We've seen various questions and misapprehensions on websites announcing the KS. It was suggested a FAQ might be a good idea. What have you seen that needs to be answered ?
To start with:
$320K - that's not enough money to write a MMO
Why did you go with the Unreal engine over Cry ?
How do I buy add-ons ?
Are the two add-on pets functional or merely cosmetic ?
Can you have both pets out at the same time ?
Will we be able to contribute to CoT after the KS has finished ?
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[color=#ff0000]Tech Team and Forum Moderator[/color]
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Considering how much as already been accomplished with no financial backing... IMHO quite a lot will get accomplished with only $320K.
"A sad spectacle. If they be inhabited, what a scope for misery and folly. If they be not inhabited, what a waste of space." ~ Thomas Carlyle
"I hate to say it, but the entire project just seems to lack a level of professionalism and seriousness that is needed to actually build a game. From an outsiders perspective it just doesn't seem like it's going anywhere, and this Kickstarter campaign hasn't helped.
I played CoH from launch all the way until closing day, and have been following TPP since its inception. I've been putting money aside since the Kickstarter was announced and have a decent chunk ready to pledge but currently it just feels like it would be going down the drain.
So… please convince me otherwise:
1) Is there any form of outside funding?
2) Did you investigate actually hiring freelancers to create the art assets for you instead of purchasing licenses for volunteers?
3) The progress in the last year has, from an external standpoint, been extremely slow. What's going to change after there's money involved if all that is being purchased is software licenses?
Disclosure: I run my own small development team, had a successful Kickstarter last year to revive a 'dead game' (with a similar $ goal), turned a group of volunteers into a professional team, and our game is now on Steam Early Access.
<3
Josh"
Found this one
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well from people I already told about the kickstarter, havent been any common questions yet. Many had various different questions from about the business aspects to credentials (one said some of the credentials are not matching up as they are not listed in the people that worked on the project they listed as being part of) to "is 320K enough?" to "Do I have to go through Amazon to donate?" to how will they implement to open communicaton between devs and future player's suggestions.
Most were enthused. Some were skeptical, some waved it off, some are playing wait and see, others are probably checking it out as I type.
One just commented that "Wow if people are willing to put that kind of dough into it in that short amount of time, they must be serious. Wish I could donate right now." (victim of the gov. shutdowns).
Yeah yeah even though I havent donated yet, I'm still pushing the word out. My choice is my choice but I cant let it affect or take away from other's ability to make their own choice about it. Many who never played COX been waiting for a serious attempt to get from under corporate mmo thumbs and fantasy game galore thumbs, and this may be the chance they were looking for.
Let's get it!
Well said jag40!
Check out ur new station http://www.namesakeradio.com/ !!!!!
I go live every Saturday night at 9pm EST! ^o^
For fast updates on the station and my show follow me on the Twitters @Namesakeradio and @Brokenredmage
I assume the art assets shown in the video are done by MWM. Is that a correct assumption?
In order to keep MWM/CoT a player developed and owned enterprise some sources of outside funding was not considered because it would change the dynamic of player ownership. A decision was made to make KS the first step in funding (as many people who tried to give earlier and were declined know). The first step. The kind of continuing funding some have offered before KS will likely be allowed afterwards. So, the $320K is the first step. And we have always hoped that the KS would bring in lots more, but, being cautious that we would not get anything if one does not make the goal (KS rules), we didn't ask for the much bigger price tag.
But if that money does come in, we certainly know where we're going to spend it for development.
The big savings we have for doing this is the volunteer work, and so, hiring people is one of the surest ways to run through whatever we have. The people who are coding and writing are professionals in the field. And yes, there are amateurs involved, but they're being supervised by those with experience... just like interns in a professional studio.
The folks at Cry were having troubles providing a specific licensing plan at that time. After much waiting on them, the folks involved at that time decided to pull the plug on that course and go with Unreal instead, whose licensing is amenable and published for all to see. No fuss just downloading their tools and going.
Well, I know you know, but since we're FAQing: Submit a higher donation than any tier you selected. When the KS is completed, we'll email you about the difference inquiring which add-ons you were intending on choosing.
We can't make promises at this point. They're at least cosmetic. We hope to have them do 'something' more than just follow. (Remember as players, too, we like stuff to be pretty *and* useful!)
We can't answer that now. If we can have more than one out without problems, we'd be amenable to allowing that. But if the social outcry of being inundated with pets is too loud, or a horde of pets impacts performance, there may have to be limits imposed.
As mentioned above and hinted in the KS video, the devs chased down a dead-end of an engine license which lost them months. Building a triple-A MMO from scratch and trying to bake in from the start all the things that made CoH great is formidable. The CoH devs added all that stuff in over 9 years. Making sure our character rigs have all the nodes that our fashionistas demand is not easy. That's why we need to license high end 3D tools to make that happen easily and quickly. And that's why we need to license the Unreal engine so we can (legally under the license) hack it to do things it can't do out of the box.
Also keep in mind, we're going to get licenses for all these high-end tools... we're not buying them for our devs. If a dev leaves, the license stays with the company for the next volunteer. No individual is getting personal toys they get to keep.
Former Online Community Manager & Forum Moderator
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I am thinking you should thinking up some more stretch goals....
added up top as this is not the first time I've seen that (and for the record, they've been thought of, only the first 2 are displayed).
[color=#ff0000]Tech Team and Forum Moderator[/color]
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Only the first two are displayed. We do have several more in the wings waiting to be posted. I think I slipped up somewhere and mentioned what the 3'd one was already.
