Cronicles of Elyria sounds intriguing, and I might consider backing it when/if you go Kickstarter, but before that there is couple very important questions about project's future:
- How big is your current team?
- What is your current budget?
- Roughly, for how much you plan to ask for on KS?
- What/who are your funding ideas/investors besides KS/pledges/your own money?
- How much money you think you need to launch the game (total money spent pre-launch, including your money, KS, post-KS pledges and everything else)?
Both games I am following closely, Crowfall and Camelot Unchained, have already answered (furthermore, in great detail and multiple times in some cases) each of these questions and I believe their transparency and open communication with backers should be the industry standard, at least speaking of KS games.
For comparison, I also asked Ryan Dancey (Pathfinder Online) something similar recently, in reply he wrote a textwall basically avoiding to answer and claiming that "more than 4 millions were invested so far" and that "at least 2-3 millions more will be invested". Two months later he left the company, and two weeks after that the game was basically shut down (if one can shut down the game that never launched and was years away from finished state).
Needless to say, all these millions were contradictory to both what followed and to the shoestring budget state the game was in. I hope that I won't get something as dodgy as what he wrote in reply to questions above!?
Comments
Probably just built in a free engine and and added UI in PS.
Keep your wallet in your pocket till you see a playable product, videos from devs actually playing the game.
Just as all other Kickstarters these days, the grass is always greener on the other side. Until you'r actually there.
Screenshots might be what they aim for, but is not representative of the product you will get.
/food for thought, no bashing intended.
I am willing to support BUT before that happens I'd like to be convinced (...or not!?) by detailed information of game's fundings, manpower and such, which often includes asking unpleasant questions. There is a ton of interesting MMO concepts floating around but only rare games are actually able to deliver.
If we have enough info, it's possible to tell quite early in development whether this or that project has any chances of even just launching, not to mention eventual success. Also, not having enough info can be quite indicative about project's future
Furthermore, you will find couple more low budget exceptions, even in the MMO genre (Eve, DAoC etc.) but these are both quite rare and funding & budget are important piece of equation anyway, same as transparency or passion.
I know indie devs like to go "Minecraft...blahblah...Eve...blahblah..." (or DFO blahblah ). Aforementioned Ryan Dicey had barely any posts without mentioning Eve, untill the very end (to remind you, PFO is practically shut down, years before launch).
They are playing there cards tightly they are more developed then people give them credit for.
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The team behind CoE are previous AAA devs, although its a small team right now, and the game is running on the unreal engine. All screenshots are from ingame and this game have been in the works for over a year before they even published that they were making it. if i remember correctly from talking with a dev on IRC the game started being worked on before 2010 ( as in planning, thinking up concepts etc ), so needless to say this isnt just an idea, but a project thats been in the works for a long time.
1. It is currently a small team. I have an idea as to the exact size but that's not for me to guess or disclose as it could be wrong/against the teams wishes. But I can say that two of the coders have more than 15 years experience in the gaming industry each.
2. Every dime that has been put into this game so far was funded by Jeromy "Caspian" Walsh which is around 500k and Im sure he has answered before in a post me and you both commented in... http://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/comment/6755046/#Comment_6755046
Now other members of their team might have put in money of their own as well but that I have no information for such claims at this moment in time.
3. They have yet to disclose a budget and probably will not for a couple months id guess. They have said they do not plan to start a kickstarter until the community grows. I also think they dont want to do a kickstarter until they have more to show to the public but thats just my opinion.
I cant answer the last two lol
@Silaven I know that the team is small, that JW invested 500k, that they are waiting for community to grow before eventual KS etc. I hope some of the devs will drop by and give me at least some dodgy answers, anything. Even that contains information, intended or not
Anyway, thanks for the effort!
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
The last time i had any hope was for AA but soon i heard how much focus was on pvp and that Trion was running it i knew i would not play it.
I did enjoy Vanguard,still had some flaws carried over from the EQ-EQ2 days but still a solid game.
To me that says a lot about the industry in general,i have only had a like for two mmo's since 2003 FFXI,and i bet there is literally thousands of developer's,that is a real low % of quality.Now mind you i have never played TESO so i can't say for certain there might not be one more quality game out there but it is still such a low % of quality but a very high % of crap out there.
