Homestuck and Pe’Sla
I want to point out something about the Homestuck Kickstarter and Pe’Sla fundraiser. The Homestuck Kickstarter is offering physical rewards at every donation level beyond $50. Sure, people want to help see the video game succeed, but a big reason why they chose to pledge immediately instead of just sending good vibes and considering donating later is they want to snag specific merch that is available. The Pe’Sla fundraiser has physical rewards only at the $2,000 & $15,000 levels, which most people can’t begin to afford. Even just shitty bracelets or shiny certificates that say Wow I’m A Great Person I Donated Money To Something for $20 or $50 or $100 could be the difference between “this is a really great cause and I support it but I can’t really afford to throw my money away right now” and “I need this object in my hands right this second and I don’t mind paying 100x its actual value because hey, great cause!”
It’s a bit late to be saying this now, though. At least since they’re using IndieGoGo so they’ll still have the funds raised so far if they try again later.
Wow, so, you do realize how insulting it is that these people have to try and buy back their own land in the first place, right? You’re actually going to sit here and judge THEM for not spending money they obviously NEED on merchandise instead of pointing out the flaw in the fact that people are refusing to donate because they don’t get a fucking pat on the back bracelet or something?
The problem here is not what they should have been doing, it’s the fact that we’re in a society that is so geared toward the commodity value of everything that their land is actually being taken from them, they have to suffer the indignity of trying to buy it back, and people are going to sit around and say “well, you should have given more free shit if you wanted help.”
Yes, the Homestuck fund offered merch. It’s a GAME fundraiser; that’s NORMAL. This is not the same thing at all.
Also, if anyone WOULD like to help this cause (though, you’ve been so nicely forewarned that there are no gold stars awaiting you, just actually doing something good for the sake of it needing to be done), you can go here. It’s almost over and they still desperately need support.
I’m not judging the people in charge of the fundraiser for not adding material incentives. I’m just saying that utilizing a strategy like that would probably make the fundraiser more effective. Yes, they need this money, but spending a very small percentage of it on incentives (or asking people to donate incentives) would bring them much more money than what they’re currently getting.
It’s shitty that many people are much more motivated by material objects than altruism, and I wish we lived in a world where it wasn’t true. But since we don’t, the best we can do is try to take advantage of the world as it is, rather than as we wish it was.
Yes, the Homestuck fundraiser was a game fundraiser. It was also a hugely successful fundraiser, which is why there were so many comparisons between it and the Pe’Sla fundraiser in the first place. The Pe’Sla fundraiser is clearly the more important of the two, but it’s not the one getting properly funded. Part of this is because Homestuck already has a large dedicated fanbase, which can’t really be retroactively emulated by the Pe’Sla fundraiser, but the exclusive merch plays an important part as well, and that easily could be mimicked for the sake of further success.
I’m not saying that the Pe’Sla fundraiser was in any way badly handled, because it clearly wasn’t, and the levels of outreach and media attention that have been brought to it are extremely impressive. But monetarily, it still isn’t enough. Luckily, the auction everyone was originally worrying about has been cancelled, so hopefully something can still be done even if this first fundraiser doesn’t meet its goal.
