Godus: Peter Molyneux's next Big Fun Thing.

[Paelos]

If this doesn't get funded, it gives me hope that people using Kickstarter are starting to turn a more critical eye to this kind of pie in the sky nonsense.

[koro]

They somehow managed to get like $50k in about two days, so barring a rush of last-minute pledge cancellations (which is entirely possible), 22 Cans will probably make it, if barely.

[Quinton]

I like the look of the art and terrain modeling in their little prototype, but yeah, think I'll sit back and wait this one out.

I think my new baseline for giving money to game developers (of any stripe) before shipping is "playable demo or prototype available".

[Furiously]

I watched half the video and then stopped, realizing it seemed like he would be a terrible person to work for.

[UnSub]

When Molyneux tweets things like, ""The coders here at 22cans did another 36 hour marathon. We now have hugely improved servers #curiosity is stating to behave like it should." then yes, he would be a terrible person to work for.

[HaemishM]

He would be the definition of "Pointy-haired boss" with that kind of attitude.

[Yegolev]

[Paelos]

It's up to 370/450 now. The comments are getting beyond absurd.

I haven't pictured a reality where this isn't funded XD
well notch tweeted again, probably helped a bit!
I've changed the header image on my FB page to the Godus logo, seems to have got more interest than just posting on my timeline
Well, I've upped my pledge. Seeing the new artwork convinced me
I honestly don't know why people following this project are so different to the ones following other gaming projects.. so many ignorant and, quite frankly, idiotic questions and reasons for not backing..
If the games half as good as the tension of not knowing if we gonna hit the pledges its gonna be amazing

 

[Quinton]

Artwork and tech demos are great, but there's a long road from that to a solid, playable, fun game.   I think their art style looks neat and the demo video is cute, but I'm not particularly convinced that Peter is going to deliver on the fun here.  Their blather about how amazing their "click the cube" thing is also does not increase my confidence.

Also, I think there may be some weariness among people who've backed a bunch of the high profile game projects which are all a year or two out from completion.

I think the best value for my gaming dollar for little indie projects has been stuff that has started with a playable demo and a buy-the-alpha/beta-at-a-discount model.  Minecraft and Kerbal Space Program being fantastic examples of this, and Don't Starve is delivering pretty well too.

EDIT: fix markup

[Yegolev]

I could throw a lot of P. T. Barnum quotes in here.  Instead I'll just mention that half the people in the world are below-average intelligence.

[Sky]

Indeed.

Also, a lot of us here are quite a distance from the middle mark. Meaning statistically even more of the people in the world are stupider.

[bhodi]

Ah, but which direction?

[Ingmar]

I could throw a lot of P. T. Barnum quotes in here.  Instead I'll just mention that half the people in the world are below-average intelligence.

Only if nobody is tied. 

[Yegolev]

Integers are for children.

[Gets]

£475,052 pledged of £450,000 goal.

Let's see what Molyneux can do without publishers rushing him.

[Sky]

I predict farting and poo flinging.

That dude has issues.

[Paelos]

£475,052 pledged of £450,000 goal.

Let's see what Molyneux can do without publishers rushing him.

My faith in people understanding Kickstarter continues to take a kick in the nuts.

[Quinton]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/breadpig/to-be-or-not-to-be-that-is-the-adventure makes me feel better about insane people throwing their money at Peter Molyneux.  (So far webcomics publishing projects have had the best record of delivering on time and high quality results of all the random Kickstarter things I've backed -- I especially like how Ryan has kept increasing the value of the existing reward tiers as the money rolls in -- more illustrations, color, prequel, extra goodies, etc)

[deb]

Molyneux might be a douche, but there's a shitload of people who have enjoyed his games.

So if you want to lose your faith in people based on Kickstarter, you sure have several better options to get your panties in a bunch over.

[Soulflame]

You may want to mellow on flinging shit in a community that is possibly older than you are.

[calapine]

You may want to mellow on flinging shit in a community that is possibly older than you are.

"The light that burns twice as bright, burns half as long."   

[Quinton]

Also, if you think posts in this thread are representative of panty-bunching, you obviously are new around here. ^^

[Paelos]

Molyneux might be a douche, but there's a shitload of people who have enjoyed his games.

So if you want to lose your faith in people based on Kickstarter, you sure have several better options to get your panties in a bunch over.

Sure there are better options. Doesn't mean this isn't stupid as well. On a very large scale.

