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[Jarmel]

This is absolutely amazing that something of this magnitude could be done.

 

[duckroll]

32k in the last 26 hours. It's definitely slowing down massively. I think most people who want to contribute to this project actively has probably put some amount of money into it.

 

[KorrZ]

32k in the last 26 hours. It's definitely slowing down massively. I think most people who want to contribute to this project actively has probably put some amount of money into it.

I'm guessing there are a lot of people who just look and see "Well it's already guaranteed to be made at this point, no need to put any money in."

 

[SparkTR]

I'm guessing there are a lot of people who just look and see "Well it's already guaranteed to be made at this point, no need to put any money in."

And those are the people who are going to be part of the money surge right before it ends, $15 for a title this is great value.

 

[eXistor]

If they arange something in the final few hours like DF did, they might raise a decent extra sum. In the last 2 hours or so DF raised about 300k. This'll likely be on a smaller scale, but a cool 2 million should definitely be doable. Anyway, game is a fact, rejoice!

 

[saunderez]

I threw in my $15. Even if I don't play the game I feel like I need to contribute to something post apocalyptic and potentially awesome.

 

[Perkel]

32k in the last 26 hours. It's definitely slowing down massively. I think most people who want to contribute to this project actively has probably put some amount of money into it.

Double fine's also had brakedown after few days. 24 before end there was massive surge that raised another milion.

 

[panty]

A new update, yay!

I continue to be overwhelmed by the positive feedback and enthusiasm from the support I have gotten from Kickstarter. The groundswell of people cheering us on and the evangelism - people spreading the word - is unlike anything I have experienced. In fact, I would say the last week was the high water mark of my career.

We are closing in on the funding for 1.5 million which will allow us to add both a Mac and Linux version of Wasteland 2 to the release. One of the (more common) questions I am asked is whether we'll support console and I believe it to be unlikely. It is imperative that we deliver the core PC experience that the fans are expecting here and I want to avoid any elements that could distract us. The console interface is quite different when you consider the input device and proximity to the screen whereas the Mac and Linux are pretty much identical to that of the "PC". We will consider a tablet version due to the similarity of the screen and interface but even on that we need to do a bit more research.

There have been some nice human moments along the way that I thought I would share.

We started off strong in the first 24 hours raising nearly 50% of our minimum need but still I was nervous. All the signs of success were there but we all wanted it to happen so badly that it seemed to good to be true. Around 6:00 that first night we received an email from a wealthy software industry individual who is a passionate fan of Wasteland and offered to help fund the game if Kickstarter came short! Talk about feeling good. Of course I thanked him and said I hoped we would not need his assistance but he made my whole day/week/month/year.

On the next day I get a short tweet from an individual that confesses he pirated Wasteland as a kid and was donating to help make up for it. I of course forgave not knowing he had donated $10,000 dollars. An incredible gesture... now if we could get every pirate of Wasteland 1 to donate we could really beat the Kickstarter all time record.

Mason Douglass who plays the kid publisher in the Kickstarter video has gotten rave reviews for his performance. His delivery was great and I have had people wanting to contact his manager for parts in TV/film. I jokingly told him when we shot the bit that he might become famous from this. Perhaps he will.

And just today I got an email along with a donation from a kid who lived down the street from me when he was a teenager. His note was as follows:

"This message is intended for Brian Fargo. Brian, I was your next door neighbor when you used to live in Laguna. I was a pesky 15 or 16 year old kid that would come around and ask you about games. You would sit down and take time to talk to me about games, and the industry, and I just wanted you to know how cool it was that you didn't blow me off. It meant a lot to me. Recently, I found out about your Kickstarter movement for Wasteland 2, and I contributed to it because I believe in you and your ability to resurrect the glory of the franchise. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors, and thank you again for creating some memorable memories for me during my teenage years. Take care!"

It shows that being nice creates goodwill 20 years later.

And speaking of goodwill it occurs to me that we can harness the power of Kickstarter in a more meaningful way. Fan funding is bigger than me or Wasteland 2 as I have remarked before. The development community has come together to support us in ways that I didn't think possible and our power as developers will ultimately come from us sticking together. Both gamers and developers have so much more strength than they realize. But in order to help facilitate the power of crowd funding I am going to suggest that all of us that do utilize this form of financing agree to kickback 5% of our profits made from such projects to other Kickstarter developers. I am not suggesting taking a backers money and moving it to another project.. I mean once a game has shipped and created profit that we funnel that back into the community of developers to fund their dreams. I am tentatively calling this "Kick It Forward" and I will be the first to agree to it. In fact, I will have our artists create a badge that goes on all Kickstarter projects that agree to support this initiative. Imagine the potential if another Minecraft comes along via Kickstarter and produces millions of dollars of investment into other developers. This economic payback will continue to grow the movement way beyond the current system. I hope others will join me with this idea and make this a true shakeup.

