So what's the release date now?

[Marceror]

I wonder what % of Kickstarter backers will be dead when this is finally released. Or will have just plain forgotten about it.

[Falkon Swiftblade]

I read in one of the interviews they said 2nd half of 2014. Winter officially begins on December 21– March 19, so I sure hope not "winter!"

[Ward Dragon]

I love Obsidian's past games but had trouble with bugs.  I'm completely 100% fine with waiting an extra few months if it means they have time to properly bug-test the game now that they are finally free from a publisher demanding for the game to be released whether or not it's complete.

[Snake Eater]

The longer it takes them to finish it, the better I'll feel about the game. Dark Souls 2 will be coming out in March and that'll keep me pretty busy until PoE (not to be confused with Path of Exile) comes out.

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Late 2014 is a fine horizon, but ultimately I hope it's only released when it's done. Slings and arrows of delay are trivial to your flagship IP being incomplete, sloppy, and buggy. This game has everything to do with Obsidian's reputation. Budget could be used as an excuse for any precieved short-commings, sure--but I don't believe that will ultimately pass muster. Pillars of Eternity *must* succeed, and I trust that it will. I just want them to take as much time as required to do so.

[Wolfenbarg]

Congratulations Obsidian, by funding your game through Kickstarter you have effectively freed yourself from the shackles of a publisher. You will never again feel the shame of releasing a buggy or unfinished product because of strict deadlines. And now a word from the fans who made it possible.

 

Fans: I WANT GAME NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!11!!1ONE

 

Oh...

[Hassat Hunter]

I really wish KS projects would take their timelines a little more seriously.

 

If they did, everyone would complain how KS project games are bugridden, incomplete, and a very bad system.

Not exactly a good thing, right?

 

So they don't...

[Karkarov]

As long as "late 2014" doesn't mean third week of December I will be okay.  It would be really nice if they could get it out by late October or November though.

[Wolfenbarg]

Their development cycles in the past were about 18 months for games which already had an engine made. They started turning out assets pretty fast, and they seemed to have had a jump on pre-production before anything really got going. Two years flat seems about right, unless they present some massive stretch goals and people go crazy for them.

[Marceror]

As long as "late 2014" doesn't mean third week of December I will be okay.  It would be really nice if they could get it out by late October or November though.

It totally won't. Think December 31, 2013, and you're probably getting very warm.

[Halsy]

 

I really wish KS projects would take their timelines a little more seriously.

 

If they did, everyone would complain how KS project games are bugridden, incomplete, and a very bad system.

Not exactly a good thing, right?

 

So they don't...

 

No, that's just poor project management. You don't see these problems in any other commercial projects.  And you don't do things like add new stretch goals to a project over a year later. That's atrocious project management. There are very real reasons why specific dates need to be nailed down.

[Justinian]

I'm really happy to hear this. A solid timeframe with just enough vagueness to allow for some extra time and polish.

 

Makes the waiting harder though.

[Wolfenbarg]

 

 

I really wish KS projects would take their timelines a little more seriously.

 

If they did, everyone would complain how KS project games are bugridden, incomplete, and a very bad system.

Not exactly a good thing, right?

 

So they don't...

 

No, that's just poor project management. You don't see these problems in any other commercial projects.  And you don't do things like add new stretch goals to a project over a year later. That's atrocious project management. There are very real reasons why specific dates need to be nailed down.

 

Uh... what? You mean you've NEVER heard of someone adding things to production and delaying as a result? Games add features, movies rewrite or reshoot scenes, corporations modify their product line. People make changes if it will make a better product. It's fine as long as there's an underlying idea that the product must ship at some point. I mean in this industry specifically, it's pretty much a 50-50 for a game to release on its initial announced date. For a lot of companies it's not normal for them to not announce a delay at some point.

[Zeckul]

December 2014 would be my guess. I do hope they don't add more features and push back the release date even more. I'd welcome an expansion pack though

[Hassat Hunter]

No, that's just poor project management. You don't see these problems in any other commercial projects.  And you don't do things like add new stretch goals to a project over a year later. That's atrocious project management. There are very real reasons why specific dates need to be nailed down.

No, it's most KS project starters having NO idea how long it takes to make a game.

