Obsidian has a Kickstarter profile

[Nines]

I also think it might be wheel of time, the symbol on the countdown looks like a snake biting its own tail, which is a symbol from the Wheel of Time books.

And then i saw this.

[Sarkus]

If it's a KS project I'm in, but I'm going to be disappointed. Mainly because even the "big" successes aren't really much money in game development terms. Wasteland 2 is not a cutting edge game and neither is what Doublefine is doing. Nor is either of those big team AAA developers. Even with $2-3 million I don't know what Obsidian could really produce. I mean I'm sure it will be good, but its not going to be the scale of anyhing like the Southpark title, which I'm sure has a much bigger budget then what KS is likely to produce.

 

I guess what I'm hoping is that they got some big money behind this. And I'm a little pessimistic about how much support there is. Argue about it all you want, but what I'm seeing on more then a few message boards where this is being discussed is a general opinion that Obsidian makes good games that are always too buggy at release. And a lot of people are now in the "wait and see" camp on their games as a result. Those people aren't going to be rushing into a KS campaign.

Edited September 13, 2012 by Sarkus

[sesobebo]

Wasteland 2 is not a cutting edge game and neither is what Doublefine is doing.

...but its not going to be the scale of anyhing like the Southpark title...

 

You've played all those games already? O:

[Jozape]

If it's a KS project I'm in, but I'm going to be disappointed. Mainly because even the "big" successes aren't really much money in game development terms. Wasteland 2 is not a cutting edge game and neither is what Doublefine is doing. Nor is either of those big team AAA developers. Even with $2-3 million I don't know what Obsidian could really produce. I mean I'm sure it will be good, but its not going to be the scale of anyhing like the Southpark title, which I'm sure has a much bigger budget then what KS is likely to produce.

 

 

I assume you're talking about graphically cutting edge? None of the KickStarter games are graphically cutting edge, can't argue with that. But most of us who got into the KickStarters were more concerned about the gameplay.

 

As for the scale, I don't know how you can make an assumption like that. None of the games have been released yet(South Park or the KickStarters), and the Wasteland 2 developers claim themselves that the game has quite a large scale. We willl see.

[Hurlshort]

Sarkus is perfectly correct stating that the game will not be similar to a AAA title. It will look more like an independent project if it is Kickstarter based. Voicework, graphics, and cut scenes will all take a back seat with this funding model.

 

As for scale, a project like Mount & Blade shows that independent projects can still be done on a massive scale. So who knows what Obsidian can come up with for a couple million dollars? They will probably have to keep the team small for the project, but it gives them complete freedom and that is something I want them to have.

[FearMonkey]

Sarkus is perfectly correct stating that the game will not be similar to a AAA title. It will look more like an independent project if it is Kickstarter based. Voicework, graphics, and cut scenes will all take a back seat with this funding model.

 

As long as we get a voice that says "Updated my journal" or something similar I'll be happy.

[Bos_hybrid]

Voicework, and cut scenes will all take a back seat with this funding model.

 

No real loss there. NPC voice work is enjoyable but fine I'm without it. The loss of cut scenes and cinematics is gold in my book though.

 

graphics will all take a back seat with this funding model.

 

Assuming it done in Onyx, while it's not going to be Watch Dogs, it would have Wasteland 2, Dead State and Shadow Run beat.

[Deraldin]

Sarkus is perfectly correct stating that the game will not be similar to a AAA title. It will look more like an independent project if it is Kickstarter based. Voicework, graphics, and cut scenes will all take a back seat with this funding model.

 

As long as we get a voice that says "Updated my journal" or something similar I'll be happy.

Nah, but you might get "You must gather your party..."

[Audiocide]

Beyond that, enticing backer rewards, especially at the mid-levels ($30-75), helps quite a bit. T-shirts and forum badges won't do it. In-game acknowledgement of high-level backers (ala Wasteland 2's monuments) seems to be popular, but I know Avellone has expressed serious reservations about that practice.

 

I'd donate for one of the higher tiers for an Obsidian project - provided it isn't something silly. But I also think the monument thing is a bit out of place. It can really be immersion breaking. Getting some advance info, playable demos etc. would be really nice though.

Edited September 13, 2012 by Audiocide

[Undecaf]

They sure have created quite a buzz if this indeed ends up being their KS campaign launch. I have my money ready for pledging, but I would also think there'll be a lot of disappointment in some circles when the "mindwrecking" mystery countdown people are sweating and exciting about ends up being "please give us money". Not my concern though, I'll be happy and a bit poorer.

