Stretch goals

Does anyone believe that any of the stretch goals will actually be met?

 

I am not sure about dollar wise that we would ever make that especially not in the development stage where the player base is limited. The high dollar amount doesn't mean as much as we think in my opinion. The team does not have time to stop what they are doing to put them in at the moment and it was stated they will be added in on a most popular first. That's why I always encourage those who are passionate about a particular stretch goal, or like me, I like them all, then show it by voting with a little cash to your favorite stretch goal if you are able. It would pleasantly surprise me if they were met. I like having the ingame items from the stretch goals anyway, those that are already created like tents from the flexible placement stretch goal that are in game already. I also really like the Elven house, and really it is functioning as a house, so that part is not always true that they won't have funcitonality until met, some will, the wearables can be worn, etc. I also know that the stretch goals are important to more people than have voted for them by purchasing them due to not trusting they'll be met ect. So I do trust that we will have them. We cannot have fishing without a boat and since water lots and some boats with pledges are in, it already sets the pathway to that stretchgoal. So here we come New Britania waterways.

 

Well, the #1 one I've read off-site, such as on reddit, and other places, is people really want ridable mounts. While they didn't exist very much in the previous Ultimas other than a magic carpet or a carriage here and there, they were fully standard in UO. To save a few minutes of travel time here and there it'd really be practical but ridable mounts didn't exist in UO's pre-alpha, which resulted in more interaction and fair combat. I'd not want it to turn into WoW or SWTOR, pay a fee and fly across the world, but ridable mounts would be the #1 I'd like to see. I don't really understand why the stretch goal items have their own funding independent of the main funding pool. I mean, the random items in the add-on store can't add to the possibility of mounts? I guess it's just a buffer to see which are the most popular. I don't think the current funding really shows it's true popularity, I mean I'm 100% for it, but more inclined to purchase items from the add-on store.

 

I would be tempted to ask if anyone believed they wouldn't be met for some reason but knowing how skeptical and pessimistic people can be that would be a silly question. Though I feel that believing they won't be met is unfounded. The devs have indicated they would go in and I've no reason to doubt their word. It's not a question of if.. it's a question of when and how. It's just actually meeting the monetary goal would make them a much higher priority.

I think one of the reasons they have their own funding is that those features weren't slated for EP1. Meeting the goal would be guaranteeing (in theory) that the team has the budget to fit them into the schedule. Otherwise the existing budget is dedicated to what is currently on the schedule. It wouldn't do any good to only have half the budget needed for a feature. You either have enough to finish it or you don't.

 

All signs point to no!

 

My guess is - no, but that doesn't mean those features will never appear in game.

And I still think the stretch goals are a great thing because they let people vote with their money. Honestly, I'm looking at this like buying girl scout cookies - there's no way I'd pay that much for cookies, ever, unless I wanted to donate money and at least get some cookies for it.

So in this case, instead of helping the Girls Scouts of America, I'm participating in the commissioning of a Sistine Chapel painting, or at least, I like to think.

 

Are you referring to the ones from the Kickstarter, or the current Stretch Goal store?

I assume you're discussing the Stretch Goal store.

Right now Pack Animals is 8% funded. It would take 4,580 people buying a single pack animal to fully fund it. That seems like a lot, but it is less than 10% of paid backers. If there was a strong grass-roots movement to get the word out to all the backers (through Facebook, guild websites, Avatar's Radio, Steam, etc.) we could put a serious dent in that. Once you make significant progress and show that the snowball is rolling, it is more likely that other people will hop on.

If people think there is no chance of it funding, then there is less chance they will open their wallets (hence the current state).

Consider this for a moment. Even if the Pack Animal stretch goal doesn't fund, $20 could net you a really cute, rare and unique pet. Given that it is rare and unique, later you could probably even sell it post-launch for a profit. If people look at this as the ability to collect a rare for yourself or to sell later for a profit, it would only take 2,290 players buying the full $40 package to unlock the stretch goal and full functionality.

Given the encumbrance system in the game, this might be exceedingly useful. I seriously urge players to drop the $40 on the Pack Animals complete package and to spread the word.

 

Why sell your stretch goal items? The Devs have stated stretch goals will be added to the game when they can get them in, not necessarily for episode1 unless we are surprised. So definitely don't sell them

 

Pack animals FTW!

 

I wouldn't but there are people who buy exclusive items simply to sell them for a profit.

 

But we know they don't have to be met. They will still come into the game. Darkstarr insinuated they will come in most popular first so voting with dollars is not meaningless if people care if their favorite stretch goal is in the game first. Otherwise we will see them when we see them, but we will see them all in game functioning.

 

I can definitely understand the feeling of "oh they'll never be reached", but voting with your money is something that's hard for Portalarium to ignore, as others have said.

 

I do not say vote with your money if you do not want to or cannot, but the option is there. I do not control the way the stretch goals are designed which I think is a very poor design. I just say that is how it is designed. So the info is for those who don't know. I did not design it. I did try to get a thread going to redisign quite sometime ago, but to no avail, we are still with this system. It is up to the individual what they want to do with it. So no one misunderstands and has the facts for the moment is why I say what I do.

 

In my opinion, the stretch goals aren't representative of cost to develop. And, I think in part the reason they've failed so miserably is because of the price tag set. My best guess is that the stretch goals will find their way into the next round of crowd funding for future episodes. And, instead of the stretch goals having parallel funding, they will be wrapped up into a linear funding model, where we get a stretch goal implement incrementally based on how much total money was raised.

 

Yes I agree to that Tarsin. Darkstarr said they were priced overly high since they dont have the manpower or time to work on them now, but if by chance one did fund with the overly high price then they would have to hire someone perhaps to do it now or soonish. We need those things in the game. Miners need pack horses. I don't believe we should start the game without the basics. I don't even think we should start the game without boating or any of it, but it is possible that will happen. Personally I believe the basics are very important to start the game with, mounts are in most games and people want them. The people for Elves want their elven characters, so here we are. Look at FFXIV they promised housing and when did they get housing? Well I don't know because I left the game after 3 or 4 months of no housing.

 

I bought the stretch goals knowing that they probably would not make it. But I will have rares because of it. Most if not all of the stretch goals will be in for episode 2 anyways but you will not be able to get the stretch goal items unless you pledge. I am hoping flexible placement will be finished however for episode one. We are a lot closer to having the mechanics for it now that player owned town lot placement is coming in game in R20.

 

I just wish they would work on, and finish, the core game instead of humoring tangent goals like POTs, and any stretch goal.

 

But they are Tarsin. It may look like they are not since there are so many threads on the subject, but that is not reflect what they are working on. It is a very small piece that is being worked on and not even every day.

 

Not using the current model, no. They've hardly been advertised. They also came well after people had pledged and require a separate budget. Many backers increased, or initially pledged, at specific amounts with stretch goals in mind.

 

Nah... The amount of redirection of artists and programmers to support POTs and stretch goals is significant. Assets have to be created, web pages have to be created, scenes have to be created, meetings have to be called to discuses goals, progress, and bug fixes, programming has to be done to support flexible placement of lots, overland map has to be updated, POT user input has to be aggregated to determine pockets of users that have similar desires, so the best course of action that will benefit the majority of people. Public announcements have to be made, questions answered. Supporting tangent goals is not something they are moonlighting. Just look at the release notes; many items each release are put on the back burner because the task was not completed.