[Majsan]

Originally Posted by fov

(Believe me, I understand the anxiety. I'm a huge fan of Jane's games and I want to see this succeed so badly. Not just because it means new games from my favorite designer, but because the chances of us ever seeing another Gabriel Knight game are WAY higher if this succeeds. But worrying about it and posting that we're worried about it isn't necessarily productive.)

That is one of the main reasons for me to donate.., even if it is just a hope!
And the fact that I think all JJ games (and books) I have played have been so strong storywise that I want more...

[Terabin]

This thread is meant to be an outlet for those who want to make a testimonial as to why they support Jane's new studio and kickstarter project. This can be one way that we as fans can give to the kickstarter using non-monetary means.

Not that she would actually use it, but if she wanted to she could use some of what we say for advertisement: a compilation of supporter/fan testimonials answering the question, "Why I'm supporting Jane's studio and kickstarter." Examples of testimonials could include: what Jane's previous work has meant to me personally, what sets Jane's work apart from other game writers and designers, why you trust Jane to deliver an amazing product, and so on...

For me personally:

I first encountered Jane's work in the '90s as a teen. I played Gabriel Knight 1. I was immediately taken with the unique gaming experience: an incredible twisting and mysterious narrative filled with characters I became invested in and driven by a combination of humor, suspense, pathos, and horror. The narrative was tied closely to the gameplay itself: the puzzles made sense in the game world and helped advance the mystery. I wanted to solve the puzzles not only to see "what happens next" but to help Gabriel out. I cared about what happened to Gabriel and Grace. The narrative and gameplay were supplemented by a Score that perfectly mirrored the tone of the scenes: haunting during the dream sequences, comedic when Mosely was involved, etc. The visual aesthetics of the game were vivid and brought the city of New Orleans to life. There is a reason why fans of Jane's games seek out the real life parallels to the in-game locations: these places are imbued with a special significance/aura that Jane gave to them through her visual interpretation of the places and creativity in planting her story and characters within those places. We as participants are invited to help to create the game world through our own imaginations. We imbue the world with our own memories, connections, and personalities. Simply put: Jane knows how to create a narrative world that feels so real to us as we play that we can't help but invest ourselves emotionally.

What I describe above is true for all of Jane's games that I've played. My adolescence was shaped by playing Jane's games. I put her games on the level of the great art experiences of my life, among the great films, great concerts, great paintings, etc. Playing Gray Matter as an adult was a breath of fresh air for my gaming life. Jane's games have always piqued my imagination, drawing me into vibrant game worlds like no other. They are truly inspiring to me as fleshed out artistic creations. Jane is one of gaming's true "auteurs." I support Jane's new studio and kickstarter campaign as a token of my thanks and my hope in Her future projects. I trust that Jane will be true to her own artistic spirit in making games that speak to her, that inspire her. Thank goodness she has interest in continuing to share her creations and in seeking out a new work situation where she can best maintain her artistic integrity. She is a true artist.

[ozzie]

I also spent 50$. I'm probably not the biggest fan of her games. My favorites are her older ones, KQVI and GK1. I wasn't wholly satisfied with the whole package of the latter ones, and I haven't played Gray Matter so far, but I always enjoyed the stories. It's hard for me to tell how good Jane can be, especially since the Gabriel Knight series was forced through so many technological advancements that didn't really seem suitable, but there are lots of great moments in her games. Le Serpent Rouge is just an astounding puzzle complex. The character of Gabriel Knight is so unique, and she's so good at characterization overall. The story of GK3 is a bit of a mess, structurally, but it's so full of detail and so much you can choose to find out about or ignore, all the things the characters do during the course of the game, it's intriguing. In GK3 the little details mattered more than the overarching storyline.

I find it hard to grasp what I like and don't like about her games. Gameplaywise I was often annoyed by invisible triggers that you don't know about but have to trigger to progress. Some puzzles were ridiculous, like the cuckoo clock or cat hair mustache. She may not have designed the latter one, but it still remained in the game. It should've been cut wholly. So, I always found them kinda frustrating to play (oh, there was also the pixelhunting for the snake scale! And the barely hinted at need for the voodoo code message on the cemetary tomb wall...), but the stories were always great, and I enjoyed the characters.

