The crowdfunding thread

[John]

Crowdfunding is an emerging way of funding new ideas or projects by soliciting start-up capital from the public. An individual proposes an idea, and interested parties contribute funds to help turn the dream into a reality. It's a democratized form of venture capitalism that has recently emerged as a viable alternative for supporting innovative, entrepreneurial ideas that may have died as dreams in the past for any number of reasons (for instance, a lack of widespread commercial viability).

Numerous crowdfunding systems and websites are emerging, but by far the largest is Kickstarter, one of the neatest ideas to evolve out of the Internet Age. It is a platform that enables artists who would otherwise lack the funds to pursue their ambitions gain funding through your generous donations. The kick is that it's up to the artists to convince you that it's worth funding their project. Pitches come in both text and video form, and there are often incentives for donating to a certain level. Donated money is collected through Amazon Payments. Kickstarter and Amazon each take a 5% cut of donations; the rest goes to the artist.

All kinds of projects have launched through Kickstarter: Films, books, stage plays, albums, clothing, iPhone and iPad accessories, and much more. A surprising number of these projects have been successfully funded, too. According to Kickstarter's statistics, a total of 71,459 Kickstarter projects have been launched, with a success rate of 43.86%. Amongst the 29,773 successfully funded projects, just over two-thirds have raised between $1,000-$10,000. 19% have raised over $10,000, including 11 projects that have raised over $1,000,000! Music and film have boasted the most successful Kickstarter campaigns, but art, publishing, and theater-related Kickstarter projects aren't too far behind. Special note must be made of gaming-related Kickstarter projects: Although they account for just 3% of successfully funded projects, they boast the second-most total dollars pledged ($62.54M) and the most projects topping $1M in pledges (six).

Use this thread to share Kickstarter and other crowdfunding project recommendations!

[John]

Kickstarter recommendation: Project Eternity

Category: Computer game
Pledge goal: $1,100,000
Current backers (Kickstarter): 73,986
Current pledges (Kickstarter): $3,986,929
Current backers (PayPal): 3,681
Current pledges (PayPal): $176,279
Total backers: 77,667
Total pledges: $4,163,208

Pledge deadline: Oct. 16, 2012, 9:00 p.m. ET
Status: FUNDED

Project Eternity website

Project Eternity video pitch

Artist's Project Description: Project Eternity is an isometric, party-based RPG set in a new fantasy world developed by Obsidian Entertainment. Project Eternity will take the central hero, memorable companions and the epic exploration of Baldur’s Gate, add in the fun, intense combat and dungeon diving of Icewind Dale, and tie it all together with the emotional writing and mature thematic exploration of Planescape: Torment.

Combat uses a tactical real-time with pause system - positioning your party and coordinating attacks and abilities is one of the keys to success. The world map is dotted with unique locations and wilderness ripe for exploration and questing. You’ll create your own character and collect companions along the way – taking him or her not just through this story, but, with your continued support, through future adventures. You will engage in dialogues that are deep, and offer many choices to determine the fate of you and your party. …and you'll experience a story that explores mature themes and presents you with complex, difficult choices to shape how your story plays out.

John says: I know we have a lot of fans of Obsidian's old-school CRPGs here. Project Eternity represents an exciting return to our roots. This is the kind of game that simply can't get made through the studio system anymore. Gaming studios are too risk-adverse and profit-driven to target a niche audience that craves intelligent gameplay and adult storylines. This project allows Obsidian to circumvent the studios and make the game the way they - and we - want it.

As I write this, both PC and Mac versions have already been successfully funded. $100,000 more in pledges will add another playable race and class, as well as another companion. Funding is going so well that the team is already making plans for what to do if they surpass the $2.4M barrier! Think there's some pent-up demand for this kind of game?

Project Eternity will be available at retail and via Steam and GOG (and probably other digital outlets) when it is ready to ship. As for when to expect the game, the tentative release date is spring of 2014. I say donate $25 now and assure yourself of a digital copy of the game upon it's release. Learn more about the game here, and visit the Project Eternity forums for speculation and discussion about the game.

[Hitmen]

I am looking forward to this one as well John, the Obsidian led crew has got me excited as well as being an RPG fan myself. Great thread!

[Iyou Seigyoki]

I've been signed up for this kickstarter at the $35 level for a couple of weeks now. I think it is fascinating to watch how a game takes shape right before our eyes.

