Bard's Tale IV - Final Hours

Talking about BT4, WL2 DC and TToN.
http://www.twitch.tv/quill18

I played them when I got my IBM clone in 1987 or so. Ctrl-Alt-+ to put it in 'turbo' mode (from 4MHz to 8Mhz!)

I'm kind of surprised that the game didn't end with more of a bang, but I'm happy in general that it got funded with 250,000 $ more, which certainly isn't peanuts. The two higher stretch goals were very unexciting in my opinion. I certainly don't think Collin and MCA are worth 400k.

I think they did really well on the funding, considering the type of game this will be. I found the stretch goals to be underwhelming, which may have contributed to the slower pace of contributions after the initial rush. Bard's Tale was never known for its strong writing, and all of the stretch goals seemed to be for writers. I would have much rather seen stuff like new areas and features as the initial stretch goals.

HellRazor said:

I think they did really well on the funding, considering the type of game this will be. I found the stretch goals to be underwhelming, which may have contributed to the slower pace of contributions after the initial rush. Bard's Tale was never known for its strong writing, and all of the stretch goals seemed to be for writers. I would have much rather seen stuff like new areas and features as the initial stretch goals.

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You might have missed where these writters would create a new area and dungeon and at 1.9 mil also being able to see the equipment on your guy in 3d. These are not small add ons.

Archangel said:

You might have missed where these writters would create a new area and dungeon and at 1.9 mil also being able to see the equipment on your guy in 3d. These are not small add ons.

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It may be true that the stretch goals as announced would have indeed taken a lot of actual work. Nevertheless backers weren't motivated to support that work at the financial levels requested. Hard work alone doesn't generate sales absent consumer demand.

Query whether backers saw additional dungeons as something truly "new" to game as it was then constituted. I think not. But that is just opinion. What is fact is that backers didn't see the additional dungeons and art as having sufficient new value to merit the new financial support requested.

At any rate, Bard's Tale IV was funded to a level of 1.5 million USD. That's a lot of bucks and a quarter million more than initial goal. Congratulations are clearly in order.

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I am sure Fargo will add as much money as needed to make a good product. They learned a lot with WL2 and I think TToN is already showing it. WL2DC also looks to be a much improved version of WL2.

Archangel said:

I am sure Fargo will add as much money as needed to make a good product. They learned a lot with WL2 and I think TToN is already showing it. WL2DC also looks to be a much improved version of WL2.

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IX did say in the kickstarter they would would be putting up 1m of their own money. Still it is a bit of a shortfall (by 1/2), since they probably need *at least* 5m to get even a passably decent result. I hope that, considering they aren't paying publishers out of the W2 & Tides profits, they use that money instead to properly fund BT4 - Otherwise we'll end up with a mediocre offering that will likely detract from any future Kickstarters. IMOP W2 was OK, but they need to do better and keep doing better...

I don't think the game needs 5 million or they would not ask for 1.25 only. And if they invest additional 3.5 mil to 1.5 they got with KS they will need to expect very good sales for a game genre that is not popular anymore.