Stretch Goals and Backer Rewards - What do you think?

[Bendu]

Other stretch goals I would like to see are some kind of origin stories for each class and having an ingame codex/lore/readable books. I wouldn't name some big goals because in the end the people will be dissapointed if they are not achieved and they will feel that something is missing in the final product.

Edited October 2, 2012 by Bendu

[cyberarmy]

For 3 millon they give us ship building options. Starting with a little trireme king and upgrading it till it become a full frigate. We can manage our captain and crew, travel some small islands, battle sea monsters, pirates and maybe even raid coastal towns if we wish.

 

For 3.5(or 4) million add a whole new continent that only WE can discover. It can include new races with different soul mechanics, new monsters, new resources, new adventrures

 

Add some musical, graphical, writer geniuses for minor milestones.

 

 

Also just no for tun based... im a turn based nut myself too but we really dont need that in PE, there are already very good turn based games coming in 2013-2014. And if they strcitly follow IE and D&D style game actually becomes turn based with pause options.

[Indiphilo]

3.5M - Hire George Ziets - he will be responsible for writing another major questline.

 

This. This. This! Although I think 3M should be enough.

 

Having a recognizable and talented person onboard the project as a stretchgoal (whether it's Ziets, Mark Morgan or Justin Sweet) will probably raise a lot more funding, like it did for WL2.

 

I also think that additional time and resources for polishing the game would be a great stretch goal, as it would make the backers a lot more confident that the game will have a minimum of bugs and balancing issues at release date.

Edited October 2, 2012 by Indiphilo

[Wintersong]

For 3.5(or 4) million add a whole new continent that only WE can discover. It can include new races with different soul mechanics, new monsters, new resources, new adventrures

Starting our own colony there too. Surely out of the scope of the game but I'd love something in the lines of the fortress of NwN2 but with a colony/village. Probably creating your own faction, declaring independence and giving the middle finger to the other nations. XD

 

But maybe out of the scope of the game and maybe only me likes something like that.

[coffeetable]

• A prologue. A few hours of gameplay, enough to get a feel for the game and enough to get a hook into players, released for free a month or two in advance of the game itself. Maybe not concerning the protagonist, but rather some event that sets the main game in motion.
  
• If P:E is intended to be anywhere near them, assurances like: "At this level, the game will be at least as long as PS:T" or "will have at least as much content as BG2"
  
• Package "additional companion/race/quests/enemies/art assets" as "added exotic local". Going from Athkatla to a pirate island to the Sahaugin city to the Underdark - and having each of these act as a quest hub - was one of the coups of BG2.
  
• Free DLC. "At this level, we'll produce /x/ free DLC packs with as much content as F:NV's packs" or "At this level, we will continue developing content for P:E for /x/ months after its release". Allows you to extend the development period without extending the development period.
  
• Expansion packs. "At this level we'll produce a Tales of the Sword Coast/Throne of Bhaal/etc old-timey style expansion".
  
• In-game community support. Ways to rank, view, download and install fan-made content from inside the game. Also, detailed statistics tracking and comparison: "You have killed more mermen than 97% of players", "You have reloaded fewer times than 6% of players", etc
  
• Modding tools.
  
• Co-op?
  
• More companions.
  
• Release of game assets under some copyleft license.
  
• A small yet fully functional city simulatosaofffffffff
  

Edited October 2, 2012 by coffeetable

[cyberarmy]

• In-game community support. Ways to rank, view, download and install fan-made content from inside the game. Also, detailed statistics tracking and comparison: "You have killed more mermen than 97% of players", "You have reloaded fewer times than 6% of players", etc
  

 

Your suggestions are good but thats the best part Recently "Walking Dead" an adventure game did this and did it well.

[Sensuki]

I'm probably just going to second a lot of things already mentioned

 

- More assets (weapons, monster models etc)

- Major sidequest / faction quests is a good idea

- Hire extra artists / programmers etc etc - like the Wasteland 2 Chris Avellone thing, that was a good money booster

- Orchestral soundtrack

- Hire some of our old voice actor favourites from Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, PS:T (Kevin Michael Richardson, Jim Cummings etc etc, you probably know who your favourites were)

- Documentary

- Russian, Polish, Italian translations is definitely a good idea

[norolim]

For free:

• address the rumors about level scaling,
  
• work with some talented community members and impement some of their work in the game, e.g. Armand.
  

Below 3.0M:

• add Polish, Russian and Italian translation,
  
• bring in some of the artists the community has been asking for, e.g. Justin Sweet.
  

