Jean-Luc Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Just emailed the Ars Technica guy. PC Gamer - no. Dan, their editor (and a big fan), left and joined GameSpy so we don't really have a contact there any more. Doesn't that mean you now have a contact in Gamespy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGuyEddy Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Judging by the current sluggish kickstarter progress, we won't be seeing military base tiles . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilrathi Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Re: PC Gamer - have you reached out to Josh Augustine or Evan Lahti? Josh is more of a MOBA/MMO guy but he's active and responsive to the community, so maybe he could mention the game and demo to someone on their staff (like Rob Zacny, their strategy guy)? How about a big Kickstarter banner on the Xenonauts.com and Goldhawk website? Right now, if you just surfed in, you'd miss the Kickstarter - may as well key people in to it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellstormer Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 I emailed Rob Zacny but haven't gotten any response. Not that I really expected to haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ko2fan Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Judging by the current sluggish kickstarter progress, we won't be seeing military base tiles . Actually http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/69341191/xenonauts/ shows that the kickstarter is trending to over $300K at its current rate. Things usually get slower in the middle, but then pledges speed up towards the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeromanicus Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 (edited) Actually http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/69341191/xenonauts/ shows that the kickstarter is trending to over $300K at its current rate. Things usually get slower in the middle, but then pledges speed up towards the end. That's a trend though, not a projection. It's based on the average daily, which includes the huge bump in the first few days. Unless it gets some fresh coverage, your looking at 1-2k a day for another few weeks, with a final bump. So 100-150k. Some details on the concept art book and poster, like a new update with fresh concept pictures and screenshots showing some unreleased stuff might generate some more buzz, even a new video. These things are about a mixture of exposure, exciting tiers and interest in the game. Edited May 15, 2012 by Zeromanicus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thothkins Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 yup. I'd not be putting too much faith in the trend site. It's going to take a lot of hard work and further exposure to get anywhere near the amount predicted there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Unless it gets some fresh coverage, your looking at 1-2k a day for another few weeks, with a final bump. So 100-150k. That's my prediction as well though I'm hoping it somehow manages to reach that 205k level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The New Romance Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Yesterday, I stumbled upon this thread at Rock, Paper, Shotgun. What do you think about the points raised? Please don't enter the RPS forum to swarm the thread, I think some arguments brought up there deserve attention and could maybe help to improve the Xenonauts kickstarter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorlom Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 (edited) Yesterday, I stumbled upon this thread at Rock, Paper, Shotgun. What do you think about the points raised? Please don't enter the RPS forum to swarm the thread, I think some arguments brought up there deserve attention and could maybe help to improve the Xenonauts kickstarter. Welcome to the internet! Why read when you can post? (Ironically I didn't read more then 5-6 posts before I posted this thereby proveing my point! HAH! ) Edited May 16, 2012 by Gorlom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The New Romance Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 What do you mean? I read the whole thread, I just didn't want to make a summary of it (that potentially distorts the thread's contents) when it is faster for everyone to have a look at it themselves. Or do I misunderstand you here? Basically, what is brought up is that the PR surrounding the Kickstarter isn't optimal, and that the money raised should be put directly into Xenonauts rather than in bringing up a physical studio (which would also benefit Xenonauts, but more indirectly). What do you think about this concern? I'm not sure how many people think this way, but the notion is potentially damaging to the fundraise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorlom Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 (edited) What do you mean? I read the whole thread, I just didn't want to make a summary of it (that potentially distorts the thread's contents) when it is faster for everyone to have a look at it themselves. Or do I misunderstand you here? I meant that there were a few people in that thread that commented without understanding quite a few things I wasn't clear about that at all so my bad That beeing said one shouldn't disregard the lessons that thread offers. Edited May 16, 2012 by Gorlom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The New Romance Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Ah, I see. Sorry, I thought you were of the opinion it wasn't good style to just post something without really describing it. Of course, there are some of those people in there, and if such a train of thought is simply the product of a few poor guys' pathological loneliness, that's okay. We wouldn't have to care about that. However, I wonder whether this might be a widespread issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gauddlike Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 That depends on your view of a physical studio. I assumed it was a case of getting the main team together in one place to get the game finished and bugs squashed faster. As the team is spread around a few different countries I don't expect this to be a permanent arrangement or that the money will be going into leasing a permanent base of operations and moving people to the UK on a permanent basis. As far as