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Author Topic: Umbra  (Read 6018 times)

phitsc

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Umbra
« on: June 08, 2015, 02:17 PM »
I was just recently thinking about how I enjoyed playing through dungeon siege. While I'm not even sure if the game would still run on Windows 8 if I should still find it, I'm pretty sure I would only be disappointed should I try to re-play it (not that I would have time for that anyway, haha). And just about when I was thinking about that emotional moment, coming out of the dungeons onto the white snowy mountains, I somehow stumbled over this:

https://www.kickstar...cts/1062682568/umbra

wraith808

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Re: Umbra
« Reply #1 on: June 08, 2015, 08:35 PM »
Yeah... there are just too many negative indicators for me to throw my support behind this one.  I'll take a look again when it gets on early access and/or at release.  But now, it's a pass.

phitsc

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Re: Umbra
« Reply #2 on: June 09, 2015, 01:04 AM »
I'm not an experienced kickstarter. What negative indicators do you see?

ayryq

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Re: Umbra
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2015, 07:54 AM »
Dungeon Siege is on Steam - probably it'll work on current PCs.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/39190

wraith808

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Re: Umbra
« Reply #4 on: June 09, 2015, 11:03 AM »
I'm not an experienced kickstarter. What negative indicators do you see?

1. First created kickstarter- everyone has to start somewhere, but it's a negative indicator for me.  I want to know you have experience delivering.
2. The team hasn't made any other games.  Again, you have to start somewhere, but it's a negative point for me.
3. The team bios are very generic and not really full of any specifics to give confidence.
4. A lot of fluff in the technical area- just blurbs from the technology teams.
5. Way ambitious.  Especially for a first game.
6. Stretch goals are adding a lot of scope.  Especially for a game with a lot of scope already.
7. $225,000 to deliver by Oct 2016?  That could work... but it's tight in terms of schedule and funds.
8. The identity of the ks user is not the identity of anyone on the team.
9. There's a lot of physical rewards that have nothing to do with the game.

The positives are that the video looks good, the domain has been registered for a while, they are engaged on social media for a while and have been, their identity was verified- though again, not by anyone on the team.

They did answer the $225k question:
The short answer is “yes”. That is why we ask for $225,000.
We also have stretch goals, which provide for more features, if we are fortunate enough to achieve the stretch goals.
We are so pleased that everybody likes the quality of our work. We are being compared to very big games. I think maybe this is the source of concern for our development budget. In a way, we take this as a great compliment!
The work you have seen so far has been produced for a budget of zero. This shows that we are committing our own time, at our cost, and that we can achieve a lot!
The full-game design phase is done and all the planning. The budget is calculated based on our project schedule and the staff and resources required to produce the game. There is nothing included for us, until the game is on sale.
Over the last few years we have learned a lot and we believe we have the right foundation to move forward into full production. We have formed great partnerships with excellent providers and we have created a very efficient production pipeline. The last 4 years have been spent, not only on what you can see, but all the development tools and design work necessary.
So, if we are funded, we can focus 100% on game content creation using the various tools we created, in addition to the CryEngine tools which are a very valuable asset for us.
The more funding we raise the more features we can include!

But that answer is just smoke and mirrors IMO.

Again, I could be wrong.  But I figure I'll just wait, and if it's successful in completing, buy it then.  But it just doesn't indicate that I should support it currently.

phitsc

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Re: Umbra
« Reply #5 on: June 09, 2015, 11:28 AM »
Interesting analysis wraith808.

My reasons for backing goes along the lines of: Wow! The demo looks amazing! Even if they should fail to complete/deliver the game, they deserve the money for trying.

wraith808

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Re: Umbra
« Reply #6 on: June 09, 2015, 12:41 PM »
Interesting analysis wraith808.

My reasons for backing goes along the lines of: Wow! The demo looks amazing! Even if they should fail to complete/deliver the game, they deserve the money for trying.

And that's a difference in approaches.  I assess risks and decide if I want to waste the money.  Because no matter what Kickstarter says, there's always a very real risk.  And I've seen before where the demo looked amazing and almost complete... and the item delivers years late, or never delivers.  Not because someone is trying to rip you off (which is where most people go with that), but because they didn't do the due diligence and assessment.  So I've started narrowing my pledges based on doing that myself.  And if they get it out, it's not like (in most cases) you can't just buy it at a premium for waiting (sometimes for no premium).  So that becomes part of the equation also, for me.