Adventure Gamers - Forums

Interesting that they have about a hundred less backers than A Small Favor (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/clickshake/a-small-favor-2d-side-scrolling-adventure-game) and twice the amount of funds raised.

The trailer is certainly memorable, but I wish it showed gameplay. If people saw right away that this is going to be a slick point-and-click type game, I think they’d do better with the fundraising. Also, their campaign title isn’t great. “Old-school” game? “Classic” sounds better than “old” to me. Also, where is the word “adventure” in the title? (I see it in the graphic, but it is easy to miss.) When people are browsing Kickstarter or seeing what others have backed, sometimes all they have to go on from the list of games is the graphic and the title. Missed opportunity there, I think, though their graphic is attractive.

Also, AR-K’s funding goal of 100K just *sounds* so high and daunting. Seeing 6 digits makes me feel like it doesn’t have as good a chance to make it, which in turn makes me less likely to pledge. (I’ve already pledged for this one, but I’m just speaking generally.) Couldn’t they have said 90K or 95K? The psychological effect of seeing that high-looking goal is going to discourage people, I’m afraid. Potential backers also might question whether it is realistic, in a way they might not question if the goal just *looked* more modest.

I hope it makes it!!! Needs more publicity.

6 figures is too high of a starting goal for ANY video game project whose dev team is composed of complete unknowns.  Unless you have some major advertising tricks up your sleeve—word of mouth just isn’t going to be enough.  I think Himalaya Studios handled it best—they gauged what similarly known teams had been able to earn, and then set their goal there.  They banked on the idea that their own limited renown would help them achieve stretch goals, and they made the smart move of making almost every one of their stretch goals add features to the game, which is what people really want (sorry swag-lovers.)  And it worked out beautifully for them.  They doubled their goal and made it well into 6 figures.

I agree about Himalaya and Mage’s Initiation. I don’t know how many e-mail contacts they had amassed since their Tierra days, but I think those also helped a lot. Did you see how they shot up like a rocket in the first two days? They made good use of that valuable e-mail list, I think. Of course they had many other things going for them, as well. And I don’t think they ever required people to give their contact info in order to download their free games like Phoenix Online (I believe) did.

Anyway, perhaps the AR-K team can try again if they don’t make it this time? I know I should stay positive about this campaign, though. There really is a lot of time left. I think they need to get as many people as possible to try their free episode 1.

Lambonius, may be the dev team are unknown, but Greg Rucka is a very well known writer. I am sure you know what are the cost of developing a game. Only dubbing in one laguage can sum up 12.000. Do you think it would be honest to ask for 50.000 when it is impossible to develope a game with that money?
And if you are paying salaries…
It is going to be very difficult for them, and I will do my best to help them promote the game.
I think they deserve it ^_^

Hey, more power to them, if they can make it.  Greg Rucka may be a great writer, but I’ve never heard of him.  Is he known for adventure games?  If not, it seems like it might be a harder sell than some other names who are more specifically known for adventure game design/writing.

He’s a comic book writer. A well known one, but that only applies if you actually know comic book writers, I suppose.

Well….
Have you heard about Batman? He received an Eisner award for Gotham Central. May be Superman, Wonder Woman? In Marvel Comics, Spiderman, Wolverine, Electra, The Punisher…?
One of his Graphic Novels, Whiteout, was taken to a movie with Kate Beckinsale.
He has written, also, the script of the game Syphon Filter: Logan´s Shadow. It was the PSP Game of the Year for IGN…
The question is that may be you didn´t know his name, but you probably knew his work
You can read the wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Rucka
Don´t tell me he is a nobody, please. It doesn´t make you any favor

Lambonius - 01 May 2013 06:22 PM

Hey, more power to them, if they can make it.  Greg Rucka may be a great writer, but I’ve never heard of him.  Is he known for adventure games?  If not, it seems like it might be a harder sell than some other names who are more specifically known for adventure game design/writing.

I think is not only about selling. It’s about improve AR-K’s quality too.

Rucka is considered to be one of the best comic writers in the last 20 years.
I know, he only works in one video game (Syphon Filter)... but I think he’s the perfect writer for AR-K, owing to his specialization in female characters.

Also, he won more than an Eisner: Rucka owns 4 awards. that’s really sick, it’s a superstar. Only a few persons has more than Greg Rucka (Ed Brubaker, Alan Moore, Frank Miller…)

I understand you want to say: he’s not a reference in video games industry.

But… for example, John Williams is not known for his work in video games. What would you do if you could hire John Williams to create a soundtrack for a videogame?
I think this is a similar case, except that Rucka is a writer instead of a composer.

I think Lambonius is simply saying that, though Rucka may be all that and a side of fries and an accomplished writer, he is apparently not well known outside the comic world, nor is his previous work associated with adventure gaming. Because of this, in addition to the developer’s own relative lack of name recognition in the AG community, their attempting to “sell” a Kickstarter campaign with a 6-figure goal may be somewhat unrealistic and unwise. This isn’t a comment on the skill of either the development team or Rucka. I think we all HOPE the campaign succeeds.

Anyone know how much news coverage this campaign is getting? Hopefully every story about the game links to the free episode 1 download.

millenia - 02 May 2013 06:28 AM

Some people dislike the character for swearing or being slutty, but I only accept this view if they would think the same way about a man. Someone thinking a woman can’t swear or have a one night stand but a man can is a lot more sexist than any boob jiggle. Not saying anyone in this thread supported that kind of view, but it came up earlier with this game.

I’m the one who said this. Yes, Alicia is a slut. And, yes, I also use that term to describe guys. What makes Alicia particularly unappealing to me is her sluttiness *in combination* with her cynicism and anti-sentimentality. A warm, affectionate slut would be much more tolerable to me. As for some not thinking women can sleep around, while certainly there is often a double standard in this regard, I would say that some just find that behavior (by both men and women) unattractive/a turn-off. I say: go ahead and sleep around with everyone and everything, guys and women, but don’t act all offended when people find your behavior unattractive. If you really don’t like being seen as a cheapened, passed around floozy, then don’t be a slut. But here we’re just talking about a character we’re playing as, and not loving the main character isn’t going to totally kill the experience for me.

Also, it’s not the swearing in and of itself that puts me off, but rather her cold, pissed off, bitchy persona.

Apologies for somewhat sidetracking the discussion, but wanted to respond.

Also, I’m curious about how different the next episodes are going to be from the first. We know the art direction is totally different, right? Also, new writer and voice actors. What else about the tone of the story and gameplay will be different?

I fully agree with you, Millenia…
It is a game, and a comedy, and the main character is a strong woman…

Quest1 - 02 May 2013 05:49 AM

I think Lambonius is simply saying that, though Rucka may be all that and a side of fries and an accomplished writer, he is apparently not well known outside the comic world, nor is his previous work associated with adventure gaming. Because of this, in addition to the developer’s own relative lack of name recognition in the AG community, their attempting to “sell” a Kickstarter campaign with a 6-figure goal may be somewhat unrealistic and unwise. This isn’t a comment on the skill of either the development team or Rucka. I think we all HOPE the campaign succeeds.

Anyone know how much news coverage this campaign is getting? Hopefully every story about the game links to the free episode 1 download.

Yes, this is pretty much exactly what I meant.  Thanks, Quest1, for summing it up.