RPGWatch Feature - Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness Interview

Eh…cool, but none of that has any connection to this project. Not trying to defend it, but unlike Dreamatrix, these guys haven't shown any tangible proof that they shouldn't be trusted.

That said, I won't be backing it yet. I like the way it looks, but I would still need to see a little more before throwing any money their way. I'll keep an eye on it over the next 30 days and see if they can convince me.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Well I'm done going off topic & beating a dead horse.

Just one final piece of advise design your own game instead of being an Armchair general, or simply put walk a mile in a developers shoes before condemning their games.

So enjoy the usual around here guys and gals. I'm going on Hiatus again.

Sorry, but I don't design my own game because I know I don't have ability to - that's why I pay for those who are (hopefully) competent to actually make one.

Yes, I've never had much time for that argument. It's rather like warning people away from a certain model of vehicle, because it's slow, inefficient, badly-made, the brakes fail intermittently, and it's known to sometimes explode. Than someone says, "Yeah, well you try making a car, buddy!"

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Well I'm done going off topic & beating a dead horse.

Just one final piece of advise design your own game instead of being an Armchair general, or simply put walk a mile in a developers shoes before condemning their games.

Wow that's one of the nuttiest comments I've ever read on this forum. The whole purpose of this forum is to discuss RPGs. Among other things, people give their opinions on them, and the developers who create them. There's no reason we have to pretend they're all good. Do you also tell people never to criticize/critique movies until they've made a movie themselves?

Or alternatively, are you just saying we're "not allowed" to be skeptical about games that aren't out yet? That's not quite as loony, but still up there.

Originally Posted by Stingray
Yeah. So how do they have so little to show still? A few screenshots, a small number of very short clips of combat. And a demo of "drying". And a lot of the same art seems to be re-used over and over in their various media.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
I agree with Stingray on this one - if the game is almost complete, then why aren't they showing more materials? Also, why do these materials look so out of date (it's almost like they haven't made any progress since they went silent back in 2016 or whenever it was)?

Yep, indeed I was a little disappointed by their Kickstarter presentation. I had hoped for more.
An explanation could be that the game is more or less completed at the coding part but alot of art is still missing. That's what their funding plan suggests.
So that could be why they can't or wont show more.
Indeed it would have been more convincing to develop and a vertical slice where a small map is completely shown with gameplay mechanics, arts, dialogs etc.
As I've said before, their marketing could have been a lot better.

And of course I see the possibility of a failure here. It's their first project after all.
So if money was tight I wouldn't have backed. But thankfully I can give them the benefit of the doubt.

Originally Posted by Stingray
on the Codex in Apr 2015. At that time, the Kickstarter was "coming soon". Also, some of the gameplay clips / screenshots still being touted today go back a few years. It seems like they have very little to show, given the time that has passed.

Yeah. So how do they have so little to show still? A few screenshots, a small number of very short clips of combat. And a demo of "drying". And a lot of the same art seems to be re-used over and over in their various media.

How do you know they have very little to show? Its based on what? That they started in 2015 and go to KS in 2018? So what? Do you think that party-based RPG is all about graphics? That they didnt need to work a lot on RPG rules, quests, combat system… probably forgettable things in RPG if you suggest they did very little, right?
How do you know how many locations were completed in 2015 (if any) and how many do they have now? And are sure they worked all the time only on Geyser?

I see different locations in their videos (including KS video), different animated NPCs and monsters, some dialogue and combat system, I see they reworked characters including animations, UI, I see a lot of 2D art… And they still may show more during campaign.

If you are not convinced or you think its suspicious dont back the project. But if you are trying to play detective here you are not very convincing.

Originally Posted by Farflame
How do you know they have very little to show? Its based on what?

It's based on what they're showing.

If you are not convinced or you think its suspicious dont back the project. But if you are trying to play detective here you are not very convincing.

I'm not "trying to play detective", not even sure what you mean by that really. Just throwing out a few comments/opinions. Don't care in the least if you find anything I'm saying convincing or not. More power to you if you don't, forums where everyone thinks the same would be boring.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
So enjoy the usual around here guys and gals. I'm going on Hiatus again.

Somehow I think that with Dart gone the negative sentiment stuff has filled the void. He's no longer around to challenge the self proclaimed experts. I'm surprised the Geyser team subjected themselves to this crap after their previous treatment here. As they say fool me once shame on you…

Just because someone is skeptical of something, or has a negative opinion about something, doesn't mean they're a "self-proclaimed expert". People have opinions. Jesus, get over it. Could you possibly be any more whiny?

