Shaker - "Mercy killing"

Dhruin

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In the latest Shaker update, Tom and Brenda have pulled the plug to regroup:
We are profoundly grateful to our fans. You were as excited about this game as we were, and from the very beginning, you encouraged us to post more details about it and even sent in fan art! We have received backing from over 7,000 of you and raised a quarter million dollars in just a few days (!). That's humbling and wonderful.
We are profoundly grateful to the press. You covered our Kickstarter's launch and story update and gave it as much attention as you possibly could. It was through your efforts that many heard about our game.
We are grateful to our friends in the game industry who gave us suggestions, support and critique. We are a wonderfully tight-knit community, and we owe you for all your feedback and friendship.
Ultimately, our pitch just wasn't strong enough to get the traction we felt it needed to thrive. Sure, it may have made it. We could have fought our way to a possibly successful end. In reading your feedback and talking it over internally, however, we decided that it made more sense to kill it and come back with something stronger.
In game design, mercy killing is the law.
So, please accept our thanks and apologies in equal order. Expect something more soon.
More information.
 
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Can't say I'm surprised, things tailed off rapidly at the 250k mark.
I supported them, but they certainly could have given a better impression (especially about being organised). If they come back for another crack at it, I'll likely support them again.
 
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Probably better to do it now if the failure of the kickstarter looks inevitable at this point. I do hope they put lessons learned into another pitch if they are still interested in pursuing it. I would be interested to see what a few weeks or even a month more concept and high-level design work would allow them to present.

For reasons right or wrong, it is clear that their resumes and name recognition did not provide them the initial groundswell of support they may have expected. I hope that, rather than be embittered by that as some who I could name might be, they will accept that and come up with a better sales pitch and come back with more concept art and and a bit more information on the setting to entice potential backers. Better organization and planning will probably prove to be almost as helpful in this respect as better information.

It is less relevant whether or not they provided more or more timely information than other more successful kickstarters. What is relevant, clear, and obvious is that the information and pitch they provided has proved insufficient. I would still be interested in seeing their game made though so I do hope they try again and that what they do bring to show will be sufficient to backers who were hesitant about their current effort.
 
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Yeah, I was afraid this might happen. The initial pitch wasn't clear enough. Maybe next time.
 
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Well I guess this will make some people happy.

Maybe if they come back with the information they have made so far and some mock ups it might be more successful.
 
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Well I guess this will make some people happy.

Really only one person I can think of for certain. Other than that one mole-man I think most people who saw this coming would still be happy to see them come back again and succeed with a better planned attempt.
 
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Unfortunate, but surely they've learned from the experience...even if most of those lessons were already well and truly on public display from the other successful Kickstarters in the recent past.

I do hope they try again, reel it in, and don't open with a blasted stretch goal that is nigh double the original target for a 2nd game---stretch goals need to be incremental, if mentioned at all, barring things actually getting rather close to the funding minimum.
 
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It's unfortunate. Obsidian and inXile, both successful companies may have made it harder for non mainstream companies to survive and provide the same level of polish they are doing. Could it be that professional mainstream software companies may ruin kickstarter?
 
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pretty gutsy to walk away from 250k. I am assuming if they can't make their total goal then the KS is forfeit after the allotted time?

Here's hoping they can come back with a better plan and that those that pledge will return. Or maybe they can find an investor - or maybe they can scale it back to a 250k goal.
 
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pretty gutsy to walk away from 250k. I am assuming if they can't make their total goal then the KS is forfeit after the allotted time?

Here's hoping they can come back with a better plan and that those that pledge will return. Or maybe they can find an investor - or maybe they can scale it back to a 250k goal.

Indiegogo you get the money no matter what. Kickstarter you have to make the amount or no money is transfered. I'm guessing they are thinking if they wait a bit after PE and come back with something stronger they can have a better chance of succeeding.
 
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It's unfortunate. Obsidian and inXile, both successful companies may have made it harder for non mainstream companies to survive and provide the same level of polish they are doing. Could it be that professional mainstream software companies may ruin kickstarter?

Actually KS adressed this in some of their interviews after announcing this was the "Year of the Game" for them. They explained that new backers drawn in by these high profile projects tend to give more and to more projects than other new backers. They also explained that more indie/startup kickstarters were receiving levels of funding which had previously been unheard of for games before the arrival of projects such as "Double Fine Adventure" (banner saga, castle story, dead state, etc.)

So as long as these don't become completely normal compared to the indie projects out there, there should be a net benefit for startups from the influx of excited new backers. If however it did become the norm to expect games projects to be like this regardless of their budget then yes it would probably be a bad thing. Still, as long as indie startups are able to get hudreds of thousands for intriguing concepts where before that would be unheard of then I'd say its overall been a positive thing. I do think you're right to worry that if we see too many established companies over-utilizing kickstarter, particularly if there were cases where their previous game's profits meant they did not necessarily need to do so, then it would be cause to worry.
 
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I'll support them the next go around if they have some clearer vision of what they want to do beyond "old school RPG."

Not only was it an ill-prepared project but you got the sense that they themselves weren't sure what they wanted to do: "Two old-school RPGs for the price of one!@!" No thanks, I'll take a single RPG with depth and a clear design doc.
 
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They never could have matched obsidians presentation, which I think a lot of people compared them too.
 
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Once dear old Cleve Blakemore (always one to support his fellow crowdfunding developers) dropped by on the Shaker comments section and transformed it into his own personal platform for making unflattering remarks about Brenda Brathwaite, I knew the project was doomed…
 
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Someone should drop by the Grimoire comments and paste some of Cleve's tirades in so everyone knows what the fuck they're supporting.

What a piece of shit.
 
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EXCELLENT news! This "me too" Kickstarter needed a good kicking long back. Bye bye 'Shaker'..huh.
 
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EXCELLENT news! This "me too" Kickstarter needed a good kicking long back. Bye bye 'Shaker'..huh.

Yeah great attitude.
 
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Saw this coming, the presentation was a bit of a trainwreck. Not sure what they were thinking with that thing.
 
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