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[Berordn]

Well, this thread clearly proves that only games based on successful genres can sell.

Adventure games were a successful genre, once. Publishers just forgot that. Megaman Legends has never been successful by Capcom's metric, apparently.

Double Fine was able to get $600,000 overnight. MML3 couldn't even get 100,000 likes on Facebook over a week.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

There are a lot of nerds with disposable income out there it seems.

While I applaud their passion, I hate seeing a name like Double Fine basically stealing attention away from smaller Kickstarter campaigns by individuals who actually need funding to help a project take off. DF, for example has no "need" for funding for an adventure game, they could easily pitch this to a publisher and get funded in a snap.

What major publisher do you think would be willing to fund a niche genre as P&C games?

 

[Garcia]

Holy fuck... I woke up to $500k and it's about to reach $600k.

What the hell! Pretty unbelievable .

 

[Hot Coldman]

Like 755 million

That's a something something of something!

Spoiler

<>

 

[drizzle]

They're reaching 600 bucks with 32 days to go.

If they don't cut this off, they'll reach 800 bucks and have to somehow make a good adventure game with that money.

I believe disappointment is at hand.

(I'm not saying they can't make a good game, I'm saying they'll collect too much money for the project they're pitching, and people will be like "But you guys used 800k for this?").

 

[Data West]

So if I pay now, does it immediately pull it out of my account and refund it if the plan flops, or does it wait until the game's out?

Adventure games were a successful genre, once. Publishers just forgot that. Megaman Legends has never been successful by Capcom's metric, apparently.

Double Fine was able to get $600,000 overnight. MML3 couldn't even get 100,000 likes on Facebook over a week.

Big difference between Tim saying 'hey, we've got this idea', and a bunch of fans saying 'hey, we'd like to see a sequel, but we have no control over whether it could happen and the company in question actively hates the IP'

 

[Berordn]

So if I pay now, does it immediately pull it out of my account and refund it if the plan flops, or does it wait until the game's out?

No payments are made until the deadline is reached. After that it's all on them to provide what they promised.

Big difference between Tim saying 'hey, we've got this idea', and a bunch of fans saying 'hey, we'd like to see a sequel, but we have no control over whether it could happen and the company in question actively hates the IP'

Admittedly, but it's not unlike the initial proposal where the Legends 3 devroom project had tried to pitch MML3 and prove fan support. According to Capcom, it wasn't there. But they also hated Inafune's pet projects apparently and this was one of them.

 

[Celine]

There are a lot of nerds with disposable income out there it seems.

While I applaud their passion, I hate seeing a name like Double Fine basically stealing attention away from smaller Kickstarter campaigns by individuals who actually need funding to help a project take off. DF, for example has no "need" for funding for an adventure game, they could easily pitch this to a publisher and get funded in a snap.

In early nineties that would be true.
Now the only publishers I can think that would greenlight a P&C game by DF are german ones li DTP because how strong they internal market it for that genre.

 

[drizzle]

So if I pay now, does it immediately pull it out of my account and refund it if the plan flops, or does it wait until the game's out?

THIS PROJECT WILL BE FUNDED ON TUESDAY MAR 13

That's when the credit cards will be charged. If they don't reach the goal (which they already did), the money is not charged by then.

But that won't happen and everybody will be charged in March 13th. Weee.

 

[wetflame]

So if I pay now, does it immediately pull it out of my account and refund it if the plan flops, or does it wait until the game's out?

If they didn't reach their target you wouldn't have been charged at all, but they have so you'll be charged at the end of the 33 day period that they're raising funds, rather than in October when they release the game.

 

[Orayn]

So if I pay now, does it immediately pull it out of my account and refund it if the plan flops, or does it wait until the game's out?

Charges on the listed deadline, and would give you a refund if the project didn't meet its funding goal by that date. Not sure about Kickstarter's policies for projects that die after being fully funded...

 

[Midou]

There are a lot of nerds with disposable income out there it seems.

While I applaud their passion, I hate seeing a name like Double Fine basically stealing attention away from smaller Kickstarter campaigns by individuals who actually need funding to help a project take off. DF, for example has no "need" for funding for an adventure game, they could easily pitch this to a publisher and get funded in a snap.

You realize there was a kickstarter for like an old stick figure comic right on the front page, that raised like 900% of what they needed. That was the other biggest project funding I saw on there, it looks like nerds fund nerdy things.

 

[SOME-MIST]

What a perfect time to start playing all the old lucasarts point and click adventure games too! I contributed my $15. I'm curious who made the $10,000 contribution.

