Obsidian Entertainment - Crowd-funding Fever

Well I signed up, I love adventure games, and these guys have done some really great ones in the past!

Daniel.

CountChocula said:

How about VTMB 2

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From my understanding CCP/WW are not outsourcing their properties to 3rd parties anymore. All game properties they own they want to do in house. So in other words don't expect a new V:tM CRPG until after the MMO is released.

so technically they could raise a cool million, and then wasting some time derping around and deliver nothing?

turian said:

so technically they could raise a cool million, and then wasting some time derping around and deliver nothing?

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They could, and because their sponsors cannot possibly know whether they'll really work for the money Double Fine used signaling quite a lot: they attached Schafer's whole reputation to the project, they made a deal with these documentary guys and they promised a beta slot for everyone who donates money.
Now they have more money than needed it's quite possible they make the game bigger and sell it for 30$, so 15$ could actually become a great deal.

turian said:

so technically they could raise a cool million, and then wasting some time derping around and deliver nothing?

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This entire thing relies on the goodwill of people on the Internet who want to take a shot at giving some cash for the chance of playing a game unfettered by publishers. It's not some business arrangement between the Internetz and the developers.

Of course, a developer such as Double Fine or Obsidian would take it very seriously because if the project sank, it would mean that the goodwill for the devs would quickly turn into the wrath of angry Internet dwellers. It'd be disastrous.

If someone with a notable background in developing/making rpgs said they will make a game like Baldur's Gate style again - hand painted backgrounds, 2D, party based, complex mechanics, huge scale - I would donate as much as I could in a heartbeat. I never understood why they abandoned these games. I'm very underwhelmed with what has come to replace them.

Not everyone has abandoned those kind of games, turn based I mean. The Spiderweb company has really kept that brand going, making them usually yearly and most are extremely challenging. Why anyone would prefer the action style over these is beyond me, give me a turn-based game any time!! If you enjoyed the BG style, I think you'd like the Spiderweb games. They don't use the AD&D ruleset, but what they do follow is quite simliar.


-Carn

turian said:

so technically they could raise a cool million, and then wasting some time derping around and deliver nothing?

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Maybe but I think that's missing the point: you are not paying so that you can pre-purchase a game that may or may not be good - you are paying so that you can let them know that there's an audience for this kind of thing, therefore encouraging investors to support such games. If you like adventure games that's a win-win regardless of the final product's quality.

It is notable that Schafer gave absolutely no indication about what the game would be like. He only revealed that it will be a point and click adventure. I'm sure he has something in mind but I bet that whatever the result will be, next time he goes to pitch a game he can prove that there are n thousand people that are willing to pay x million dollars for a good old fashioned adventure game - that his game can sell better without forcing action nonsense into it so that it would be to their benefit if they were to let him do what he knows best.
If he had given some more detail - say for example that the game would take place in space - potential future investors could claim that the success of the experiment was because people thought it would be something like Mass Effect, because it's also set in space, so he'd better make a Mass Effect clone to make them some money instead of that dead adventure thing that no one would pay for.

Arkadia7 said:

... a game like Baldur's Gate style again - hand painted backgrounds, 2D, party based, complex mechanics, huge scale ... I never understood why they abandoned these games. I'm very underwhelmed with what has come to replace them.

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Preach it, brother.

I wish this model could help us see a sequel to Alpha Protocol, but I don't think enough people bought the first one for that to be possible.

...I wish I was a multimillionaire.

The problem is that it will probably only work for the really big names in the industry, people who probably could fund a project in one way or another.. Kickstarter is also only available to US developers.

I'd love to see a new big budget 2D isometric RPG.. it feels really refreshing sometimes to play those games.

Carnifex said:

Not everyone has abandoned those kind of games, turn based I mean. The Spiderweb company has really kept that brand going, making them usually yearly and most are extremely challenging. Why anyone would prefer the action style over these is beyond me, give me a turn-based game any time!! If you enjoyed the BG style, I think you'd like the Spiderweb games. They don't use the AD&D ruleset, but what they do follow is quite simliar.

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I don't know.. I loved the Infinity Engine games, but the Spiderweb titles I've tried just didn't do much for me.