Elite Dangerous, funded on Kickstarter (£1.5m) just released on 16th Dec. They have (IMHOP!?) made a really incredible sandbox game (possibly the best sandbox & space game yet), which goes way beyond what I was expecting, especially given that the kickstarter was only 2 years ago and £1.5m probably wouldn't fund EA or Ubisoft's bill for corporate lunches over the same period.
Unfortunately though, instead of jumping about in ecstatic glee, a whole bunch of "backers" have taken umbrage, because Frontier didn't manage to include an offline mode in the game, which they had intended to do originally. And incidentally that *doesn't* mean that you can't play solo in a universe with no human players - you can, just that you still need an online connection, since the universe events, markets and missions are generated dynamically on Frontier's servers.
I don't think that most people here will need reminding that Kickstarter is not a shop - it is a place where you back people's visions and in software development, particularly, those can change as the project develops. I think that when Frontier planned the Kickstarter they really did intend to develop something that was mostly offline, but with a few features for cooperative play. But as the project progressed they realised that the game would be a lot better with a more dynamic universe that evolves from a combination of player and NPC actions. And I reckon they are dead right about that.
…And merry Xmas everyone! just off to have some really serious Xmas food…
Unfortunately though, instead of jumping about in ecstatic glee, a whole bunch of "backers" have taken umbrage, because Frontier didn't manage to include an offline mode in the game, which they had intended to do originally. And incidentally that *doesn't* mean that you can't play solo in a universe with no human players - you can, just that you still need an online connection, since the universe events, markets and missions are generated dynamically on Frontier's servers.
I don't think that most people here will need reminding that Kickstarter is not a shop - it is a place where you back people's visions and in software development, particularly, those can change as the project develops. I think that when Frontier planned the Kickstarter they really did intend to develop something that was mostly offline, but with a few features for cooperative play. But as the project progressed they realised that the game would be a lot better with a more dynamic universe that evolves from a combination of player and NPC actions. And I reckon they are dead right about that.
…And merry Xmas everyone! just off to have some really serious Xmas food…