New stretch goals for companions and wilderness areas?

[lordgizka]

I'm not sure how much money can the backer portal without Kickstarter actually yield, but I'll probably donate something to the promise of more companions.

 

The fact that this came up more than a year after the original KS is not a good sign though. 

[FleaKill]

The fact that this came up more than a year after the original KS is not a good sign though. 

 

Very true - I voted no, because I think now is not a good time to expand the scope. As many have said, leave it for the expansion (which I will kickstart if I have to)

[Karmablast]

I'm down with it. I always thought BG2 could have used more open-ended wilderness areas--it seemed to sacrifice BG1's sheer size for better looking maps and more directionality. And companion characters are the reason I played Infinity Engine games. My only concern is whether it would be better using the time to add more depth to the existing companions, but I would much prefer that all of the classes be represented in the game, and having more characters to banter with each other would surely add depth anyway. You've got my money!

[ShadySands]

 

Where's my dislike button?

Anyway, if you want "move on" try Dragon Age: Origins. It moved on, with modern features like

* Less teammates

* Consolited user-interface

* Floaty HUD

* On-demand teammate talks

* Full (and thus very downsized) VO

* The modern interpration of RPG in those Dwarven tunnels or the endgame.

* EPICNESS

* And what not...

 

And then they moved on EVEN MORE with Dragon Age 2. Though somehow, you didn't like that? How odd. Radical change to 'modernism' seems to suit you better than keeping the good old and working on it to improve that according to the quoted post.

 

Now I'm confused what you want...

I actually really liked that you could always talk to your companions. Sure, they often didn't have much to say but I thought it was an improvement.

[Blako12]

My opinion is, is that we don't need more stretchgoals. More stretchgoals would mean more production time and the release date would be much later. Besides it presumes that the backer portal will make enough money to allow the stretchgoals to take place. I'm not sure that will happen. If there is any money to be made from the backer portal it should go towards the expansion pack production.

[smithereen]

"Would you like more stretch goals" isn't much of a question. Do you need more money to finish the game, and are asking if we would invest more? Are you asking if we would prefer to push back the release for more content? Why is this a question for fans?

[Co0n]

More Wilderness? Hell yeah!
that was what made BG1 so much better than BG2 (imho).

you could spend hours of exploring the wilds and you would find awesome stuff to do, or - just the wilds.
Those calm areas in between really gave me a sense of achievement when I found something cool and unexpected, be it a group of other adventurers, a dungeon or simply some people to talk to.

[Spike Spiegel 28]

Voted for yes so however I do think those stretch goals should rather go into an expansion than into the main game.

[ginger_hammer]

Yep I would like stretch goals added, to be included in future free DLC. Please also keep DLC/micro transactions to a minimum so we don't get any 'horse armor' or those type of things

[Keyrock]

I voted no, but it's a very slight no.  I understand putting up some new stretch goals might induce more new backers or people upping their pledges, which is good since it would mean more funding for Obsidian.  On the other hand, I don't want to see Obsidian get locked into something like "crap, we promised X number of more areas now we have to make them", I'd rather Obsidian had the flexibility to do whatever they felt was best with whatever new funding, even if that means just more polishing on the existing content, rather than feeling obligated to add more stuff because they promised more stuff.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Keyrock: My thoughts exactly, so I voted a tentative no as well.

[Dormin]

..new stretch goals that will include also other language localization 

[ilhdr]

I don't get all the worry with the release date, the game already received four times more Money than planned and the release date didn't move, it wouldn't be a few stretch goals that will made a difference.

[Stun]

^Release date moved a ton since the kickstarter's 1st day. We've gone from April 2014 (what the Kickstarter page said), to Winter 2014 (what the backer portal says). So.... 8 months?

 

Not sure what caused this.... oh wait. Yes I do. The stretch goals they added after day three. 1) second big city; 2)15 level Mega Dungeon 3) Stronghold 4) more classes 5) more companions 6) more races 7) more game modes.

 

Of course, we could look at this and say... well #1-7 only caused an 8 month delay, therefore, a few new wilderness areas and 3 new companions shouldn't cause a delay of more than a month or two. But I'm pretty sure that's a giant oversimplification of things and I doubt the process works that way at all.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Stun

[forgottenlor]

^Release date moved a ton since the kickstarter. We've gone from April 2014 (what the Kickstarter page said), to Winter 2014 (what the backer portal says).

Which is understandable considering they made 4X as much money as originally planned for the April date.

[Lephys]

 

^Release date moved a ton since the kickstarter. We've gone from April 2014 (what the Kickstarter page said), to Winter 2014 (what the backer portal says).

Which is understandable considering they made 4X as much money as originally planned for the April date.

 

 

And yet, less than 4X the production timeline! 8D

 

Efficiency, FTW!

 

[Ieo]

Something occurred to me (and maybe someone else in this thread).... There's only talk of stretch goals for companions (and wilderness, but I'll concentrate on companions) in the monetary sense and without any comment about time commitment. It's a well-known fact by now that it takes Avellone 2-3 months to write a party NPC "at his speediest" from an interview, and he's going to be moving to that Tides of whatever out of this project, so who would be writing the companions? My expectations are at PS:T level, and Avellone wrote all of those characters; if someone else ends up writing the additional ones, I'm even less interested... Hmm.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

While Obsidian haven't dropped the ball, I can't help feel they've fumbled a little with the Backer site. If they had the site up a couple / few months ago, Obsidian would've had a revenue stream coming in with new backers that could've upped their pledges from the Slacker Backer tier including additional funds with the addons. And there should be an option with being able to go back and select an addon with your current order, which would be more money for Obsidian.

 

Obsidian could've had the new stretch goals announced earlier and up on the Backer site already with more money coming in. Now that it's a week before Christmas, we won't see these new stretch goals added until Obsidian come back from holidays. Maybe mid January or February. And then there's the new Kickstarter game Obsidian wants to do hopefully in March or April. It all feels a little rushed at the moment.

Edited December 18, 2013 by Hiro Protagonist II

[Silent Winter]

And there should be an option with being able to go back and select an addon with your current order, which would be more money for Obsidian.

Apparently they're working on this:

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/64751-cant-ever-get-addons-in-the-future/?p=1400359 (quote below)

 

 

We are looking into adding the ability to upgrade Tiers and have additional purchases of Addons.

 

We'll be sending out a backer update when we get it added to the Backer Portal.

 

 

 

But I agree that it would've been better to get these things sorted sooner.

(Though I guess they were busy working on the game itself)

[Thrasher91604]

More likely they've spread themselves too thin with too many projects occupying the same people.

[drgonzo]

More wilderness please. I'll gladly pledge more money.

[Jymm]

I see no harm in putting up additional stretch goals.  I have to believe that seasoned devs like Obsidian know what they would have to ask for in resources to pay for the additional work. They won't risk their existing scope and quality for this.  If their pitch is strong then people will vote with their wallets.  If the pitch is weak then we won't fund the request and no change happens.  I understand it may mean some small extension of release date, and if so I can live with that if it means I'm getting even more game for my money.  That's my take, anyway.

[Grace85]

Give us more wilderness! I just love exploring every detail of a map. The more, the better. It also opens up other possibilty's like sub-quests, companions, etc...

 

 

"Aaah.. The great outdoors"

 

[FunGrinder]

MONK CLASS QUEST!!

 

<Throws money wildly at developers>

 

<Flees the scene giggling like a maniac>

[Valorian]

Wilderness areas.