some questions regarding kickstarter

[astreqwerty]

Lemme get this straight:I just found out about this project eternity and almost had a heart attack. It is exactly what I had been dreaming in a rpg and hopelessly sought it in recent rpgs. And seeing how bioware is going all nuts with developers retireing here and there and development cycles diminished to one and a half years I was almost certain my dreams wouldnt realize. These news however have my faith restored

BUT:....

 

: There are some details that need a catering to such as

Are we supposed to fund the game and then go out and buy it too? Because srsly in my mind thats a very faulty logic. I dont want this culmination of a perfect game to go underbudgeted but I m certainly not dishing dem 200 euros on it too. So someone help me out on this one how is this supposed to work out?When do we now the game has gathered a respectable amount?Is 3 million enough?more than enough?measly?are they using this project to build their own malibu dream house?what is the average budget of a video game these days?is there a time limit up to which we cannot donate any more?

 

Oh and to clear something out: I am not willing to donate anything as of yet.When there is some tangible evidence(eg: gameplay) about what they are stating other than their sincere words (because come on now ,bioware is the ***** these days but well obsidian has handed plenty of that in the past with their buggy games) I will be all willing to fund too but not quite yet

 

off topic: Alpha was THE game for me..full of bugs,sure, but very ballsy game thats why i have this weird feeling that its worth the risk this time

[Monte Carlo]

I think you might want to spend some time maybe looking at the updates and browsing this forum. All the answers are there.

 

In short, by backing this project at $25 you get a copy of this game. I am 100% sure it will be done.

[santanzchild]

You donate on the Kick Starter Website

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

And no your donation (past the initial level at the top) secures you a copy of the game. If you look through the updates on the kickstarter page they have some concept art and a screen shot from in the engine. The kickstarter ends in 61 hours and we are over $3m in pledges so go read through the page and do what you need to do. Just know that every dollar donated helps obsidian make this the game that we have all been waiting for someone to make.

[sesobebo]

pretty much everything is on the kickstarter page (the tiers are described in detail here)

 

every pledge of $25 and up guarantees You at least the digital download of the game, when it'll be finished. (otherwise this would be called stock exchange)

 

the big counter on the page is for when this funding campaign stops; that's also when the money from Your CC is collected. paypal payments will probably be possible after this kickstarter ends, but don't count on all the reward tiers still being there.

 

all the money is promised to go towards making the game. the more they get, the more people can work on it = the bigger the game.

(big modern games can cost tens of millions of dollars - but huuuge chunks of this money go for marketing, voice actors, CG scenes etc.)

 

the question is basically: do You trust them with $25 to make the [great] game they've promised ($45 with expansion that will go in the works right after the main game)?

 

and here's a pic of what it'll look like:

[astreqwerty]

You donate on the Kick Starter Website

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

And no your donation (past the initial level at the top) secures you a copy of the game. If you look through the updates on the kickstarter page they have some concept art and a screen shot from in the engine. The kickstarter ends in 61 hours and we are over $3m in pledges so go read through the page and do what you need to do. Just know that every dollar donated helps obsidian make this the game that we have all been waiting for someone to make.

I thought they just had a goal that expires in 60 hours!But i am not yet sold! How can i trust them especially after the fiascos of DS3 and kotor2?? I thought id had plenty of time to browse through the details and decide but it seems we are pressed here..

[Monte Carlo]

I am usually capable of making a half-decent decision in less than five minutes dude.

 

You have until Wednesday.

[Rabain]

I thought they just had a goal that expires in 60 hours!But i am not yet sold! How can i trust them especially after the fiascos of DS3 and kotor2?? I thought id had plenty of time to browse through the details and decide but it seems we are pressed here..

 

There are 22 Updates on the kickstarter page, start reading and watching!

[santanzchild]

You donate on the Kick Starter Website

http://www.kickstart...roject-eternity

And no your donation (past the initial level at the top) secures you a copy of the game. If you look through the updates on the kickstarter page they have some concept art and a screen shot from in the engine. The kickstarter ends in 61 hours and we are over $3m in pledges so go read through the page and do what you need to do. Just know that every dollar donated helps obsidian make this the game that we have all been waiting for someone to make.

I thought they just had a goal that expires in 60 hours!But i am not yet sold! How can i trust them especially after the fiascos of DS3 and kotor2?? I thought id had plenty of time to browse through the details and decide but it seems we are pressed here..

 

The kick starter has been running for a month so there was time to decide but just read all the updates on the KS page watch the videos and make your choice. You either trust obsidion to make a game worth your investment or you dont. Without publishers being in the mix I trust obsidion more with this model then I do with there traditional releases. They will finally have the freedom to do what they think they should do.

[Loranc]

You donate on the Kick Starter Website

http://www.kickstart...roject-eternity

And no your donation (past the initial level at the top) secures you a copy of the game. If you look through the updates on the kickstarter page they have some concept art and a screen shot from in the engine. The kickstarter ends in 61 hours and we are over $3m in pledges so go read through the page and do what you need to do. Just know that every dollar donated helps obsidian make this the game that we have all been waiting for someone to make.

I thought they just had a goal that expires in 60 hours!But i am not yet sold! How can i trust them especially after the fiascos of DS3 and kotor2?? I thought id had plenty of time to browse through the details and decide but it seems we are pressed here..

 

A lot of people actually liked DS3 so not sure what fiascos you're talking about. Now Kotor2 on the other hand was pushed out the door (most likely due to publishers), which is why they started the kick starter in the first place. They specifically said that it's near impossible to make an rpg like this these days due to greedy publishers and other factors. That's why Indie rpg's have become so popular lately because all the big budget rpgs have failed us due to things of that nature. (I have no specifics because i'm not in the gaming industry so I'd rather not make a fool of myself by pointing specifics.)