Success in a KS debut is all about a good pitch (and remember that Ferg[?] recently gave big talks on how to make a pitch, they do this for a living). At the least they should have concept art and a lot of definite information about what the game is going to be and what's going to be cool about it. Gameplay vids, even in alpha, would be good as well.

 

Beyond that, enticing backer rewards, especially at the mid-levels ($30-75), helps quite a bit. T-shirts and forum badges won't do it. In-game acknowledgement of high-level backers (ala Wasteland 2's monuments) seems to be popular, but I know Avellone has expressed serious reservations about that practice.

 

Yes. I agree of course. And the mystery stunt has served its purpose by gathering a good amount of publicity among the potential customerbase.

 

Was just wondering how the gathered interest might seem a bit overflowing to some if it ends up being a KS project - ya know, expecting a cake but ending up with a cookie. No consequence to me, though, as I said.

[Archon]

I wonder what's the budget for the game? With the kickstarter fever died down, it will be a challenge to raise the obscene amount of money like Tim and Brian did.

 

I think people are ready for another big(million plus) KickStarter again. It's been 6 months since the big ones, the fans wallets have respawned currency(well, hopefully), and Obsidian is a pretty well respected developer among the RPG niche.

 

Actually OUYA raised $8,596,474 on Aug 09.

Then Reaper Miniatures Bones got $3,429,235 on Aug 26.

 

And if you focus on videogame "literally", Planetary Annihilation, which ends tommorow, already have $1,874,740 and Homestuck Adventure Game have $1,197,261 and still 21 days to go.

 

There's still big project on KS. Let's see if another RPG can beat the Wasteland 2 record...

Edited September 13, 2012 by Archon360

[Jozape]

I wonder what's the budget for the game? With the kickstarter fever died down, it will be a challenge to raise the obscene amount of money like Tim and Brian did.

 

I think people are ready for another big(million plus) KickStarter again. It's been 6 months since the big ones, the fans wallets have respawned currency(well, hopefully), and Obsidian is a pretty well respected developer among the RPG niche.

 

Actually OUYA raised $8,596,474 on Aug 09.

Then Reaper Miniatures Bones got $3,429,235 on Aug 26.

 

And if you focus on videogame "literally", Planetary Annihilation, which ends tommorow, already have $1,874,740 and Homestuck Adventure Game have $1,197,261 and still 21 days to go.

 

There's still big project on KS. Let's see if another RPG can beat the Wasteland 2 record...

 

As you pointed out, Ouya and Reaper Miniature Bones are not video games.

 

I had no idea about Planetary Annihilation and Homestuck though. That looks very promising for an Obsidian KickStarter.

[sesobebo]

As you pointed out, Ouya and Reaper Miniature Bones are not video games.

 

I had no idea about Planetary Annihilation and Homestuck though. That looks very promising for an Obsidian KickStarter.

what looks promising for the kickstarter (if this is it) is, that wasteland 2 raised several hundred thousands in a few hours just by announcing Chris Avellone's involvement.

 

this time a sizable portion of the (old) black isle team will be involved.

Edited September 13, 2012 by sesobebo

[Pop]

The general trend of most Kickstarter funding, when planned out on a graph, seems to be roughly logarithmic. That is to say, campaigns peak early and then slowly deflate in terms of the amount of money coming in every day. The faithful put their money down right at the outset, media attention and PR then yields however many pledges were out there but unaware of the project when it started. A lot depends, then, on what the initial goal is. A lot of projects will make their goal early (particularly those with a massive, hardcore cult like Homestuck) but even for those that don't, there's evidence to suggest that a Kickstarter Project's chances of success skyrocket if it is within closing distance of the goal within a few days of the deadline. People who were on the fence, or skeptical of the project's chances of success, will say "what the hell" and push it over the line. This seems to happen pretty frequently, and not just with games. People like drama, I guess.

 

Anyway, the smart fundraiser will do their damnedest to prop up that middle period between the peaks as much as possible. Brian Fargo was really good at this, partly because the man's a born entrepreneur (notice how often he didn't sell Wasteland 2 so much as the idea of a sunny new future for niche gaming outside the stifling purview of major publishers) but also because he was smart with regularly parceling out new, attention-grabbing incentives (announcing a new, prominent collaborator like MCA every few days). He kept people talking, consistently.

 

Stretch goals are another thing. Even if you don't set your initial goal at the bare minimum needed to realize your project, there's always more money to be had and more / better features to implement. There are a lot of good examples of this, and they're effective because they make concrete offers for things that backers say they want but aren't accounted for in conservative budgeting - a mac/linux port, multiplayer, more weapons, more characters, more diverse game areas, etc. You can go a couple of routes with this. Some Kickstarters will state up front what they'll do if they go past the finish line, but when you've got a long goal it's probably smarter to only reveal your stretch objectives when the finish line's in sight but things are slowing down, as they often do. They could be the shot in the arm you need.

