Vault Dweller can you tell us the tale of your game?

[Vault Dweller]

Thanks.

 

[mikaelis]

I mean, it feels like dickery...

If it feels like dickery, it most likely is dickery.

There is dickery and "dickery". You are not asking for 59.99$ for some CoD clone. It is a forgotten genre (which is a strech already as kickstarter is showing otherwise), or better to say, an intersting twist to the typical cRPG. People who pledged are not waiting for the Next Shit Coming, I guess. They want AoD to materialize, as it is with all the content that was talked about. It is not about the money for us "pre-ordering folks". At least it is not about petty 5-10$ that we would sacrifice for the sake of wider resonance. We know what we want and we decided to trust you and your team with the money in advance.

At the same time, I know I am speaking only for myself and other may think otherwise seeing it as money-grubbing and what not. So my post is probably irrelevant, but keep up your good work and make it till the end no matter which sale model you decide

 

[felipepepe]

I really wound't care if you release the game at a price lower than I preorded, as people already said, the idea was to help you release the game and perhaps garantee a sequel, not "premium early access/prices" or stuff like that... most consumers aren't that greedy, just look at the Shadowrun Kickstarter, they wanted to give exclusive stuff to backers, people said that was retarded, to make it available for everyone...

 

[Vault Dweller]

... just look at the Shadowrun Kickstarter, they wanted to give exclusive stuff to backers, people said that was retarded, to make it available for everyone...

It was a retarded idea though. Games shouldn't have extra content available to those who paid more. The content is either part of the experience and should be there regardless or it shouldn't be there at all.

 

[mikaelis]

Isn't that like pissing against the wind? It might be good to put higher price for the swag that is not necessary to get the full experience of the game you designed. Like digital high-resolution world map, advice, some extra concept arts, etc. Afterall, that is what people are pledging higher bids for the projects like P:E, W2 and so on, no?
I am not advocating for exclusive NPCs, missions and so on. More like giving some irrelevant but collector stuff to those that are more devoted.

Granted that people will torrent it after the release, but there are lots that will pay for it in advance.

 

[felipepepe]

Except for physical stuff like boxed sets or adding their personal NPCs/Items, I don't think anyone gives money to Kickstarter for the .pdfs or digital soundtracks... even on GOG.com that never seemed to have much appeal.

 

[mikaelis]

Hmm, you are probably correct. I just projected myself getting more and more oblivious to the physical stuff, living in eurozone, changing addresses every year, moving my garbage from flat to flat etc. I tend to go for digital-only tiers just for support. I guess I am in minority.

 

[oscar]

Perhaps put our names in a character random name generator or some low-effort token like that if you feel you must reward us somehow. Anyone interested in AoD enough to pre-order it is likely going to be a pretty big enthusiast of the genre who wants to see it revived, and won't begrudge you a few bucks if it goes towards more good RPGs being made.

 

[Vault Dweller]

That's why we offered filler characters (for $15 extra) for who like this sort of things and want to add their own touch to the game.

 

[oscar]

I didn't even mean that far. I believe Faster Than Light had something similar as a bonus for a small donation. Just have your name show up in a random name generator at character creation for people who don't feel like using their own name or Sepiroth Darkblade or something lame. Works for everyone as it's (I'm guessing) quick to implement and gives something to the pre-orderers (a 'hey that's kind of cool' moment of seeing your first or last name amongst the randomly generated list) without taking anything away from later customers (in fact helping them, as choosing an interesting and new name helps you formulate your character's personality a bit in your head).

 

[Crooked Bee]

Well, if you really want to do this for a living, then getting on Steam should be your highest priority imho. Even at a lower price (if Steam should demand that). Something like $19 sounds perfect to me, and I fail to see the dickery in that. If someone who's preordered the game basically objects to a wider exposure and more sales (= more games like/sequels to AoD getting made), then fuck that loser. It's him being a dick and not you.

 

[Sitra Achara]

Not sure if it's feasible or not but - why not offer a refund for pre-orderers?
Those of us who paid up to support you won't take it anyway, and those who'd feel somehow "screwed over" by the lowered Steam price will be able to get their money back, no harm done.

Of course, the refund would equal the price difference from the original version vs. Steam, and will only cover the 25-30$ tiers. And I suppose it's logical to condition it by the success of Steam sales, but I get the feeling that you wouldn't.

You can run a poll to get an estimate of how many would actually like that refund (I'm betting less than 20%).

 

[Commissar Draco]

Getting your bodily fluids essence hardware electrons polluted by Steam for 6 mere jewgoldz? Since I do want see another game made by Iron Tower Studios and one made little faster I am not objecting to going retardo I mean Steam, if VD has some aditional concept arts, maps, Combat Manual written by our Fuhrer or Soundtracks for Old Guard backers it would be nice though.