 

Look at Mass Effect 3 compared to Mass Effect 1. They got rid of city exploration, and world exploration. They reduced the size of the maps, focused on multiplayer, and released a controversial ending that spiked big news across the interwebs. The game was still long, but i'll be damned if I put half the hours into 3 that I did 1. It had the same level of voice acting, so what changed? Multiplayer was focused on and still is with that game. Gaming companies make shady deals with people like EA and things start to turn into Hollywood stereotypical movies.

 

Even Dragon Age 2 took some steps back, the gameplay-combat system was phenomenal. But, you're basically stuck in the same city the entire game, you'd think they would have made that 'one' city amazing to look at. But it was all bland and meh... then you get to looking at how they handled DLC's. The day the game released there was a DLC for a companion...... seriously?

 

I guess what i'm saying is you can trust them because 'we' are the publishers. They're taking our feedback, our information and communicating with us on a level that is far and beyond what gaming companies do these days. They've cut out the middle man and gone straight to the people who pay and play the game. You can trust them because they can't have this project fail, Adam and his team are kind of putting their careers on the line with this game. Imagine if they only went at it half arsed and the project failed completely, who would ever purchase another game they made again? If you look at it that way, they are not in any way going to let us down because this is their career, and it's how they make a living to take care of their families.

 

But that's just my opinion on the matter, and this is how Obsidian makes me feel when I think about PE.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxprUs_WAso

Edited October 14, 2012 by Loranc

[cdx]

Lemme get this straight:I just found out about this project eternity and almost had a heart attack. It is exactly what I had been dreaming in a rpg and hopelessly sought it in recent rpgs. And seeing how bioware is going all nuts with developers retireing here and there and development cycles diminished to one and a half years I was almost certain my dreams wouldnt realize. These news however have my faith restored

 

For $25. Looks like you know what you want to do.

 

As for bugs - a kickstarter community project with thousands willing beta testers and open file formats.. I'd say bugs will be taken care of.

[Bloody Hypocrite]

ONE OF US! ONE OF US!

[santanzchild]

Just dont forget your extra $8 donation for your Obsidion Order dues lol

[Theobeau]

Loranc's very detailed post summarises why many people here have confidence in Obsidian to deliver a fine, fine product quite well.

 

Read the updates on the KS page, consider the Infinity Engine games; think about whether your interested in playing a game of that build and make a decision about whether you want to pledge to the KS game.

 

While pledging to the Kickstarter campaign does that little bit to help meet the fund raising stretch goals, aside I think that the developers plan to keep the PayPal pledge option open past the closure of the KS campaign and it is likely that they will allow digital pre-orders (one of htel links from Update 22 I think).

 

Enjoying getting up to speed with the fundraising campaign.

[Zeyelth]

I'm backing this project with over 10 times what I'd normally pay for this type of game. Why? Isn't this insane? Kickstarter isn't a pre-order store, since you give them money upfront with no guarantees of success. Projects can fail, although in Obsidian's case, I find that possibility highly unlikely.

 

Considering the risks, why am I backing them? It's the ultimate chance to put my money where my mouth is. If I just wanted the game, then I would have probably waited until release, and bought it then. Less risk, but I would also forego some exclusives and influence over the project.

 

Will the final product live up to my expectations? Will it live up to yours? That depends on your expectations. Considering the vast number of opinions regarding what should and shouldn't be in the game, some portion of the backers are bound to be disappointed; you simply can't please everyone. In fact, trying to please everyone is a surefire way to create an inferior product. As such, I recommend keeping your expectations low, and your involvement high. That way, even if the game "fails", it won't hit you as hard, AND you will have learned a great deal about game development. Something which, intentionally or not, has traditionally been a rather closed process.

 

My reason for backing this project is partly because I miss proper CRPGs, and partly because I want to see what Obsidian can do without being "influenced" by a publisher. I want to see what happens if they succeed. Not only because I want a great game, but because I want to see what happens to the industry if crowd funding turns out to not only be viable, but also a way to produce better games with less risks for less money.

 

This is why I'm backing the project with over 10 times what I'd pay for a similar game at release; I'm not buying a game, I'm contributing to what I consider is a positive evolution of game development and the industry as a whole.

[Althernai]

I thought they just had a goal that expires in 60 hours!But i am not yet sold! How can i trust them especially after the fiascos of DS3 and kotor2?? I thought id had plenty of time to browse through the details and decide but it seems we are pressed here..

You have an unpleasant, but nevertheless valid point here: Obsidian doesn't exactly have a track record of games universally acknowledged to be nearly flawless masterpieces. However, there are a few reasons I think that they should be given a chance.

 

1) Nobody makes these games anymore and Obsidian includes some people who have made the best of them. If you have been wanting a game like this and complaining about the good old days for a long time (as, for example, I have), it's time to put your money where your mouth is because there just aren't any better companies left that can make it. The others are either gone altogether or transformed beyond recognition.

 

2) Obsidian's games have not been perfect, but much of the trouble clearly stems from the publisher forcing them to release it too soon in order to meet artificial deadlines. This will not be the case here: there are no publishers so their only constraint is money and they got a lot more of it than they initially asked for. We do have to trust them to budget things properly and not overreach, but that's a relatively small risk.

 

3) This one might be difficult to understand for people who don't work in creative fields: such work can be divided into categories. The first category is stuff you do because people are paying you for it whereas the second is stuff you do because you really want to. If you go through all of the updates and promotional material, you'll see that Project Eternity falls into the second category: this is the game the various Obsidian employees have really wanted to make, but they've been stuck with designing console games because those are financially viable. In my experience, people who are working not just because this is what they are paid for, but because this is what they want to do are much more efficient. Thus, it's not unreasonable to expect a better game than Obsidian has ever made.