Shaker - "Mercy killing"

[Aditya]

Yeah great attitude.

Yeah, as great as the great Shaker deserved!

But hey, the golden oldies have said that they will come back with a new Kickstarter (which hopefully wont have a Skaky foundation)...so don't get disheartened!

 

[ChienAboyeur]

They will probably come back with a lower target, hoping to get their actual needs covered by going over their initial funding bar.

 

[QuestLord]

Any public failure has to be difficult, especially if you are a high profile developer. The measure at which that failure is handled is a good judge of the character behind the project that went down. They never pointed fingers at Kickstarter, other Kickstarters, their contributors (some of whom were a little rude) or anyone else but their pitch. And they did that in public with a comment section that was turning into a zoo.

Hats off to developers who handle themselves in such a manner.

 

[HiddenX]

Unfortunately you have to go more mainsteam (like Obsidian) if you want more then 500000 USD in a kickstarter project.

At 25 USD per game you have to reach 20000 people.

There are not more than 20000 hardcore old school crpg-players out there.

 

[Kordanor]

While initially (after one day) thought that they will make it, what I wrote on facebook was: "But somehow I have the feeling that this will be the first "big one" to fail. "

The whole first impression of this project wasn't really that good. While developers exaggerate lots of times when presenting their stuff, the first impression I got from the "Old School RPG" was that what they wanted to do was way over their heads.
I mean things like "give uns 1.9 million and we make two games". Too much caps, too much "we are awesome". And then also including guys like John Romero, who did good things for sure, but who is also representing the History of Daikatana. Seems like they didn't want to put him in the foreground but just show his name and face enough to attract additional people.

And then the additional switch to the Sci Fi - Fantasy Mix. I am pretty sure that a lot of people hate mixes like that. Fantasy is Fine, Sci Fi is fine, but mixing these ones together in this way...then adding a "main character", which is so not "classic retro"...

I don't think that they had a clear vision of what they actually wanted to do. And that's not a good thing, especially if you don't have much else to present.

 

[Kordanor]

Unfortunately you have to go more mainsteam (like Obsidian) if you want more then 500000 USD in a kickstarter project.

At 25 USD per game you have to reach 20000 people.

There are not more than 20000 hardcore old school crpg-players out there.

Thing is, that the possibilities changed. If you make a game from 20 years ago with todays possibilities it will be much cheaper, so you don't necessarily need tons of money. Of course that changes to the opposite if you want to make a AAA game with modern standards where the animations and movie scenes cost that much alone.

In addition I think that there are more than 20000 hardcore old school crpg players out there. But that really depends on the definition of that word - which they might not have been so sure about themselves.

I mean…is Ultima1 a hardcore RPG? In the beginning it was ugly has hell, had horrible game mechanics and science fiction mixed in. All these things changed with the later Ultimas like Ultima 7. Is Ultima 7 still hardcore classic?

Personally I was already turned off by the "modern" combat in Baldurs Gate and wished my turn based combat back. Like it was in Dark Sun, which I'd consider the prequel of the whole BG, NWN and Icewind Dale, Dragon Age stuff.
But of course which of these you decide as your "classic RPG" is up to you.

 

[abharsair]

It's sad to see this Kickstarter fail, but I think it was to be expected. While Project Eternity didn't have much information at the beginning of their campaign either, Obsidian at least has the street cred and project history which Loot Drop just doesn't have. The name of the campaign, the pitch video with the exaggerated emphasis on old-school, the lack of direction, and the ill-advised stretch goal of "we'll make two games" didn't help either.

I really do think they could get funding for an RPG if they presented it in a more appealing way from the start on, maybe with some concept art, a better name, more lore, or maybe even by resurrecting a much-beloved old IP. Ultimately I believe people need to think "Yes, those guys have a vision and know what they are doing." before they are willing to donate. Especially if you are looking for $1,000,000.

 

[Dhruin]

Unfortunately you have to go more mainsteam (like Obsidian) if you want more then 500000 USD in a kickstarter project.