 

[Lothars]

After raising the requested sum, they would cancel the project and blame fans for not doing more work to write the game themselves.

I know it's cool to hate on Capcom but like Orayn said if they thought they could make thier money back on the project, it would absolutely happen.

I'm cynical about Capcom too, but let's be realistic. They probably cancelled MML3 because they had doubts as to whether or not it would be profitable. If Capcom could get the game's entire budget from fans and have all their retail copies be pure profit, they'd reconsider.

Agreed, I have no doubt they would do it that way.

 

[CecilRousso]

There are a lot of nerds with disposable income out there it seems.

While I applaud their passion, I hate seeing a name like Double Fine basically stealing attention away from smaller Kickstarter campaigns by individuals who actually need funding to help a project take off. DF, for example has no "need" for funding for an adventure game, they could easily pitch this to a publisher and get funded in a snap.

And you know that how?

 

[drizzle]

You realize there was a kickstarter for like an old stick figure comic right on the front page, that raised like 900% of what they needed. That was the other biggest project funding I saw on there, it looks like nerds fund nerdy things.

Help us reprint the out-of-print The Order of the Stick books to reach new readers (and let existing fans complete their collections).

989% FUNDED
$571,606 PLEDGED
12 DAYS LEFT

Wow. People are crazy.

 

[Jocchan]

DF, for example has no "need" for funding for an adventure game, they could easily pitch this to a publisher and get funded in a snap.

You wish!

Spoiler

So do I.

 

[RazzleDazzleRB]

This is awesome!!!! Point and Click is back!!!

 

[Koroviev]

THIS PROJECT WILL BE FUNDED ON TUESDAY MAR 13

That's when the credit cards will be charged. If they don't reach the goal (which they already did), the money is not charged by then.

But that won't happen and everybody will be charged in March 13th. Weee.

For once it will actually be cause for happiness to watch my account balance decrease :'D

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Wow, when I went to bed it was a little under $200,000, and now...

 

[bryehn]

So they were just lying when they said that they had talked to publishers and been told that adventure games wouldn't be picked up?

Where did they actually say this? All I see on the Kickstarter page is a desire to have a completely independent and transparant development process. That is a luxury in my eyes, not a necessity.

DTP, TellTale, Focus Home Interactive and a host of mobile/iOS publishers would be viable options to work with. If they really wanted to get this done, they could on their own.

I just dislike seeing worthwhile projects like educational games or products for disabled kids struggle to get a few $25 donations when a vanity project like this rakes in 600k in a day.

 

[Corto]

"This is getting out of hand! I don't know if it will stop growing. Oh my god! What have I done?"

 

[Ultimadrago]

I woke up and it's almost $600,000.

O_O


I guess some gamers somewhere, out there still have refined tastes and brains.

 

[Bomber Bob]

There are a lot of nerds with disposable income out there it seems.

While I applaud their passion, I hate seeing a name like Double Fine basically stealing attention away from smaller Kickstarter campaigns by individuals who actually need funding to help a project take off. DF, for example has no "need" for funding for an adventure game, they could easily pitch this to a publisher and get funded in a snap.

Dude, c'on.

 

[beelzebozo]

i can't stop thinking about this. i think this sets a pretty important precedent. in ten years, people will still be talking about when this happened, because i think it will be happening a LOT more.

 

[Lothars]

I just dislike seeing worthwhile projects like educational games or products for disabled kids struggle to get a few $25 donations when a vanity project like this rakes in 600k in a day.

I think the thing is this has been publicized all over now but If you don't visit Kickstarter than you don't see the other projects like the one's your mentioning. I would love another way to see those projects your mentioning but there's nothing wrong with Double Fine doing it this way either.

 

[Emitan]

Where did they actually say this? All I see on the Kickstarter page is a desire to have a completely independent and transparant development process. That is a luxury in my eyes, not a necessity.

DTP, TellTale, Focus Home Interactive and a host of mobile/iOS publishers would be viable options to work with. If they really wanted to get this done, they could on their own.

I just dislike seeing worthwhile projects like educational games or products for disabled kids struggle to get a few $25 donations when a vanity project like this rakes in 600k in a day.

Did you watch the video?

 

[Orayn]

Where did they actually say this? All I see on the Kickstarter page is a desire to have a completely independent and transparant development process. That is a luxury in my eyes, not a necessity.

DTP, TellTale, Focus Home Interactive and a host of mobile/iOS publishers would be viable options to work with. If they really wanted to get this done, they could on their own.

