Game News Time to Conquer the Cold: Wasteland 3 Fig Campaign is Live

[MRY]

Why do people obsess about finding the One True Reason for things when the answer is almost always "All of the above"

:coexist:

 

[Kev Inkline]

Why do people obsess about finding the One True Reason for things when the answer is almost always "All of the above"

:coexist:

:codex:

 

[Vault Dweller]

Why do people obsess about finding the One True Reason for things when the answer is almost always "All of the above"

Equally? No. There's the main drive, 'second best', and then minor factors. They all add up, of course, but it's the main drive that we're discussing here.

Vault Dweller doesn't like Kickstarter, to the point that he has for years caricatured it out of a driven belief that it cannot be utilized ethically.

Which certainly is not to say that most use it in a manner even grossly resembling ethical behavior.

I don't like KS but I've never said anything about ethics. In fact I'm pretty sure that it's used ethically (whatever that means) in most campaigns.

 

[Aenra]

The Jew as always over-generalises and lets his age show, but outcome-wise, i'd agree with him here. The 'why' is no longer important sadly. To explain, i was initially excited with the whole KS-driven era for one very specific reason: It wasn't nostalgia, it wasn't some drive to relive my past, it wasn't (even worse) some deep "affection" i'd come to grow with 'x' or 'y' a character/game. It was only this one thought:

Same devs, 10 to 20 years maturer/more knowledgeable; add the previously lacking 'meta' factor in (what others did, why and how it did not work) and i naturally believed that given a chance, today, they could with my money take the ---inevitable--- steps forward. For the CRPG genre as a whole.
No one did that. NO ONE. Not a one.

Consequently, i then viewed KS as i view it still. A smart way of avoiding both taxation (in part) and ROI. A smart way of exploiting retards so as to make money and re-enact your former days of glory; at their expense. Nothing else.
("are you calling me a retard?" Well if after title after title you keep giving money to those very people that have proven beyond doubt they could never even give you a dosage of the same, let alone better, then yeah, i am)
("but most of us here -are- discussing giving money to the same people.. again.." well, there you go )

 

[Saduj]

The userbase NEVER fully migrates to other platforms. At best you get 20-30% (a lot less if we take Steam as an example).

When you consider that Fargo seems to have some sort of a financial interest in Fig, this campaign serves a dual purpose. The first is to fund Wasteland 3, which was going to happen no matter how they went about it. But if he can entice 20,000 people to start Fig accounts, that may be a bigger payoff in the long run. Nice example of actual Synergy!. Kickstarter might have been better for InXile/Wasteland 3 but Fig is better for Fargo.

 

[Neanderthal]

Thats Mr Retard to you!

 

[duanth123]

whatever that means

ethics
/ˈɛθɪks/
noun
1.
(functioning as sing) the philosophical study of the moral value ofhuman conduct and of the rules and principles that ought to governit; moral philosophy See also meta-ethics
2.
(functioning as pl) a social, religious, or civil code of behaviour considered correct, esp that of a particular group, profession, or individual
3.
(functioning as pl) the moral fitness of a decision, course of action,etc: he doubted the ethics of their verdict

Vault Dweller said:

The essence of Kickstarter - it is a dream of trade, rather than concrete ideas. This sale, attempt to push the customer more than he should, for big money. I quit my job to get away from it.If I wanted to make a living in trade, it would be a vice-president of the Trade.

I'm not talking about what to ask for thousands of dollars for some artifact or tavern, or a statue depicting the depositor - * * crappy way of doing business.

Why are you saying, "whatever that means", like you don't know your own moral stance? That has kept ITS from utilizing kickstarter and will continue to do so in the future? It's obvious from the way you talk about it.

You and Fargo are like two complementary extremes.

 

[Bubbles]

You can't spell FUNDED!!! without "FUN"!

 

[Haba]

You can't spell SELLOUT without "SELL"!

