So yet another unannounced change.

But the game is $1 million from its estimated $5 mil. And yet the stretch goals till barely move.

 

Nor am I. I'd definitely claim that the item description has gone off course, but that's another topic.

 

That's the way it should be I think but what I'm getting at by asking those questions is that at present it's a little ambiguous. It wouldn't hurt for some official clarification on this point.

 

WHOA WHOA WHOA... majoria70 was just *totally speculating* there. Let's not turn that into a topic of discussion. Stamp out that number of 20-30 million now. Bury it before it spreads.

(No offense meant, majoria70...)

 

Another point I'd like to make is that we don't know how much owning a castle lot, a duke lot,......even a village lot will cost in-game? We also don't know how much rent would be!

It's quite possible that these numbers don't scale well with "getting it in-game". So besides the complete lack of space, you also have what might be a required deposit of 400 bazzillion gold for a converted Duke lot to a Castle lot. And as a person that owns a City lot, I'd be really happy to see upgrading require SERIOUS in-game gold.

 

Honestly, the issue will be prevalent right from the get-go.

To ensure that everyone is guaranteed a lot for the deed they purchased, the dev team *cannot* include player-town lots in their count. Those lots can be locked by the town owner and therefore are not available to everyone, so another lot would need to be available during the lot selection process.

Hence there *must* be one Keep lot for every Duke in the game *outside* of player towns.

Myself, I intend to actually use a Keep Lot *in* a player town, which leaves one Keep Lot essentially permanently unoccupied in some town out there.

So, I say again... Yes...

 

Its actually more then a vanity item, now that they are implementing limitations on the number of objects that can be placed on a lot. With that new change, larger houses now actually have a much higher use, then simply saying "look at me i have money"

The game is just over $500k from its estimated budget.

but it hasn't gone off course, that's exactly it. they are changing item descriptions on the fly, without any notice, or input from the community. I wont go into details here, but they just changed the developer rewards the other day, in a drastic way.

if you actually look at the whole post i made, I said i didn't believe those numbers to be accurate. And majoria70 wasnt the only one to quote numbers like that.

And yet more proof, as to why its a bad idea, but they never bothered to talk it over with the community.

 

Speculation Alert! Speculation alert!
Full Definition of SPECULATE

intransitive verb
1
a : to meditate on or ponder a subject : reflect

b : to review something idly or casually and often inconclusively
2
: to assume a business risk in hope of gain; especially : to buy or sell in expectation of profiting from market fluctuations
transitive verb
1
: to take to be true on the basis of insufficient evidence : theorize
2
: to be curious or doubtful about : wonder <speculates whether it will rain all vacation>
— spec·u·la·tor noun
See speculate defined for English-language learners »

See speculate defined for kids »​

​

 

You seem to be suggesting that $1 million is a small number. First, that estimate wasn't 5 mill, it was 5 mill give or take 2 mill. And the thing about budgets is you never under-estimate them unless you're a government agency.

So that's 6 to 7 million dollars, and another 1.5 to 2.5 million to go. Given that they've raised 4.5 million in a year and a half, even a straight line at the same funding rate would be in danger of coming in under that top-end number. And surely the biggest pulse of money comes early in the process and is already in the past.

And even if it was "finished" - no MMO is ever finished. I expect new content after release ... don't you?

 

I did see that. I just really wanted to make sure those numbers didn't spread even further.

 

Actually, the first estimate was 2 million, we have surpassed that by over 120%

 

Korvash, listen this isn't game time, this is raising money time, testing time, and a chance to give feedback time on stuff.
I know you are trying to do that voicing an opinion, and I do respect that, and understand or it seems you are upset, I could be wrong though.

So first off no one knows, not even the developers how everything will turn out at this point. There could be in-game stuff that is unimaginable at this point, that's the magic of this time. And if you are upset by someone's status which I don't think you are or that is the point for you I'm sorry. Perhaps you have a thought and are trying to plan a certain in-game experience for yourself, which is very cool. This is truly very difficult to exactly do at this time, since in-game assets or any other assets live in the dream world of imagination at this point. Again this is fundraising time and the more raised is so much the better for all of us, more feature yaaaay.

When you are sailing away in your boat, having a fun day catching some fish, treasures, and perhaps "yikes" a monster or two, remember this time and all the people who pledged duke or anything else made that possible for you.

We don't need to be divided on this journey, true it is sometimes frustrating waiting and wishing for stuff, but who know what will really be in game or not and to asked the developers to totally know that answer is crazy. This game is getting created on the fly. We are all creating it with the developers, that's why changes happen so much. Of course the developers have skills, but this goes beyond that, into the unknown. Next time they will know

Some think they should know what they are doing, well of course they don't having never created a game with a community or for some maybe never having created a game ever, just participated in some part of it.