Over 3.0M:

• add a Realism Mod: hunger and thirst mechanics with various sources of food and water; resting/sleeping mechanics; dynamic weather affecting skills and magic; setting up camps etc. (se here for more),
  
• add more companions and allow us to substitute those currently in the party, in case they are injured,
  
• for some of the stretch goals above 3.0M introduce one huge enemy (in addition those that will be in the game regardless) with super AI that will use excellent tactics (as opposed to stupid dragons just sitting in the midle of a small cave flapping wings) and will be a challenge even for an experienced party (and will be optional to fight, of course); e.g. dragons, titans, hydras, phoenixes, etc.,
  
• add a fortress for the player to conquer, own and defend; that comes with villages that can be visited, taxed, supported or burned to the ground.
  

Over 4.0M:

• introduce banching plot that leads to completely alternative story paths (like in Witcher 2).
  

Over 10.0M:

• make the game a FPS with cover mechanics, zombies, birds as weapons, lot's of sex scenes, tower defense and RTS elements, level scaling (ups... I hear you're doing this one for free ) add a red, green and blue ending, make dialogues skippable, or get rid of them altogether; make it a f2p MMO with microtransactions...oh, and please cut the game in half and release the second part as 10 day one DLCs.
  

... ... ... ... joke, joke

Edited October 2, 2012 by norolim

[mieu]

........

Bigger Stretchgoal:Enhanced megadungeon! Megadungeon could have levels like in Ultima Underworld or descent to undermounting with the exploration, atmosphere, creatures and factions that make that game (UW) so great (if you have played it you will know what I mean) this would make it a none haque and slash grind to the lower levels.

and the reward for reaching the bottom? a path to a new area only accessible by completing the dungeon and quests in that dungeon (hey, or this might be an idea for an add on lol, Eternity Underworld!)

 

Idea for Tier:Access to a short " Prelude " chapter of the game unique for that tier level and above (idk, 6 months in advance of actual full game?) would not have be to long 1-3 hours , I for one would up my pledge for that

Edited October 2, 2012 by mieu

[Theobeau]

My 2 cents which has been stated before.

 

1/ Why not have a grand and outlandish stretch goal target at say the $3M mark, something so cool that many of us would consider upping our pledge.

 

2/ Given my past experience with BI/Interplay and OBS cRPG games you guys should do a grand job with the mega dungeon.

 

3/ More granularity in pledge tiers should increase the numbers of current backers willing to up their pledges.

 

Cheers!

[Dianjabla]

I like the mega dungeon idea, or at least, I hope I will. When I hear it I think of Durlag's Tower, the Severed Hand, Dorne's Deep maybe even Watcher's Keep. The first three had such interesting stories behind them and Durlag's tower had puzzles to boot.

 

Modding tools would be nice - but they're not a make or break for me. The infinity engine has a bunch of fan made ones that's kept the games alive. I know it all depends on how it works out with the Unity Engine bundling content, but hey, my 2c.

 

More companions, more stories, more depth to the cities & towns, the ability to break into almost every home in the city. Not much there if you did in BG1, but some times there was. In BG2, there was Kangaxx or the twisted Rune... that was fun.

 

Branching story lines. And I don't mean just how the ending turns out for which faction & for you & your companions. I mean choose a path at one point and the next half of the game is different. The whole premise of the ending has changed. Want to play all those other quests and meet those people you'll never see because of that descision? Play again. Obviously not all choices will be like this. But maybe said choice is not necessarily tied to which faction(s) you back like FO:NV was. This would be something different, and no doubt, expensive. It may conflict with where you already wished to take the story.

 

Oh, and strongholds if that's not what the players home already is. They were fun. The ones in FO3 & FONV, not so much - once you got them, you looted some stuff, dumped stuff there and... so what?

Edited October 2, 2012 by Dianjabla

[CommissarMega]

If I may, could I suggest an item or items that level with you? It would make a great way to personalize a piece of iconic equipment outside the crafting system.

 

Other than that, all i want is for you guys to make what you already have much better by focusing more resources on them, but that's not very exciting, sorry

 

EDIT: Oh, i have an idea!

 

At $3 million, give us romances.

 

At $5 million, promise Chris Avellone will not write them.

 

You'll have a stronger economy than Europe in hours, I tell you.

Edited October 2, 2012 by CommissarMega

[Rabain]

Personally I trust you guys to make a great game, all I really want from it is a crap tonne of content. I want zones galore and quests and mobs to meet and/or fight in those zones.

