Rejoice! Black Isle Bastards 100% funded! Stretch goal: 55% funded! Thank you everyone!

[Fluffle]

The tombstones are different in so far as you could write a message and it was taken 1 by 1 into the game. That will not happen again anyway, so don't worry.

 

You know, Obsidian could just write any book ingame and hide a secret message within that could lead to a treasure.

 

Just that in option B) we could provide some input and Obsidian would work with this input and turn it into something that fits into the book and the game and its lore.

 

So it would differ very much from the tombstones.

[Korin_Haller]

Ok, I thought about some other posibilities and here's what went in my mind:

1. Bard in tawern singing about the BIB (White March wise).
2. Achievement called Tribute to the BIB for doing some quest.


Nothing special, but mabey at least this will help give any ideas to you guys

[Boeroer]

I like B) best. That way you're most flexible in how you want to be presented.

 

An achievement would also be nice. Normally I don't care about them, but this is different.

[Messier-31]

B) Put me in a capn's log.

 

I already have some fantasy names to pick mine from... so hard to decide.

[Fluffle]

Just remember though, no matter what we decide on, any input that you submit to Obsidian for this may be subject to change.

 

This also applies to names. So if you submit a name, then Obsidian is free to change it into a name that better fits into the game.

But you would hopefully still be able to recognize your name.

 

I just don't want to raise false expectations here. This is necessary so that what happened with the tombstones does not happen again.

Whatever you submit may be subject to change by Obsidian. As such there is no guarantee you would recognize your submitted input.

 

I think that's why option A may have one advantage over the others. Obsidian wouldn't have to change the input

so that it fits into the game.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Fluffle

[Messier-31]

Just remember though, no matter what we decide on, any input that you submit to Obsidian for this may be subject to change.

(...)

I think that's why option A may have one advantage over the others.

 

Option A is fine, but you said it yourself:

 

B) In the game you can find a captain's log of the Black Isle Bastards. In that log you can read about the people they met on their journeys through the Deadfire Archipelago.

And our donors would represent those people.

 

Aarik told me about this idea. I think it was Adam's idea originally.

 

I think it's plausible.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Messier-31

[Fluffle]

I just wanted to make clear that you would not be able to submit "Fluffy Marshmallow" (for example) as a character name and expect Obsidian to put that into their game.

 

If we agree on submitting names, they must be reasonable, and Obsidian must be allowed to adjust/change them so that they better fit into the game.

Or they may ask you to come up with a new name altogether. Which they could also adjust/change.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Fluffle

[Fluffle]

Also we should limit the size of a captain's log if we are going for the log. Imagine we would get 50 or more backers in the end, then that log would be very long indeed.

 

So I suppose that we put a cap, like 20 people or maybe 30 - and the other way to make sure the log doesn't explode in size would be the amount of the donation required to be entered into the log.

 

I think, we may not even have to decide on one option. Let's say, we agree that 20 people can be mentioned in the captain's log. We could still additionally make option D for 10 other donors.

 

Oh and I just had a new idea:

 

E) Carve your name into the ship of the Black Isle Bastards. You represent a former member of the BIB and all BIBs have carved their names into planks of the ship.

[Korin_Haller]

I just wanted to make clear that you would not be able to submit "Fluffy Marshmallow" (for example) as a character name and expect Obsidian to put that into their game.

 

If we agree on submitting names, they must be reasonable, and Obsidian must be allowed to adjust/change them so that they better fit into the game.

Or they may ask you to come up with a new name altogether. Which they could also adjust/change.

Thats totally logical and I didn't even had in mind calling myself "The mighty unicorn" or something like that A fantasy name like Korin, or maybe even mixed with the real name if it fits into the game would be fine for us and Obsi team I think.

 

Also the E option sounds cool, though more toombstone like

Edited February 22, 2017 by Korin_Haller

[Lord_Mord]

C) Only if the parrot repeats the last words of those people. No names, no stories. Parrots dont tell stories and parrots dont usually tell you, who they are quoting.

otherwise

B)

[Fluffle]

Okay, so, let's make an observation:

 

This thread is soon going to have 7000 views. 122 people voted on the poll of this thread.