EDIT: Plus, cut the new guy some slack, he's learning. 

[lamaros]

Eh, as an oldie then:

Your kick starter hate is getting old very very quickly. No need to keep banging on about it.

And yes, there are far easier targets than the hype machine, who has actually delivered a number of enjoyable and playable games in his time.

[Paelos]

I seriously doubt anything I've said here is wildly different than some of the opinions of several people in the same thread.  I'm banging more on people for buying into the same hype than them using Kickstarter to do it.

It's a buyer beware medium, so...buyer beware I suppose.

[Azazel]

Meh. Molyneaux was The Man back when I used an Amiga.


Now? Not so much...

[Xanthippe]

Molyneux might be a douche, but there's a shitload of people who have enjoyed his games.

Yes, but what has he done lately?

Formerly successful game developer != currently successful game developer. In fact, there might be something about having successful games that makes a person not only be a douche but also be spectacularly bad at creating games once having been successful.

(It's the I'm a star syndrome; too many game developers suffer from this.)

36 hour code marathons are not something to be proud of - they're something to avoid. That's just poor management.

[Sky]

1. We've already beat up Paelos about his raeg agin teh injistice of teh kickstarting.

2. Beating up on Molyneux isn't even a thing, it's more of a 'oh dear, not again'

3. I'm sure this game will turn out awesome.

I'd rather throw money at the guy trying to make Limit Theory than this Napoleonic twat.

[lamaros]

Fable and B & W weren't great games, but they're hardly 'omg, still trading on his Bullfrog stuff' failures...

[Margalis]

3. I'm sure this game will turn out awesome.

Before or after the second Kickstarter to re-fund the game after they burn through all the first-round money without producing anything?

On a possibly related note from what I understand DoubleFine's game is going to miss it's release data (again) and is in danger of running out of money.

Artists often do their best work when they have constraints. Giving a bunch of money to artists with no oversight is often a bad idea, especially when those artists have a history of over-promising and not managing money well. A lot of these Kickstarters (DoubleFine, Molyneux, Obsidian) are for entities that are simply not good at producing video games.

Kickstarter is good for a lot of things, like small indie films, producing a board game that has already been designed, finishing a small game like FTL. But in these cases it's being used more as a charity for failing businesses which are encouraged to over-promise to secure funding. Kickstarter can be a good tool for the little guys but I fear the bubble is going to completely burst when a lot of the highest profile projects turn out to be busts. I also suspect that a lot of the money being taken in by some of these projects is going to be used as bridge financing to keep the business going rather than for the specific project.

[Paelos]

I agree.

[UnSub]

I agree too. My favourite Kickstarter update was from a guy who'd gone silent for a while, then popped up to say something like, "Sorry I've been quiet, I got married and bought a house." Let's hope none of that pile of Kickstarter money was 'borrowed' for the down payment.

Two major issues I see causing problems with Kickstarter - the lack of backer power once they've donated their money and the 'gap' between what a Kickstarter raises and what it actually costs to develop the game. Players backing a number of projects appear to think that they can get a AAA title on an indie budget, but I think they are in for a rude awakening.

Where did you see the info that the DoubleFine Adventure title is running out of money? Guess they shouldn't have spent up on that completely necessary and unbiased documentary.

[Azazel]

Fable and B & W weren't great games, but they're hardly 'omg, still trading on his Bullfrog stuff' failures...

I bought Fable based on the hype, promises and an IGN review. If I had lower expectations, I would probably have enjoyed it a lot more. Since then I don't buy his stuff, aside from when it's in the Bin of Bargains..

[eldaec]

The updates on the kick starter page are beginning to imply this is an actual thing.

Looks like it is along the lines of populous iii. Which I thought was a decent 'more accessible' rethink of original populous, despite all the purist angst it attracted. Not earth shattering but populous 3 was to 1 as xcom 2012 is to the original UFO.

Why 6 people paid $5000 to preorder it is another matter but each to their own I guess.


Regarding kick starter angst. I give zero fucks. I imagine there are some circumstances I might one day give free money to a kick starter, but it would take some crazy alignment of stars to happen. At the least it would have to be charity project. Fuck rich people with an established record being unwilling to put their own cash on the line and expecting me to preorder shit 3 years out. Anyway, I see kick starter as something that happens to other people's wallets.

[rk47]

IGN review.