Their management may be good, but producing it on that exact time, it will still be crap.

 

So you're saying you would really want Obsidian to still hold true to the May 2014 release date rather than the Winter 2014, because they stated that on their KS? Really?

 

Non-game projects get delayed all the time too. There's a reason management tools have "projected end dates" and "actual end dates", which are used to better guess the duration of future projects.

[Stun]

Congratulations Obsidian, by funding your game through Kickstarter you have effectively freed yourself from the shackles of a publisher. You will never again feel the shame of releasing a buggy or unfinished product because of strict deadlines. And now a word from the fans who made it possible.

 

Fans: I WANT GAME NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!11!!1ONE

 

Oh...

LOL

 

Yeah, I understand impatience. But we're all long time gamers, and we've all gotten hyped up for a game we thought would be great, only to see it littered by Bugs, lack of polish, lack of wholeness, rushed endings etc. And then we learn later that the reason for all the above is because it had to be pushed it out the door prematurely to satisfy a publisher's quarterly projections or schedules. The end result, of course is that we ended up getting a game that screamed: Squandered Potential here! ie. could have been great but ended up being crap. Why? Because it was rushed to the consumer to make a quick buck.

 

Me personally, I'm interested in seeing the results of a 2-year+ Dev cycle for a 2d isometric game that gets released only when its creators believe its ready. And you all should be thinking the same way.

Edited December 14, 2013 by Stun

[Walsingham]

 

Congratulations Obsidian, by funding your game through Kickstarter you have effectively freed yourself from the shackles of a publisher. You will never again feel the shame of releasing a buggy or unfinished product because of strict deadlines. And now a word from the fans who made it possible.

 

Fans: I WANT GAME NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!11!!1ONE

 

Oh...

LOL

 

Yeah, I understand impatience. But we're all long time gamers, and we've all gotten hyped up for a game we thought would be great, only to see it littered by Bugs, lack of polish, lack of wholeness, rushed endings etc. And then we learn later that the reason for all the above is because it had to be pushed it out the door prematurely to satisfy a publisher's quarterly projections or schedules. The end result, of course is that we ended up getting a game that screamed: Squandered Potential here! ie. could have been great but ended up being crap. Why? Because it was rushed to the consumer to make a quick buck.

 

Me personally, I'm interested in seeing the results of a 2-year+ Dev cycle for a 2d isometric game that gets released only when its creators believe its ready. And you all should be thinking the same way.

 

 

I'm not sure it's entirely fair to blame the publishers. They have very clear needs: release on time, sell the projected amount to the projected people in the projected time.

 

Unless the publisher jumps the release date forward then it either means the devs weren't up to the job, or the design was too ambitious in the first place.

 

However, as you say, I think kickstarter (and others) are awesome because they simply say 'deliver the designed features'. Hard to beat it.

[Tauron]

So realistic date to expect beta would be sometimes in fall, late summer?

[MotelOK]

Arg I was hoping the release date was April. Well there's still other stuff to play in the meantime.

[Kionter]

I hope it is sometime next year

[ShadySands]

I'm calling it now

 

March 2015

[Helm]

Release Date: Winter 2014

https://eternity.obsidian.net/buy

Kind of funny that they say the game is coming out in Winter 2014. Winter 2014 could mean January or February, or the last 10 days of December. :D

[Eldryth]

 

Release Date: Winter 2014https://eternity.obsidian.net/buy

Kind of funny that they say the game is coming out in Winter 2014. Winter 2014 could mean January or February, or the last 10 days of December. :D

True, but December's the only real possibility there. The original planned date was in April, and it wouldn't be pushed forward.

Not sure why they wouldn't just say December.

 

Anyway, I'm more interested in when beta is starting. Added another $25 when the backer portal opens to get the beta addon because I didn't want to wait for the delay!

[Ningaubel]

I can wait. It its polished enough let it go...

[Bryy]

I really wish KS projects would take their timelines a little more seriously.

 

While I agree with you, and I do in no way think (like a lot of backers of other projects do) that they should have all the time in the world, they are doing this face-to-face with us.

 

You don't think publishers ever say "I wish devs would be more realistic with their timelines"?

 

Why do you think nobody works with Shafer?