But only 26 people actually donated.

 

I have been spending much more time on this already than I intended.

 

My actual idea was to fund a Black Isle, therefore several weeks ago I put up this poll:

https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/91401-backing-a-black-isle-for-the-deadfire-archipelago/

 

105 people voted that they would join crowd funding a Black Isle. Then the developers decided to give us a Black Isle for free but at the same time

encouraged us to try to fund a pirate crew.

 

My naive assumption was the Black Isle Bastards would get the same support as the Black Isle.

I am beginning to realize that that is not the case.

 

From 122 people who voted on this poll, it seems that roughly about 100 people would not even spend $1 on this.

 

I do not judge you for that and this should not come off as a complaint (it's your money after all!), but as an observation.

I am not a fund raiser, and I don't want to have my own little crowd funding campaign here where I need to sweet talk people into donating their money.

 

Either the support is there based on the opening post or it is not.

 

I am very unsure what to do next, how to go on. I think the most realistic approach is to go for the item tier at $750.

 

At this point a huge thank you once again for the people who did donate on this.

But for the moment I would actually like to know what is keeping people from donating.

 

This was originally supposed to be a community project. You were to meet the Black Isle Bastards in the game and people would say "Hey, the Black Isle Bastards, those are from the Obsidian Community! How cool! Awesome!" or something like that.

 

Let me know what you think.

 

But spending so much time and effort on this was not what I initially signed up for.

[Messier-31]

I already donated, and should up my pledge when March starts - coz this isn't ending with Fig.

 

But yeah, it looks like flash in the pan.

[FlintlockJazz]

I haven't donated, my understanding was that this donation thing carried on past the fig campaign so we would have time later to donate and I am really strapped for cash at the moment (expecially since my car insurance renewal is coming up this Friday, which is going up a stupid amount due to a change in my address), so I was going to wait until after all my expenses were done this month before doing so.  Plus, when I initially voted I had made the mistake that this was to do with the $8 BIB pledge on fig and only realised after voting, so reading comprehension for the fail there.

[Fluffle]

This campaign will go on after the Fig campaign that is correct.

 

And I agree that the $8 dollars for the BIB badge may be confusing with this campaign. It was not my decision to separate these two things.

I actually did want to combine them.

 

Once again, please, do not misunderstand me. I do not intend to complain.

It is your money and you should know best where and when and how to spend it.

 

And I am very grateful to anyone who decides to spend their money on this!

 

I am merely curious by this ration of 122 voters on the poll and 26 backers. So it's about 21% of the voters who also decided to donate.

 

Okay so I gather from your replies that you are waiting for March and I understand that. Thank you for letting me know

Edited February 22, 2017 by Fluffle

[FlintlockJazz]

First, I want to say thanks for organising this Fluffle, it is appreciated.  

 

Second, I'm sure its just me who makes this kind of mistake, but it could be that many people are mistaking the $8 pledge as the donation.  Or more likely they are waiting for March due to monthly outgoings, including the pledges to the actual fig campaign itself which are going out shortly.  Once you have a deadline you will probably see a lot of last minute donations come in, as it becomes a "now or never" deal, but until then many people are probably holding off, either waiting to pay other things first since "there's no rush", or waiting to see if others donate first, especially with the "no refunds" even if we don't reach the target (which naturally becames a nasty cycle, no one donates because no one is donating).

[Fluffle]

or waiting to see if others donate first, especially with the "no refunds" even if we don't reach the target (which naturally becames a nasty cycle, no one donates because no one is donating).

 

Yes, I feared that actually. That's a vicious circle.

 

I have a friend and he pledged $5 on this and he said he was ready to donate more but only if we were going to reach our goal.

So naturally we would need more people to donate, but if everyone thinks like my friend, that's going to be a problem.

 

People don't donate because people are not donating.

