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What strikes me, where do they come from? Kickstarter says Vienna, but they didn't sound very Austrian. Who are their investors willing to pay for the localizations?

Avantenor said:

What strikes me, where do they come from? Kickstarter says Vienna, but they didn't sound very Austrian. Who are their investors willing to pay for the localizations?

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First part of your question was answered in other thread:
https://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1061500040&postcount=149

It's because I'm wondering if there is already a publisher behind that campaign.

Avantenor said:

What strikes me, where do they come from? Kickstarter says Vienna, but they didn't sound very Austrian. Who are their investors willing to pay for the localizations?

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I'm not sure all countries can start a Kickstarter page. Austria borders Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, so it could be a convenient location for developers from any of these countries.

Avantenor said:

It's because I'm wondering if there is already a publisher behind that campaign.

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From what I remember from this or another post, dev said the kickstarter is like a requirement for a potential publisher/investor to gauge interest.

At least their company site indeed locates them to Vienna.

What I also don't understand is the goal of 50.000 Euro. I read the usual creativity and artistical freedom argument. But how does 50.000 € change anything? From what I've learned about game projects of that kind, the costs sum up to a seven-digit number, or at least a high six-digit number. That means, if there is only 50.000 left, most of the development should have already been done. That doesn't seem to be true. As a result I would doubt 50.000 is enough to finish the game and they need further money to release the game.

My assumptions: Either they already have a publisher/investor and this is some kind of test if there is enough community support for such a game. Or they didn't tell us all of the story how this game is going to be financed, at least on the kickstarter campaign site. I admit, these are speculations and there are other possible explanations, but they wouldn't necessarily add to their credibility. Either way, I don't like such communication behaviour from a totally unknown company when asking for stupid German money. All I can say, I'm not interested in searching forums and threads for explanations.

edit: crosspost with wolfing above

They claim they have had interest from publishers, but that they didn't want to take that up, because it would "tie their hands". They also say they have investors who have funded the project thus far, but who won't release the final round of funding without a successful Kickstarter. I find that all a bit odd.

Also, they told us that the "owners" of the company prohibited them from communicating with the public for the past two years, which is why they went silent for so long. I'd like to know who they are, and how they fit in to this.

About the investor: I don't think such thing is entirely unheard of. For instance I recall Warhorse Studios having some sort of private investor who wanted see before funding them further whether the game would even have an audience. So he required a successfull ks campaign as a proof of their concept which worked for their favour.

That being said transparency is a way to go if you're gathering money from your audience.

Dez said:

About the investor: I don't think such thing is entirely unheard of. For instance I recall Warhorse Studios having some sort of private investor who wanted see before funding them further whether the game would even have an audience. So he required a successfull ks campaign as a proof of their concept which worked for their favour.
That being said transparency is a way to go if you're gathering money from your audience.

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Yeah, and with KCD I felt they were pretty transparent. The idea that an investor would want to see a successful KS before getting too heavily involved makes perfect sense. But, here they're saying clearly that the game, all the main features, and most of the content is complete. Why would an investor fund it to that stage before requiring the proof of a KS, and then withold the final round of funding, removing any chance of seeing a return? If a game on the scale claimed is almost complete, a heck of a lot more than 50k has already been invested.

Also, Warhorse accepted a publisher when the opportunity arose. For a tiny amateur studio trying to get out your first game, would you really rebuff offers from a publisher? I think I'd take their hand off. Warhorse were clear that the plan, and the early investment, were to secure a publisher, but they kept being rebuffed.

And I'd like to know about these mysterious owners that apparently dictate things. From the pitch, this seems very much the personal project of the main guy.

Ripper said:

And I'd like to know about these mysterious owners that apparently dictate things. From the pitch, this seems very much the personal project of the main guy.

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Yeah, I got the feeling it's personal project too - maybe his investor is a family member? (Like grand/father wanting to prove the grand/son his worth?)

purpleblob said:

Yeah, I got the feeling it's personal project too - maybe his investor is a family member? (Like grand/father wanting to prove the grand/son his worth?)

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Possibly. But then I wonder, why would the family patron insist on him not posting any updates for two years, right after the initial wave of updates and the first KS announcement?

I know, there is just too much of "why did they..." questions, that's why I'm suss about the whole thing. Personally, I find it hard to believe some of things shared in KS, guess I have to wait and see

Yep, it should be interesting, since, as you predicted, they look odds on to hit their target, and we'll see what they deliver.

In August next year, when they've delivered on their promises, I look forward to eating my tasty crow pie.

Ripper said:

Yeah, and with KCD I felt they were pretty transparent. The idea that an investor would want to see a successful KS before getting too heavily involved makes perfect sense. But, here they're saying clearly that the game, all the main features, and most of the content is complete. Why would an investor fund it to that stage before requiring the proof of a KS, and then withold the final round of funding, removing any chance of seeing a return? If a game on the scale claimed is almost complete, a heck of a lot more than 50k has already been invested.

Also, Warhorse accepted a publisher when the opportunity arose. For a tiny amateur studio trying to get out your first game, would you really rebuff offers from a publisher? I think I'd take their hand off. Warhorse were clear that the plan, and the early investment, were to secure a publisher, but they kept being rebuffed.

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I can't say that those aren't valid concerns. The scale of these projects is indeed quite different. I just think that in general this kind requirement from a private investor would make sense as I have come to understand that nowdays many developers and entrepreneurs launch kickstarter campaigns to show investors and lenders that they are a real thing. Running a successfull campaign can help them to fuel future sales as well.

But like you said, if he has already poured large ammount of his precious money on this project, asking such proof at this stage is a bit odd for sure.

As for the publishers showing intrest part… I always take such statements with a grain of salt. It can mean pretty much anything. You can say it when a publisher representative gives you a positive comment in a trade event as much as when they're making an actual offer to fund your project.

And I'd like to know about these mysterious owners that apparently dictate things. From the pitch, this seems very much the personal project of the main guy.

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I think he would be wise if he clarified this.

Yep. My suspicion, that can't be strongly evidenced, is that it is far less complete than advertised, and that it's been an on-again off-again project that hasn't progressed much over the past couple of years.

Posting a lot more content, which must be available if the game is almost complete, would certainly help.

The update posted yesterday was about languages supported. I was a bit disappointed by that myself. Time for a good gameplay video to prove progress

Perhaps some of you backers that can post on the KS could ask for more of such evidence of content?

I told them to post a video. Several have

What odds would you lay on getting a decent one?

I think they have enough to build a complete game. However, I suspect they have a bunch of disjointed content that needs to be assembled & scripted. I also suspect they haven't done the "big" diagram yet that lays out the quest structure and acts. If they are smart they are in the process of assembling a short scripted scenario to make a video that demonstrates the engine, art assets and capabilities. Within 10 days I give them 80% chance to produce a convincing gameplay video showing dialog and combat