At 25 USD per game you have to reach 20000 people.

There are not more than 20000 hardcore old school crpg-players out there.

I pledged to this one (and will again) but only to support Tom Hall; I don't think their vision was clear and that showed. I think asking for $1M but saying up front they really wanted $1.9M for two games was confusing and off-putting.

But I also think a well-executed campaign could easily make $1M. I'm not convinced the backers are limited and good campaigns and high-level pledges increase the average sale past $25.

 

[DashiDMV]

I'd like to see Tom Hall go do his own thing. After the 2 RPG gimmick fell flat, he looked like a 3rd wheel and a Loot Drop "guest star" instead of really part of the work.

 

[Carnifex]

Personally, I think that they acted like they were entitled to our money, with nothing or very little explained up front. Those days are over, and I saw a clear difference with how this project was explained and purposed versus how Obsidian did theirs. In my world, the only thing anyone is actually entitled to is a kick in the ass every so often.


-Carn

 

[rune_74]

Proof that the obsidion campaign may have damaged kickstarter. Having a dedicating marketing team definately helps.

 

[sakichop]

I don't think obsidians marketing had anything to do with it. I pledged arakion and its marketing job wasn't nearly as good. The difference was that I had a clear idea about the game.

Shaker came and went and I still am not sure what it was all about.

 

[stealth]

I don't think obsidians marketing had anything to do with it. I pledged arakion and its marketing job wasn't nearly as good. The difference was that I had a clear idea about the game.

Shaker came and went and I still am not sure what it was all about.

I totally agree. I've backed 5-6 KS games so far and the main reason is I could easily see the vision. I've absolutely no idea what Shaker was about except something about old skool and perhaps a cloth map and a big box.

 

[jhwisner]

Proof that the obsidion campaign may have damaged kickstarter. Having a dedicating marketing team definately helps.

Not really, prior to the big names showing up even getting 250k was an extremely rare event. If it proves anything its that you need to be competitive with the projects getting millions of dollars if you want to get millions of dollars. Since that wasn't even seen as a possibility by most outfits until it was demonstrated to be possible, it can't rightly be said that they have somehow denied others the very possibility that they are simultaneously responsible for demonstrating even existed in the first place.

 

[rjshae]

I totally agree. I've backed 5-6 KS games so far and the main reason is I could easily see the vision. I've absolutely no idea what Shaker was about except something about old skool and perhaps a cloth map and a big box.

Yes, pretty much this. They failed to build momentum at the start when attention was at its peak. The early message was pretty much, "please give us some money and we'll design something". It got better as the KS moved along, but by then it was too late to catch up.

 

[Ashbery76]

Dreadfull pitch at the start but the lore they quickly came up with was much more interesting than the bland Project Eternity effort.Mixed feelings.

 

[rune_74]

Dreadfull pitch at the start but the lore they quickly came up with was much more interesting than the bland Project Eternity effort.Mixed feelings.

What I hope they do is take what they have done so far and relaunch that as a new campaign and hae some updates being worked on to push it forward.

 

[Yme]

So long. Come back with a stronger sense of what you are going to make and I'll pledge. Getting a million dollars on your names alone is hard.

 

[Dajjer]

I don't think obsidians marketing had anything to do with it. I pledged arakion and its marketing job wasn't nearly as good. The difference was that I had a clear idea about the game.

Shaker came and went and I still am not sure what it was all about.

I too totally agree. I kicked into a lot of indie projects. But they all had something to show.

If they really want to re-enter the fray, it's not enough to just have a good opening presentation. They should start work on the game now and when they come back we can see whats up. Actually, if they could come back with enough game assets as Arakion, I would be happy to commit to their project.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

What? You guys didn't think zero information and a close-up photo of their smiling faces were enough for a cool mil? Yeah, neither did I. The whole thing set my spidey sense a-tingling. R.I.P., crappy Kickstarter.