote:Kickstarter.com is a site to raise funds to reprint your series of D&D-themed comic books,

Yep, backed that one :lol:

by **pkcommando** » Mon May 14, 2012 1:47 pm UTC

VanI wrote:
Eutychus wrote:I was just about to ask whether anybody hadn't clicked on the triangle.

I really wanted to, but then I saw the bottom right corner was a little out of square. The bad thing is, when I looked away, the urge kept coming back, because the deviation is too slight to spot in my peripheral vision. It's scary how Pavlovian that little white triangle in a black rectangle can make us.

Agreed. I smiled and wanted to laugh that my first instinct was to try clicking it, despite the fact that I'm reading this on break, at work, on computers that block video. I knew I was destined to fail and still tried it anyway.

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