BLOG PIECE: Kickstarter and the mini-revolution

[LuxanQualta]

Bravo!!! Well said. Had no idea about crowd-sourcing game development until I saw the Nexus announcement about Project Eternity. Happy to say I made a modest contribution and look forward to seeing more. Thanks for keeping us informed and for the well-reasoned thought piece.

[Deleted1073948User]

In regards to what modding/indies can accomplish, might I remind of mighty Nehrim from sureAI ? I dare say it was better than the original game (Oblivion).

[TheOutlander]

@Zaldiir: Ah well I remember using "Build your own home" before I even heard of Heathfire lol... my bad :P

 

Oh and am def throwin my lot in with Sui Generis, it looks cool, will be my 2nd Kickstart after StarCitizen!

He means that Bethesda's gamejam video which featured a "build your own home" came before the byoh mods which came before Hearthfire.

 

 

But Kickstarter backers have no rights whatsoever, other than what their pledge rewards says they get. They're not investors, they're donators. They have no power over the developers in any way. The only thing they can do is provide feedback, but the devs can do whatever they want. They are fully in control.

They have no rights, other than to stop funding you if you aren't doing what they want. Just like a publisher.

Edited November 26, 2012 by TheOutlander

[DraoJasraHyrus]

I absolutely love the idea of nexus backing indie games and the kickstarter community, it will definately strengthen pc gaming in general

 

[Renegadeof79]

Also I'm sorry for Obsidian's FONV. I think they need some royalties for their work [via Just Cause 2]. I don't say it's a just cause to pirate all Bethesda's pigwigs then send all money saved to Kickstarter, no. Because there's gonna be no games from Bethesda for PC to pirate at all, unless Microsoft pigwigs do something about that

Also we've forgort to mention X series, the only space sim since IW2: Edge of Chaos and Tahyon: The Fringe. I'm afraid Star Citizen's gonna finally become yet another EVE [via Online] and I've never heard about free MMORPGs. Tried The Old Republic once, freebie it was

[Goldeathorus]

There's another one I can think of that's going to have a form of mod support. Or, well, at least a map editor with a REALLY large amount of customization:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/urealms/unforgotten-quest

 

It's called Unforgotten Quest and it's made by Rob Moran - the same guy that made Splash Attack (A well known animation on Newgrounds. If you haven't heard of it, look it up.), Unforgotten Realms (A web cartoon based on a couple of guys playing DnD which can be found on his website; urealms.com) as well as many other things. It's going to be a 2D action RPG based on Unforgotten Realms. Right now, it kind of seems like the funding has slowed down to a crawl, so I'm sure that if anyone here were to make a pledge, all of Unforgotten Realms' fans as well as Rob himself would be very appreciative of it.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Goldeathorus

[hellstorm102]

Mod-Friendly/Indy Companies are the future!!

Valve is a indy Company. they dont let Big Wigs push them around.

 

corporations are afraid that Free Mods will make their bank accounts empty.

(M.E.R.P ANYONE?)

they dont understand the word Freedom

 

everything should be OPEN SOURCE, or in Public Domain, AND ESPECIALLY MODDABLE

there is a reason bethesda releases its creation kits. (Source code would be nice lol)

mod-ability = bigger fan base = more money to the developer

 

MODS ARE THE REASON I SWITCHED TO PC GAMING!

i fell in love with Fallout 3 on my xbox, played for 400 hours + but then i bought it again when i made a gaming computer. changed the way i see games. ive played it so many times ive lost count.

 

EVERYONE NEEDS TO SEE THE SUI GENERIS VIDEO!!!

that game should be made

Edited November 26, 2012 by hellstorm102

[MysteriousMrBear]

This artical is great, real eye opener!

[Renegadeof79]

@hellstorm102 I guess owing a console has a great impact on one's ability to think rationally [via heavy CAPS abuse]? indie companies that created Witcher or Stalker or Mafia series are not the future as they share the same fate with Obsidian [via bankrupt]. As well as the Kidneythieves who even can't afford a tour. That's business y'know, and the article is all about it. They blame the pirates of course but I think there's another explanation, the same thing happend to all bigwig 80's hairband business projects [via Seattle]

PS Crytek were mod friendly enough to supply us with a creation kit and a 64bit executable btw.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Renegadeof79

[Natterforme]

I will try to avoid ranting about the involvement of big corporations and money lowering the quality of games. I can only offer my personal opinions and I do not wish to step on the toes of people who might think otherwise.

 

It is my personal belief that the best way to insure continued profits for a game company over the long term is to provide high quality games and provide for your player base. On an individual level, from game to game, this may mean that you have higher costs ( provided SDKs and mod tools, backwards compatibility, more features, free DLC and maintainence through patches, etc.) and a later release date. To the shortsighted, this may seem to be a mistake which leads to a smaller profit margin. However if the quality of the game is maintained and improved from game to game it insures that the company can continue to make games in the future. The key phrase here is consumer confidence. If the fan base knows that the company will deliver on and even surpase the players' expectations, the players will come back for more games and this will gradually increase that base. They are even willing to wait longer for that next game(the average at Bethesda being 4-5 years as opposed to 1-2 or 2-3 years for other games). Instead of looking at this as a short term expense, it is best to look at it as a long term investment.

 

While any game has the potential to have a unique and engaging experience, the ability to mod the game is one of those unique features that not only extends the life a game but strengthens the community around it by allowing the individual players to craft that experience for themselves. Every game that I own that has modding capability I still play to some degree year round. I still play Neverwinter Nights 1 and I was really happy to see it get a Nexus. The same can not be said about CoD. In the amount of time it took me to upgrade from my PS2 to my PS3 that title went through 4+ games and counting. In the 10 years it has been since the release of Morrowind, I have only played 3 TES titles and I can say without a doubt that the amount that I have spent playing and modding those games far exceeds the amount of time I have spent playing any shooter.

 

Quality>Quantity

 

-Natterforme

Edited November 26, 2012 by Natterforme