Future of Cardlauncher

[jerichoholic]

So with the projects on Cardlauncher now over and only 1 project getting funded, barely, and the others not even coming close, where does Cardlauncher go from here? The Sketchy deck hasn't launched and i'm not sure it will at this rate.

Personally I don't think that CL has the customer base to fund decks, not like KS or DS which is a shame. There might be 1000 users on this forum but how many are active on here or active collectors? Maybe many of these accounts are just duplicates or fakes or old accounts?

It didn't help that there was no Paypal or Amazon and I know of at least 1 person who didn't pledge for anything as a result. Many aren't familiar, or comfortable, with WePay and perhaps with CL in general since it's a new site.

Sorry if this isn't in the right forum, i'm just curious what everything thinks is the future of CL if anything?

[ecNate]

It's way too soon to give up. Period. Lots of work to be done, but no reason to throw in the towel yet.

[Fes]

I don't think there is much of a future for cardlauncher without decks to launch. I agree with you, they don't have the customer base to fully fund USPCC EPCC or LPCC decks. Cardlauncher funded the one deck it was supposed to fund, the MPC made one. It's where they should have been focusing their energy whilst trying to build a reputation. Well, that and actually being able to accept payment.

Seriously though, no decks to launch no point in cardlauncher. I think if they have five months of MPC decks, foresight to stagger launch/end days, and the ability to accept payment. They'd be able to grow a customer base. It isn't going to happen this way though. Not a whole lot of foresight happening imho. Four decks same start and same end day, terrible idea. Only one way to accept payment, well it would be okay if it was amazon payments which is proven to work for these kinds of things, but it's not. I quit reading cardlauncher email after the sixth one in four days, felt extremely unprofessional and was wondering if I signed up for a spam-a-thon. Hope that never happens again.

I think if they can wrangle the ego and get things working smoothly with MPC decks, etc. Basic good business model starting small working your way up, all that. Then Cardlauncher has a shot. If not, naa, it'll fall on it's face. None of it will effect the vast majority of us, just the cardlauncher clients, the creators of said decks. We can still back decks on KS. If we don't want to risk it, we can buy them after they're fulfilled like we do now anyway.

I believe they can turn it around and start to build a site that will become what they wanted it to be now, it's just not going to be the overnight success story the hype wanted it to be. That was really fun to watch and read though.
It'll be fun to see what they do from here.

[jerichoholic]

Probably would have helped more if they had some more promotion. I didn't see Gamblers promote their deck anywhere and I didn't see Lotrek promote the deck anywhere, aside from here. That isn't going to cut it. Why they were afraid to tell their hundreds of backers on Kickstarter I don't kow.

[Fes]

Probably would have helped more if they had some more promotion. I didn't see Gamblers promote their deck anywhere and I didn't see Lotrek promote the deck anywhere, aside from here. That isn't going to cut it. Why they were afraid to tell their hundreds of backers on Kickstarter I don't kow.

Lotrek posted updates on both Venexiana gold and Grotesque projects that pointed to VeneXiana Dark on cardlauncher. It's not for lack of trying by deck designers imho.

[walrus]

Are we going to get an update on cardlauncher. I checked out deckrefinery etc but nothing recent their. I have been a way from UC for a while so most of this is new to me. I commend all you guys who put time and money into it. If I had been around at the time I probably would have been interested in some financial investment along with you guys. I am sure it must be upsetting beyond belief that things went poorly for Lotreks deck which I must say is a stunning fifty two cards. Seriously, it is a bad ass deck and would have been a great way to show off cardlauncher. I'm sure I am just rehashing what has been said a hundred times but I don't see many recent updates on the cardlauncher forum. So I am coming into this behind the eightball. I would like to hear someone tell me, " No Walrus, fear not, cardlauncher is tweaked and we will have another great release."
I would love to have the opportunity to use it, obtain a nice deck of cards and support a friends business venture. Let me know if I am breaking some rules here. I need to get caught up with what has been going on and I hope I am not speaking of things I am not supposed to be or in the wrong place. Thanks guys.

[nECr0MaNCeD]

It's way too soon to give up. Period. Lots of work to be done, but no reason to throw in the towel yet.

I agree. However. There needs to be a major rethink of how to go forward.

[walrus]

Yes, I hope Mike regroups when he is feeling better and can look at the situation again. I feel the same, way to soon to give it up, it may even come out of its troubles with unexpected improvements. I will be a backer ASAP

[chach]

I think the main thing that hurt it, other than the failed launches, was the no widely known / familiar payment method. With all the recent high profile financial information losses not many people are wanting to give their info to a company they've never heard about, even if said company is on the up and up. And I know a Mike has been sick to all hell, but going this long without any communication of what's on the horizon isn't helping things at all. By now I'd imagine CL is a passing thought in a lot of people's heads, "CardLauncher is still around? Thought they went away after the horrible launch and nothing funding..."

I agree though it's too early to throw in the towel and I still wish Mike and co the best. But they need to 1.) Get either paypal or Amazon payments running. And 2.) Run all communications through someone that's versed in public relations. No offense intended to Mike, but his communication style can be long winded and too informal. There was a lot of info disseminated that shouldn't have been and conversely a lot of stuff that should've been told to people that wasn't communicated properly.


But when it comes down to the brass tacks, it's a solid idea and if they fix some of the major flaws and get a proper test crew on it, I'll be one of the first in line to help promote it (well, if there's campaigns that I like that is.)

[walrus]

Hey Mike, are you ready to speak further on the future of CL. I have a few friends who have been thinking of trying to get a deck of the ground. I'm not involved in anyway other than them being friends they will occasional ask for my input but I have been hesitant to mention CL as I don't know if you have scrapped the project. They don't like KS due to its well advertised issues and are considering just approaching uspc and Knocking it out themselves trying to sell a few on the aftermarket. So when you are up to it perhaps you could give us an idea if you plan on moving on without or not. If you are still struggling with your medical issues and that's what's keeping you away, please forgive me and I wish you a speedy recovery and I don't blame you from avoiding the whole CS thing.

[snsdmonkey]

Seems way too quiet...surely the $$ figure which was thrown around to support the development of CL means that there has to be something moving forward...

[iakona]

cardlauncher.com seems to be a dead site now... looks like Mike gave up on it? The page has been loading squatter search sites the last couple times i checked.

[Eoghann]

It loads deckrefinery.com for me.

[walrus]

Mike has decided to go zero dark thirty on talking about this.

[Collector]

So, "This is the end, Hold your breath and count to ten..."?

[montecarlojoe]

Well I wouldn't hod your breath on this one, but at the same time don't count it out either...

It was a good experiment, and a valuable learning process - but as learning processes go it wasn't cheap. I think Mike will have plans bubbling away, but in the short term I don't expect to see a relaunch.

(Ironically, bugs notwithstanding, one of the big bits of resistance was the payment method - shock and disgust at maybe having to register a credit card on the site or elsewhere. "Kickstarter doesn't do that" - but now of course it does...)

[Mike Ratledge]

It loads deckrefinery.com for me.

It should (redirect to DeckRefinery.com, although at first it was squirrelly because of DNS problem(s).

Mike has decided to go zero dark thirty on talking about this.

I've said enough, took my lickin' (and still tickin')... We will go forward, but many thought time & distance were needed. I agree.

[Mike Ratledge]

It loads deckrefinery.com for me.

It should. At first DNS problems were screwy.

Mike has decided to go zero dark thirty on talking about this.

I'm trying to let the noise quieten down. Enough said, I think. The DeckRefinery.com site will move forward eventually, but not right now.

I'm occupied elsewhere at the moment.