I just dislike seeing worthwhile projects like educational games or products for disabled kids struggle to get a few $25 donations when a vanity project like this rakes in 600k in a day.

The very beginning of the video on the Kickstarter page?

 

[mclem]

(I'm not saying they can't make a good game, I'm saying they'll collect too much money for the project they're pitching, and people will be like "But you guys used 800k for this?").

I guess the thing to do - and part of the point of their fan-input model - would be to let the donators decide how the excess should be used. Myself, I'd plump for planning for a *second* game down the line - not necessarily a sequel, could easily be another IP - free for all donators (yes, even the $15 ones, even if the first game sells for $15). Other options could be full VA, acquiring some rights, that sort of thing.

That said, I also trust them to use the money wisely even if they don't ask us.

 

[Midou]

Where did they actually say this? All I see on the Kickstarter page is a desire to have a completely independent and transparant development process. That is a luxury in my eyes, not a necessity.

DTP, TellTale, Focus Home Interactive and a host of mobile/iOS publishers would be viable options to work with. If they really wanted to get this done, they could on their own.

I just dislike seeing worthwhile projects like educational games or products for disabled kids struggle to get a few $25 donations when a vanity project like this rakes in 600k in a day.

Most of the projects don't need a lot of funding, and a lot of the people who funded this probably came from sites like this.

If someone didn't donate $30 before to some 'important' or 'struggling' project, why would they have done so if this project never existed? There is way too much assumption going on.

Most of the projects I saw on there were 20-50% funded and had a long way to go still, it looks like generally worthwhile things meet their requirements.

 

[bengraven]

Not the sanitized commercials-posing-as-interviews that marketing teams only value for their ability to boost sales, but an honest, in-depth insight into a modern art form that will both entertain and educate gamers and non-gamers alike.

I love this quote.

I'm so sick of the marketing blowjobs that you get from developers, publishers, voice actors, etc. these days.

"Mass Effect 3 will be so much bigger, so much darker, and the obvious next step in RPG design. The graphics, acting, music, everything is taken up to 11."

 

[Corto]

Where did they actually say this? All I see on the Kickstarter page is a desire to have a completely independent and transparant development process. That is a luxury in my eyes, not a necessity.

DTP, TellTale, Focus Home Interactive and a host of mobile/iOS publishers would be viable options to work with. If they really wanted to get this done, they could on their own.

I just dislike seeing worthwhile projects like educational games or products for disabled kids struggle to get a few $25 donations when a vanity project like this rakes in 600k in a day.

This is not charity, it's sponsoring. And it works because it's a nice way to make your audience feel apart of the creating process and see in a transparent way where your money will get spent. If you find it more palatable think of it as variable pricing pre-orders. This is not a zero sum process, other projects won't loose any support because DF is having success at this. If anything it could even work in their benefit as any DF contributor will have Kickstarter newsletter sent to their email and maybe raise their attention to cool and meritable causes.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Upped my donation to $100. Really want that autographed poster, but $100 is my max now. Closes next month, maybe at that time I can add to it.

 

[Tampinha]

There are a lot of nerds with disposable income out there it seems.

While I applaud their passion, I hate seeing a name like Double Fine basically stealing attention away from smaller Kickstarter campaigns by individuals who actually need funding to help a project take off. DF, for example has no "need" for funding for an adventure game, they could easily pitch this to a publisher and get funded in a snap.

Adventure games aren't seen as profitable by the big publhishers, that's why the genre only exists nowadays in the indie scene.Heck, even Jane Jensen had troubles making Grey Matter.

 

[Midou]

This is not charity, it's sponsoring. And it works because it's a nice way to make your audience feel apart of the creating process and see in a transparent way where your money will get spent. If you find it more palatable think of it as variable pricing pre-orders. This is not a zero sum process, other projects won't loose any support because DF is having success at this. If anything it could even work in their benefit as any DF contributor will have Kickstarter newsletter sent to their email and maybe raise their attention to cool and meritable causes.

I may be living under a rock, but I had never heard of kickstarter before this, I could see myself looking into other projects now.

 

[Zalasta]

$15 is not a lot of money. I'm curious what is the breakdown between one-time contributors that did it because it was a novel idea and those that are likely to pledge again on future projects.

Futhermore, people are giving Double Fine a lot of leeway on this. There is literally no info, no story board, nothing you'd expect in a project pitch besides a nebulous concept of an adventure game. I would hope that in the future there is a burden on the deveopers to come up with concrete presentation before asking people to pledge, rather than basing their decision on the studio's reputation alone.

