Everything is great, Project Eternity is getting a lot of money, it has a dream team and it will probably be awesome.
But then I saw something, and started raging.
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Pillars of Eternity by Obsidian Entertainment (Kickstarter) [Up: Teaser]
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They're going to make the game. Then when the game is done, they're going to start work on an expansion. The expansion is expected to take at least 6 months to develop. The expansion is not being funded by Kickstarter, it will be self-funded, probably because they expect to also have proceeds from selling this game when it is done. Those who pledge above a certain tier will get the expansion for free as well when it is done. Everyone else will buy it like a normal expansion.
You have to add $25 for the beta and $20 for the expansion, so $45 for both.
Hargenx
Member
Thanks, but how I buy the expansion now?!
I'm a early pledge, so how I put more 20 bucks to then and make this for expansion and not for the 20 bucks pledge?
Minsc
Gold Member
I'd have been perfectly happy with CDP doing a White Wolf game using a modified version of TW2's engine, but CCP? If that means another Vampire MMO, that's a pretty big step down for me, but compared to the nothing we've been getting from the licenses it only stings because of finding out there might have been some sweet horror-RPG. But it might have also been DS3 re-skinned as a White Wolf game, so that helps lessen the blow a little.
When you click to modify your pledge, it won't do anything at first, but you can see if your spot for the limited reward tier is saved, it should be, but be sure to double check before adjusting. At the top you should be able to change the amount pledged independently of picking a reward tier... if you can do that while keeping the reward tier on the $20 one, you should be ok!
Everything is great, Project Eternity is getting a lot of money, it has a dream team and it will probably be awesome.
But then I saw something, and started raging.
Was this after Bloodlines? If so raaaaaaaaaaaaage!
I'm thinking about giving 25 or 35 dollaries. I have a German CC and Paypal. Does that work? Do I have to pay more using Paypal?
Who or what is White Wolf?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Wolf_Publishing
I completely agree. I didn't follow the merger of White Wolf and CCP, but did it have any effect on potential licensing their IPs to other digital game developers? Have CCP even taken advantage of the merger?
Minsc
Gold Member
Who or what is White Wolf?
They're most famous for their table top role-playing games, Vampire, Changeling, Werewolf, Mage, Wraith etc. AD&D and Whitewolf games were always the two most prominent choices among DMs in my experience.
The Vampire world they created was most famously featured in the cult classic game (which is a very unique and amazing RPG today) Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.
Edit: You can read more about White Wolf on the wiki article linked above.
Hargenx
Member
It'll be the inventory screen. Half the screen will be the concept art, the other half, boxes.
Basileus777
Member
George Ziets? Holy shit, this needs to happen. Time to up my donation to the $65 tier.
For now, yes. You'll also have to notify them what you want, almost certainly via an entry in your survey, but don't worry about that for the time being.
Everything is great, Project Eternity is getting a lot of money, it has a dream team and it will probably be awesome.
But then I saw something, and started raging.
germankidfreakingout.gif
I remember that back in the days real add-ons cost 30 here, so I guess it were 30$ in the States.
WanderingWind
Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
Plus, if this hits big, maybe they'll make a new horror game not based on White Wolf. Pretty easy to do, really. It's not like the concept of myths being real and hidden beneath the surface is something unique to White Wolf, or even something they came up with. Hell, most people probably don't even know about them.
Kickstarter need to sort their website out. I saw that for some reason there was a space left on the $20 tier that was originally sold out, so I logged in, clicked the $20 tier and pledged through Amazon. I got the confirmation email, and then on the redirect back to Kickstarter, the Kickstarter site decides to crash. I then log in to my account and find no record of the pledge whatsoever, so I had to go back onto Amazon's site and cancel it.
Of course, it's now sold out again. I'll still pledge at $25, but Kickstarter should be making sure their site has measures in place to guard against that - why was my pledge not synced with Amazon so that once their site was working again it'd update?
I could contact them but given there's only a few days left I'm not risking missing out, it's just annoying that their site is so badly designed.
Of course, it's now sold out again. I'll still pledge at $25, but Kickstarter should be making sure their site has measures in place to guard against that - why was my pledge not synced with Amazon so that once their site was working again it'd update?
I could contact them but given there's only a few days left I'm not risking missing out, it's just annoying that their site is so badly designed.
