C2B

Bree is working as a level artist according to Linkedin.

Uh, you clearly didn't read this very carefully. That graph shows pledges per week to all other video game projects, not to DFA. Ah, ok. I understood that sentence wrong. Sorry.

Quite visible on this chart https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjRsTwF0aHv6dFVwaTF1WTI5b24tbGxpQUdQNU1TSHc&pli=1#gid=18

That happened in W2's and DFA's campagin as well. It's the spike at the end of the kickstarter. The thing Eternity did better isn't that. Eternity was the most stable Kickstarter, keeping pledges up during it's entire run.

Hopefully Obsidian will point out the new location in a future update

I always get it close to going to bed, so that should be in about 10-12 hours from now :D I meant the Backer E-Mail where we clarify what we want/get. For example for the VIP Badges.

I think it's today. I wonder when we get the E-Mail.

Congratulations. It's nice to see Obsidianities gettin' back Also YAY for Robert Land. Tim Cain's especially happy I imagine Edit: Though, when did he join? Seems to have been for a while. Edit2: Oktober 1st according to facebook.

I think my question before went under or wasn't formulated right, anyway here it is again. What do you guys think happens to the relationship between Obsidian and Publisher's IF Project: Eternity ends up successful on retail? - For example, would they have less problems getting publisher contracts or would they be able to sign better contracts due to more financial security? Because, I kinda doubt Obsidian's specific situation would remain the exact same with publishers.

About DAII's development by a former Obsidian and Bioware employee http://www.formspring.me/TDEvans

It would be interesting to say the least, though I'd prefer P:E selling well enough to allow for P:E 2.

On that note: Considering when P:E gets released and IS successful Obsidian would have a much better standing towards the publishers. What do you think this means for the contracts between them?

I wouldn't see it as an evil. They're just publishers. The problem is they're a business and games with high production value are extremly costly. Leading to the unfortunate situations and stories we hear about. They are necessary, because they are the only way some things can get done. The problem so far was that they were in many cases the ONLY way to get things done. Leaving devs at the mercy of publishers. I'm personally in favor of the hybrid Obsidian seems to want.

Yeah, I know. See my second post in the thread. This is just an intellectual exercise to see just what people's attitudes are towards publishers; i.e. whether they are the Great Satan or whether they could be a positive in the right circumstances. Yeah, I know. See my second post in the thread. This is just an intellectual exercise to see just what people's attitudes are towards publishers; i.e. whether they are the Great Satan or whether they could be a positive in the right circumstances. In that case, they are not (well, not generally). Obsidian themselves mentioned it already, but publishers just deal with high numbers and the safest way to work on that is with proven, best-selling concepts. Taking risks is dangerous. That said, I myself find publishers are doing several things wrong in their approach.

What do you mean here? It would be great if Obsidian gets more contracts. They can't survive on Kickstarter or their own alone, without firing a massive amount of their employes. As mentioned in the stream they would also like to work on more licensed properties.

On that note, publishers are VERY interested in what happens when games like Double Fine, W2 and P:E actually get released in the market. They serve as a test for them as well.

In that case. Well, honestly it's pretty unclear. If Eternity ends up majorly successful for them to take notice, then publisher may change their outlook on a lot of things, like viral marketing or mid-sized budgets. As for me, I probably would be annoyed.

They won't. Like, there's a less than 1% chance. However using the publisher model in the sense of self-publishing **** yeah. They already said as such.

From Marceror's Interview

I agree with mst of these post, though Tom Hall is certainly a legend. (Commander Keen, Doom, Anarchranox) The problem I see is that he probably isn't that much for rpg fans as Anarchranox (while fantastic) still seems to be that title a lot of people just never heard about/didn't try out. Possible because of Daikatana.

How the hell is that "holding the developer hostage"? What is "hostageous" about this situation? You make good stuff -> you get more money and can make more good stuff. You make bad stuff -> you don't get more money and can't keep making bad stuff. It only seems fair to me, as opposed to the way most of the current gaming market operates where you can just keep making pretty much the same crap over and over - it's easier to persuade a bunch of people to buy your crap when it's done, but to persuade a bunch of people to invest in the crap you plan to make... that's darn near impossible (developers invest in crap because it sells, as I said - it's easier to persuade a bunch of people to buy your crap when it's done). Because there are a lot of outside and additional costs (and upredictable ones) and kickstarters just not going to cut it. It's not fair at all. Especially to Obsidian. Obsidian has a monthly burn rate of near 1 Million. Also what? That's not how the gaming market works.

Which raises the concern of what happens if that period comes to a close and the game needs to be delayed. The Kickstarter crowd almost certainly wants a finished game rather than an early release, but where do they get the funds to finance extra work, if its needed? Assuming that Obsidian is a healthy company financially, they probably have cash reserves and lines of credit they can draw on to pay salaries and operational expenses for at least several months if not a year or more. I doubt the company is surviving hand to mouth. They actually are pretty much at the moment. If a big publisher contract gets cancelled they have to let people go. Last happened in March this year AFTER the owners didn't pay themselves for half a year to keep everyone on. That's the reality of contract work in the gaming industry. You don't own IP's, you don't get profits of the game.

Holding the developer hostage? Seriously? That's kinda the opposite of the kickstarter spirit. To *kickstart* something, an idea, a company, whatever. In Obsidian's case this is a great way to gain financial security and the possibility to keep people on after a project gets cancelled. The possibility of self-publishing doesn't just mean they are going to take it easy and suddenly have no passion. We backed them because they are passionate about what they are doing in the first place. I'd really rather that Obsidian gets to be a stable company.

I am not prepared to stipulate this as an absolute law of nature. Who's to say for sure that the concept can't attract higher fractions of end users? It can (I don't think the upper end has been reached quite yet). But I honestly doubt it's ever going to be a majority (Except in special cases) of the actual people interested in buying it. Buisness just doesn't work this way. And that's good. A game should hopefully still make a big profit after all. If the majority is already backing, who's going to buy? P:E selling well may even allow them to use their own money later, instead of needing kickstarter.

PS:T