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Interesting theme, decent back. Courts kill it though, couldn't get much more boring than that.

Agree, the courts just completely uninterest me.

C'mon guys, the courts aren't that bad. You've all seen worse! Of course, there IS room for improvement - the courts should be easily distinguishable from each other. Right now, they all look the same. But they ARE all different. I'll be in for 2 of these. That back is really nice.

I agree about the courts. They seem to simple and the two large suits in the middle are annoying. Makes it seem like I'm holding a 2 instead of a J, Q, or K.

I like the ethnic nature and art but think the developer is missing the boat by not carrying the color over onto the tuck and backs.

Godzillian wrote:C'mon guys, the courts aren't that bad. You've all seen worse! Of course, there IS room for improvement - the courts should be easily distinguishable from each other. Right now, they all look the same. But they ARE all different. I'll be in for 2 of these. That back is really nice.

The courts doesn't bother me at all, I like them. Their mouths are different. He calls it RongoRnogo Gold as if he'll put out another color. I like this deck but I hope I can get an EB. I wonder when it goes live today.

I kinda like the courts. Maybe a little work to differentiate them. I agree that the back should get the same color treatment as the fronts. Nice deck and original theme. I'll get a pair.

Now live Updated OP

hi guys, I'm the designer of rongorongo

Hi There Tomas.
I LIKE THIS ONE
i agree with most about the courts , could be better, maybe incorporating the islands Statues as well as the masks.
Overall not too bad , i think i`ll pledge.

Hi Jock,
Give masks some time -- it took me a while to get used to them.

My only issue with the courts is you can't tell at a quick glance what you have, be it king queen or Jack. IMO that's an important thing,to be able to tell very quickly or across the table what is what. For instance when playing rummy, looking across the table at what someone has, you'd just see three circles. You'd have to look at the index to see if it was 3 of a kind or a run. These are too hard to read.

Also agree that the color difference between the back design and face is too much of a contrast. Heavy use of red & black does not go well with the pale blue and gold.

But all that aside, no way on earth would I pledge $15 for the deck. Yes there are some early birds still available (at $11 which is still too high for a basic deck) but there's no way this should cost more than one of Jackson Robinsons deck. I'm putting my foot down on how project managers are pushing the cost per deck higher with each new deck and won't pledge if the price is out of bounds. This madness has to stop somewhere.

Guys - there is a clearly discernible pattern: Kings are in two large circles with no scroll-work, Queens are in a 'broken S' pattern, and the Jacks are in a reversed 'S' instead. While I agree that it's not what we're used to, it would be very easy to get used to if you actually used the cards.

One thing I did notice: BIcycle no longer makes card in Cincinnati - it's Erlanger Kentucky and has been for a good while, now.

I have pledged this deck. I really like the undo before theme...

mike -- you are correct, there are discernible patterns for K Q J. thanks for the cincinnati info -- i'll correct it.
lolo -- thanks for your pledge

Simple - but captures the tribal feel very nicely - I like it. Defo in for a deck

These struck me almost instantly. I usually take a bit of time to discover each deck, as I investigate the artist's vision for the deck, look at the pips, courts, backs. This one was an instant connect. Not sure why. Even after a longer look, it's still very cool!

In for 2.

The script on each number card - is that meaningful (like heiroglyphics) or decorative?

ddorn wrote:These struck me almost instantly. I usually take a bit of time to discover each deck, as I investigate the artist's vision for the deck, look at the pips, courts, backs. This one was an instant connect. Not sure why. Even after a longer look, it's still very cool!

In for 2.

Likewise, on every point.

I'm a little surprised this one hasn't found more traction thus far.

rousselle wrote:

ddorn wrote:These struck me almost instantly. I usually take a bit of time to discover each deck, as I investigate the artist's vision for the deck, look at the pips, courts, backs. This one was an instant connect. Not sure why. Even after a longer look, it's still very cool!

In for 2.

Likewise, on every point.

I'm a little surprised this one hasn't found more traction thus far.

This has been happening with a lot of good decks lately. Is the bubble finally popping??? It's a shame - I really like this deck

Either the bubble is popping or standards are getting higher. There are still playing card campaigns raking in 40-125k on KS.

This and Gorilla,

It may not be standards per se - but there are so many new things that you might not have the time you once had to look in detail - so if somthing doesn't grab you immediately it gets skipped over.

But then there are decks that earn a fortune and I look at them and think "I don't get it" :/

I'm not surprised at all. With every Kickstarter I have some set criteria I look at before I decide to pledge (this is aside from how i feel about the design).

