Dolmen - continues crowdfunding on Crytivo

Myrthos

Myrthos

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After failing its crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, Dolmen is now trying the crowdfunding platform Crytivo.

The team at Massive Work Studio has pulled a few strings and is proud to officially announce that DOLMEN is still happening despite missing its initial Kickstarter goal. DOLMEN will continue crowdfunding on Crytivo! The crowdfunding platform, like Kickstarter, offers players the option to back games that interest them most, but with a nice twist; Crytivo does not endorse games that feature exploitative loot boxes, microtransactions or pesky day-one DLC.

Take a look at what some of the press had to say about DOLMEN after getting a taste of the cosmic horror ARPG:

"For an Indie Sci-Fi Shooter, DOLMEN has a Lot to Offer" - Bleeding Cool

"...at first glance, the game resembles a curious hybrid [of] Dark Souls and Dead Space, so if you liked these two IPs you will surely be intrigued by DOLMEN." - Eurogamer​

"Combining Lovecraftian horror with a science fiction theme, DOLMEN is a nightmarish horror set on an alien planet." - Flickering Myth

"DOLMEN plays on the third-person action genre, but draw the game's inspiration from HP Lovecraft mythos..." - PlayStation Lifestyle

"Developers Massive Work Studio have a plan to fill in the [Dark Souls] gap ... with a new sci-fi horror take called DOLMEN." - PCGamesN​


For readers just now tuning in and curious about what DOLMEN is, just try to imagine a SoulsBorne-esque title that features hardcore survival elements. Cool, right? Well, Massive Work Studio tops it all off with some major Lovecraftian and H.R. Giger horror vibes. Be prepared to encounter and battle some of the most ghastly creatures deep space has to offer.​

DOLMEN presents players with a one-of-a-kind experience that boasts an enthralling storyline, chilling yet beautiful alien world, and behemoths that are sure to knock your socks off more than once.
​
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More information.
 
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I backed them on Kickstarter but I'm not following to this Crytivo thing. They actually started the Crytivo campaign before the Kickstarter ended, which was weird given how close they were to the goal at the time.
 
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Yeah, I'm a big fan of the whole Kick Starter thing, but I'm not looking to be involved with thirty or so other entities trying to mirror the model.
 
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I wouldn't mind seeing some diversity in the crowdfunding market. I have no great love for Kickstarter, and they have a poor record of identifying scams, responding to IP ripoffs, etc. I'm always happier with a few more providers to choose from.
 
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Ripper said:
I wouldn't mind seeing some diversity in the crowdfunding market. I have no great love for Kickstarter, and they have a poor record of identifying scams, responding to IP ripoffs, etc. I'm always happier with a few more providers to choose from.
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This. I really don't understand why people trust KS more than other crowdfunding platforms. If a project turns out to be a scam or is abandoned KS does absolutely nothing. And their comment section is weak; no edit option, no way to thread or tag discussions. Why should they monopolize the crowdfunding market?

Some don't trust Indiegogo because of the flexible funding, but that's optional and some don't like Fig because of the investor aspect (again optional)...

This is the first I've heard of Crytivo but I love their refusal to greenlight projects that feature loot boxes, microtransactions or day-one DLC! They're my new favorite crowdfunding platform just based on that.

I have zero interest in Dolmen, but I will definitely back on Crytivo if / when there's an exciting CRPG there. Crowdfunding is of course always a risk and it will continue to be one. Back responsibly.
 
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Yeah I'm not saying that Kickstarter is the only route or that it's perfect. Its just the site I tend to use. I've backed things on Indiegogo occasionally, but not flexible funding campaigns. I'm not sure Indiegogo are any better at tackling scams though, if that's the main objection to Kickstarter? It feels to me like they're all broadly in the same place with that, except for Fig and it's selective project approach.

Anyway, in this case Crytivo looks like a pre-order site basically rather than a campaign site. There doesn't seem to be a target or anything. So I assume they'd get the money whatever happens, like a flexible funding campaign. I'm out on that basis, although I didn't like the way they opened the Crytivo campaign before their Kickstarter campaign finished, when they were close to their goal. Just seemed like a dumb decision to split the campaign like that.

If it comes out and gets good feedback I'll have another look.
 
