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[Column] General: Three MMOs Kickstarted
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
KickStarter has been a god-send to many companies working to see their vision for a great MMO brought to bear without the intervention of a "major" publisher. In today's Independency, we take a look at three successfully "Kickstarted" MMOs. Read on and then leave your thoughts in the comments.
The result of a single developer's hard labor, Island Forge is apparently going to be an MMO that features classic (old-school) RPG elements and a dedicated focus to player-created content. The idea is simple: with the help of an Intuitive Island Builder, players will be able to layout terrain, scenery and towns, author interactive dialogue and publish their islands for public exploration.
Read more of Cassandra Khaw's Independency: Three MMOs Kickstarted.
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Comments
Report back later on how good of an investment those were.
Here's the problem with MMOs, they are very expensive to make and take a lot of time to build. Yet, everyone thinks they can make one.
I'd rather see a company start small, with some little single player iPhone games and build themselves up with progressively bigger and more ambitious projects until they have the experience, the capital, and the infrastructure to build an MMO.
I really like the Astronaut MMO! Really looking forward to that one,
From the three mentioned, that one has the largest chance to succeed due to government and NASA funding / support.
As a backer of the Astronaut MMO, I am regretting it. They are worse at communicating then most Developers. Still have not had word one on any of the extras they promised, just a lot of “I have something big to tell you guys next week!” and then no post for 2 Month+.
Emissary of Istaria
+1
I have enough of very ambitious projects that overextend themself and don't deliver - like Mortal Online or Darkfall or *shudder* Earthrise. Damn that last one was trainwreck...
Some single player Kickstart games look neat and I will definately buy some (like Wasteland 2 or Project: Eternity) but mmorpg's? Please....
One could also say that these small indie MMO's are a breath of fresh air in this jungle of AAA themepark MMO's that can't deliver.
I put the Pathfinder team in a whole different category than most of the indie MMO Kickstarter projects. It's a team of industry veterans that have brought previous pnp and board games to retail, brought previous MMOs to launch, and have a couple decades of experience doing that... successfully. Many of the other indie MMO projects are being done by people who have never done this before and honestly, despite their earnest belief otherwise, have no clue what they are getting into.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Exactly, diving into a MMO with the limited funds from a kickstarter is taking a huge leap of faith. It is ok if you want to throw money away, but don't expect to see anything come from it.
This is an article encouraging people to throw their money away. There are so many worthwhile charity causes out there, if people have money they want to get rid of it should go there.
Kickstarter and MMORPGs just do not go well together. MMORPGs just cost too much.
If this is the case then they should have no problems getting funding
The problems these MMOs are going to face is delivering on the sandbox elements. There has never been a successful mainstream sandbox mmo.
Honestly, does anyone really believe the first successful mainstream sandbox game is going to be an indie game?
Sandbox games have major issues in appealing to the mass. Heck, they can't even appeal to sandbox lovers. I always hear sandboxers talk about how great sandbox games are and that themepark games are stale and boring. However, sandboxers never support sandbox games, because that game has this issue or is not hardcore enough or too many bots... I could go on..
Point is people are starting to believe the next big MMO has to be a sandbox game so investors are starting to throw money at these kind of games in the hopes that they're going to strike gold...Too bad the only gold in dem ther' hills is fool's gold.
I have a feeling that each example you are given will be met with some personal arbitrary criteria as to why the MMO was not a sandbox or was not successful. For pewpz and giggles, though, I'll toss a few out there.
Ultima Online, Second Life, and EVE Online.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
And this is exactly why as popular as Kickstarter is, 10 years from now people will look back at it and laugh, "I can't believe anyone actually fell for that."
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
I think there needs to be a distinction between "the MMO got funded on kickstarter" and "the MMO design document got funded on kickstarter" or "the MMO tech demo got funded on kickstarter". Many of the pitches out there are not funding the creation of the final game, they are bootstrapping up to the point where the creators can take a body of work to investors with the cash to take the project further.
If automatic budget cuts happen, you can probably say goodbye to a NASA funded MMO.
http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/fy2013/SeqBrief.shtml
It's impossible for me to get excited about games in development anymore, particularly those games by indie companies that are hugely ambitious. Lots have tried, most have failed. But I'll stop being a Debbie Downer and wish them all the best luck.
This. Hopefully some good can come from Kickstarter but I just don't see it.
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
Kickstarter has done a lot of good, actually. I've backed several great projects that have delivered. There will be scammers and failed projects, but that's part of the gamble of investing in *any* company using *any* method. Do your due diligence before investing. Spend some time looking around on kickstarter. There's more than video games.
Projects will fail sometimes. Welcome to business.
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
Mmo development is a bitch to get off the ground, and I see the next big mmo being themepark/sandbox base mmo because when its all said and done, if your targeting mass market you need to cater to both sides.. and as minecraft has shown there is a lot of creative folks out there that just needs the right tools to go nuts..
Well they did raise 4 million or so.
The reasons for using Kickstarter is not just a matter of bringing light to indie projects, but also seeking alternative ways to fund modern games and developers to let them have more freedom over the game they make. The pathfinder team didn't want a publisher that could turn Pathfinder into anything else but Pathfinder.
Double Fine just as well opted for crowdsourcing to get a game done because they couldn't rely on publishers to accept the concept, but the fact they got $3.3 million for a request of $400k does imply a crowd interest.
And the other thing to consider, especially since I just related Double Fine's game, these aren't all intended to be mainstream titles either. These are things publishers might turn down because they don't cater to mass appeal and instead target personal interests and a resulting niche audience. They may end up being successful and making money if actually made, but most won't take that risk, they want calculated maximums more often.
And so developers, even notable ones, turn to alternative funding sources like Kickstarter. It's not always a matter of indie teams or their aspirations, it's also about finding a system that actually grants you the opportunity to deliver on intentions instead of what another group dictates.
"The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners." - Thomas B. Macaulay
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin
Q: Why were The Repopulation and Embers of Caerus not also listed?
One was for an investment prototype (same as pafthfinder) and the other was to add features and start alpha back in june. I think they would have added more discussion and visuals to what kickstarter IS helping with: Sandbox and more specifically targetting people who want these sorts of mmos to happen more.
Great article otherwise! Kickstarter also raises visibility and possibility I think is one of the good things with it's contribution. For mmorpgs, there's more rounds of investment likely necessary. But there are already some successful ks coming out with goods and goodies eg soundtracks, artwork, design stuff and betas and so on. Eg FTL and in Nov Stoic release their multiplayer component to Banner Saga eg.
And Pathfinder demo out mid-Oct to ks backers.
As already said, choose projects you really dig and don't dig too deep in your pockets!
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
Don't forget SWG prior to NGE. Asherons Call was semi sandbox too.