So, 50$ for the great storytelling, for the hope that she may have learned from her design flaws, and because of my loyalty to the genre.

Reading it back, this may not sound like a ringing endorsement, but then, I think that most of the best adventure games are pretty flawed. Heck, even Grim Fandango is not a good adventure game in my opinion! So...she's one of the best designers of the genre, no doubt about it!

[lobotomy42]

I would urge anyone on the fence about contributing to contribute! The more money raised upfront, the better able Jane will be to get publicity and thus further funding. So pledge, up your pledge, etc. If she doesn't reach the kickstarter goal, she gets *none* of the pledged money so far. It's looking like raising the money is not going to be a slam-dunk the way Double Fine's kickstarter was, so it's critical that momentum is maintained.

Of course, if you're not interested in the projects, then don't worry about it.

[Stheo]

I stand corrected on the coverage, seems like quite a few sites picked it up actually. A few major ones are still silent though (giantbomb, gametrailers, kotaku, destructoid, joystiq) Also as already suggested getting tweets from trusted industry people might help, but that's a bit hard to control. (here's hoping notch is secretly a huge Jensen fan!)

I also pledged 50 dollars. It's a fair amount for getting 3 games while still feeling like I contribute more than just the bare minimum. Might upgrade to 100 for the DVDs if my inner fanboy can convince my brain to spend that kind of money

To add some constructive criticism I think the Dan Brown joke, while clever, comes across as the complete opposite of what's intended unless you both played GK3 and read the Davinci code. Also the video could benefit from being a bit shorter, but those are just small nitpicks in an otherwise great pitch. Everyone involved comes across as really genuine and passionate about the project and i think that's what matters in the end.

[Gonzosports]

Originally Posted by fov

I think it's interesting that people are basing the success of this campaign (after one day! with 43 days to go!) and of others on what happened with Double Fine's. That was an anomaly, and it was awesome, but not every campaign needs to follow the same curve in order to be successful. As people have pointed out, Jane's fan base is different, and the situation is different (when Double Fine's happened it was the first, now people are being more selective about projects like this and the press are less eager to talk about it). It certainly didn't help that another Sierra game went up on Kickstarter two days earlier (and one day *after* Jane started teasing this announcement -- too late to change course). That's life... but it doesn't mean instant failure.

(... But worrying about it and posting that we're worried about it isn't necessarily productive.)

Something that does help, though, is feedback on what grabs you about the campaign and what doesn't make as much sense.

Ah yes - this is also more productive than worrying! Something I have noticed is negative comments about the campaign from people who probably aren't Jane's fans...

I've never played the Gabriel Knight games - thought they're at the top of my list, but it didn't stop me from donating $50 as soon as it was live, because I believe in supporting the art form, creative developers, and writers/legends who were pioneers of the medium - and also, so their work will help open opportunities to new writers and developers.

But, there were/are some problems with the announcement. And this is a forum, a community where we can vent anything we want. I don't mind the yahoos being negative about a game they won't support, they have every right to express.

But they sound like clowns. I tend to ignore those who'll gripe about problems in the genre, and then don't make any effort to support those who are trying to solve them.

But - those of worrying, and I am one of them, in a huge way, use this place to vent and I think that's fine.

Why did DFA/W2 succeed so quickly where Jane is stumbling out of the block?

For one, Tim has over 7 thousand followers on Twitter and has released games on multiple platforms to multiple audiences. He's also a personality. He gives lectures. When he announces a game, all those folks know about it on Twitter. Right now.

Jane set up her Twitter account today.

That's ok with me - I don't love social media, but I have to know it and understand it for my job. But it severely hampered the initial push for it to go viral. Tim had a built-in, enthusiastic audience.

Jane has the old school gamer audience, who are slower on the take - hopefully, this means higher yields when most KS campaigns start to wane, which is usually around 14-25 days to go. I think her making it for 44 days was BRILLIANT.

The adventure community is bigger in Europe and the word needs to get out there, I hope it does.

I am glad she changed the name. This worked for Chris Serellan.

