Under Development: Finding Answers in Human Resources

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Under Development: Finding Answers in Human Resources

Read more of “Under Development” by Julie Morley in right here.

[divider] [box type=”shadow” align=”alignright” width=”0″ ][iframe frameborder=”0″ height=”280″ scrolling=”no” src=”https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/659943965/human-resources-an-apocalyptic-rts-game/widget/card.html?v=2″ width=”220″][/iframe][/box]Although we don’t write about it every day, I check in with the Human Resources campaign on a consistent basis.  It’s an intriguing game being put together by an experienced team.  Sure, there’s plenty of opportunity to debate the way in which the team at Uber handles PR, their community, and their Kickstarter campaigns; but there’s no question that the Human Resources Kickstarter is on life support.  Fans are freaking out about the possibility of not getting their hands on a game with a great concept, while detractors are shaking their head at the various missteps made along the way.  My thoughts, however, have been focused less on what’s gone wrong, and more about what can be done to turn the Kickstarter around.

We’ll get to what went right and wrong with Human Resources when the campaign ends, for now let’s take a look at what could be done to improve its odds of success.

• If there isn’t already, there needs to be someone on staff devoted to the Kickstarter day and night, 7 days a week.
• Identify who the human face of the campaign is. It was John Comes, but now he’s nowhere to be seen and Art Director Nate Simpson has been doing the updates.
• The number of comments made by Uber in the Kickstarter comments section needs to increase dramatically. Get engaged with the conversation.
• Get some of the developers involved in the comments section.
• More calls to action. This was done recently and the campaign had its best day in almost two weeks.
• Start setting small and quickly achievable goals around Twitter followers, new backer numbers, and funding levels. Goals should reward the community with artwork, music, activities.
• Release more game content, even concept art and rough work.
• Re-tweak and release existing assets. The recent forum badges, wallpapers, and gifs were all content we’ve seen before, but it was something.
• Do some development streams and live Q&As.
• Get candid with backers about past missteps and lay out a plan of action for not repeating previous mistakes.

That’s ten relatively simple actions that would impact the bottom line, and they could also all happen very quickly.  While getting a gameplay video or tons of additional assets posted online isn’t going to happen any time soon, getting hyper engaged and candid with backers can’t hurt at this point.  Not only may it help get existing backers to up their existing pledges, will bring in new backers; which is more important at this point.

So this leads to a final question.  Should you back the Human Resources Kickstarter?  Some will read our previous coverage and decide that the project has some exciting potential; while others will see one disaster after another.  The decision to back is entirely up to you.  Such is the beauty of crowdfunding, the games very existence is in the hands of consumers.

Am I going to back the Human Resources Kickstarter?  When I look through the bitingly fantastic coverage at The Hyperbolic Gamer I’m left thinking that the writer is spot-on in their criticisms. But I don’t care.  Human Resources is a game idea I’d like to see happen one day.  Maybe I just want it to fill the hole left in my heart due to 14 years of They Came From Hollywood delays, or maybe I just like monsters.  There are worse things than donating money to a team of developers that aren’t very good at PR and community relations, but can come up with an interesting idea and actually have the experience to possibly make it happen.  If Human Resources gets funded, and if it gets release, will it be mired down in the same drama that Planetary Annihilation has?  Maybe, but for my own part I’m willing to find out.  Given our clearly stated stance on writers backing projects I have no problem telling you that I just backed Human Resources at the $90.00 tier.  Will the money go to waste on a “coulda-been-great” game?  Will it prove to be a great backer experience?  Will the game even get funded so the money gets withdrawn?  Let’s see what happens!