I am going to relax and enjoy the ride for the most part, and I'm not trying to lecture or stifle you in your frustration, just offering another viewpoint, which of course you can take or leave. *** cheers to you truly I do mean it***

 

Firstly, before directing a personal insult at me, you might want to read the context of what I have posted, and also maybe read the forum rules about posting. Or take a look at some of the other things I have posted. This is the 1st, openly public thread I have said anything remotely negative about the game. I have in more cases then i can count, defended the devs.

And this is about more then me personally not being able to get a castle/keep in game, this saved me dropping $750+ on a city. Its about the fact that Port have gone back on things they have said in the past, and making the changes without any form of discussion or even notice to the public. And its the attitudes of "oh just let it slide, it will be ok in the end" that can, and note i say CAN, lead to this happening more and more often, to the point were nothing portalarium says can be taken with any amount of truth. Is this the case now? No. But it very well could be. The dev's, time and time again, have thanked us for keeping them honest, well I am doing just that, trying to keep them honest.

 

It is strange. I though Korvash *absolutely had a valid point* at the very start of the thread (although I thought the level of angst it was expressed with was perhaps disproportionate.) And he absolutely had another valid point on the Dev+ forums about another issue (which I don't want to/can't get into here). But spinning this into a mostly unrelated discussion about the total budget is just... weird.

 

It seems that maybe you should email portelarium for some answers. Getting everyone all worked up over this is not a solution. If you feel like you have been wronged you should contact them directly and not try to stir the pot on speculative issues. Not trying to bash you at all. Just saying what i think needs to be said.

 

I am not the only one who feels this way, a few comments here have proven that. There was also a talk in IRC about just who would post this. I was the one who volunteered to do it, as I know I am already known for causing some waves. WHy make someone else, who isn't known for that make this post.

and this very well may be the fund raising stage, however, they made this change now, so a bunch of people (in theory) up their pledge to duke to get a keep (we'll exclude LotM here) then, 3 months down the line, they realise they are going to end up with a ton of empty plots that they cant do anything with, other then to open up keep plots to in game purchase. Now, you have backers you spent money, they didnt have to. Does that make for a happy content player base? No. does that show Port has the community in mind? Not really, it implies they are just after money. (note personal opinion here)



And to everyone, sorry if you think me taking a stand against Portalarium changing their mind regarding things that have been already said in the past, is nothing but hate mongering or something of the such. I want the game to succeed, but this continual changing of things, does nothing to help their reputation. Yes, I am willing to be the negative voice on this topic, and I am more then happy to do so. If i get a temp ban, or even a perma ban from this, then so be it, I dont have a small amount of money invested in this game, and i'm honestly not worried about loosing it over this. However, it needed to be said, and port needs to be held accountable for things that they have said, and not just keep falling back on the "Don't lawyer me bro" like its some get out of jail free card.

That defeats one of their founding principles, that keep getting thrown at us, or transparency and openness. It needs to be public, and not some hidden private conversation, as otherwise its not the community that is involved.

 

That's entirely my point. They are spreading themselves so thin. We're close to a budget, yet we alienate members of the community based on their fiscal status allowing people with more money to have more privilege. Then we throw in stretch goals which thus far are nothing but ambiguous and unsuccessful. They are taking months to make thousands... not to mention the implication that people initially pledged extra thinking their contribution would help with these kinds of goals.

Now we're seeing the shift which Korvash has outlined here where things are changing with elitist input/feedback and the community is becoming more exclusive in some parts.

This is fragmenting the community. Take a look at places like Star Citizen where there is practically no exclusivity. Look at their success and the difference in culture and communication from the devs.

 

Dean, its only a matter of time before the elitist wheel comes full circle and prestigious members of the community stop publically displaying their titles, warrants, and medals (not that this solves the issue of a divided community). Heck, some people (myself included) have already begun wielding this form of meta-elitism (note the lack of an avatar, a title, and a pledge, but the uncanny access to Dev+).

 

2nd paragraph as an example

Are you forgetting there are 5 episodes? It will end up costing more, and I want that if it will get me the game I want. I want the fishing, treasures, treasure maps, interactive feature galore, boats, fishing and so much more. That will not come cheap. It isn't to say that you have to put more money in personally .

So as to where I got those number, well I have an inquiring mind and want to know the whys and the what for aspect of things. So I searched the web to get an idea of how much a game could cost. I was giving an example, but I don't believe my dreams for this game would be far off from that figure. I have been waiting for a game like this for so long ,and I don't want it to be short changed and low budgeted to death. I don't want to hear oops majoria I couldn't get you that boat it was too expensive, you'll have to swim. oh no **cries**. I want it. So you can have your opinion but I want the game that 20 to 30 mil would make, or even more if by chance we discover some great backers

 

Not sure if its the same for anyone else, but the link doesnt work. (wanted to point that out, to at least show i can be nice )