Non-citizen backers being virtually ignored

Hi there, I'm a long time fan of the Ultima series and Richard Garriott, and am really excited about the Shroud of the Avatar project.

However, after having been watching the updates stream by, I've reached the point where I'm kinda pissed off and have to say something.

I pledged "only" $150 for the collectors edition. That's a fair amount of cash for something I'm not going to get for a year or two. And I have to say, I haven't been feeling any love.

Most of the updates are talking about all this cool stuff (houses, sundials, etc) available to Citizen level pledges and above - a $500 minimum. That's pretty crazy. Cool for people able to pledge that, but that's not very many of your backers. In fact, it's about 700 of them, according to the Kickstarter page. That's about 3% of backers (again, using the numbers on the Kickstarter page).

I want to support and look forward to this project, but I feel like the vast majority of us are being ignored in favor of a few people who were able to splash a lot of cash around. It saddens me to think that Shroud of the Avatar is already setting up a have/have not culture in it.

So, in short, please re-focus your efforts on things that will benefit the tens of thousands of people who pledged to make this game a reality, rather than a select few.

 

You can get all the item also with ingame money. So housing is possible for you with all the cool stuff. This is nothing what you can only get with high pledges.

 

Hi Phalanxx! Welcome to the forum! You are being heard.
I, too, am not a Citizen level or above backer.

Relax, try not to feel neglected and unappreciated. On the contrary, as you pointed out you, and others like you, make up the bulk of financial support that is making your hopes for a great game come to reality.

What you have been perceiving as catering to the "economically predispositioned" is nothing more than pixel desire, vanity items. As the content is being created, some of it is offered for pre-purchase as a means to bolster funds. Very little, if anything, will not be available to everybody ingame for ingame currency, which, if you think about it, is part of the gameplay, which is why you and I intend to play the game to begin with, right?

If it is any comfort, try to think about the core philosophy RG talks about at the heart of Shroud of the Avatar, namely virtues.
Patience is a virtue (or so I have heard rumoured).
Prudence is a virtue (wat?).
Etc...

As time unfolds until SotA goes live, RG is teaching us that vanity is a virtue too.
"A fool and his money are soon parted" is virtuous.
"To have and have not" is virtuous.
"Us and them" is virtuous.
More is a virtue.
Etc...

Be patient, we shall be rewarded in good time.
Once we start playing, then all to quickly many of us will have earned/worked/played/ploughed/rushed our way through the content and be wondering what to do next anyway.

Sincerely,
Devoid

 

You are comparing the wrong way.

You have to compare it with what you would get if you would have invested it in a other games collector edition.

Here, a example to compare it with Eve Second Geneartion Collectors Edition.
I did compare some other ones and SoTA is fair .


But please do not forget Eve is not a Crowdfunded Game!

Still big difference how they got there money!

 

This reminds me of the Dev+ thread, Why don't the Devs give us enough attention? (the name is something like that anyway). I understand your frustrations Phalanxx, but consider this: Some of the content released has been general public content (crafting stations, some housing, etc.), and a lot of the content that appeals to everyone is either too contentious or not complete enough to subject to public scrutiny (lest we get 10 threads about how so-and-so is quitting unless the game is redesigned around them). From time to time, I'm bothered by info releases too, but I try and keep in mind that the devs are sharing info with us in pre-alpha, and their fear is that we'll look past what they've given us and just rage about how mechanic X doesn't sound good, or how they spend too much time on subject Y. Considering what they've done for us so far, it isn't fair to complain.

 

We all have to take a good hard look at ourselves and realize that our eagerness for this project and our desire to "participate" makes us feel like we are never getting enough. Heck RG could make some people breakfast every day and they still would not be happy.

$150 is a lot of money, but think what you get for it in comparison in the world today. A dinner at a fancy restaurant and attention from a waiter for 2 hours. $150 may buy cheap tickets to a few performances. Ultimately, you can't get a lot of focus on you in this world for $150. I'm not saying the contribution isn't important, it's just also important to keep expectations realistic.

