Recruit - a - friend ... ended? how frequently we have to read FAQ

The timing correlates so I'm pretty sure that is the case.

I bet if someone asked Starr or Dallas if they'd consider still offering the non-credit referral rewards (emote, dog and moondial) they'd be reasonable and consider it.

 

Its not the new information thats hard to find its the old info that isnt organized in any manner and is sporadically scattered throughout the forums

 

They have sticky mega-posts and I maintain my FAQ (which will be getting a massive update after R14 drops).

 

A good post alltogheter enderandrew - I agree with what you write.

Except / but, I really wish the people here with great insight into the project would be careful or more restrictive in writing things like the one I quoted from you here.

Those amounts were not communicated on the Kickstarter project which is for example what I used as sole information / risk assessment for pledging at that point in time.
I hope the devs are more clear in the coming episodes Kickstarters.
(This has been discussed before on the forums and is not what this thread is for but I felt a need to comment the millions of $)
And no offense meant, but I think you know that.

 

We are already in the $5-7 million bracket ^.^

 

That is because so long as they raised money in the Kickstarter and showed that there was some market for the game, they probably could have gone to venture capitalists/investors at that point for the rest of the financing, but likely it would cost them equity in the company. Chris Roberts was doing the same thing with Star Citizen. He always envisioned it as a AAA game with a budget of at least $30 million. If they didn't get that all from crowd funding, he'd turn to investors to make sure the game was finished.

Somewhat. They've raised $5.6 million on the counter. But Amazon takes a 5% cut of the initial Kickstarter (about $100,000) and the same with Kickstarter (another $100,000). Then they have to spend money on all the physical rewards. Some projects, the physical rewards each as much as 1/3 of the budget. They have to print novels, cloth maps, challenge coins, boxed copies of the game, etc. and then ship all those. I'm not sure they have $5 million to spend on actual development yet with the counter at $5.6 million.

 

The big difference between Star Citizen and Shroud of the Avatar in terms of such communication was that SC was very clear on the Kickstarter page that the Kickstarter was intended to show to investors if there was interest or not in the project, and if successful then they had investor promises for backing the rest - SotA did not say any such thing.
That is why I feel it sits wrong that people say that it was know from the very beginning that (relatively much) more money was needed to produce the game.
Because it wasn't known at the time of the Kickstarter.
I fail to see how that can be disputed or rationalized away.

 

Yes, but what is your point?
That is fantastic and splendid that SotA is at that level.
My issue is in people saying that it was known from day 1 that those levels were needed.

 

My point was its not really an issue now unless you really feel like making it one.

 

I assume the concern is that you feel there was risk they weren't telling you about? So long as Portalarium was committed to making the game and they honestly felt that the Kickstarter amount was going to make sure that happened (enough to get investors if needed) then it doesn't matter how the game was financed precisely. Guys like Richard, Starr, Dallas, etc. have decades of established history as developers with integrity. I trust them.

 

I trust them too

 

Captain Jack would bet if anyone asked Starr or Dallas anything they would say they would consider it...

Captain Jack can't trust another person with his loot. Times change. As those of you are pointing out often, SotA only got a few mil when compared to these other huge steaming forward games knocking over 200+ mil. Sure these guys may have been able to produce something quite brilliant with 5 mil back when they racked up all of their credentials, but, times change. We want pretty graphics. We want pretty female buttocks. We want pretty everything and want it yesterday. You simply can't do that with a small team and a bit of cash no matter how well intentioned you might be.

Captain Jack can't see what his, or your, loot is being spent on so it is literally impossible to trust that something is going to happen the way HE wants it to happen. Trust is personal, it is between individuals, and it doesn't come easy.

Countcristodemonte's post is most accurate. We need better and more accurate information. Enderandrew, your FAQ is good but Captain Jack don't want to rely on an unofficial FAQ for official information, do you know what Captain Jack means? Sticky megaposts. Ever try reading one of them and getting proper information out of them? Which sticky megapost told us recruit a friend was shut down?

 

New stretch goal?

Starr mentioned recently that he knows they haven't done as great of a job as they could in this area. They've acknowledged it and hope to improve in the near future.

Dallas is good about sending regular update emails. If you really want to be in the know, I recommend reading them.

 

PK, have you considered emailing support? I cannot hurt to try.

 

If you email support asking for a refund, I'm pretty sure they will point to their refund policy in their FAQ and then direct you to the Player Marketplace to sell your pledge.

 

That may be true, but he has a legitimate grief and they may consider a store credit instead of a refund. Anyway, it can't hurt to try.

 

I apologize, I got my threads mixed up. In another PK said he wanted a refund on both his accounts.

If he isn't looking for a refund, but rather an answer on the referral program, then yes I do recommend emailing support@portalarium.com

 

I for one cannot trust these big publishers. Development under pressure of time, premature release of unfinished and / or buggy content, canceling of good games for the sake of some management nonsense and so on.

You are right, trust is personal and between individuals. And I personally trust Richard Garriott and his team Even if I am sometimes despaired because of the unsure single player content, the lacking of true companions, the moderation and so on At the bottom line I trust Richard Garriott and his team