Let's get the power shifted around a bit!

Brian Fargo

 

[Akia]

that was a heartwarming read

 

[Pachterballs]

Brian Fargo needs to stop giving these "Exclusive" interviews to everyone that's mostly the same thing again and again. Plus the "exclusive" tage makes it somewhat laughable as everyone and their dog is getting the same interview with him.

coverage = great
sites slapping on the phrase "exclusive interview" not so.

his kick it forward initiative sounds cool but its funny he decided to push it; as opposed to DF/TS. I hope he's sincere about it.

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

his kick it forward initiative sounds cool but its funny he decided to push it; as opposed to DF/TS. I hope he's sincere about it.

I'm sure he is but I don't know if I like the idea of him getting sidetracked by that. I'd prefer to see Wasteland 2 get released before any altruistic initiatives are started up.

 

[sTeLioSco]

"
And speaking of goodwill it occurs to me that we can harness the power of Kickstarter in a more meaningful way. Fan funding is bigger than me or Wasteland 2 as I have remarked before. The development community has come together to support us in ways that I didn't think possible and our power as developers will ultimately come from us sticking together. Both gamers and developers have so much more strength than they realize. But in order to help facilitate the power of crowd funding I am going to suggest that all of us that do utilize this form of financing agree to kickback 5% of our profits made from such projects to other Kickstarter developers. I am not suggesting taking a backers money and moving it to another project.. I mean once a game has shipped and created profit that we funnel that back into the community of developers to fund their dreams. I am tentatively calling this "Kick It Forward" and I will be the first to agree to it. In fact, I will have our artists create a badge that goes on all Kickstarter projects that agree to support this initiative. Imagine the potential if another Minecraft comes along via Kickstarter and produces millions of dollars of investment into other developers. This economic payback will continue to grow the movement way beyond the current system. I hope others will join me with this idea and make this a true shakeup.
"

very nice.....

 

[subversus]

Wow, I like this initiative.

Being small does make a team efficient. Efficiency comes from a production plan that is solid and in which everyone on the team understands the big picture.  A lot of money gets wasted by having large teams working on games that have not had a complete pre-production or are being designed as they go.  Another issue developers have is the amount of money they waste jumping through hoops to keep the publisher happy.  I would estimate than on our last big publisher financed game we spent at least a third of the budget needlessly on things the publisher forced us to do that didn’t need to be a part of the process.

A publisher signs up a developer because they trust they can make the game, but as soon as he contract is signed they forget about that and they spend the entire development process making the developer prove themselves over and over at every milestone instead of just focusing on what is really needed to finish the game.  You would never manage an in house team in this way, because it doesn’t make any sense.  No programmer on a project is going to do better work if you threaten to not pay him if the feature he is working on doesn’t make the marketing girl who has never played a game happy.  It’s lunacy.

Gee, I wonder what publisher it was.

 

[Sentenza]

It's a great initiative. I hope a successful one, too.

 

[subversus]

I'm sure he is but I don't know if I like the idea of him getting sidetracked by that. I'd prefer to see Wasteland 2 get released before any altruistic initiatives are started up.

But it's from profits, so he has to release the game first.

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

But it's from profits, so he has to release the game first.

Yes but I can't imagine that setting up the website and infrastructure for such a thing would be a trivial effort.

 

[Pachterballs]

Another issue developers have is the amount of money they waste jumping through hoops to keep the publisher happy. I would estimate than on our last big publisher financed game we spent at least a third of the budget needlessly on things the publisher forced us to do that didn’t need to be a part of the process.

well, there goes any chance of bethesda ever working with you again BF. He better ensure he has a plan to fall back on if he's going to shit on publishers like this + on twitter. :/

not saying that I disagree with any of what he's said but blue chip big publishers can't/won't be happy with what he's saying.

 

[Zeliard]

Won't somebody think of the poor publishers?

 

[subversus]

I'm sure he is but I don't know if I like the idea of him getting sidetracked by that. I'd prefer to see Wasteland 2 get released before any altruistic initiatives are started up.

