Kickstarter - Thorvalla Waiting for your Pledge

As has been announced last week, today marks the start for the Kickstarter campaign for Thorvalla, the Norse RPG from Guido Henkel (Realms of Arkania, Planescape:Torment, Neverwinter Nights, Fallout 2).
They are asking for 1 million dollars, which is quite a large sum, to be pladged within 30 days.

Enter a world steeped in Norse mythology, tribal mysticism and sword-and-sorcery fantasy. Meet a people as rugged and fearless as the elements they weather, fueled by an indomitable spirit of adventure. Come face to face with monsters, beasts and denizens of the Underworld in a heroic tale of conquest. Come, enter Thorvalla!

Featuring single-player party-based play, Thorvalla allows you to take advantage of the traits and abilities of a variety of NPCs that you can add to your party as the story unfolds. Along with meaningful character interaction and a wealth of dialogue, these kinds of decisions influence not only how the story evolves but also the strategies you will have to apply in order to succeed and progress through the game. Unlike modern RPGs, in Thorvalla, there won’t be any babysitting the player, funneling you down a virtually linear path of no-defeat. This is going to be an RPG where you will have to save your game… often.
Oh, and did we tell you about the dragons? Yes, they will be there. Some friendly, others not so much. Mostly not so much. Nasty problem, that… but it’s all good. Some dragons are your friend. In fact, some will serve and fight for you. Harness a dragon and he is yours to command.
This is fantasy with a real air force, but don’t expect a first person dragon flight simulator. We are still talking about a hard core role-playing game that throws you into a world of adventure, filled with twisting plots and missions.

More information.

My wallet is dry.

Luckily, the next month is near so do count me in on this one.

Oh, and did we tell you about the dragons? Yes, they will be there. Some friendly, others not so much. Mostly not so much. Nasty problem, that… but it’s all good.

If they keep up with the humor it will be a funny games.

I might back this one…

EDIT: Okay, I caved in and backed. Ah, willpower, where art thou?

Back it at $15. Assuming they pull it off, I have no doubt I can get $15 worth of entertainment out of that.

They lost me at collectible card game.

Originally Posted by CrazyIrish
They lost me at collectible card game.

They got me at collectible card game. Also, I love norse mythology, so I guess I didn't stand a chance

Huge wall of text there, some concept art, not sure about the game technology, classical rpg elements, areas connected by corridors, dragons - all sound good but not ahead of competition (in particular Project Eternity). I think that I will give this project a miss, I guess I have been spoiled by previous similar project and what will be coming in the next couple of years.

30 days seems like a shot time to get a million dollars, isn't it? Do all KS have to be 30 days? Why not make it 60 days? They would seem to have a better chance raising that kind of money over 60 days than 30 days.

Cardgame and dragon combat? Did he read too much of larians dragoncommander blog?

1 million is a bit high for a project like this. Although some big names after it, there isn't an established intellectual property, only concept arts and renowned dev firm like Obsidian. I'm going to pledge but honestly I don't think it will reach its goal. Max pledge level for it must have been 400.000 $.

Hmm… we are playing a shipwrecked Viking who wants to rescue his dragon ? If a Princess kidnapped the reptile than at least the story has an interesting twist

But I'm getting a unhealthy comic-vibe from the concept art and the mention of trading card influenced fights doesen't help either… I'll wait for more information before deciding to pledge or not, even if I'm a huge RoA Fan.

There is not enough in this kickstarter yet to even approach funding it. The concept art is just quick sketches.

1 Million in 30 days ??? That's a bit too tight, I fear.

Originally Posted by DarNoor
30 days seems like a shot time to get a million dollars, isn't it? Do all KS have to be 30 days? Why not make it 60 days? They would seem to have a better chance raising that kind of money over 60 days than 30 days.

Statistics are that 60 days kickstarters have higher failure rates than 30 days ones. The middle slump never recover on 60 days campaign. It also require a lot more involvement from the "devs". If you want to make money you have to give regular updates and get involved 24/7.

Who's Guido Henkel? I see the references, but I honestly haven't seen his name mentioned related to those projects before.

The lack of clarification on the Engine/maybe perspective and whatnot won't do it any favors—-especially as the general demand across most of the spectrum is just to use a multi-plat centric engine like Unity or others in the first place no matter what.

I have high hopes for this, but they are going to need the RoA folks internationally to really come out to play as well as some really potent project updates these next 30 days barring some lucky breaks. They did good to already have Paypal apparatus on the game's homepage from Day 1 though….bound to help.

Originally Posted by Maylander
Who's Guido Henkel? I see the references, but I honestly haven't seen his name mentioned related to those projects before.

http://www.giantbomb.com/guido-henkel/72-20029/

This guy apparently.

I'm gonna back it but I don't think this one'll make it.

Some stuff sounds intriguing, but I am waiting for more information. Looks like they will have ~$10k on the first day - not a great start for a 1 Million $ project.