I'm definitely going to do my own due dilliigence just trying to get some ideas of what projects to start looking into
Yes that's right! make your own dilligence and as I can see your doing the right thing for asking something about on which ico you like to go in and of those I know was icocountdown.com 
may we suggest that you do make your own diligence and when you see and do the right thing to ask something on the ICO you like then went into it. so created an idea to make project a will but it should really work hard to run smoothly and successfully for the upcoming ICO success
Researching what an Altcoin is all about is what makes the coin stronger because there might be a few people that need some help on a coin if they don't know the right answers and investing in an Altcoin with the proper research will allow the person to know when to make a purchase or not. I recommend that a bunch of people do this before investing in every ICO there is on this forum.