Soulbound Studios Posts Update on Settlers of Elyria - MMORPG.com

System · January 2020

Soulbound Studios Posts Update on Settlers of Elyria - MMORPG.com

Soulbound Studios developer Ashkain has posted an update on the Settlers of Elyria event in Chronicles of Elyria. Here are the details.

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Slapshot1188 · January 2020

"As a studio, our main focus is building toward our Pre-Alpha"

What phase are they currently in? Release of the full game was originally targeted for Dec 2017...
Just looked back and found this announcement from 2018: https://chroniclesofelyria.com/blog/28843/Adventure-Completion-From-Pre-to-Alpha

Mendel · January 2020

This artwork looks a bit like Thomas Kincaid, too. I'm getting really suspicious of this "conceptual art".

Ridrith · January 2020

What a joke.

Thomas2006 · January 2020

Woot that Pre-Alpha coming along... Maybe in the next 5 years if they do not decide to completely scrap everything that was set to make it easier and quicker for them to make a MMO. I guess the next step will be to announce they are scrapping UE4 and moving to Unity because it will cut the dev time in half and allow them to make the game faster.

frostymug · January 2020

Thomas2006 said:

Woot that Pre-Alpha coming along... Maybe in the next 5 years if they do not decide to completely scrap everything that was set to make it easier and quicker for them to make a MMO. I guess the next step will be to announce they are scrapping UE4 and moving to Unity because it will cut the dev time in half and allow them to make the game faster.

Maybe they'll just cut the bullshit and move directly to the Nightshade engine

Kyleran · January 2020

Slapshot1188 said:

"As a studio, our main focus is building toward our Pre-Alpha"

What phase are they currently in? Release of the full game was originally targeted for Dec 2017...
Just looked back and found this announcement from 2018: https://chroniclesofelyria.com/blog/28843/Adventure-Completion-From-Pre-to-Alpha

If their current development process permitted significant design and architectural flaws to be incorporated into the SOE, what does this bode for the actual game coding.

Nothing good I assure you.

On the brighter side, they don't appear to be very far along on that front, so probably not too hard to rip it all out and start again if need be.

Lukzfresh · January 2020

I wish games wouldn’t announce in advance anymore. I would rather them say “here’s are game and it comes out in 2 weeks”. The biggest game killer (normally) is having to wait 5-8 years just to get into a alpha or beta. Just makes the audience feel (normally) like you don’t know what your doing as a development team nor do you have the resources to create a great game. So why invest the time....

Scot · January 2020

Why don't they just say, "we have a very small team, see you at launch in three or four years time." Then I could go back to sleep.

Copperfield · January 2020

i think alot of people who keep supporting this studio gonna get very dissapointed

Slapshot1188 · January 2020

Scot said:

Why don't they just say, "we have a very small team, see you at launch in three or four years time." Then I could go back to sleep.

Because investors/publishers have been smart enough to avoid the game and they need money. They started out asking for about a million. That turned into needed about $3.5 million. Now they have raised about 8 million and they need far more.

Its like frogs in a pot. If they honestly asked for the full amount at once the players would have jumped, but by raising the temperature 1 degree at a time they happily sit in the pot.

Kyleran · January 2020

I imagine if any of these indie MMORPGs had honestly said in their initial crowdfunding campaigns they ultimately needed $30M plus and around 6 to 10 yrs to deliver the game none would have funded.

The thing which annoys me, a lowly armchair developer is when I stated back then it likely would take at least $15M to $20M and more like 4 or 5 years to build, MJ, Caspian, SteveO, and their backers told me I was wrong, didn't have any game dev experience, didn't understand the "magic" being used, or how to use a Gannt chart.

They were correct of course, turns out they needed like $25M to $35M and about 6 to 8 years to make them. I was way low, but I tend to be an optimist.

SC is a total outlier I never saw coming and could have never predicted how big of an effort it would blow up into nor that money would flow in like it has, but my guess is no one else, not even CR saw that coming.

TiamatRoar · January 2020

Slapshot1188 said:

Scot said:

Why don't they just say, "we have a very small team, see you at launch in three or four years time." Then I could go back to sleep.

Because investors/publishers have been smart enough to avoid the game and they need money. They started out asking for about a million. That turned into needed about $3.5 million. Now they have raised about 8 million and they need far more.

Its like frogs in a pot. If they honestly asked for the full amount at once the players would have jumped, but by raising the temperature 1 degree at a time they happily sit in the pot.

In reality, the frogs would jump out of the pot long before it's too late, proving that frogs are smarter than some people.

Dakeru · January 2020

TiamatRoar said:

Slapshot1188 said:

Scot said:

Why don't they just say, "we have a very small team, see you at launch in three or four years time." Then I could go back to sleep.