 

At the moment we have no idea how big the game is. I want something on the scale of BG1's world map with the detail of BG2's within those areas with the characters populating the areas as detailed as PST's.

[Rozkurwiciel]

Enchanting and Crafting was not included in 1.1 plan? I'm disappointed. I suppose you will reach the 2.4mln quite easily and very soon but if I see 2.6mln 'Add magic and ressurecting new stretch goal!' I will strongly reconsider buying the game before it's released.

 

My suggestion:

- System of customization in magic. Traits helping altering existing spells like: bigger mana cost for bigger land of the effect of the spell or damage. Next traits let extend the old limit and make altering existing spells a little more profitable.

- Plethora of animations and models of the same creatures. One monster: 2-3 different models. 3-4 animations of attack, 1-2 animations of casting a spell.

- Improve AI getting rid of the stupid fog and stuck related issues.

[manaf]

My Suggestions

 

 

1.Different attacking styles(Dual wielding,sword and shield,two handed sword,small single sword,martial arts)

2.Different look to the characters according to the Physical statistics(strength 18/00 very tall and muscular,dexterity 18 very lean and athletic etc.).And this should apply to fighting styles.Dexterity 18 fighter should be more nimble and be fighting in more swashbuckler style of fighting instead of a big brute.

3.Intellectual skills adds a bit more vocabulary to the speech of the protaganist and it can also depend on the background of the character.

4.Six issue comic book mini series by Chris Avellone which could be offered digitally via Comixology to 50$+ backers and the physical collected trade paperback for 150$+ backers and of course should be sold commercially as well preferably in early 2013 which can increase awareness about the game and can work as an advertisement and create some money. Approach Dark Horse Comics,they do good franchise comics like Mass Effect,Dragon Age,Buffy etc.

all these can be smaller stretch goals.

4.Working cloaks,please please please

For a larger stretch goals

 

1.Add some people with some legacy in Infinity engine games like Justin Sweet,Mark Morgan etc

 

2.As the largest stretch goal, more voice overs,make it 1 million$ extra after everything else and make it into a fully voiced game.

[Sensuki]

wrong thread

Edited October 2, 2012 by Sensuki

[Kennyrules]

I've seen a number of Big Ass Stretch Goals that would make me dump more money into this. I'm gonna list them and a few of my own as well.

 

-Full Orchestral Score: I don't know if you guys realize just how much a good soundtrack enhances a game. Music can be the difference between an emotional scene and a crying-in-the-fetal-position level of immersement. For example, the phrase "This was your father's sword." is a very emotionally charged phrase. Add into that the same musical score that played when you watched your father die? That takes things to another level.

 

-Full voice acting: this is ridiculous, I know. But you wanted a big ass stretch goal. At the very least, I want all major characters fully voiced. Jon Irenicus will forever be one of my favorite villains simply because of his voice. "You dare to attack me here?" It made him come alive to the point that I got chills when that little pixellated man showed up.

 

-Epic Character Portraits: If somebody is important, I want to see their face. Also part of why Irenicus was f***ing amazing as a villain.

 

-F***-tons of content: 'nuff said. I'm paying for a game. Give me more of said game. This includes aspects that have been suggested, such as a new city, aquatic adventure, new continent, branching storylines, minigames, megadungeons, books to read in-game, etc. If you stick more content into the game, I will like it. I'm not even picky, just give me more stuff to spend my time and attention on. Give me a world to explore.

 

-Personal Fortress/City/etc: Basically, I have really fond memories of building my own stronghold in morrowind, or helping the De'arnise stronghold in BG2. I don't know why, but it feels more awesome to me. You could probably do this with the player house easily enough. But it's something I'd like to see. I know this fits under the "more content" section, but I felt it was worth specifically mentioning, because I would specifically raise my pledge for this.

 

-Free DLC: Look, we all understand why DLC happens. You have deadlines, they need to be met to keep people from stabbing you with a spork. You have content you still want to make. So you stick it in a DLC. That's fine, really. If you need to focus on the core game and finish it up by the deadline you've listed, then do that. I would much prefer you take your time and do the game well. Just tell us what stretch goal we need to meet to make all the not-yet-finished content free when you do release it.

 

So yeah. Those are the ones that really jumped out at me. If I really had to pick a very big stretch goal that I wanted more than the others, it'd be:

 

-Orchestral Soundtrack: Seriously. I want this. I want this. The music makes such a huge difference in the game, and I really, really, really can't tell you how big a sell this would be for me.

