Dead State - Considering Kickstarter

Brian Mitsoda has finally posted a new Dead State update, admitting they lost momentum for a while and asking for feedback as they consider a Kickstarter campaign:

Let’s backup to an internal conversation from a few months ago. Some of us were keeping an eye on this newfangled Kickstarter service that was featuring more and more interesting projects all the time. While there were a few games on there, nothing was really pulling in the money needed for an RPG with a 10+ person team. We were pretty sold on the possibilities, but ultimately it came down to whether or not we thought we had the game in a state where we’d be comfortable asking people to fund our continued development. The reality of the situation was that it was not quite where it needed to be yet, so we put those plans on hold.

Unfortunately, this kind of led to a period where everyone had to take on second jobs/contract work, which naturally resulted in less time being put into Dead State. And one of the worst things that can happen in a creative project is losing momentum, which is what we’ve spent the last few weeks gaining back. And in that time, there’s been kind of an explosion in the realm of crowdsourcing. There is now both an awareness and excitement over the possibilities, and some pretty big projects (way higher than our budget) getting funded through Kickstarter. I’m not so sure it’s “the future” yet and I expect Kickstarter fatigue to set in as every short-on-cash dev tries their luck at the crowdsourcing game. The last thing we want to do is look like a “me too” project trying to ride the gamer goldrush (dolla dolla bill, y’all!) – but I expect that there are going to be quite a few projects that have no such hang-ups.

I still don’t think we’re quite ready for a Kickstarter launch, but we’re starting to head in that direction. I think putting a bit of distance between any possible launch and the massive projects being funded right now is probably a smart move, though I’m not a bizdev guy, so who knows. While we toil away on the latest Dead State builds and features, I would like to open up the discussion to you, the potential supporter - let’s kickstart a Kickstarter discussion.

More information.

i'm pretty sure I and others have been wanting and advocating for this long before this recent glut of kickstarter offereings—please do. this is one that i would have no problem contributing ~$50 towards.

Yah I would like to see this game emerge one day.

Now this is a game that I would gladly support on Kickstarter. It's all well and good that sequels and established names are finding support through this route, but quite frankly, bringing back dead franchises or making sequels to games that don't really need another entry (as in, the series is great as is and has already been fully fleshed out) just doesn't excite me as much as a creative new project.

Basically, it's just my personal preference to experience new projects that haven't already been done before, and Dead State fits that mold perfectly. A post-apocalyptic tactical zombie game with in-depth character interactions/personality conflicts, strategy, survival, and role-playing depth? That is the type of creative thinking that I love to see (and it's no surprise coming from someone with Troika ties, a company that was always pushing for creativity and new ways of designing role-playing experiences). It's not a sequel, it isn't a rehash of what has already been done to death, and it looks like a promising mixture of "old-school" fundamentals incorporated with moderns sensibilities and a really creative approach to gameplay and atmosphere.

To this, I say Yes, please!

Yes, I'd definitely contribute.

However, I'd expect better transparency. The official forums have been quiet for a while and defenders have shot down queries about the status of the game. Turns out they had lost momentum - they just didn't say anything. I understand that - but if you take peope's money up front, you need to communicate consistently.

All my beautiful moneys are disappearing!!

(Yes, i'd contribute)

Until a few of these kickstarter things actually produce something I am kickstartered out.

kickstarter has produced a ton of things including games. this latest phenomenon is with big name sequels, etc. dead state would fall into the category of the former so i'm not sure why you'd hold that against it unless of course you have actually funded a bunch of stuff already over the years.

Yes I would love to see a story driven zombie rpg. But i felt safe donating a good chunk of cash to Wasteland 2 because it was a hall of fame game from my youth. Your company would have to convince me the game would get made and be very transparent. I do wish you guys the best of luck.

Yes, I'd be in. Hell, I've been working a lot lately, so I recently bought an "Mmmm…bison" baby bib from their store. Doing my part of see a true zombie survival RPG get made.

Would definitely contribute to this.

Same here. The concept for this game sounds fun as hell.

I'd be interested in this one too.
I do think however that if they are going to do it they'd better do it now, because no matter how many enthusiastic people say that this is the future I expect that it will very soon become the past, I believe the enthusiasm will start dwindling once we start turning our attention again to games that we can play right now. Not to mention that we will soon run out of people willing to invest thousands on these things.

Originally Posted by curious
kickstarter has produced a ton of things including games. this latest phenomenon is with big name sequels, etc. dead state would fall into the category of the former so i'm not sure why you'd hold that against it unless of course you have actually funded a bunch of stuff already over the years.

I've never seen a Kickstarter funded computer game that I was interested in come to completion.

Originally Posted by Dhruin
Yes, I'd definitely contribute.

However, I'd expect better transparency. The official forums have been quiet for a while and defenders have shot down queries about the status of the game. Turns out they had lost momentum - they just didn't say anything. I understand that - but if you take peope's money up front, you need to communicate consistently.

While I don't feel entitled to the weekly update thing, I agree that it would have been nice to get a message or a short explanation when the weekly updates suddenly stopped. I assume they themselves weren't expecting the hiatus to last as long as it did, but in retrospect, a post announcing they are doing contract work for a while and will let us know when they are back, would have been better.

Still, I'd be more than happy to contribute to this if they can make even a half-decent presentation for the Kickstarter.

Originally Posted by BillSeurer
I've never seen a Kickstarter funded computer game that I was interested in come to completion.

i've also never seen you make a positive comment in regards to Dead State news—-which begs the question if you so meh about this game why do you keep torturing yourself and others with keeping up on its news?

Originally Posted by BillSeurer
I've never seen a Kickstarter funded computer game that I was interested in come to completion.

Which games were those?

Since there are games getting a million plus based on a description (and name in one) and and other games succeeding in getting funded I think they could do one for Dead State right now and it would get more then their goal easily.

You guys should go for it now rather then waiting longer since you're further along then some of these and you already have everything you need to succeed.

Originally Posted by curious
i've also never seen you make a positive comment in regards to Dead State news—-which begs the question if you so meh about this game why do you keep torturing yourself and others with keeping up on its news?

I tried the demo they did and was not all that impressed but was willing to see what the final thing was like. I didn't feel strongly enough to comment.

And what's with the drama queen crud? "torturing yourself and others with keeping up on its news"? Seriously?