 

It's also been my general experience that potential backers like to have some firm idea of what they're getting for what they're putting in. Asking for another $200,000 to "add multiplayer" is nebulous, and people will question whether that feature really requires that kind of money. Asking for $20,000 to hire another full-time designer or artist for a year's work is concrete (also kind of ****ty, considering how meager that salary is). Short incremental goals (high 4 or low 5 figures) will also probably be more fruitful than long ones (high 5 or low 6 figures). Observe Dead State and the way they promised a new, enticing thing with every stretch goal - when they listed "city maps", it was only a matter of time before they cleared a few extra bars.

 

Those are things that I think.

Edited September 13, 2012 by Pop

[fkldnhlsdngsfnhlsndlg]

If it's a KS project I'm in, but I'm going to be disappointed. Mainly because even the "big" successes aren't really much money in game development terms. Wasteland 2 is not a cutting edge game and neither is what Doublefine is doing. Nor is either of those big team AAA developers. Even with $2-3 million I don't know what Obsidian could really produce. I mean I'm sure it will be good, but its not going to be the scale of anyhing like the Southpark title, which I'm sure has a much bigger budget then what KS is likely to produce.

 

I guess what I'm hoping is that they got some big money behind this. And I'm a little pessimistic about how much support there is. Argue about it all you want, but what I'm seeing on more then a few message boards where this is being discussed is a general opinion that Obsidian makes good games that are always too buggy at release. And a lot of people are now in the "wait and see" camp on their games as a result. Those people aren't going to be rushing into a KS campaign.

If it means you get to play awesome classic-style CRPGs with party-based gameplay and (maybe) turn-based combat, plus great world design and stories, what does it matter if it sells millions or not? As soon as big money becomes involved, ambition, creativity and complexity in gameplay tend to disappear as the required sales to turn a profit skyrocket. A huge budget doesn't necessarily mean Obsidian will make any more money, and more realistically they would actually make less on it or even lose money.

Edited September 14, 2012 by sea

[Lostbrain]

I wonder what's the budget for the game? With the kickstarter fever died down, it will be a challenge to raise the obscene amount of money like Tim and Brian did.

 

I think people are ready for another big(million plus) KickStarter again. It's been 6 months since the big ones, the fans wallets have respawned currency(well, hopefully), and Obsidian is a pretty well respected developer among the RPG niche.

 

Actually OUYA raised $8,596,474 on Aug 09.

Then Reaper Miniatures Bones got $3,429,235 on Aug 26.

 

And if you focus on videogame "literally", Planetary Annihilation, which ends tommorow, already have $1,874,740 and Homestuck Adventure Game have $1,197,261 and still 21 days to go.

 

There's still big project on KS. Let's see if another RPG can beat the Wasteland 2 record...

 

 

hey, long time you see, Archon !

 

And remember that Dead State and Shadowrun Online have been succeeded on their funding (yes, not incredibles raising fund like Wasteland 2 or Shadowrun returns, but at least 332 000 $ and 552 000 $). And the studios who work on theses titles are not wellknown as Obsidian.

[dragothica]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity

 

Project: Eternity Kickstarter..

 

Just leaving this here while the forum is working..

[Lexx]

I will probably give $300 as soon as I can put money on my virtual credit card again. That's what it should be worth for everyone!

[Tigranes]

I like the $140 option at the moment, we'll see if I can afford more, but there's no way I can't go up to the 4-digits, so

[Bendu]

A little bit undecided between the $140 and $250 offer. Go Ben Bernanke we need QE4 for a better

[Wombat]

Have already pledged for 20 but it would be very stingy of me if I were to stick there till the end of the campaign.

[Audiocide]

This is beautiful!

 

Already made my pledge. I'll see if I can go higher depending on the next couple of weeks.

[Raithe]

Which means we need to send out some search parties for Funcroc ASAP.

Hmm. You know, Walsingham has been MIA around these parts for about the same amount of time funcroc has.

 

 

Okay, just to let folks know, Walsingham got suckered into a new job a few months back and has been working some really freaking long hours and juggling things to do with it. That's why he hasn't been around....

[Bos_hybrid]

It was hard to choose a damn tier...

[Muzrub333]

What am I going to do with these 10 extra digital copies? I don't have anywhere near that many friends...