Most of what you will get will come when the game launches, so we also have to combat this feeling that "there's nothing for us" when it's still on the way.

 

Please give examples of things you'd like to see. I'm sure Portalarium wants to make everybody happy

 

@Phalanxx -

I was in your shoes ever since the Kickstarter ($150 Collector pledge) and only yesterday upgraded to Citizen.

I've watched all the updates, and it never occurred to me that I was being marginalized or mistreated. We've seen stuff about housing, sure (which will be available to everyone who really wants it in the game), but we've also seen stuff about combat, magic, monsters, dungeons, crafting, armor, quests, NPC interaction... in fact, I really can't think of any aspect of the game that HASN'T been covered.

I always enjoyed the updates, even if the dream of starting the game with land and a house seemed far off.

Eventually I decided to take the plunge and upgrade, which is (admittedly) something the devs are trying to encourage. More money = better game for everyone!

Hang in there, fellow traveler - I think there's a LOT more to come.

 

^^this!!

Also, remember that we are a year out from a general release so much of the focus is on pure developement, etc. This mean it falls in line with the Dev+ type folks and decision. And, as mentioned in the above posts, even Dev+ hasn't had that much direct involvement since they seem to be a bit heads-down trying to hit December

I would imagine the add-on store will be greatly expanded near or around beta time in an attempt to draw in additional funding, etc. I've been watch Star Citizen and they are experts at that kind of thing it seems (which worries me a bit but I see it in the same light)...

 

Funny.

But i think our community is responding in a way every company is dreaming there customer care department to be.

Fast, personal, engaged, informed, multiple suggestions and not costing a penny.

 

Don't forget courteous!
Oh, and Service with a smile!

 

Or at least a smilie.... ;-p

 

If an individual donated a large amount of money to my organization, I would do my best to accomidate them also.

If you didn't donate $550.00, which is the citizen level, then don't expect to be treated as a citizen... I don't understand your thought process here.

 

$150 bucks gets you 5 games. That's pretty standard...plus you get all the other bonuses, including a map, soundtrack, etc. I could see giving more since you are investing in an unproven game, though.

 

Well said indeed, for now I'm pledging at the collectors level as well, that may increase depending on what I see, I have my own set of internal milestones that Portalarium has to meet before my pledge increases, I don't feel neglected I think what I'm receiving and the pay as you go program is well worth my $150.00 Rupees/Quid/Bucks etc. and if the company can foster the type of community I want to be a part of and provides the type of game play enjoy, then I have no problem significantly increasing my pledge.

 

That's exactly why I went Collector during the Kickstarter. It's definitely the "sweet spot" price-wise. You basically get five games + a collector's edition swag kit, so it's a really sweet deal.

OP is not complaining about the $150, though... he's feeling like the game's development (or at least the updates) is focused too much on housing, which is only relevant (at the beginning) for a minority of players.

Honestly, I wish the Dev+ area was open to everyone, because there's a lot more info in there (my access just kicked in this morning). But I'm sure that info will all filter down soon. They just want to let a smaller group of people look it over and make constructive criticism so they don't get a you-know-what storm if they release a bad idea to the world. It isn't really about excluding anyone IMHO.

Sit tight, like I said, there's PLENTY of good info to come soon. No one is being left out.

 

I too really hate how they decided to segreate the forums.
At the same time, I can't even feign interest in housing. Its a system that I flat out just don't care about. Its why I don't have Dev+ access, housing and property is just not incentive to get me to pledge more than I have.
It will probably get easier to deal with as they add polish to more facets of the game and can finally discuss it in the open.

 

We've been concentrating a lot on things like housing now for public updates because a lot of the infrastructure for more meaty game systems is still under very active development.

We just did a company-wide playtest of combat as it is currently... which showed the need for some more work. Hopefully we can start including more info on game systems in updates soon.

And no, we're not just fixated on the Dev+ boards - I tend to drop in and out of all of them.

 

Did Chillblain PK everyone?

 

Single player only alas - still working on functioning multiplayer.