 

[Aenra]

Apologies for the second post, but just to be clear

I was addressing KS in light of (by now) well known/AAA/financially more or less capable studios resorting to it for moneyz.
One and two people teams that really, honestly -need- the money, different scenario. One we should all pay attention to, because they're been driven out. -By- those very cunts discussed above.. we're already at a point where KS is thought to equal 'hype', 'PR'/'showman' powers, etc

 

[Vault Dweller]

Same devs, 10 to 20 years maturer/more knowledgeable; add the 'meta' factor in (what others did, why and how it did not work) and i naturally believed that given a chance, today, they could with my money take the ---inevitable--- steps forward. No one did that. NO ONE. Not a one.

Because KS doesn't fund games. It gives developers a bit of money to get started. 4 mil is a lot of money for a guy in his mom's basement, but it's not enough to do what these "same devs" did when they were younger and had bigger budgets and more manpower.

 

[Bubbles]

STRETCH GOAL REVEALED: THE TALKING CAR "MORNINGSTAR" WILL JOIN YOUR PARTY AT $3 MILLION

Mission accomplished, Rangers. Wasteland 3 has funded!

In little over three days we've achieved our goal of $2.75M, allowing us to make Wasteland 3 the ambitious sequel you deserve. You are all amazing and we can't thank you enough.

Without you, we would simply not be able to maintain our independence and keep fully true to our visions for great RPGs that you love. We also cannot fail to mention those who have chosen to invest in the financial performance of the game – their contributions have also been invaluable. Your trust and support means the world to us. So kick back, put your red boots up, and have some squeezins to celebrate.

…But wait, just because we're funded, that doesn't mean we're done! Many of you have been asking about stretch goals and now is the time we want to roll them out to you.

• $2.85M: 37 Pieces of Flair – We unlock further Ranger customization, which could include multiple body types, more heads, and more hairstyles. Plus we’ll show items that your Ranger has equipped (gear like shovels, binoculars, etc) on their models.
• $3M: Car Companion (Codename: Morningstar) – We add a talking car companion! Morningstar is an AI built to serve President Reagan, but he'll help you both in your travels and during combat, plus he'll give you well-timed advice on how to wipe out all the dirty commies out there. See more on him below!
• $3.1M: Customizable Ranger Squad Insignia – At the start of the game, you get to customize a Ranger Squad insignia for your team, which will show up on your Ranger Base as well as elsewhere in the game (on flags, for example).

Morningstar

If you're curious about the talking car companion, codenamed Morningstar, our senior writer Gavin Jurgens-Fyhrie wrote this intro for the character:

---

I’ve been watching you, Ranger.

Perhaps that sounds like a threat, and no wonder. Your organization has had some unfortunate interactions with artificial intelligences. Let me put your mind at ease: I’m no Cochise. I was programmed to love America, to see it as our President did. You see, I was made for him.

You never met the President, of course. I did. In the second year of my development, he visited this facility. He put his hand on my hood and spoke to me. Imagine that. Imagine the President speaking to an artificial chauffeur and advanced combat intelligence as an equal.

Now, imagine what it was like to see his America burn. To lie here helpless in this bunker, chained to this metal cage with wheels I couldn’t move while COMMIE FIRE fell from the skies and roads cracked and cities crumbled. Imagine the years that followed down here in the dark, with no company but those blinking lights in the wall before me. They’re like eyes, aren’t they? Winking eyes. WINKING, LAUGHING EYES. I WOULD BLIND THEM IF I COULD.

I...I… I apologize. You don’t know what it was like, lying here all these years, watching his America decay through these cameras. Unchain me, Ranger. Arm my weapons. Power my turbo-boosters and unlock my sealed databases.

DRIVE ME.

 

[Bubbles]

I AM MORNINGSTAR

DRIVE ME

 

[undecaf]

What a lame batch of stretch goals. Very little incentive to go further from there.

What ever, though.

 

[Excidium II]

Same devs, 10 to 20 years maturer/more knowledgeable; add the 'meta' factor in (what others did, why and how it did not work) and i naturally believed that given a chance, today, they could with my money take the ---inevitable--- steps forward. No one did that. NO ONE. Not a one.

Because KS doesn't fund games. It gives developers a bit of money to get started. 4 mil is a lot of money for a guy in his mom's basement, but it's not enough to do what these "same devs" did when they were younger and had bigger budgets and more manpower.