 

Which is why I am even more grateful to the people who have actually donated despite this vicious circle.

We have managed to raise about $700 after all. So there are people who do donate despite this circle.

 

The main reason that I didn't allow refunds was that I thought that I had to pay the transaction fee then.

Turned out that I was wrong, PayPal would refund me the transaction fee. I didn't know that. I just found out.

Btw, PayPal only refunds the transaction fee if the refund happens within 180 days after the transaction. But that

should be a long enough period!

 

So in order to lift this vicious circle, shall we agree on that I allow refunds if we fail to reach the goal of $5000?

Edited February 22, 2017 by Fluffle

[Ninjamestari]

You could always keep track of those who want their money back and those who don't, so that those who don't want their money back don't have to make a separate donation, have a "money back in case of failure" option for those who donate. I'm not one of the donors, but I'd bet *some* of them would still wish their money to go for obsidian. Unless that is too much of a hassle ofc.

[Fluffle]

You could always keep track of those who want their money back and those who don't, so that those who don't want their money back don't have to make a separate donation, have a "money back in case of failure" option for those who donate. I'm not one of the donors, but I'd bet *some* of them would still wish their money to go for obsidian. Unless that is too much of a hassle ofc.

 

But they could always use the backer portal that is going to be set up after the Fig campaign if they wished to support Obsidian further.

 

So right now I tend to favor a fully automatic refund for everyone if we fail. I'll wait for more opinions on this first though.

 

And keeping track of who would like a refund and who would not could easily end up being a hassle.

[rheingold]

I think as said above, it's lacking momentum. Lots of people seem to be waiting to see if it's possible. It might be a good idea to let it run through March as presumably a fair number of people have blown their gaming budget for Feb.

I do know one particular issue that occurred to me.... People like getting something for their money, it can be something as simple as an in game space pig or game credits... Weird I know but there you have it. They are not getting anything like that out of this, not even a forum badge. I think that might be an issue. Somehow the bib badge needs to be connected to the pledge...

[gogocactus]

First of all, thank you very much for your hard work Fluffle. It is very much appreciated. Second of all, donate everyone! Let's at least get this up to $1500. If everything else fails, we can still comfort ourselves with the thought that we put a Black Isle Bastard out there in the form of the 'Be an NPC award' .

[Fluffle]

I think as said above, it's lacking momentum. Lots of people seem to be waiting to see if it's possible. It might be a good idea to let it run through March as presumably a fair number of people have blown their gaming budget for Feb.

I do know one particular issue that occurred to me.... People like getting something for their money, it can be something as simple as an in game space pig or game credits... Weird I know but there you have it. They are not getting anything like that out of this, not even a forum badge. I think that might be an issue. Somehow the bib badge needs to be connected to the pledge...

 

If you look one or two pages back we actually were discussing just that.

 

It is not weird that people want something for their money, that is very much humane.

 

The badge will not be connected to this. It should have been. As I said, I wanted that, but it was not my decision.

But we may find another way to give our donors a little token of recognition.

[Dr <3]

Big thumb up to fluffle for the organizzation

so far anyway.

 

Edit: how work the discord Channel? You must register?

Edited February 22, 2017 by Dr <3

[Fluffle]

Big thumb up to fluffle for the organizzation

so far anyway.

 

Edit: how work the discord Channel? You must register?

 

Yes, for the first time you need to register with an email address and a password. And you will use those in future to login

 

And thank you very much

Edited February 22, 2017 by Fluffle

[DexGames]

Hail, Hail ! Deadfire Pirates ! We're on board !!!

 

 

PS : Added to the Ship Combat Soundtracks ? Ahah :D 

[Korin_Haller]

/Korin walks forward of the crew members, looks in the troubled face of his captain, thinks for a moment, and eventually says:

Fluffy Marshmallow, Captain. No matter the odds, no matter the danger and hardship, there are people among this crew that will always go with you. We are grateful for your

dedication and hard work, and want to be with you to the end.