Cat-6 Multiplex and the Future of GoWest Terrain Studio
The funding period for GoWest Terrain Studio’s “Cat-6 Multiplex” Kickstarter ended May 7, 2014, receiving 35 backers pledging $100 or more for the pre-painted, multi-level MDF kits. That’s $5,598 worth of happy tables around the world—or would have been if the Kickstarter had met its funding goal of $20,000.
The Cat-6 wasn’t a half-baked scheme that withered away in anonymity. As the only pre-painted MDF terrain, it offered something unique for buyers. A $200 pledge would fill most of a 4’ x 4’ table with six buildings, four connectors and walkways—a relatively low price for the MDF terrain market. It was heavily promoted on the Infinity forum, skirting the rules against advertising non-Corvus Belli partners, and even given airtime on MayaCast. The terrainwas playtestedand revised. The feedback from local players and members of MayaCast was positive. And still GoWest could not drum up enough support to carry the project into production.
It was a setback for Todd A. West, the sole force behind the cleverly named GoWest. He could have spent his hot Nevada summer cranking out the Cat-6 kits he’d spent a year designing and preparing for production. But producing the Cat-6 kit en masse was contingent upon the purchase of a new industrial-strength laser cutter that could keep up with the volume needed to produce backer kits and beyond. The price tag for the new equipment totalled $15,000, and after material, domestic shipping costs and Kickstarter fees, West was selling the terrain nearly at-cost just for the ability to make more.
After the Kickstarter, West had plans to sell the Cat-6 buildings separately through his online store along with addons like staircases, balconies, and scatter terrain that matched the kits with his new machine. The variety of pieces and planned prices for post-Kickstarter sales are still on the GoWest website, though the shopping cart is disabled and soon to be removed.
Why the Kickstarter failed
Despite its unique selling points and promotion, the Cat-6 Multi-Plex Kickstarter didn’t even come close to its goal. In West’s opinion, the Cat-6 project entered the MDF scene too late and the high cost of international shipping turned off potential backers.
“When I came up with the Cat-6 design, Micro Art Studios was still the only game in town so I decided to develop a whole series of pre-painted kits at a comparable price thinking I’d have an edge considering the fact that all the pieces are not only pre-painted but free from sprues as well,” said West.
In the year it took getting the Cat-6 design production ready, the market flooded with new products and more competition. Now, Warsenal, Shark Mounted Lasers, Systema Gaming Scenery, Underground Lasers, Customeeple and others are deep in the Infinity-inspired MDF terrain game. The variety is exceptional for consumers spoiled by choice, but tough on a company that relies on Kickstarter to fund its production.
“Why wait for six plus months funding a Kickstarter when you can order from an established company and get your stuff in a couple weeks max,” said West. “They all have cool things that they do, but now the market is a little saturated.”
Shipping massive 15 and 30 pound kits internationally made it cost prohibitive to offer any kind of deal on the already low-margin pledges, adding $50 to $70 dollars to the price tag for non-U.S. residents. As Infinity is a small but truly international game, many of West’s target customers were priced out by shipping alone.
No Kick-restarter
Maybe you were one of the backers eager to get your hands on a Cat-6 kit. Or maybe you missed it and hoped to get another chance. Or maybe you’re thinking you can get your hands on some of the kits MayaCast had reported already being produced before the Kickstarter had ended. Unfortunately, you’ve missed your chance to get one of these pre-packaged kits. West has no plans to do another Kickstarter.
The last of the pledge kits was sold to local backers and it’s impossible to fulfill other Kickstarter pledges with his current equipment. According to West, his small laser can only produce one 9” hex single-story building every one and a half hours. GoWest isn’t a full-time job for West. He’s already got one.
Though his plans to mass produce the Cat-6 failed, West will happily return to doing what he’s always done: Build custom tables. He’s already done one commission based on the Cat-6 design, and he credits the Kickstarter for bringing interest to his work. He gets excited about things like custom logos to fit the customer’s faction, the one-on-one interaction, the customization, the fact that every table is uniquely designed for each customer. It’s also something his small laser can handle for now.
“I really did want to upgrade to a bigger and better laser. but at the expense of losing any and all free time as well as doing custom stuff like I like to do, I think I lean towards relieved that it failed.”
Its really a shame it didn’t get funded; I really liked the idea of pre-painted terrain. I feel that another factor was that there were several other MDF Kickstarters the months prior and during his own campaign, with Antenociti also announcing that there would be one coming out soon.
It’s a shame indeed. A big reason I wrote this it’s because it looked like a great deal for backers and I wanted to know if there was any chance he could still fulfill the pledges. Unfortunately he couldn’t but if you really like the style and the pre-paintedness off the Cat-6 stuff, you could get sold off him for a custom set.
I bought $500 worth of the cat 6 terrain and could not be more pleased or more impressed with the design. So much thought went into every aspect. It’s far superior to every single mdf solution on the market today, hands down.