I think he doesn't really care anymore and wouldn't touch AAA development with a ten-feet pole anyway after his last project.

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

I think he doesn't really care anymore and wouldn't touch AAA development with a ten-feet pole anyway after his last project.

I don't see what that has to do with my post. I'm saying that instead of setting up this program and building a site and infrastructure and getting other developers to commit, he should instead be spending all of his energy on what the contributors have paid for; making the game.

People have already commented on the fact that we haven't actually seen any official concept art or mockups or much of anything but written promises about Wasteland 2, and when you compare that to what something like The Banner Saga has offered it does seem very sparse.

Brian has also been spending a lot of time doing interviews with every outlet he can, waxing poetic about the great paradigm shift this represents. And that's all fine and good, except now I have to question why we still have no official concepts or anything at all. With the talk about this new initiative I have to wonder if he's allowed the whole bigger picture thing to sidetrack him from what should be front and center.

 

[subversus]

I don't see what that has to do with my post. I'm saying that instead of setting up this program and building a site and infrastructure and getting other developers to commit, he should instead be spending all of his energy on what the contributors have paid for; making the game.

Sorry, I wasn't replying to you, it was a mistake. I was replying the post about publishers.

As for your post I think he won't setup anything until there will be something to distribute.


About costs and salaries btw:

Q: What about the upside? if the game sells very well will the some of the creative talent be rewarded beyond their initial budget allocation? Granting a share in potential future profits is one way movie studios can attract big talent at a low up-front cost... is this something you're planning for this project, or perhaps for a future project?

Brian Fargo: I am certain we will work out a bonus for people who contributed; in fact, several of them are working for very little to nothing in order to make this happen. And for myself, I'm not taking a salary from the Kickstarter funds to help keep the costs down.

 

[zkylon]

Love the Kickforward idea and love to see the man having that kind of thing on his mind. Means to me that these project may lead to something bigger than themselves. I really hope Fargo ends up creating another publisher. I imagine his goals must be laser accurate this days...

I'm sure he is but I don't know if I like the idea of him getting sidetracked by that. I'd prefer to see Wasteland 2 get released before any altruistic initiatives are started up.

Really? You're finding his altruism discomforting?

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

Really? You're finding his altruism discomforting?

I do. If you want to be a reductionist and completely ignore my longer post then consider your snide potshot registered.

 

[Xater]

I think Fargo's idea of using the profits to fund other Kickstarter projects is great. Could result in a healthy environment for indies.

 

[Danne-Danger]

Now that is beautiful.

 

[Wildesy]

Love the 'Kick It Forward' idea, big props for that. I'd definitely be more inclined to fund a Kickstarter that was on board with that initiative. The flow on effect of the 5% could really make a significant difference to some other Kickstarters trying to get off the ground.

 

[subversus]

I think Fargo's idea of using the profits to fund other Kickstarter projects is great. Could result in a healthy environment for indies.

He has to make a game that people would like to buy first. Or there will be nothing to distribute.

 

[Wildesy]

I'm saying that instead of setting up this program and building a site and infrastructure and getting other developers to commit, he should instead be spending all of his energy on what the contributors have paid for; making the game.

Yeah, but going further than that, I hope he doesn't waste any of our contributed funds by spending time with his wife or looking after his kids. Those are hours he could've put into Wasteland 2, not slacking off at some six year old's soccer match for crying out loud. What does he think we are funding this for, so he can focus on more than one thing at a time?

Ridiculous. Get back to work Fargo and stop writing shitting updates, the people demand results.

 

[zkylon]

I do. If you want to be a reductionist and completely ignore my longer post then consider your snide potshot registered.

You edited in most of your post while I was writing, so yeah, I didn't read it.

There's no concept art yet because they haven't worked on that at all. Whenever Fargo was interviewed he'd usually talk about how they have a lot of the design narrowed down, that Jason Anderson wrote the story, that they have a couple ideas for sound design, but never any concept art or finished assets (which they must have but clearly don't deem worthy of making public). Fargo has been really straightforward that, unlike The Banner Saga or FTL, they have a lot of things in the air. So expecting them showing artwork a week after they created their Kickstarter is a little too much.

Man, the stuff people complain about...

 

[Minsc]

I don't see what that has to do with my post. I'm saying that instead of setting up this program and building a site and infrastructure and getting other developers to commit, he should instead be spending all of his energy on what the contributors have paid for; making the game.