[color=#ff0000]Art Director[/color]
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I have said on the other Titan forums how pleased and impressed I was already. I still am. 50% of the goal met in 24 hours! Still, I am concerned with one thing. I have never pledged anything on kickstarter before, (until the bell rang, I was in the top 85 or so), so I'm not at all sure how it works - but what happens if someone who pledged a big chunk of cash doesn't follow through? Technically, with a click, people are digitally signing a contract, but I don't think it's enforceable from a practical perspective. In short - how do we know someone's not yanking our chain? Over 180 grand seems like a large amount from less than 1500 people, but maybe that's just my lack of insight. I would just hate to see the goal met, but then find out only X% of people actually followed through with the actual cash.
People are billed either at the end of the KS period or when the KS is funded (I forget). It is a basically prepurchase not a preorder.
Well there is said to be usually about 5-10% of people that don't follow through on the pledge. Usually though according to some creators that bothered to contact people, is due to sometimes unforeseen changing circumstances. And yeah some pledge too much and end up welching.
I guess it's only fair that a pledger can welch without repercussions as creators can take money and not deliver without much repercussions and keep saying "soon" "soon" for about 3-4 years until people forget about it. Just as much as a pledger may be yanking the chain, a creator may be yanking the chain. Except unlike the pledger, the creator gets away with a lot more money gained. Not saying this game is that type of case.
yeah I Heard the average pledge is usally about $75 or something with the most numerous being $25. Yet, for this kickstarter the average is about $130-$140 (just guessing off the top). Hopefully no one is yanking the chain, but I'm sure some people will cancel their pledge before it's said (for various reasons from the usual people being straight snippy when anyone that says COX is flawed to people taking snark too far)and done but I don't think it will cause failure. I think the final pledge amount will give lot of leeway compared to the original goal.
Me personally I'm still waiting for more info about the actual game wise and what they planned with the stuff. But I must say the information provided is excellent. And lots of ideas been floating around here on this forum but mostly "Maybe" "thinking about it" "not sure". I want to know what do they have actually planned? To know where one is going one must have a heading. I'm sure they have one besides the usual "We are doing this for the community for the players to get back at NCSOFT" stuff. That is touching and heart warming but now lets talk turkey. Like what will the game system be like? What are things that are being planned on being improved over COX? Actually suggested powersets, classes, builds, ATs? Sketches or concept work of the said classes?
I think there are more updates being planned and that may be when that information will be realized.
Although prior they did say it would all be laid out on the kickstarter day. I like the work but quite frankly I wasn't impressed enough to give money to them. In my heart, man, I want to throw my wallet at them but from the business stand point, as I said I must look at it from that point even before the kickstarter started, it's meh. If I didn't know anything about these people, looking at the info. on kickstarter I still wouldn't have not a single clue on what type of game they are building besides a super hero game and a blockman jumping around, a zoomed out pic of a guy flying around and one of the few good shots of the model is about 1 second blip.
On side note Blockman should be some type of Easter egg NPC.
People can cancel their 'Pledge' up to 24hrs before the KS ends.
The Phoenix Rising Initiative Rules Lawyer
Does that go for upping the pledge as well? Lets say someone come across a crap load of money or in some gov employee case finally get paid and want to up their pledge, will they be able to?
Not sure the latest someone can increase their pledge.
I would assume its up to the last second (confirming the increase not starting the increase :))
You should always allow a few minutes 'padding' for online transactions just in case you miss out :)
The Phoenix Rising Initiative Rules Lawyer
Yes, you can increase pledges up until the last minute. They used to allow cancellations until then also, but a project failed because people were worried it wouldn't make its goal, so they cancelled their pledges so they wouldn't get charged for a failed project. They couldn't seem to get it through their heads that they only got charged if the project reached the goal. Ignorance in action.
When a project ends, Amazon automatically charges whatever payment method was used. If it doesn't go through, they send a message to the email associated with that payment method. They will remind you every few days for 2 weeks, then they give up, they don't get the money, and you don't get any of the things you pledged for.
For Shroud of the Avatar, they allowed people to continue to donate and up their pledge level well after the Kickstarter ended. They also let people work out a payment plan for the pledge level they wanted but couldn't initially invest so much at once. It's an idea to consider.
That's been mentioned here, but they are not going into details or even hinting about what they will be doing after the Kickstarter, assuming it funds. For one thing, you don't want people holding off on pledging because they can get something later, then the project doesn't fund because too many people did that.
Oh, definitely. Let it fund, first! :)
I already confessed on the other forum, but I completely neglected to enter my pledge amount in the text field provided - I'd only chosen the reward I wanted. I have corrected this. I can only hope my shame doesn't keep my face red too much longer. That omission is why I was so puzzled. Those folks have the credit card info - there's not going to be very much tom-foolery with a valid card. I'm much more relieved.
Yeah assuming the card is valid. Like on Amazon, you can create an account real fast with a card number and enter just about anything for the zip code, address, and fake name.
When it comes time to charge for it, it probably wont pass validation especially with improper zip code for even the most basic validation system. Others, if the name is and or billing address is wrong, it will decline.
Same with debit cards.
I think majority of people will follow through. A few may be chain yanking. And a few may over estimate how much they will have available in the next month. A lot can change in one month and they may not cancel their pledge to show for it, especially in the last 24 hours, they are stuck and just have to let it decline.