Goblinworks Executive Founder
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Hello All,
So, as the title suggest, I am on the fence a bit about this next Kickstarter, and I am not exactly sure why. As you can see from my status, I am certainly 'invested' in seeing this project make it to light, and I am personally excited at the prospects of what the game promises. I just find myself holding back a bit and I need some gentle pushing from the community, me thinks.
I think my problem lies in my skepticism surrounding accelerated schedules, which is the main driver of this effort. Being involved in, and having seen, many software development efforts, the inevitable 'slipped' schedule seems almost a formality. So, investing money into advancing a development schedule seems to me something that does not have a solid footing, as I expect schedules to slip and any 'investment in time' to lose its value.
And perhaps, this is where my problem lies, focusing too much on the schedule. I mean, even $100 gets you some decent 'loot', some time in the game and an 'Early' access. Perhaps I should look here and not get some caught up in the technical nature of the Kickstarter?
Admittedly, I am not much of a guild person, but clearly this is a large aspect of the game. A 'shadow guild' would be very interesting to me honestly. So, am I not as enticed by the Guild benefits at the higher levels?
Clearly, I need to decipher my own motivations, but I am curious as to what others, who many have gone through a similar thought process, or those that have gone 'all in', can pass along their experiences to give me that nudge I need.
It seems a reachable goal...10,000 people pledging $100 gets to the target, and certainly the $100 pledge level seems worth while. This would create a solid initial community, and perhaps another motivation for the Kickstarter. I am not looking for additional incentives, just something more tangible to latch on to.
Being an East Coaster, I am off to sleep soon, so I will respond to any discussion in the 'morning' but I am genuinely interested in what others feel on this subject.
--Bart
Goblin Squad Member
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GW is doing PFO different than most MMO's. The game is not some PvE themepark that requires a huge team and 50 million dollars. The reason these games take so long is not because of the mechanics, its all the PvE content. PFO is basically giving us a sandbox and letting us play, with some PvE content, there is simply not as much to do before launch.
If you are on the fence, go back and read the blogs, and you should be able to decide on your own, Ryan has convinced me he knows what he is doing.
This kickstarter allows them to hire some more people, and get better equipment to better produce the game. If the kickstarter is fulfilled and the game still releases in 3 years, that means that it would have taken 4 without the kickstarter.
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Goblin Squad Member
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If you're on the fence I would do the 35 level because its just a more cost-effective way to buy the game.
Gets you;
-The game
-Open Enrollment invite
-New player pack
I've supported many projects I was on the fence on following this principal: its being offered now for alot cheaper than it will be at release.
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Goblin Squad Member
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One thing that stood out to me, was the option to be able to get into beta (without a pwipe) and thus actually get a jump start on forging alliances, content, relationships etc. It seem to me that it would be pretty cool for the majority of players joining a month or three later and hearing about the character 'Mighty Bunny Foo Foo', slayer of goblins and scourge of the backalley rats.
Basically, an early start on getting your character known.
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CEO, Goblinworks
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@Breezly - your concerns are well justified. Software projects are notorious for schedule slippage. :)
Here's the deal for us. With the funding we have in hand, we can staff up to a certain level and maintain that staff until the game gets released.
But if we have more capital, now, we can add staff, now, and that lets us speed up. There is a point where that ceases to work and you can't speed up even if you throw more bodies at the project, but we're nowhere near that point yet.
So getting this KS funded will speed up the project - and by a significant degree. Sure, a schedule could still slip, we all know that, but the risk of a meaningful slip goes down a lot with this KS. We're at the sweet spot where faster money makes a faster game. Which is nice.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I think another advantage of the design we have seen so far is because of the skill system, there will be no clamour to the end game content, it will take time to get there, giving them months or years to add new higher skill level monsters and features, items and craftables, which means they don't need to have all that done on release or even near release, there is not the risk of people rushing through content to get to the top content faster than expected, which means there is plenty of time to develop this, giving more time to focus on the mechanisms for player generated content and the earlier stuff. There's a lot less they need to have done on release, so the faster they get the ground work done, the more features can be added early.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Most video-game kickstarters are delayed: Study: Two thirds of Kickstarted videogames hit delays and that probably is only more realistic with mmorpgs!
Seeing as there's no other mmorpg (aside from eve) that is worth the cash (for me), the $100 is a risk worth taking (and a little more so with the sweeteners thrown in) but mostly because of the early community building with what appears to be a very good online community already.
I think a quick release is very important, so supporting that is necessary, too.
Edit: *push*
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Goblin Squad Member
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If your browse the current MMO scene you will notice a trend - big companies seem to be working on "new" forms of MMOs. if these are sandboxes, noone can say, but they almost certainly are not themeparks.
So the window of opportunity closes.
The earlier PFO will be at the digital shelves the higher is the likelyhood for success.
Backing this project will cut down dev time and get this game into the hands of fans faster which seems critical.
Enough of a push?
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Goblinworks Executive Founder
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OK, I am in. I agree that getting to market sooner, will increase the chance of success for this project. Plus, getting in and getting established early, does have a nice draw.
Thanx for the nudge everyone. I now await my inevitable 'backer creep' that somehow finds me crawling up the levels...
--Bart