Contributors haven't paid for a single thing yet though! After April 17th the money gets charged. Even though it's a sure thing, it seems a little foolish to go all out until the dust settles. I think the funding idea is pretty nice, and might warm a few people up to the game now (as well as get it more notice), knowing that some of the profits from the game's sales post-release will fund future kickstarter games.

 

[zkylon]

PayPal pledging is here: http://wasteland.inxile-entertainment.com/pledge.php

Don't know how much of a difference will this make and if there's a way to track it...

 

[Pachterballs]

PayPal pledging is here: http://wasteland.inxile-entertainment.com/pledge.php

Don't know how much of a difference will this make and if there's a way to track it...

aside from Paypal fees, there's no amazon/kS fee here.

This whole bit ... concerns me. Its probably not tracked by KS as well. This is well outside of that initiative - I wonder if KS is okay with this altogether what with the logo and what not plastered all over the page.

He's literally just selling the product now. its immediate money donations. Paypal as stated on that page; takes the money out right away.

 

[Zeliard]

And? It's stated very clearly and plainly that money will be taken out of your account immediately if you go through Paypal. People are big boys; they can decide what to do with their own money.

 

[Zyzyxxz]

Okay so all this Wasteland 2 talk got me interested in the original but it looks so outdated I don't know if I can play it, I mean Fallout 2 was already a stretch for me to play.

Are there any games that are similar to it in genre?

I've played a flash game I really liked: http://www.kongregate.com/games/SugarFreeGames/caravaneer?acomplete=cara

Wondering what else is out there.

 

[zkylon]

And? It's stated very clearly and plainly that money will be taken out of your account immediately if you go through Paypal. People are big boys; they can decide what to do with their own money.

I don't know, while this doesn't really seem particularly shady, it doesn't seem as transparent as Kickstarter.

 

[Zeliard]

I don't know, while this doesn't really seem particularly shady, it doesn't seem as transparent as Kickstarter.

The only real difference between the two is that one takes the money out immediately while the other waits until the pledge drive ends. People who go through Paypal simply have to be certain that they want what they are paying for, and that just makes it the same as making almost any other purchase.

 

[zkylon]

The only real difference between the two is that one takes the money out immediately while the other waits until the pledge drive ends. People who go through Paypal simply have to be certain that they want what they are paying for, and that just makes it the same as making almost any other purchase.

Actually I hadn't seen the "Total Pledges through PayPal" counter and my main "concerns" (if you can call them that) were related to not being able to track PayPal pledges, so yeah, I've got no issues with it now.

 

[turk128]

Okay so all this Wasteland 2 talk got me interested in the original but it looks so outdated I don't know if I can play it, I mean Fallout 2 was already a stretch for me to play.

Are there any games that are similar to it in genre?

I've played a flash game I really liked: http://www.kongregate.com/games/SugarFreeGames/caravaneer?acomplete=cara

Wondering what else is out there.

Unfortunately, Caravaneer is a unique gem. The creator did say Caravaneer 2 is in the works, some peeps even are doing beta testing on it.

 

[duckroll]

PayPal pledging is here: http://wasteland.inxile-entertainment.com/pledge.php

Don't know how much of a difference will this make and if there's a way to track it...

I'm... not happy with this at all. Feeling very... conflicted...

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

not everyone can use kickstarter, so if it gets a few more sales, fine by me.

 

[duckroll]

not everyone can use kickstarter, so if it gets a few more sales, fine by me.

I don't see it this way. I see the Kickstarter initiative as something they use to raise funds to create the game. They have already reached well beyond their target, and they no longer need to raise more funds. To use an alternative and less transparent direct initiative to get more money immediately, it seems to suggest that they want to get as much money as possible through whatever means possible before they even start working on the game. That part I am very uncomfortable with.

If they want to make it easier for people to buy the game down the line, they can offer it via direct sales on their site, or via Steam, or via every DD site out there. They don't have to do this now. It just seems a tad... questionable. It's not like they're having difficulty raising funds via Kickstarter right? Why do this?

Furthermore, this project was started as a Kickstarter initiative, and if something like this compromises their terms of service with Kickstarter, they could end up losing the entire complete sum. Remember, they're NOT funded yet.

 

[subversus]

It's not like they're having difficulty raising funds via Kickstarter right? Why do this?

because quite a lot of people can't use Kickstarter to donate because of various technical reasons and they asked Fargo about this option.

