[aristus]

"Offering labor-intensive rewards that do not move your project forward are a net loss." http://carlos.bueno.org/2012/03/rocking-kickstarter.html

[jrockway]

But remember, people on Kickstarter are pledging money, not investing money. So if you don't offer good rewards, you won't get any money, and your project will never happen.

[waterlesscloud]

Unless of course the project itself is the real reward.

I think the tiered award thing hurts a lot of projects by distracting from the basic fact that what you're really contributing to is making the project real.

[danneu]

I'd wager that people pledge because they want your product, not because they get t-shirts and mugs.