70 replies to this topic

[Hydrocarbon]

I'm really excited when they add up the paypal numbers. Even w/o PP, just CC donations alone will make this the 9th fastest campaign to hit $1 million. Only 3 of those were active after 2013.

Lugh, on 30 September 2015 - 09:17 AM, said:

So not being terribly familiar with Kickstarter, is it reasonable to think they'll make it to 2million?

Based on other games with similar 25-hour figures, >$3 million is possible. The big difference is people have a big connection to this franchise. Other similar games were more throwbacks to a past age or atypical game style.

[Durant Carlyle]

Since it's only a single-player game until the $2.5 million Stage 4 is reached, I predict that it will make that total. Not easily, and likely on the very last day ... but it will make it.

[Signal27]

Lugh, on 30 September 2015 - 09:17 AM, said:

So not being terribly familiar with Kickstarter, is it reasonable to think they'll make it to 2million?

If they made almost 1 mil in the first 24 hours, it's very reasonable to think they'll hit 2 mil.

Also, interesting note: Most Kickstarters make most of their money towards the beginning and towards the end. So the trend you'll see is that the money will gradually slow down in the coming days, and then ramp back up when it's about to end.

[Nathan Foxbane]

Alistair Winter, on 30 September 2015 - 09:21 AM, said:

Are they going to add minor fund goals or are they going to go full Chris Roberts and make gargantuan plans for the most complete Battletech game ever conceived?

To listen to them talk HBS is quite the opposite. They have very definite limits on what they are willing to add and how much scope creep they will allow. I would bet money that after a point HBS will say all excess revenues go to making what they already have planned better or will be rolled into expansions/sequals.

[Alistair Winter]

Nathan Foxbane, on 30 September 2015 - 09:44 AM, said:

To listen to them talk HBS is quite the opposite. They have very definite limits on what they are willing to add and how much scope creep they will allow. I would bet money that after a point HBS will say all excess revenues go to making what they already have planned better or will be rolled into expansions/sequals.

I think a lot of people would be skeptical if there was a lot of 'feature creep' and lofty new goals. But I'd be equally skeptical if they got 5 million dollars instead of 2.5 million dollars and their response was "We're not introducing new features, we're just going to make everything better." Because that sort of sounds like "We just increased our profit margin."

Maybe I'm a bit too skeptical. Supporting other F2P / crowdfunding games will do that to a man

[Felbombling]

Annnd... it just hit 1 million at about 10:50 AM. Nice... but as others have said, PayPal probably makes that timeframe insignificant.

[Durant Carlyle]

Mavairo, on 30 September 2015 - 09:42 AM, said:

I'm debating on going with the jacket level package or not. Funny that'll still be less than I blew on this alpha state game lol

I went with the $275 package because I couldn't resist getting the jacket.

I've got over $1,800 spent in MWO, and about $1,500 invested in Star Citizen, in addition to $1,300 in the three Kickstarter projects I've funded. I don't regret anything about the spending on MWO. Star Citizen worries me a bit, with its huge project size. The Kickstarter stuff doesn't worry me at all. I will be playing in the Pre-Alpha Proving Grounds of Descent: Underground (one of the Kickstarters) fairly Soon™.

Edited by Durant Carlyle, 30 September 2015 - 09:55 AM.

[Mirkk Defwode]

MeiSooHaityu, on 30 September 2015 - 09:40 AM, said:

Yea, crowd sourcing isn't for everybody (me included normally). Battletech is my first and possibly last Kickstater I'll contribute to because of a lot of the dangers you had stated above. Normally it isn't worth it.

If I didn't see positive feedback about the developers and their product, i may very well might have passed on helping fund BT (or contributed the bare minimum for a copy at the least).

Overall if people are on the fence, I hope they at least consider the pedigree behind the game, the successful Kickstarters that dev had, and the people behind the scenes working on it. Lastly, just realize it is a gamble regardless and decide if you can deal with that.

I've gambled, it will be curious to see if it pans out. I'm confident it will.

What I appreciate is HBS is addressing the concerns people have from previous crowd funding projects. And I've honestly spent a lot of money on crowd funding for things I'd like to see be successful. It's the whole "Put your money where your mouth is"

I backed the founder pack for MWO, I've been disappointed in the outcome, but continue to support the product with hope that'll it'll be something great.

Backed MWT and got burned, okay it happens. The risks were detailed to me prior to throwing my money in the pot.

and I'm backing Battletech because I want this franchise to be successful. In all honesty, the more products that are out there will drive the success and revival of the franchise across the board from tabletop through virtual media. It gets people familiar with it and can inspire curiosity for people to look into it.

Read the comments for the article on Kotaku for Battletech. There are people there saying they wanted another "mechassault" or another "mechwarrior." Hell I'd like to see a Total War style battletech game, or another Mechcommander RTS style. Even a Planetside-esque MMO would be amazing fully including gameplay paths of Infantry, Armor, Mech and Aero for player preferences and various upgrade paths.

Showing support for these concepts as they're presented is the only way they'll come about. For this franchise or any other.

Spoiler

Risks and challenges

We know there are BattleTech fans that have been burned by other crowdfunding projects, and we’re really sorry you had to go through that.

Harebrained Schemes has delivered solid Kickstarter projects three times. We know how to make quality games, we know how to finish them, and we have no intention of letting you down. Check out our other campaigns and read the comments on our project updates to hear from our happy backers.

Game development is not without risk, though. We're building an all-new codebase in Unity 5, with lofty visual and gameplay goals - and we know that really nailing the feel of BattleTech will take time and iteration. We’ll need a few new team members, too, but we've proven that we have a pretty damn good track record for hiring talented, dedicated people who go the extra mile.