I can see that does directly affect the game. My main thought on the matter though is that the kickstarter information has contained from the start the part about wanting to get the team in one place. My advice to anyone would be that if they don't want to fund that then either don't buy in to the kickstarter or go for the lowest tier as that is the same cost as the standard pre order anyway. If people feel that way about one of the basic goals of the kickstarter then nothing is going to change their minds other than a complete retraction of that goal. If Goldhawk do then decide to go ahead and meet up after such a retraction they would be accused of lying about it in order to con people out of kickstarter money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorlom Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Ah, I see. Sorry, I thought you were of the opinion it wasn't good style to just post something without really describing it. Of course, there are some of those people in there, and if such a train of thought is simply the product of a few poor guys' pathological loneliness, that's okay. We wouldn't have to care about that. However, I wonder whether this might be a widespread issue. I think it is more widespread, I've seen it pop up elsewhere... I think there were some in the Penny Arcade forums that had similar issues. There were some posts in their kickstarter thread about Xenonauts but never really got any positive momentum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raidsoft Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 I agree that it's a good point, if a large part of the money goes to putting together the studio and then you realize your budget is short for what you actually wanted to make, then what? Tread carefully is all I can say, now if the benefits outweigh the cost of doing that for the sake of the game then it's obviously a good idea to do but if it's going to cost more then you get back in benefits then it should maybe not be done until the game is released and use the profits from the sales then to do it? Setting up a physical studio can be incredibly expensive, renting a place, buying furniture/computers to work on etc, just gotta be careful that the benefits from it are worth it is what I'm saying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Basically, what is brought up is that the PR surrounding the Kickstarter isn't optimal, and that the money raised should be put directly into Xenonauts rather than in bringing up a physical studio (which would also benefit Xenonauts, but more indirectly). Yeah, offices are totally overrated. When you pledge, you are basically pre-ordering the game. Especially in this case where the game is already far into development and has a demo. At this stage it's really no different than a pre-order. The stretch goals are non-essentials. Probably every single game that's ever come out had it's set of "stretch goals", there are always things that could be added, things devs wanted to add but couldn't. The difference was that these things weren't really openly discussed because development was internal and mostly hidden from the public eye. However, now that it's in the open people see stretch goals as something that's missing from the game thus making it incomplete if those goals are not met. By that logic every game out there is incomplete. This isn't just about a game coming out but a new dev studio being established and it's up to people whether they want to support this or not. They get the game anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 *Edited to remove emotional venting* I feel much better now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thothkins Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Hey what did I do?! - Joe from Utah Hope you feel a little better after typing that Please don't tell people that "you're not in the target audience, obviously..." at least not until I've nipped off to the shops for marshmallows to toast in the resulting flame cloud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Game developers in general (regardless of position) need to have a thick skin or condition themselves psychologically to maintain a mental distance from the community and the wider population of the internet. To just go on with their job without letting stuff get to them. It's not merely recommended but more or less necessary I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 @ Jean-Luc: Indeed, it's always gone with the territory. The only problem is that Kickstarter makes it a much more public sort of thing. If someone pre-ordered the game and then did his internet rage thing about it, I could happily tell him to go screw himself and offer him a refund if he wanted one, with few consequences. Although I generally don't get many internet rage emails so it doesn't come up much. But having a public argument with backers on Kickstarter could well lead to a mass exodus of funding, so you've got to be much more careful there. Plus there's all the dangers of a variable price point and the entitlement that goes with it (not always unjustified entitlement, of course), and it does sometimes feel like a minefield. Not to mention the Kickstarter backers will be less familiar with the game than those who specifically went looking for an X-Com clone and found our site, so their expectations are more varied than our normal audience... @thothkins - I imagine telling people they're not our target audience would just mean they (and a number of other people) would just cancel their pledge. That's not desirable either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The New Romance Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Uh-oh. I hope I didn't set off something nasty here. I'm sorry if I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 Nope, I wrote a semi-serious post parodying the arguments of people who seem intent on criticising us, but then I realised it was best if I didn't leave it up all considered. I feel better for having written it though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XenoMask Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Aww, but now I'm curious about what it said D: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Aww, but now I'm curious about what it said D: It wasn't all that interesting, quite dull in fact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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