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Yeah, both KS and IndieGogo are very hands off - they provide a platform, take their cut, and it's up to participants to sort it out amongst themselves. That's fair enough, but there's not much of a value-add for the customer, and both platforms are stuffed with nonsense. IndieGogo even more so, I think becuase the flexible funding attracts even worse projects.

Personally, I'd like something somewhere in between KS and Fig, where they do some curation and due diligence to present solid projects, but not to the highly exclusive degree of Fig.
 
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Pongo said:
Yeah I'm not saying that Kickstarter is the only route or that it's perfect. Its just the site I tend to use. I've backed things on Indiegogo occasionally, but not flexible funding campaigns. I'm not sure Indiegogo are any better at tackling scams though, if that's the main objection to Kickstarter? It feels to me like they're all broadly in the same place with that, except for Fig and it's selective project approach.
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No, that's exactly my point. They're all basically the same risk, so why would anyone be exclusively loyal to Kickstarter?

I understand why some people distrust flexible funding. Let's be real though: crowdfunding game projects (successful ones anyway) never ask for enough money to fully complete the game… They ask for an arbitrary amount or what they think they can reasonably hope to get. I'm not even aware of a single crowdfunded game where developers even claimed it entirely funded development; maybe "enough to get us to early access". Ultimately, you have to trust that the developer is committed to the project, knows how to budget their money, and have backup plans / alternate sources of funding when development inevitably takes longer than planned.

We've seen a number of 2nd crowdfunding campaigns for Kickstarted games (Lords of Xulima, Hero U, etc.) Game development is complicated, feature creep is a problem, and sometimes shit happens (people don't do their job, take the money & run, etc.).
 
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Ripper said:
Personally, I'd like something somewhere in between KS and Fig, where they do some curation and due diligence to present solid projects, but not to the highly exclusive degree of Fig.
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Yup, that would be a good middle ground.
 
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Pongo said:
Yeah I'm not saying that Kickstarter is the only route or that it's perfect. Its just the site I tend to use. I've backed things on Indiegogo occasionally, but not flexible funding campaigns. I'm not sure Indiegogo are any better at tackling scams though, if that's the main objection to Kickstarter? It feels to me like they're all broadly in the same place with that, except for Fig and it's selective project approach.

Anyway, in this case Crytivo looks like a pre-order site basically rather than a campaign site. There doesn't seem to be a target or anything. So I assume they'd get the money whatever happens, like a flexible funding campaign. I'm out on that basis, although I didn't like the way they opened the Crytivo campaign before their Kickstarter campaign finished, when they were close to their goal. Just seemed like a dumb decision to split the campaign like that.

If it comes out and gets good feedback I'll have another look.
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They did not start the campaign on Crytivo before the end of Kickstarter. If you looked carefully, you could have noticed that on Crytivo you could not donate / support dolmen. Instead of button pre-order, there was a button "Live On Kickstarter" and "Support on Kickstarter".
 

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And they also named it "Dolem", for a laugh. :p

Seriously though, that's quite a nice feature - list your game on Crytivo, but allow it to be directed to the Kickstarter. I quite like what I'm seeing on this platform.
 
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FlexTech said:
They did not start the campaign on Crytivo before the end of Kickstarter. If you looked carefully, you could have noticed that on Crytivo you could not donate / support dolmen. Instead of button pre-order, there was a button "Live On Kickstarter" and "Support on Kickstarter".
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Fair enough. I hadn't checked the Crytivo site whilst the campaign was running.
 
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Well the games setting interests me but I never liked these types of games so I'll pass. By that I mean Multiplayer / PVP / Co-op games, they just don't interest me at all.
Cacheperl said:
According to manatigames, the producer suspects that it is related to people pledging to get a key to the demo, and then sell the demo key. See:

http://www.manatigames.com/2018/05/12/dolmen-how-a-free-demo-ruined-the-games-kickstarter-campaign/

If true, I guess this teaches us something about how demos should be handled in a funding campaign.
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Fraudulent key sellers is a big threat on the internet. Especially on Steam with the grey market key sellers who are frauds. Hope they catch the buyers bit it's a long shot.

The buyers probably used false names and stolen credit-cards.
 
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