An artist makes over 12,000$ a month...? Doesn't seem like a good use of resources at all. I'm sure they could find awesome artists for a much smaller salary per month.
No. One of them is ours.
Yeah its more likely $50k-60k for a good artist, maybe $70k for a senior.
(unless 'mericans get paid way more than us in the UK)
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
AHA-Lambda
Member
This survey will come out after the kickstarter is over, yeah?
Well, I'm sure that they won't hire a 150k artist, but they surely could spend their money in a worse way. Since the game will probably go after more simplistic graphics, it optically stands and falls with a good art design.
If they can capture the loo of old IE games, which I believe is they're intention, it could be huge. Most IE games still look great even today, so they don't need to stray far from that.
I think we'll see a big bump after the screenshot
Even if the screenshot disappoints, I'm sure that the project would get a big bump nevertheless. The first screenshot will be the moment when the bigger websites will once again report about this Kickstarter, which should give it a nice boost of awareness.
Then $10,000 or more for health insurance, 4% or whatever it is for employers contribution to payroll taxes, unemployment insurance costs, IT costs, office space, HR support, yada yada yada. You look at final cost to employ a person and 2x salary is a decent estimate.
Yep. I think one quirk of Kickstarter is that they can only send out one official survey via the site, so it might be a little time while they figure out *exactly* what they need to ask!
Never take the actual numbers for stretch goals at face value. They're not "getting Ziets for $100k". They're saying "If we reach $2,8M, our plans for development will involve Ziets". How much he's paid isn't directly related to this, but it is something they'll use the budget for.
How do you know he will get $100k?
Very good point, I hadn't thought of the extra costs on the employers side.
I'd be surprised if it comes up to double the salary though. That seems like a lot.
I know that's a very simplistic assumption. I'm just curious about budgeting overall. Since the original plan was to make an IE-style game for $1.1M, I wonder how that's possible? Isn't it like a 15 person team working for a year? That's a lot of manhours, but I imagine something like Baldur's Gate took a lot more.
I'd assume that tools (in all areas, including art, level design and programming) are significantly more advanced today than they were when BG was made. I wouldn't be surprised if overall productivity is increased twofold (or even more than that).
demosthenes
Member
Money today is always better than money tomorrow. Even if the game ends up being complete crap or falls apart they have that money.
Sentenza
Member
I'm not sure about the U.S.A. but that's actuall ya very common and (more or less) accurate extimation here in Italy.
True, but if they stick the $2.25-2.5M budget (or whatever they are left with after kickstarter fees and physical rewards. I assume they will finish with $3M+), they will be launching a game whose development has already been paid for. Even if it sells poorly, every dollar will be profit. that's a lot better than developing a game out of pocket and hoping to break even/make money down the road.
Also, seeing larger games funded through kickstarter is still a new phenomenon. The first few batches of these $1M+ projects are going to get a lot more publicity than a similarly budgeted title funded through traditional means. This game will have 60k people actively following its development, reminding others of its existence for the next 18 months. That will translate into additional sales.
It was much further along when it took the Kickstarter approach, but look at how well FTL has been doing. Even with 10k early sales from Kickstarter, the game is still the third best selling indie title on Steam behind Torchlight 2 and Retro City Rampage (which came out two days ago). I'd argue that Kickstarter upped the profile of that game rather than hurt its sales potential.
Also worth mentioning that the average person has donated $46.50 towards this project. Assuming that Project Eternity will eventually retail for $25-30, and assuming that physical rewards only account for a fraction of the price difference between the average pledge and the game's eventual retail cost, they are making more money per sale here than they would have made post-release. That doesn't even take into consideration that they get around 90% of the Kickstarter money (after fees) versus 70% of the money from game sales on Steam and other digital storefronts.
lol I love inventory screens so fingers crossed!
A great screenshot could lead to a massive increase of fundings. A horrible screenshot however...
exmachina64
Banned
It's true. FTL was my first rougelike. I missed out on the Kickstarter, but I probably wouldn't have paid attention to it without the publicity.
I would hope that Obsidian is smart enough to know when they can show something good. I haven't been impressed with the concept art so let's pray that they have something really strong and "unique" to show.
It just has to look like an infinity engine game, shouldn't be hard.
it may look like a shitty infinity engine game.