 

[duckroll]

because quite a lot of people can't use Kickstarter to donate because of various technical reasons and they asked Fargo about this option.

For the sake of the project I hope Fargo did sufficient research into this alternative scheme before putting it up. I also hope that the people on his team managing this system knows what they're doing. It'll really really suck if this jeopardizes anything.

 

[I should be doing hw]

I think the only valid concern is whether this breaches any ToS with Kickstarter, but it would be weird if they didn't look into that before offering this though.

They have already reached well beyond their target, and they no longer need to raise more funds. To use an alternative and less transparent direct initiative to get more money immediately, it seems to suggest that they want to get as much money as possible through whatever means possible before they even start working on the game. That part I am very uncomfortable with.

What are you on about? Of course they want as much money for this as possible, how is that concerning? I don't see how the 'means' have anything to do with it at all, outside of them selling drugs on the street or something illegal to fund this.

 

[InertiaXr]

because quite a lot of people can't use Kickstarter to donate because of various technical reasons and they asked Fargo about this option.

They don't need to raise anymore 'donations'; they already reached their original goal. This paypal thing basically screams as duckroll said of them wanting to just get as much money as possible immediately, and doing it on paypal seems to me to absolve them of any requirements to actually make the game, or even use the money as you wish them to. Once they get your 'donation' through paypal, what requires them to actually give you anything in return? That's why kickstarter exists in the first place, as their website says 'On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands. Why? It protects everyone involved.' Once you give them your incremental sum of money on paypal there is no protection, they have it and can do whatever they want with it. Hookers, blow, Wasteland 2, whatever.

If people still want to support them but are unable to use the kickstarter website, then wait until the game is actually out and just buy it?

 

[duckroll]

What are you on about? Of course they want as much money for this as possible, how is that concerning? I don't see how the 'means' have anything to do with it at all, outside of them selling drugs on the street or something illegal to fund this.

As someone backing their project to get funded via Kickstarter, I just don't like to see them selling the game directly on their own website before the funding process is even over. It's as simple as that.

 

[subversus]

They don't need to raise anymore 'donations'; they already reached their original goal. This paypal thing basically screams as duckroll said of them wanting to just get as much money as possible immediately, and doing it on paypal seems to me to absolve them of any requirements to actually make the game.

no, it doesn't. It's called "listening to community". The community asks for means to pay and they try to provide them. If they just said "hey, we don't care that you want to support us, not our problem" that would be offensive.

 

[Emitan]

They don't need to raise anymore 'donations'; they already reached their original goal. This paypal thing basically screams as duckroll said of them wanting to just get as much money as possible immediately, and doing it on paypal seems to me to absolve them of any requirements to actually make the game, or even use the money as you wish them to. Once they get your 'donation' through paypal, what requires them to actually give you anything in return? That's why kickstarter exists in the first place, as their website says 'On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands. Why? It protects everyone involved.' Once you give them your incremental sum of money on paypal there is no protection, they have it and can do whatever they want with it. Hookers, blow, Wasteland 2, whatever.

If people still want to support them but are unable to use the kickstarter website, then wait until the game is actually out and just buy it?

So you're saying the guy is going to steal our money instead of using it to fund his dream project? I think common sense wins over your paranoia.

As someone backing their project to get funded via Kickstarter, I just don't like to see them selling the game directly on their own website before the funding process is even over. It's as simple as that.

What's the difference? Either way the money goes to making the game better.

 

[SparkTR]

From what I've read the $15 price for this game is temporary, it'll probably cost something like $30 at release. There's probably a whole lot of people out there who want in on that deal, but don't have access to get it with Amazon Payments. It could be considered an advanced pre-purchase, I don't have anything against it given the Kickstarter people are okay with it. I guess it's all perspective, but there's a subset of gamers out there who only use Paypal, this is for them. I hope Paypal support becomes a feature in the future though.

Furthermore, this project was started as a Kickstarter initiative, and if something like this compromises their terms of service with Kickstarter, they could end up losing the entire complete sum. Remember, they're NOT funded yet.

DoubleFine organized plenty of those high-paying pledges outside of Kickstarter's system, something like $100,000 worth of them. I don't see how that's much different to what's happening here.

 

[Wiktor]

If people still want to support them but are unable to use the kickstarter website, then wait until the game is actually out and just buy it?

Umm.why? What makes you feel so superior to those people that you think it gives you the right to fund this project, while they do not have such right?