 

and, if we reach that...

 

-Full Voice Acting: I know voicing characters is a pain. It's one of those cherry-on-top features that is easy to cut out. Please don't. It's the next thing that makes a game stand out for me. I can tolerate a mediocre story, if it's delivered in a memorable way. Give these characters voices and I'll remember them forever. Remember "Heya, it's me. Imoen!" or "Minsc and Boo stand ready!" from BG? That was a decade ago for me. And those phrases are things that I still remember fondly. Do voice acting and musical scores together, and you can really tug at people's heartstrings.

 

 

 

That's all I got. Whether you take my vote or not, I trust you guys to make a good game. You have before, I believe you will again. So I am still excited. I appreciate you asking our opinions, and I appreciate the fact that all of you at Obsidian are making this particular type of game. Just do what you do and make a fun game. That's all I'm really asking.

Edited October 2, 2012 by Kennyrules

[Schnitzel]

1. We have Mega-dungeon right? So why don`t make it like stairs to the underworld or something (with own factions, npc, weapons etc).So when you reach it this will affect somehow on the upper-world.(war, smuggling etc)
   
2. Proper fighting animation like in NWN (parry etc)
   
3. Stronghold with your own army that can become a new side of conflict.
   
4. Features with souls like- in memory travels/consumption/ or placement in weapon.
   
5. Curses! Curses (like in Baldur's gate) on weapons, armor or something like undroppable sack of potato.
   
6. Magic system that requirer sacrifice from you to do high tier spells - like demon`s possession, or health/charisma/etc reduction or some changes in your appearance.Also it would be nice if all spells could interact.Example enemy places something like oil floor spell and you just use your fireball and baam.
   
7. In game mini-games (maybe with perk), gambling.
   
8. Novice-........-...........- Master system. You can lvl up you`r skills by standard method but title gives you something special (item, skill or just boost).Maybe some Elite classes will fit in this system.
   
9. Necromancy - in almost every game necromancy is prohibited.But what if you want to fill your stronghold with undead army?
   
10. Low intellect/charisma options.
    

[Sensuki]

Actually yeah I am going to chuck double stress on more assets such as monster models

 

that's something that REALLY went down the drainpipe after Baldur's Gate 2.

[Guest]

I thought one of the most interesting things to come out of the Double Fine Adventure documentary so far is watching Schafer go back and play Day of the Tentacle. I think having some of the designers go back and do a retrospective on some of their older games in video or written form would be a cool backer reward.

[Gecimen]

If you're ever dreaming of 4m, then put a stretch goal 4m- romance (f on f included)

[Arkeus]

Ok, a few things:

 

Under 3 Mil:

-Polish, Italian, Russian translation

-Makes all areas fuller: make sure everyone has a little dialog here and there, a little anedoct that will make the world feel real.

-Have more than one big city: Remember Akathla, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter? Have more than one of those, and make sure that each has the same amount of quest as Akhatla had.

 

Above 3 mil:

-Orchestra

-An Arena, with not only a long ass sidequest, but an Arena that can be used as an Arena, to fight against both powerful monsters and characters. Increases fame and so on.

 

4 Mil:

Ok, i know this one will be divisive, but i loved SoZ overland map. I want the map travel to be like that. PLEASE.

[ogrezilla]

@Kennyrules

 

A lot of that is cool, but I am actively rooting against full voice acting. It severely limits the amount of different things characters can say. It works better the more linear a game is. At the very least, I hope the PC doesn't have a voice at all.

[Kennyrules]

Well, I suppose that's a fair point. I still love voice acting. Even if we didn't have full voice acting, I'd want certain key plot points or events to be voiced over.

[LadyCrimson]

Well, I suppose that's a fair point. I still love voice acting. Even if we didn't have full voice acting, I'd want certain key plot points or events to be voiced over.

I thought things like the brief callouts of BG like "Minsc and Boo stand ready" might be in there (altho I'm not sure about that, maybe it's been said somewhere that they weren't). I'd definitely like at least that level of vocals in the game.

 

"Full voice acting" to me makes me think of modern rpg's ala Skyrim or FNV, where companions have long winded speeches and opinions and all npc-to-player-character dialogues are voiced and/or animated, vs. it just being done via a single "Heya!" then text-only boxes....and I have no personal need/desire to have that in P.E.

Edited October 2, 2012 by LadyCrimson