So, the standard game development caveats apply. Some new features may take longer to make than we thought. Some piece of gameplay may not be as fun as it sounded on paper and we’ll need to revise it several times until it works.

But that's part of the fun of making games.

Edited by Mirkk Defwode, 30 September 2015 - 09:59 AM.

[Timuroslav]

I feel like the the Kickstarter for Battletech has a lot of factors in its favor.

Art assets sharing.
I mean noble house Scion and above, you actually get cold hard Battletech/Mechwarrior gear.
That's stuff people wanted for freaking ever.

I'm crying a bit because I wanted to get a new gaming computer, but I might put it off for tier $125 or $275
Yet, to decide on either.

Also, If this Battletech-Mechwarrior Art Assets is correct. PGI will have a lot of the ground units already pre-designed for them. Which I'm hoping for.
I want to see some sexy hovercraft and Tanks.

Hopefully, Mr.Weisman gives something back Art asset or gear wise to MWO. Either way I want two great games not just one.

Here's hoping for New Tabletop minis.

I'd buy the minis just to gloat in front of the shop owners who said "It's a dead game/franchise"

Edited by Timuroslav, 30 September 2015 - 10:15 AM.

[CDLord HHGD]

Timuroslav, on 30 September 2015 - 10:12 AM, said:

I want two great games not just one.

This right here deserves to be quoted over and over again.

[MeiSooHaityu]

Well, MWO and Battletech will share the same art style, but they are on two different game engines (MWO:Cryengine and BT:Unity5). I don't know how truly interchachable the assets are (the ability to just port stuff back and forth).

Just because they are using MWO's mech designs doesn't mean they won't have to recreate it for a different game.

This is just assuming they didn't state otherwise and I missed it.

[Signal27]

Timuroslav, on 30 September 2015 - 10:12 AM, said:

Here's hoping for New Tabletop minis.

Based on Alex Iglesias' mech designs!

[Hydrocarbon]

Nathan Foxbane, on 30 September 2015 - 09:44 AM, said:

To listen to them talk HBS is quite the opposite. They have very definite limits on what they are willing to add and how much scope creep they will allow. I would bet money that after a point HBS will say all excess revenues go to making what they already have planned better or will be rolled into expansions/sequals.

One of the recent "big" games funded by KS admitted that scope creep really hurt their game. I think finishing the preset goals FIRST then adding to the game afterwards is the best way to go. The little details in Star Citizen shows the delays were justifiable, but they're still delays.

With that said, HBS just added some extra mid-range goals. I just hope scope creep stays reasonable.

Edited by Hydrocarbon, 30 September 2015 - 10:44 AM.

[Mirkk Defwode]

MeiSooHaityu, on 30 September 2015 - 10:18 AM, said:

Well, MWO and Battletech will share the same art style, but they are on two different game engines (MWO:Cryengine and BT:Unity5). I don't know how truly interchachable the assets are (the ability to just port stuff back and forth).

Just because they are using MWO's mech designs doesn't mean they won't have to recreate it for a different game.

This is just assuming they didn't state otherwise and I missed it.

Readily available to port back and forth. The models are likely done in Maya or 3DS Max and are imported into the engine from those original art asset files. This is how it's done for every engine out there unless the tools being used are built into that engine for the asset creation...which is silly to do.

[BellatorMonk]

Fools and their money...this being said from being fooled in this genre before.

[Sarlic]

MeiSooHaityu, on 30 September 2015 - 09:40 AM, said:

Yea, crowd sourcing isn't for everybody (me included normally). Battletech is my first and possibly last Kickstater I'll contribute to because of a lot of the dangers you had stated above. Normally it isn't worth it.

If I didn't see positive feedback about the developers and their product, i may very well might have passed on helping fund BT (or contributed the bare minimum for a copy at the least).

Overall if people are on the fence, I hope they at least consider the pedigree behind the game, the successful Kickstarters that dev had, and the people behind the scenes working on it. Lastly, just realize it is a gamble regardless and decide if you can deal with that.

I've gambled, it will be curious to see if it pans out. I'm confident it will.

I think HBS will be fine too! Their other games have been rated high and these guys have the experience.. All 1+1

Edited by Sarlic, 30 September 2015 - 11:02 AM.

[MechWarrior3671771]

Well, I've been withholding $500 from PGI since May re their moderation policy.

Maybe I'll donate it to HBS.

Do you guys trust them?

[Green Mamba]

Do people that Backed MechWarrior Tactics get Store Credit as far as Backing the Kickstarter

[Oderint dum Metuant]

Fenrisulvyn, on 30 September 2015 - 11:02 AM, said:

Well, I've been withholding $500 from PGI since May re their moderation policy.

Maybe I'll donate it to HBS.

Do you guys trust them?

Given their past success with Shadowrun Returns, your $500 is far better invested in them, than PGI.

[Signal27]

Fenrisulvyn, on 30 September 2015 - 11:02 AM, said:

Do you guys trust them?

I played and enjoyed all three of their previous Shadowrun games. I also put money in to their respective KickStarters. So yes, I trust them.

Just keep your expectations realistic before you put any money towards them. They are not going to deliver you a big AAA title with graphics that will blow your eyeballs out and enough content to make it the one and only game you'll ever play for the rest of your life. But HBS knows this and they even come right out and say "We're not promising you the world".

In fact, I'd wholeheartedly recommend you download one of their Shadowrun games and play that to get a rough idea of what to expect.

Edited by Signal27, 30 September 2015 - 11:11 AM.