I would have led with "The Maker of Gabriel Knight" somewhere. The form is a bit presumptive we all know Jane Jensen. All of us here do - but even as a gamer, before I was on this forum, the name didn't ring a bell like Tim's or Interplays (Brygo's recognition isn't his name, but the company he founded, all of us late 30-year-olds played one Interplay game, and probably loved it at some point).

Dammit, I have so many more thoughts. One last one, I wish she'd started smaller with one project, and built to the CSG next year. We might all of us developers be getting big heads about what's possibile because of Tim - he has advantages others don't, and an audience that's tech-savvy and hungry for more of his Psychofandangotentacleness.

I think Pinkerton should have launched with GM2 on KS, then built an audience the CSG could take advantage of.

Off to meeting...

Scottzo

[inm8#2]

You know, one other thing about the DFA Kickstarter was the video documentary. That was just as interesting to me as the game itself

But, we should probably not compare Jane's project to the DFA too much. Her funding is coming in nicely. It doesn't have that initial boom but even not considering the $10k donation the total funding seems to be rising consistently. As the word spreads more people will hopefully join in.

[LauraKat]

Originally Posted by Stheo

I stand corrected on the coverage, seems like quite a few sites picked it up actually. A few major ones are still silent though (giantbomb, gametrailers, kotaku, destructoid, joystiq) Also as already suggested getting tweets from trusted industry people might help, but that's a bit hard to control. (here's hoping notch is secretly a huge Jensen fan!)

If anyone wants to help get the story on Joystiq, you can send a tip on their website:

http://www.joystiq.com/contact/tips/

I wish I'd thought to do that while the countdown was still running.

I definitely agree that the Gabriel Knight brand should be mentioned more. A lot more people will recognise Gabriel's name over Jane's.

As an example, the blurb for the kickstarter is

A year of adventure games from master storyteller Jane Jensen. Join the Pinkerton Road studio family.

Why not change it to something like.

A year of adventure games from master storyteller Jane Jensen, creator of the acclaimed Gabriel Knight series. Join the Pinkerton Road studio family.

The same goes for us when we're posting the story on facebook, twitter, forums etc.

I also just wanted to say that I loved the video, and I've seen multiple people post that it was Raleigh that sold them on the project.

I pledged $260. It was pushing the budget a bit but the open house invite with the Scarlet Furies concert convinced me. That was taking a big leap for me though because I live in New Zealand. My husband is from the U.S. and we're due to visit his family which is the only reason why I thought it might be possible to get there for it. He did seem a little suspicious when I enthusiastically suggested we go visit them next year hehe.

Anyway my point is with a lot of fans living in Europe and probably not being able to make the open house and concert, it's actually a very big jump from $100-$250/$260 to just get a poster. It would be good to have a tier in between the two with another reward. Possibly a boxed, old school style physical copy of the game. Personally I'd really love something signed. Maybe there could be a limited number tier that includes a signed poster?

[zane]

Heres what it boils down to: when all is said and done we'll need around 6 or 7 thousand backers total. (assuming that the $ per backer evens to around 50, because if we get that many people therel be more and more gravitation towards cheaper).
So we need no less than 150 new backers every day for the next 40 days straight.

[inm8#2]

Originally Posted by zane

Heres what it boils down to: when all is said and done we'll need around 6 or 7 thousand backers total. (assuming that the $ per backer evens to around 50, because if we get that many people therel be more and more gravitation towards cheaper).
So we need no less than 150 new backers every day for the next 40 days straight.

Yup. It's about the # of backers. And I'm not at all sounding bitter or jealous, but I can't imagine how Al Lowe has almost 5000 backers for a project that many complain isn't new or interesting (plus it was announced last fall) while the Pinkerton Road project has about 700 as of now.

Like I said above, the funding is coming in consistently (up to $60k), but I agree with you that we're going to need a huge bump in backers.

[zane]

Originally Posted by inm8#2

And I'm not at all sounding bitter or jealous, but I can't imagine how Al Lowe has almost 5000 backers for a project that many complain isn't new or interesting (plus it was announced last fall) while the Pinkerton Road project has about 700 as of now.