 

[sigma1932]

I paid 50€ (convert that to $) and unlike Yossarian, if anyone, anywhere, ever gets the game cheaper, I will be pissed off. Like, really pissed off.

What if someone buys the game for $25, but donates $25, all in the same transaction? How pissed will you be then?

I can think of [quite a few] games that would have been much, much, much better if the development teams spent more time.

This.

And it's especially important to the success of unknown indie companies making their first game to put out something more polished at release since they don't have the massive marketing machine that makes bigger corporate projects pull in more money than they really should due to the fake hype generation.

If ITS starts out with a reputation that says they make quality product where everything works not just how it's supposed to, but as it's DESCRIBED to by the game's documentation-- or even, at the very least, won't crash every 15 minutes if the save file gets to big or WTF-ever-- that can only be a good thing.

That said, this might be the only RPG I'm willing to pre-order (and then donate extra to on top of the minimum price) before it comes out... the last "RPG" I bought was was the collector's edition copy of Derpage: Origins, and even that I made a point of not opening until making a trip on the high-seas to play it first. I still haven't opened it, and I think the last RPG I actually pre-ordered, opened, and played without playing a "demo" first was NWN2 plus expansions.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Not sure if it's feasible or not but - why not offer a refund for pre-orderers?

Not feasible. Sure, we can refund a few pre-orders if people become unhappy, but a mass refund isn't an option. Credit card companies rate online merchants by the % of refunds and we don't want to create any issues for BMT for no reason.

Overall though, we'd prefer to deal directly with many gamers. Not because we'd keep more money, but because we update content constantly (we're on R10 now internally) and will continue to do so. When people buy directly from us, they will be able to get updates instantly, both betas to try and discuss if they are so inclined, and official updates. When you deal with portals, your ability to update is limited.

Anyway, like I said, right now it's not a problem because Steam didn't greenlight us yet and we don't know whether or not Steam will insist on a lower price. Once we get to that point, we'll discuss all options.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Well, if you really want to do this for a living, then getting on Steam should be your highest priority imho.

"I find your lack of faith [in the hardcore gamers] disturbing".

Then again, you probably know better.

 

[Infinitron]

When you deal with portals, your ability to update is limited.

Is it? Steam is supposed to be pretty cool about such things.

More to the point, if you do put out updates all the time, it's a lot easier for end users to get them with Steam. Not every user is going to be savvy enough (or care enough) to keep checking your webpage. Unless you have some sort of auto-update utility in the works.

 

[Vault Dweller]

That said, this might be the only RPG I'm willing to pre-order (and then donate extra to on top of the minimum price) before it comes out...

Thanks.

 

[Vault Dweller]

When you deal with portals, your ability to update is limited.

Is it? Steam is supposed to be pretty cool about such things.

All portals are pretty cool about these things, but updates takes time and they don't want weekly updates and it's not possible when you have beta content ("here is an idea, try it out, let us know what you think").

 

[Infinitron]

it's not possible when you have beta content ("here is an idea, try it out, let us know what you think").

False.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Really? Didn't know that. That's a great idea. Thumbs up for Steam.

 

[almondblight]

Well, if you really want to do this for a living, then getting on Steam should be your highest priority imho. Even at a lower price (if Steam should demand that). Something like $19 sounds perfect to me, and I fail to see the dickery in that. If someone who's preordered the game basically objects to a wider exposure and more sales (= more games like/sequels to AoD getting made), then fuck that loser. It's him being a dick and not you.

I don't know, browsing the prices of games on Steam, I don't think $25 is a bad starting price for AoD. There are a number of indie games around $25 right now. Eschalon Book II, a game that was released a couple of years ago with much lower production values, is going for $15. Spiderweb games are a lot cheaper, but their production values are also really low. If Steam's reasonable, they'll allow them on for $25. If not, they can be a GoG exclusive for a few months until the price drops. Steam's also going to have to be cautious about things like that, since GoG is already setting themselves up as a strong competitor.

 

[Diablo169]

Having played the demo this is one game I'm really looking foward to, $25 or around £15 here in the UK really isnt that much money for a good quality CRPG.

 

[l3loodAngel]

First, *I* don't agree. Charging more for pre-orders than for the released game is dickery. At ITS, we frown upon dickery.

I preordered and I wouldn't mind price drop on the release date as I preordered to support your efforts to make the game. I am sure most people would not mind as they gave more money than was needed to get copy.

That being said if being on steam gets you more sales and bigger chance for a sequel, add on or another similar game I wouldn't really hesitate.

 

[l3loodAngel]

I don't think anyone gives money to Kickstarter for the .pdfs or digital soundtracks... even on GOG.com that never seemed to have much appeal.

I did for PE.