Point being,when i finally hear a game that has some promise ,i take note and listen.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Thanks for the invitation. As I've shared with others on different threads, and via IRC, I'm currently funding the company with my own life savings. I'm not rich, but I'm pouring everything I have (and taking on a reasonable amount of debt) because I believe in what we're doing.
When the time comes that we need to ask the community to help fund the development of the game - and that time will come, we'll do so with enough game-play footage, art assets, and engineering behind the campaign that everyone should feel comfortable with their investment and confident in our ability to deliver.
We will also, at that time, be extremely transparent about how much we need, how we plan to spend the money, and what our burn-down is.
Cheers!
Jeromy
Owner/CEO of Soulbound Studios
ChroniclesOfElyria.com
OK I guessed you are not ready yet (still, I hoped for much more), thus I kinda expected reply in the manner of revealing nothing while promising a lot Anyway, I hope we'll reach the "extremely transparent" phase soon enough.
And of course, thanks for replying!
There is a VERY fine line when comes to taking public feedback,in some or maybe most cases it is better to just promise a certain type of game and deliver it.Feedback can NEVER be adhered to because for every person you please another 10 are not happy.
I only ask that developers try to be different,.i don't like what has happened to the market with thousands of games all playing the same but trying to convince us they are different.
I might add that i ONLY like to see change where is needed,if ideas "make sense" then go with it,no need for public feedback.On that note PLEASE tell me i am not going to see rewards for stepping on new pixels of land and yellow question marks over npc heads and i will already be happy.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
We will continue to work twice as hard as any other company in the industry, using our own blood, sweat, tears, and money, in an effort to create our dream game. A game that's been in design over a decade and which was first pitched back in 2008.
Already the game consists of:
- Aging, Dying, Reincarnation, & Immortals
- A dynamic story engine guided by player conflict and destiny
- Families & Genetics-based Character Creation
- Dynamic character customization that causes your character model to change as you play
- Scripted Offline Player Characters
- New looting mechanics and systems for discouraging griefing
- Contracts for creating unlimited number of metas and professions
- A hierarchical skill system and Character Roles that encourage people to specialize in order to create a unique persona in the world
- Custom Housing & subterranean construction
- Disguises that allow you to create new identities
And that's just the beginning. When we've finally revealed the full scope of the game and everything that defines Chronicles of Elyria, you'll know.Owner/CEO of Soulbound Studios
ChroniclesOfElyria.com
Soulbound has been incredibly open - And any speculation that the screenshots they have been sharing are somehow disingenuous (as previously discussed on this thread) is pure speculation based on nothing more than air.
Having covered CoE from the perspective as a Journalist, including a First Look, Design Journal Readings, Community Spotlights, and hosting Live Panel Discussions; I've spent a lot of time discussing the details of this particular game, up to and including discussing the more technical aspects of this project. Jeromy Walsh is no slouch - he knows his stuff.
This game is here to stay, and deserves all the love we can give it.
I'm sort of fascinated when the collective unconscious moves all once, as it often does in game designs, as it seems is happening now, too. I feel like there must be some sort of universal point of frustration that we all reach, or at least are all close to, and then one by one we hit that limit and move on it. The result being that concepts like this cluster and sort of bloom in unison. It's an interesting phenomenon.
I think the near future looks really good for players who want to experience a deeper online RPG experience and to me that can only be a good thing.
* more info, screenshots and videos here
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The reward for stepping on new pixels will be you whipping out your cartography skills, sketching a map and naming it on said map. And then distributing copies of that around that enough PC and NPCs have copies and start calling it that in-game... until someone else discovers it and distributes enough copies of maps that NPCs and PCs start calling it by that instead on their own maps.
Finite Resources, WYSIWYG looting to player created and maintained maps and a deep modular crafting system. So much more that hasn't been said, ask questions! Post your thoughts! Spread the word of COE!
If you haven't yet, register with my referrer code on the official website: B0E240
Aside from what they share here, they are pretty open with us. They won't tell us everything, but if you talk to them you will discover some hidden little tidbits and I like how they interact with people. They seem to know what they are doing.