And if the Geyser team can't take a bit of criticism, same goes for them. But my guess is they have far thicker skin than you apparently do.

LMAO. OK buddy. Go join Ripper and his attempt to courageously "defend the people" against bad RPGs. You and the rest of the band around here are doing great work.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
Edit: BTW, nice interview @Farflame

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Myrthos
Thanks Farflame for the interview and success to the Black Geyser devs

You are welcome.
Little OT: You were in contact with Obsidian and sent them some questions several months ago. What happened? Did they reject the interview or didnt have time?

Originally Posted by ToddMcF2002
Somehow I think that with Dart gone the negative sentiment stuff has filled the void. He's no longer around

BTW What happened to Dart? I remember he left, then returned and now left again?? Did he get in fight with someone or what?

Dart seemed to leave without much incident this time really. I wasn't giving him any grief at the time. He just sort of vanished.

This thread is an abomination of hurt feelings.

Perhaps some think it’s a sad day when an independent team of 5 gets treated like EA. If your inner keyboard warrior makes you feel better saying I’m a butt hurt troll knock yourself out. But it’s a free country where I’m standing and I think a few of you are simply being rude.

Yeah, where did Dart run off too? (Again).

I backed the game perfectly aware of the fact it may fail and that's fine. I think both Ripper and The Blob raises legitimate questions and I can't really see them being neither rude nor unreasonable.

There are some people on this forum who act like trolls, but I have a hard time finding one in this thread. And most of the people who wrote in this thread actually backed the game, so why on earth would the developers need to stay clear of this forum?

I would encourage you to read the original Black Geyser thread.

Thanks for the interview, Farflame.

I backed it at $16. The pitch was better than I expected to be honest. I like the art and the backgrounds (Ripper's right about the CGI but that's low down on my concern list - the 2d environments look fantastic and the characters look ok. I hope they show more examples of the backgrounds during the campaign, if they have them); I liked the devs talking heads; and I like some of the probably unintended quirkiness in the writing (like having "arousal resistance"). I think the devs are genuine and I hope they make a fun game. I don't have a problem with the questions and concerns being raised in this thread though, the comments seem reasonable to me.

Originally Posted by ToddMcF2002
Bitching about low res compressed cgi is a new one though. But hey they were warned not to attempt the Kickstarter. I think the Devs could themselves a big favor and steer clear of RPGWatch

Sorry Todd, this is just silly.

Part of marketing is getting yourself noticed amid the crowd and expanding the products awareness.

If you only stick to areas where you have fanatical followers (IE, your own company forums) then you won't grow your idea and it will likely not be a success.

RPGWatch is not overtly hostile toward this product. This is a good audience for them to come to. Neither fanatical for or against.

Every developer/PR rep expects a certain amount of resistance to any idea. If they can't answer the questions to satisfaction then perhaps their product is terrible. In this case having a few vocal people asking harder questions hardly makes it a witch hunt.

Originally Posted by ToddMcF2002
I would encourage you to read the original Black Geyser thread.

I did, and honestly didn't find it especially trollish either. It's pretty common that you'll want to voice your opinion more when it's negative, I tend to do the same thing. The negative posts in that thread didn't feel more numerous than the positive ones either, and that's why I said I see no reason for the devs to stay away from the Watch. It's always better to get different opinions than only bad/good ones. It's then up to them who they want to listen more to, we'll never have a game (or a Kickstarter pitch) that makes everyone happpy because we all like different things in our RPG's.

You keep making the point that it's a small indy dev team, and I agree, that does make ME more inclined to cut them some slack, but others might have a different opinion. It also doesn't mean one can't point out what one sees as problems.

It's not Trolling as long as your points are valid and laid out in a reasonable non raging fashion. At least that's my opinion.

The game looks rather nice, so that was a first thing which captured my attention. This ain't some one man rpgmaker project. It is actually an indie rpg worth of playing more than couple of hours.

Secondly the guy in the video said all right words to me: Party based, real time with pause, isometric, strong story, complex dialogs. And the innovative greed system sounds quite intresting if it is implemented in a good way.

So keep it going guys. I just wanted to say few positive words. Atleast this looks like a game I'd enjoying playing. I'm really happy that we have already three upcoming rpgs which are isometric party based with rtpw combat.