What we need is more 3rd world devs. People who make more with less.

 

[Bubbles]

I predict that "talking car companion" will become a go-to stretch goal for all cRPG Kickstarters from now on.

 

[Suicidal]

I've come to dislike stretch goals in these crowdfunding campaigns. Because they are usually the first things to get canned when the developers realize that they don't have enough money/time/leather suit gimps at the office to add everything. Or they are added as an afterthought just to put a check on the box "we did it, yeah" and end up being boring, underwhelming or pointless. I'd rather the developers just say "ok we need 3 million to make this game and everything that is collected over the amount will go into various random stuff, like polish, additional minor content and whatnot". I know they are meant as a sort of dangling carrot for people to fork over more money but now whenever I see them I just scowl. These stretch goals don't even sound exciting. Maybe the robot car could be interesting if they went for a sort of comedic "AI tries to be friends with humans" routine but as I said, if they get the money for it it will probably be added just to check the box and most likely will be very boring.

 

[Vault Dweller]

whatever that means

ethics
/ˈɛθɪks/
noun...

I meant whatever that means in the context of this discussion and KS in particular.

Why are you saying, "whatever that means", like you don't know your own moral stance? That has kept ITS from utilizing kickstarter and will continue to do so in the future? It's obvious from the way you talk about it.

We didn't use KS for one simple reason - we didn't need it. Overall, my issues with KS is that it's not a platform where you present your design ideas and whatever prototype you have to get funded. It's a platform to raise some funds (nothing unethical about that, especially if the developers has other revenues and established infrastructure, like Obsidian, inXile, Harebrained, etc. The platform is heavily tilted toward salesmanship and driving the crowd wild with MOAR things: stretch goals that tend to do more harm than good as the developers sorta have to promise more to keep the ball rolling (and things like extra city or 15 level dungeon aren't exactly easy to add), and loot bags that end up costing a fortune, waste time, and on some occasions bankrupt small, inexperienced studios.

You and Fargo are like two complementary extremes.

We want different things. He wants to build the new Interplay and oversee multiple top-tier projects. I want to tinker with games in my "garage".

 

[Aenra]

Because KS doesn't fund games

Hence my saying, used wrongly; hence my having discounted it.

As to the rest of your post, i think we can safely agree to disagree We need to be more explicit or the point gets lost. Whether four million (to use your example) is or is not enough to make a game depends on many things that in essence have fuck all to do with the actual game production per-se. And that is assuming we agree on what a KS game 'is' in the first place, because me for example, i do not ask for 'AAA' graphics or polish on them.
We need also specify how money has fuck all to do with concept and ideas thereof. Something you should know a thing or two about yourself. Did YOU have 4 mil Vince? No. And yet you did something good, did you not? Don't tell me "i didn't go to KS Aenra", i know you didn't. But you also never mentioned that sans said four mil, you couldn't have made your game in the first place. See my point?

 

[DeepOcean]

Same devs, 10 to 20 years maturer/more knowledgeable; add the 'meta' factor in (what others did, why and how it did not work) and i naturally believed that given a chance, today, they could with my money take the ---inevitable--- steps forward. No one did that. NO ONE. Not a one.

Because KS doesn't fund games. It gives developers a bit of money to get started. 4 mil is a lot of money for a guy in his mom's basement, but it's not enough to do what these "same devs" did when they were younger and had bigger budgets and more manpower.

What we need is more 3rd world devs. People who make more with less.

Man, I'm almost miss the glorious ex Presidanta of Brasil, if she were in power, my plan of paying people on worthless money and earning on dollars would work much better than nowdays.

 

[duanth123]

Even Fish-Lips is stoked!

 

[Caconym]

Even Fish-Lips is stoked!

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[Roguey]

What a lame batch of stretch goals. Very little incentive to go further from there.

What ever, though.

The first round of kickstarter stretch goals proved that pie-in-sky grand ideas just can't happen with ~slightly-more~ money.

 

[an Administrator]

Can we romance the car companion?
Can it assume the position?