Im not afraid to say: I'm jealous. LSL got like 2000 backers in the first 12 hours! And they still probably have an up-hill battle ahead of them.

[michael1123]

The latest changes to the site are a big improvement, IMO.

Someone is definitely listening to us.

[LauraKat]

Does anyone else find the reward system for the lower three tiers to be a bit confusing?

I think many people are just going to want to use this as a preorder for the games and not be concerned with getting the music, beta testing or design documents. I'm personally not in that boat but I have been for other games I've supported on kickstarter where I'm less invested in the genre, designer etc.

So here's my issue with the rewards.

Issues 1: If it were guaranteed to just be one game I'd pay my $16 and be happy, but because there's a chance a second game will be made that makes the decision a bit more difficult.

The second game will only be made if the kickstarter reaches $600k so I'd probably pledge $16 and up my pledge if it goes over $600k. The problem is that's a lot of potential money that could be the difference between it reaching 600k or not.

So yeah, that's a problem but I'm not really sure what the solution is on that one.

Issues 2: If I did decide to take the risk and up my pledge, I'd have to jump up to $50 to get two game. 16+16=32 so I wouldn't be happy about paying $50 for two when I only care about the games and not the other rewards.

I think it would be good to have another reward level of say $30 that includes the whole season of games, which will be either 1 or 2 games, but not the other rewards. I'm not including the eBook here as even though I personally think it's super cute (love the artwork!) I don't think it's can really be considered on par with the other two potential games.

[JuntMonkey]

Leisure Suit Larry is a much, much bigger name than Gabriel Knight. Like probably 10 times as big.

[michael1123]

A suggestion: less focus on the casual games, even if that's what she's been doing for the past 8 years. More focus on her work on adventure games.

"Casual game" is almost a dirty word to most serious adventure game fans. That could turn someone off from even finishing reading the article if they're not familiar with Jane's previous work.

And you may want to find a way to get her adventure game credentials mentioned right away. Maybe something like this would be more eye catching as a first paragraph:

Acclaimed game designer Jane Jensen -- creator of the Gabriel Knight series, Gray Matter, co-creator of King's Quest 6, and an award winning novelist -- is forming her own game studio. Pinkerton Road will be a company that's dedicated to creating quality point-and-click adventure games, the likes of which have not been seen in over a decade.

[LauraKat]

Originally Posted by michael1123

Acclaimed game designer Jane Jensen -- creator of the Gabriel Knight series, Gray Matter, co-creator of King's Quest 6, and an award winning novelist -- is forming her own game studio. Pinkerton Road will be a company that's dedicated to creating quality point-and-click adventure games, the likes of which have not been seen in over a decade.

I love this!

[KatieHal]

You can also email [email protected] to get them talking about it. I sent in a tip to both them and Joystiq--come on guys, let's flood their inboxes!

[ozzie]

Just sent this message to Kotaku and Joystiq:

Heya!

All the successful adventure game designers of the nineties have a reunion party on Kickstarter at the moment and Jane Jensen is another participant that just freshly arrived! She was part of the "Sierra family", designed some of the most fondly remembered point and click adventures like King's Quest VI and Gabriel Knight which did their part in forming the genre. Now she asks her fans to help her fund one of three possible projects she might like to tackle: Either a sequel to her last game Gray Matter, or Moebius, a game similar to Gabriel Knight, or Anglophile Adventure.

All the infos can be found on her Kickstarter page!

Cheers!

Edit: And maybe someone who has a Twitter account should ask Tim Schafer or others what they think about Jane Jensen appearing on Kickstarter.

[michael1123]

It's been what, a day and a half and we're at 62k? Not bad at all!

And I totally expect late comers to keep on coming. I'm as big of a Jane Jensen fan as a person can be, and the only reason I know about this is because I happened to randomly click on my Adventure Gamers forum link a couple days ago and spotted this thread.

They should definitely keep advertising on adventure game sites. That's definitely their core market, and a lot of adventure game fans like me don't visit mainstream game news sites that often.

[Gonzosports]

Raised my pledge by $10. I doubt it will be the last time. I may try to eBay my organs.

I really want it to succeed.

I wish there was a "Raleigh Holmes' phone number" tier.

That's a joke!