Here is the latest update:

Project Update #5: Update #5 - Souls, Technology, and Adventuring Companies

Developing setting and atmosphere are very important to us at Obsidian. We try to build worlds that are believable even when they are fantastic. To do that, we strive to create people, cultures, and conflicts that are both strongly defined and heavily interconnected. In observing community discussion about the game, we've noted two recurring requests for more detail: on the nature of souls and on the level of this world's technology. This update deals less with culture details and more specifically with those two topics since they are fundamental to the way the world works. There's also some information at the end about a new $5,000 backer tier we're excited to introduce. Thanks for reading!
N.B.: I know I said I'd talk about mechanics today. I forgot that I had already said I'd talk about technology earlier. Sorry! The next update I do will talk about non-combat skills the nature of classes in Project Eternity.

Souls

As we hinted at in our pitch videos, souls are A Big Deal in Project Eternity's world. The mortal world has not unlocked all of the secrets of how souls "work" and differing schools of metaphysical philosophy can be found in virtually every culture. What is known is that sapient souls move through an endless cycle of waking life and purgatorial slumber among the gods. Often this slumber lasts for years of "real" time, but occasionally it is brief, with a soul immediately moving on to a new life.
Far from being a flawless process, souls are subject to "fracturing" over generations, transforming in myriad ways, and not quite... working right. Some cultures and individuals place a high value on "strong" souls, souls with a "pure" lineage, "awakened" souls that remember past lives, "traveled" souls that have drifted through the divine realms, or those that co-exist with other souls in one body. However, the opposite is also true, resulting in negative discrimination and sometimes outright violence.
Through a variety of techniques (e.g. martial training, meditation, ritualistic evocation, mortification of the flesh), some individuals are able to draw upon the energy of their soul to accomplish extraordinary feats. These abilities range from the mundanely superhuman to the explosively magical. Having a strong soul seems to make this easier, but sometimes even people with fragmented souls are able to accomplish the extraordinary. The individual's body seems to act as a conduit and battery for this power, drawing in replenishment from seemingly omnipresent "fields" of unbound spiritual energy in the world around them.
Thinkers, spiritualists, and scientists of the world have theorized for thousands of years about the nature and purpose of this process, but others have turned to prayer for answer. Rather than illuminate the presumed higher purpose of this cycle, the gods have obfuscated the truth, at times spreading cosmological lies, pitting believers and empowered chosen agents against each other, and tacitly approving the prejudices of their followers to maintain power.
Whatever the fundamental nature of mortal souls is, the people of the world accept the reality of what they have observed: that all mortal bodies contain perceptible energy bound to the individual, and that once they die, their energy will move forward in the eternal cycle that they are all a part of -- that as far as they know, they have always been a part of.

Technology

The cultures of Project Eternity are in a variety of different technological states. Though some remote civilizations are still in the equivalent of Earth's Stone Age or Bronze Age, most large civilizations are in the equivalent of Earth's high or late Middle Ages. The most aggressive and powerful civilizations are in the early stages of what would be our early modern period, technologically, even if they are not culturally undergoing "Renaissance"-style changes.
For most large civilizations, this means that all of the core arms and armor of medieval warfare have reached a high level of development: full suits of articulated plate armor, a variety of military swords, war hammers, polearms, longbows, crossbows, and advanced siege weaponry. Architecturally, these cultures also employ technologies found in Earth's Gothic structures, allowing them to create towering vertical structures.
The most recent technologies seeing use in the world are ocean-going carrack-style ships and black powder firearms (notably absent: the printing press). Cultures with large navies and mercantile traffic are exploring the world, which has led to contact with previously-unknown lands and societies and settlement in new lands. Despite their intense drive, these explorers have been restricted from aggressive long-range exploration by monstrous sea creatures that pose a lethal, seemingly insurmountable threat to even the stoutest, most well-armed ships.
Black powder firearms are of the single-shot wheellock variety. Largely considered complex curiosities, these weapons are not employed extensively by military forces. Their long reload times are considered a liability in battles against foes that are too monstrous to drop with a single volley, foes that fly or move at high speed, and foes that have the power of invisibility. Despite this, some individuals do employ firearms for one specific purpose: close range penetration of the arcane veil, a standard magical defense employed by wizards. The arcane veil is powerful, but it does not react well to the high-velocity projectiles generated by arquebuses and handguns. As a result, more wizards who previously relied on the veil and similar abjurations have turned to traditional armor for additional defense.