 

[mclem]

Most of the projects don't need a lot of funding, and a lot of the people who funded this probably came from sites like this.

If someone didn't donate $30 before to some 'important' or 'struggling' project, why would they have done so if this project never existed? There is way too much assumption going on.

That and I'd assume that this has also brought Kickstarter's attention to some people who *didn't* already have it in mind, or existing users who might revisit it. I've seen a fair few people say things like "Donated $30 and donated to three other projects while I was there". It's publicity.

Most of the projects I saw on there were 20-50% funded and had a long way to go still, it looks like generally worthwhile things meet their requirements.

Looks like my plan for "Can I haz a million bux, plz?" may not go ahead, then.

 

[Chiaroscuro]

interesting.

but "a classic point-and-click adventure utilizing modern touch technology" and Steam??? First time I read the sentence iOS come to my mind.

 

[Ceebs]

They are totally going to end up making a multi-million dollar adventure game. I love it.

 

[Ultimadrago]

i can't stop thinking about this. i think this sets a pretty important precedent. in ten years, people will still be talking about when this happened, because i think it will be happening a LOT more.

I can see it now!

EA's Tip Jar.

Volition's Gat Ransom

 

[DGRE]

Wow, the amounts of disposable income are staggering. Can't believe someone actually pledged 10k.

 

[Tobor]

Where did they actually say this? All I see on the Kickstarter page is a desire to have a completely independent and transparant development process. That is a luxury in my eyes, not a necessity.

DTP, TellTale, Focus Home Interactive and a host of mobile/iOS publishers would be viable options to work with. If they really wanted to get this done, they could on their own.

I just dislike seeing worthwhile projects like educational games or products for disabled kids struggle to get a few $25 donations when a vanity project like this rakes in 600k in a day.

You are loooking at this assbackwards. This is not siphoning money from other Kickstarter projects. If anything, there are people who have never visited the site before signing up for accounts because of this, and maybe they'll take a look at some other projects.

I know I will.

 

[Kazuma Kiryu]

There are a lot of nerds with disposable income out there it seems.

While I applaud their passion, I hate seeing a name like Double Fine basically stealing attention away from smaller Kickstarter campaigns by individuals who actually need funding to help a project take off. DF, for example has no "need" for funding for an adventure game, they could easily pitch this to a publisher and get funded in a snap.

jesus, are you for real? Adventure games in 2012 with a publisher?
man, this thread really brings out some gold stuff...

 

[Emitan]

interesting.

but "a classic point-and-click adventure utilizing modern touch technology" and Steam??? First time I read the sentence iOS come to my mind.

They said extra money will fund OSX, iOS, and Android ports so it'll probably be on iOS

 

[Midou]

Wow, the amounts of disposable income are staggering. Can't believe someone actually pledged 10k.

I would generally bet that the 10k was probably from some other business or something, I'm not sure if you can see who did it.

 

[razgriz417]

Don't have feelings for the genre either way, but I love the idea of this type of fundraising and am really curious about how the documentary will end up. Take my $30 Tim Shafer, I know it'll be a great product

 

[CecilRousso]

Where did they actually say this? All I see on the Kickstarter page is a desire to have a completely independent and transparant development process. That is a luxury in my eyes, not a necessity.

DTP, TellTale, Focus Home Interactive and a host of mobile/iOS publishers would be viable options to work with. If they really wanted to get this done, they could on their own.

I just dislike seeing worthwhile projects like educational games or products for disabled kids struggle to get a few $25 donations when a vanity project like this rakes in 600k in a day.

Telltale has their own structure of doing games, and their plans for the whole 2012 already filled by commitments to different to do.

Seriously, to seem someone whine like this about what is a dream project for many of us just because it doesn´t fit your view about what´s worth the money is really quite sad.

People should also realize that this goes beyond just this game. It creates hype and attention around a genre that really needs it, and it creates a discussion around game funding that projects with lesser profile would never create on their own.

 

[Gunmonkey36]

600k, wow I wonder what it will be when its over

 

[Killer]

aaaaaaaaaaaaand there's your $600k with no stop insight.

 

[Haunted]

i can't stop thinking about this. i think this sets a pretty important precedent. in ten years, people will still be talking about when this happened, because i think it will be happening a LOT more.

First Minecraft, now this. Like the RPS article discusses, the ramifications of this for the whole developer <-> publisher relationship could be huge.