Wall of text old man rant.

I know the University Of Pennsylvania Wharton school did a study on kickstarter games, and their data suggests that around 12% of kickstarter campaign funded games fail to deliver , now that may not sound like a significant number but keep in mind the fail rate among other types of kickstarted funded items is around 9%. Interesting enough the types of kickstarter that are most likely to fail are either really low $$ funded campaigns and really high $$ campaigns. Just some info i thought id share.

Another nice tid bit is that they found 3/4 of backers whom were let down with failed projects were likely to invest in another one.

 

Of all that you've noted (I won't disagree with any of them) this is the one that will decide whether I stay or go.

Combat that requires what it currently does to be effective is NOT enjoyable nor something that I want to do daily.

 

the 1 million kickstarter was supposed to be just that: a kickstart.

 

I am willing to give faith to Portalaium to creating actual zones of economic opportunity, as well as balancing and fixing crafting and resources. I think they've said as much that they are working on it still and its too broken to believe that they intend it.

BUT

What will never change, is Portalarium's addiction to doing whatever crazy people with a lot of money - or not but still donate - want. They are addicted to it now and it'll probably permanently remain a defining characteristic of the game. Shroud of the Avatar is becoming a place where people can spend a lot in order to strut around the virtual 'poors' in ways they can't in real life. They'll probably call it kickstarter capitalism, but I think plenty of people see it for what it is. What more proof does one need than the Steam reviews? The OP makes the mistake of assuming that $45 purchases will amount to much, but in fact any rational person takes a look at the way things are, especially with the pay to win stuff, and say 'no thanks.' Thus, their main funders will always be the big funders, and down and down the spiral goes.

Also the deck system won't change, sorry. They just threw their hands up in defeat and went for the button spam approach, which got old about 10 years ago.

 

Why does Portalarium need so much money when other game kickstarters have made their game mostly on the funds they got from their Kickstarter campaign?

 

You are aware there are going to be 5 episodes?

 

Which people will be paying for... unless they got a suitably large pledge away, first time...

 

That doesn't change the fact that you will continually need funding. There could be points in the project where incoming funds lag and having a cushion is just good business.

 

RG gave an interview at the time of the KS and said he felt the minimum budget for the game as $7 million. He was hoping to raise 1 million in the KS and get the rest via private investors if absolutely necessary. If he asked for $7 million in the KS he wouldn't have raised it in 30 days so he would have received zero.

Getting $1 million in 30 days proves to investors there is interest where he could have borrowed the rest if needed.

The budget and scope of this game has been fairly consistent since the KS, though they've recently hired some more level designers. That is why they are cranking out better scenes now, and more of them.

 

You can perform a combo with the mouse with one hand quite simply. One one hand on the keyboard by hitting the letter R.

I don't see how anyone claims this requires three hands to press the letter R.

 

Well said sir, good rant!

 

Portalarium has made a lot of very poor decisions in the past 3 years and the creation of the Public Vendor is for sure one those. After taking so much money from customers on the idea that the game's player driven economy would heavily based on the non instanced location based housing system that would hold player owned vendors, it was all crippled with the Public Vendor that would reside in the ultimate location in any given NPC town. Perhaps calling it a poor decision is big time understatement.

 

The game will be empty and lifeless if there isn't a major change in the project and release postponed until a new design for the game is ready. U will see activity once launched, but after 1 month you will see it will be as empty as it is now. My hope is as they got the money, they make the right decision and go back to the drawing board game design wise.

 

Yup, I'm a Baron with a POT and fully agree with this.

 

You are assuming that people will want to be around for all five and pay for all five. As I have said many times before, this first episode better be pretty epic if they hope to pull even that off.

 

Could you explain this viewpoint a little bit? It is the first time I have seen the Public Vendor concept criticized in this way. I would have thought it was necessary to give everyone the chance to sell things, not just players who have their own vendors. I'm not saying I disagree, just looking for clarification.

 

This level of feedback is so good that I feel like it doubles as a guide in learning what you can (and can't) do in the game. Thanks, Rofo!

The more I read it and re-read it, the more I think, if there is one thread of feedback to be taken into account, this is the post. I don't even fully agree with everything here (eg. I've had at least some bugs responded to to say they're being looked at), but it is so constructive.

 

HI! good post, I would like to offer something that you may not know or be aware of.

1: There are many users holding off because they have built there town, vendors, etc.. so many times that they fed up are just waiting for the final wipe to really begin with things again.
2: There are vendors that have customers, ( I do ) I have requests from users for certain things and I am far from the only one that has customers and plans.. ( Yes I am a pot owner but my vendor is not EVEN in my own pot !)
3: The devs do not mainly listen to the High level backers ,, ( I have never even spoke to a dev yet nor email them on anything and I am too Lord Marshal and have a Metropolis ) the devs are old school and very experience and I dought very much that they would be foolish enough to only or mainly listen to one group or another.. They listen to everyone and use what they think is valid and useful for the future of the game..

Owls head Vendor point: I do agree to this though I think a possible solution is some kind of searchable bulletin board.. So if you were looking for Example.. "Meteoric epic chest plate armor" you could see a list of sellers and where they are on the map and at what price their selling it at...that way we could decide if its worth the trip or not..and as a vendor could decide how important it is to get business and may decide to low ball it just to get your attention..

Special crafted items: On this point we have to be patient as there are plans to enhance this part of the game.. at the moment it IS possible to make a suit much better than what an average users can make and that only a Grandmaster can... though its still not balance out.. only a high level GM players will be able to make far and beyond materials.. but right now its sort of wonky and I agree with you that it needs work...

There are others things in the works too.. their will be invasions from dark lords that will not only invade NPC town but also POTs... this will stir things up a bit and created needs all over the place...

I do agree with you on the deck system, I do find if clunky too.

One thing I would like to see in the game is Merchant request and Mission Request.. Like the quest we have now but on a on going basses.. A Bulletin board with Public PRT Vendor asking for Materials or NPC asking for help clearing undead or villains from their town or area.. XP can be given and or gold for completing the task..

eg: "Aribella in Delosis needs help with undead." ( When you go see Aribella and speak to her she says ) We have many issues with undead. plz get rid of the 10 skeletons up at the ridge north east of here and I will pay you 1000g and 2000Xp. can you help me?

eg: " tomus the farmer look for new weapons to fight off intruders. " ( when go see tomus and speak to him his says ) I need a new Long bow and a new sword. can you get me one and I will pay you 5000g each...

eg: "Catherine in Aries needs wood" She will pay you $$$ for 25 pine wood .. plz hurry..

Missions like this could be used to bring people around certain areas and Gold/XP would be depending on skill level need to accomplish task or difficulty of task or enemies.. ( just an idea )


v

 

I don't think that's true. For example Star Citizen raised I think around 6 million at kickstarter, but the total raised is now sitting at over 113 million earned mostly through the sale of space ships.

I have backed around 70 projects of various kinds on kickstarter, and a few more on Indiegogo (sometimes only for $1 just so I can better track their progress), and there are plenty of games that seek additional funds through various means.

The purpose of kickstarter is to kick start a project. That's all.

 

Womby is Correct.. most AAA games cost more than 200M and above....

8-9 Million is not much in comparison actually...