New $5,000 Tier

Bam! We started with a $5,000 tier that allowed the backer to set up an inn and receive some additional items. Fortunately or unfortunately, that sold out almost immediately. We've come up with a new tier that is aimed toward (but not limited to!) the forum communities that have shown (and continue to show) us so much support. Some of the most fun we've had as players, DMs, and game designers has happened when we got to deal with a group of enemy adventurers -- mercenaries, thugs, whatever you want to call them -- squaring off against the party. This new tier allows you to build a fighting force of extraordinary magnitude to throw at the player. We've also switched around a few of the bonuses in this tier, giving out more digital downloads. We can't wait to see what you come up with.

That's all for this update! Tomorrow we'll have some words from Chris Jones about the technology we're using to build Project Eternity.

[Evas]

I think I'll be signing up for this. I am a tremendous fan of the work of these guys.

I am looking forward to seeing how their development process compares to the ones I've seen used in my line of work. I am not in game development, so the content is radically different, but I imagine some of the processes are similar.

[John]

Very cool info, Tom. Thank you for the update!

[John]

Project Eternity update: With six days remaining in the Kickstarter campaign, Project Eternity sits at 55,995 backers and $2,561,063 pledged. Recent funding goals have added variable difficulty levels, crafting and enchanting, and the barbarian and Cipher character classes. The next goal tiers are $2.6M (adding an Adventurer's Hall to the world), $2.7M (adding Paladin and Chanter character classes), and $2.8M (adding George Ziets, creative lead and core writer behind Neverwinter Nights 2 expansion pack Mask of the Betrayer, to the team). Those who donate at least $165 will now receive a copy of the upcoming game Wasteland 2 as well as the first Project Eternity expansion pack, which they are ambitiously planning to release six months after the main game. Ripten offers a nice summery of the latest developments.

[John]

Crowdfunding recommendation: Star Citizen

Original Star Citizen funding page
New Kickstarter Star Citizen page

Category: Computer game
Pledge goal (original): $2,000,000
Current pledges (original): $4,125,013
Current backers (original): 55,563

Pledge goal (Kickstarter): $500,000
Current pledges (Kickstarter): $2,134,374
Current backers (Kickstarter): 34,397

Current pledges (total): $6,259,387
Current backers (total): 89,960

Pledge deadline: Nov. 19, 2012

Status: FUNDED

Star Citizen website

Star Citizen video pitch

Artist's Project Description: Star Citizen brings the visceral action of piloting interstellar craft through combat and exploration to a new generation of gamers at a level of fidelity never before seen. At its core, Star Citizen is a destination, not a one-off story. It's a complete universe where any number of adventures can take place, allowing players to decide their own game experience. Pick up jobs as a smuggler, pirate, merchant, bounty hunter, or enlist as a pilot, protecting the borders from outside threats. I (lead designer Chris Roberts have always wanted to create one cohesive universe that encompasses everything that made Wing Commander and Privateer / Freelancer special. A huge sandbox with a complex and deep lore allowing players to explore or play in whatever capacity they wish.

The traditional publishers don't believe in PC or Space Sims. Venture Capitalists only want to back mobile or social gaming startups. I say they're wrong. I say that there is a large audience of PC gamers that want sophisticated games built for their platform. And inside this audience, a significant group of people that have always loved space games, and if given a quality one again will be happy to play it. Let's put high-end PC gaming and Space Sims back on the map!

John says: Wing Commander is one of PC gaming's seminal works, and it was one of my very favorite games as a child. It was perhaps the first game that truly made me feel like I was "playing a movie"; in this case, Star Wars, which clearly served as inspiration for Wing Commander's space fighter melodrama (heck, Luke Skywalker himself starred in the series' third and fourth iterations). I never played the highly regarded game Elite, but Roberts's Freelancer apparently captured the spirit of that old-time classic, and it captured my heart, as well. Freelancer unfortunately marked the end of Roberts's gaming career. His interest veered towards Hollywood. The disastrous Wing Commander film adaptation (did I really pay to see that?) nipped his directorial dreams in the bud, but he has served as producer for a number of films since 2004.

At long last, Roberts is returning to his roots with an ambitious space epic that looks to meld the best elements of Wing Commander and Freelancer. This is a game for anyone who dreams of living in a Star Wars universe, free to be a fighter jock hero like Wedge Antilles or a self-serving smuggler like Han Solo. The funding goal bar is set incredibly high, but Roberts's name recognition should ensure that his project gets funded. Indeed, their private funding system has already crashed just hours after opening! Looks like there is strong interest in Star Citizen. Check it out, and if you find the pitch enticing, be sure to donate to the cause!