1. How do I feel about the overall price point (including Int'l shipping) compared to the quality of the deck
2. What extras are going to be available (I like coins)
3. How many decks are they producing. (As an international backer, I prefer more decks rather than less as I usually buy 2 of each and the more different decks there are, the better shipping per deck is)
4. What is my impression of the ability to the creator to fulfill (i.e., will I get scammed, as this is a "hidden" cost)

In this case;
1. 2 decks would run me $37, or $18.50 shipped. That is a VERY high price and would have to be a premium product however we don't even get a custom seal until 15K and embossing unti l20K! BTW, that's a stupid way to do stretch goals, as the extra money doesn't make those features cheaper unless they get over 2500 decks). By the way, pricing in some of the tiers is just plan idiotic. $25 + $12 for 2 decks but $36 + $15 for 2 decks and a coin? That makes a coin $11 + $3 shipping but the add-on price is $12+ $2. Just shoddy math that should have been caught. Yes it's the same net price but doesn't make sense.
2. They have coins. Not super-great ones but probably decent enough.
3. Right now there is only one deck and not a second one until $40K (which is stupid as you need the 2nd deck to GET to 40K)
4. First project = warning sign. Way too many extras = warning sign (13K is a good amount for a deck only. The amount of weird extras they have means that they might not have done their costing right and could come up short). WAY too long of a funding period = didn't do enough research = warning sign. It's well known that <40 days is optimal. I also look at backer:funded ratio and if it's too high (that is the average amount per backer is extremely high and there aren't any suprt-high pledges) I worry about whether they have had an "angel" come in and pledge a large amount. It's another warning sign. Right now their ratio is fine.

All in all the cost and the warning signs lead me away from this project. It would be very hard to convince me otherwise, especially that pricing.

montecarlojoe wrote:This and Gorilla,

It may not be standards per se - but there are so many new things that you might not have the time you once had to look in detail - so if somthing doesn't grab you immediately it gets skipped over.

But then there are decks that earn a fortune and I look at them and think "I don't get it" :/

I see this as the big issue. I foresee the bubble bursting in the future, but don't feel it is quite here yet. It is the large number of options for a relatively small community (compared to some hobbies).
The decks that do well are designers with a proven track record, designers that are appealing to communities outside of card collector communities, and ( the category that RongoRongo and Gorilla missed out on) designers who promoted their decks and vetted them on community bulletin boards well before their release.

Neither of the decks discussed here showed up on UC or The Discourse prior to showing up on kickstarter. So nobody really knows about the deck, the creator, the process, etc,etc,etc...

This makes the deck a bigger risk, and with so many choices these days, who has time to check out every project and investigate if the think it will be fulfilled. Decks that get promoted prior to release bring in he hype, make people feel more connected.
For this reason alone the Gorilla deck may do better the second time around.

Not to say that we haven't been woo'ed by designers on the boards that then don't fulfill their pledges

montecarlojoe - yes, RongoRongo was the actual system of glyphs used on Easter Island. It's one of only few independent languages invented in the entire human history. There are several links at the bottom of KS page for anyone who would like to learn more about Easter Island myths and culture.

rousselle -- thanks, I appreciate it.

We are voting for the design of a limited RongoRongo black deck (specs here)
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ma ... ongo/posts

on backers site (we welcome your votes even if you did not back this project)
http://www.matifu.com/rongorongo/backers.html

one of the proposed sketches for BLACK enclosed.

tomas

To anyone with long conspiracy theories -- please relax.
I included my bio with the project, here's the link:
http://matifu.com/tomas.html

I completed thousands of projects in my life, many of them are well known to most of you.

This is the first project for Matifu on KS. Matfu was created to design playing cards.
It is not my first project of KS, I did a few of them under my own name. I delivered every pledge I ever collected.
One cannot link two KS accounts, but I listed past projects in the "risk" section, so anyone can find it, you can also type my last name.

There are several RR decks coming. I setup a voting site for my backers so we can go through this process together.

strag -- stop with the warnings signs. I'm here to answer any questions you may have. My email is tomas [at] matifu.com -- and my phone number is at matifu.com under the contact info.
Funding period -- I researched previous campaigns for weeks. You are incorrect with your assumptions and I have a huge Excel file full of data to back it up.
I can give you the ratios of backer/funded for each of the most successful campaigns.
I assume you are referring to average $ pledges per backer per day for each day of the campaign.
Muertos (funding period: 45 days, which is a perfect funding period for the playing card campaign):
$20 $24 $26 $27 $27 $27 $29 $30 $30 $32 $35 $36 $37 $37 $36 $36 $37 $37 $38 $39 $38 $38 $40 $41 $42 $42 $42 $44 $44 $44 $44 $44 $44 $44 $45 $45 $45 $45 $46 $46 $46 $49 $51 $52 $53 $57

tomas

tomas wrote:
There are several RR decks coming. I setup a voting site for my backers so we can go through this process together.


tomas

Alright Tomas .
What`s all this about . The Black decks look cool,no doubt .
But "Several" i hope you`re not gonna bring out a Yellow,Blue,Green,Pink & Grey version

no jock, i never considered the pink one, but i would love to learn whatever u know about multiple decks so i don't offend someone in the process.
the experience on this side is quite similar to going through anal probing at the airport security, so I will proceed cautiously...

tomas wrote:no jock, i never considered the pink one, but i would love to learn whatever u know about multiple decks so i don't offend someone in the process.
the experience on this side is quite similar to going through anal probing at the airport security, so I will proceed cautiously...

Check out the thread about the Get Made deck. It holds no definitive answers (and there probably are none), but should provide some insight.