[Jason]

Crowd funding is certainly an interesting concept and I had browsed a bunch of projects a long time ago when the websites first started popping up.

I do not ever see myself donating money to a potential start-up that could create income, however. I would rather donate money to a cause and take the tax deduction. I suppose I would consider donating a micro-amount if it gave me a birds eye view of something I cared about -- or if it were someone I personally knew.

That said, you now have me interested in browsing the site again!

[kiersteadmo]

I saw the Project Eternity 3 days after it was up and had the funding almost instantly. I think it took just 4-6 days for it to hits the funding it needed. I have high hopes for it


now its at, this just shows you how many fans they have and the amount of backers willing to put up the cash

57,837
Backers
$2,738,758
pledged of $1,100,000 goal
4
days to go

[John]

The Project Eternity Kickstarter campaign is over and the final numbers are in. Project Eternity is officially the most successful Kickstarter campaign ever! People just kept giving and giving, and Obsidian kept setting stretch goals that I never expected would be hit, yet they were. At $3M, a stronghold where you can recruit new and store old party members was added. At $3.5M, a second huge city was placed into the game. The grand finale was to be the $4M goal: a whole-game enhancement, including live instrumentation for the musical score and in-game developer commentary. As you'll see, while the Kickstarter pledges fell just short, PayPal pledges made up the difference:

Total backers (Kickstarter): 73,986
Total pledges (Kickstarter): $3,986,929
Total backers (PayPal): 3,681
Total pledges (PayPal): $176,279
Total backers (overall): 77,667
Total pledges (overall): $4,163,208

This is fantastic news for anyone who cherished the old Infinity Engine CRPGs of the late 90s and early 2000s (Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment, and Icewind Dale). Not only do we have many of the team members who worked on those fabulous games working on Project Eternity, but we have Tim Cain, creator of the legendary Fallout. Project Eternity is a game to get excited about, but you'll have to temper your enthusiasm a bit, as the current ultra-tentative release date is April 2014.

Meanwhile, Chris Roberts's decision to launch his crowdfunding campaign for Star Citizen through a private system has proven to be unwise. I don't know what prompted him to avoid Kickstarter, but whatever faults it may have, Kickstarter is a very stable platform. Meanwhile, the pledge system at the Star Citizen website has been down for long stretches since it was launched eight days ago. It's a testament to how attractive Roberts's pitch is, then, that despite all the bumps in the road, Star Citizen is nearly halfway to it's ambitious $2M funding goal. Apparently, Roberts, is considering launching a second crowdfunding campaign after this one ends, this time through Kickstarter. Don't let that discourage you from giving, though; any pledge you make now will carry over.

Alright, so how about me? Did I put my money where my mouth is? Indeed I did:

John's pledges

• Project Eternity: $65
• Star Citizen: $30

Not the flashy contributions that some people have made (both projects boast backers who have pledged five-digit sums!), but every bit helps. $30 gets me a basic copy of Star Citizen if and when it gets released, while my $65 Project Eternity pledge will net me a boxed copy of the game (again, if it becomes reality, which I'm sure it will).

See the Project Eternity forums for information on how you can become a last-second backer, and join the Star Citizen pledge drive if you find these projects of interest!

[John]

Star Citizen crowdfunding has moved to Kickstarter. It seems Chris Roberts has finally realized that his independent servers weren't up to the demand for his ambitious product. Those who have already pledged (like me!) will still have their pledges honored, while those who were holding off because of the technical troubles can now donate with the security of an established crowdfunding site behind the project.

The initial Star Citizen post has been updated with up-to-the-minute numbers and a new, full-length Star Citizen video pitch by Chris Roberts. Check it out!

[Lions]

Hopefully none of you invested in Haunts. The game didn't raise a whole lot of money, but they apparently did raise what they were after as they went ahead with further development... until now. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, and the key developers have left the project.

[John]

Hopefully none of you invested in Haunts. The game didn't raise a whole lot of money, but they apparently did raise what they were after as they went ahead with further development... until now. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, and the key developers have left the project.

Yup, as noted in the last article of this thread, don't be afraid to give, but do go in with your eyes open.

[John]

Star Citizen is now officially funded. Though pledges on the original crowdfunding website haven't reached the $2,000,000 funding plateau, the extra $630K from Kickstarter pledges combined with the nearly $1.5M from the original site means the goal has been met. New stretch goals will be added shortly, and Chris Roberts has posted a ship design document that me be of interest.