Because investors/publishers have been smart enough to avoid the game and they need money. They started out asking for about a million. That turned into needed about $3.5 million. Now they have raised about 8 million and they need far more.

Its like frogs in a pot. If they honestly asked for the full amount at once the players would have jumped, but by raising the temperature 1 degree at a time they happily sit in the pot.

In reality, the frogs would jump out of the pot long before it's too late, proving that frogs are smarter than some people.

Well in all honesty it is a kind of cult we are talking about here.

To most people on this forum this is just game number xx with hilarious promises and timelines that obviously can never be kept.

To people who are putting their trust into a project like this for the first time it is the next coming and anyone doubting the words of Caspien is a heathen.

Ozmodan · January 2020

This game is what happens when you have a very inexperienced dev team attempting a MMORPG. Their initial design was not too bad, but then they kept adding feature after feature that they realistically never had any chance of implementing. With those set of parameters you end up the dumpster fire this game currently is. For those that threw money at it, move on, the chances of ever realizing a playable game with promised features is nil.

TiamatRoar · January 2020

Ozmodan said:

This game is what happens when you have a very inexperienced dev team attempting a MMORPG. Their initial design was not too bad, but then they kept adding feature after feature that they realistically never had any chance of implementing. With those set of parameters you end up the dumpster fire this game currently is. For those that threw money at it, move on, the chances of ever realizing a playable game with promised features is nil.

Honestly with a dev team this inexperienced, I'd be surprised if they could even put together a barebones game without any of the promises. Hell, they couldn't even succeed at putting together this... whatever the hell you'd call this Settlers of Elyria thing (A basic land allocation system, I guess). Nor could they even produce the basic MUD that was promised.

Ungood · January 2020

I stand by what I said, this Ash Kain guy could be the exact "Adult in the Room" they need to get their stuff together.

QQMorePlease · January 2020

LOL @ them still using concept art with a level of fidelity that will never be realized Edit: I'm almost certain that the people who blindly follow these Studios and believe their BS time and time again are the same fools who believe in politicians after they do the complete opposite of what they promised. It's a very sad thing to see

Mendel · January 2020

Ungood said:

I stand by what I said, this Ash Kain guy could be the exact "Adult in the Room" they need to get their stuff together.

I'd like to believe that, but the problem appears to be above Ash Kain's level. I can't see Caspian voluntarily releasing control of his passion project to anyone else. Weirder things have happened, so I'm wishing you are right on this.

Slapshot1188 · January 2020

Mendel said:

Ungood said:

I stand by what I said, this Ash Kain guy could be the exact "Adult in the Room" they need to get their stuff together.

I'd like to believe that, but the problem appears to be above Ash Kain's level. I can't see Caspian voluntarily releasing control of his passion project to anyone else. Weirder things have happened, so I'm wishing you are right on this.

AshKain has stated that he was hired to run the external events. So the website stuff like DSS. He said the existing crew is still working on creating the game. So do we need more realistic estimates for sales events or do we need progress on the actual game?

Arkade99 · January 2020

Lukzfresh said:

I wish games wouldn’t announce in advance anymore. I would rather them say “here’s are game and it comes out in 2 weeks”. The biggest game killer (normally) is having to wait 5-8 years just to get into a alpha or beta. Just makes the audience feel (normally) like you don’t know what your doing as a development team nor do you have the resources to create a great game. So why invest the time....

They don't do it because they can't. In order to do what you suggest, they need to already have the money to build the game, or at least have enough clout within the industry that investors/publishers will gamble on them.

These indie companies don't have near enough money to do that. Most of them are start ups and the founders use their personal savings to get started. So they turn to crowdfunding. Successful crowdfunding gives investors more confidence that there is an audience for the game, and they contribute more to the game. If the game company does their job well, they will raise enough money to complete the project and release something that will actually make money, provide ROI for the investors, and provide value for the backers.

If the only games we are going to get are the ones we find out about 2 weeks before they are released, expect to see a lot less games being made.

Ungood · January 2020

Mendel said:

Ungood said:

I stand by what I said, this Ash Kain guy could be the exact "Adult in the Room" they need to get their stuff together.

I'd like to believe that, but the problem appears to be above Ash Kain's level. I can't see Caspian voluntarily releasing control of his passion project to anyone else. Weirder things have happened, so I'm wishing you are right on this.

Depends, it's not about Caspian giving up control, but in this case, seeking direction. Basically, hiring him on as a Consultant, to set a real roadmap for how to realistically get this done, and what they need to do to get there. After all, Kain is not designing the game, he is managing the workflow, which is it's own talent and something it seems Caspian severely lacks.

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Soulbound Studios Posts Update on Settlers of Elyria - MMORPG.com

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Soulbound Studios Posts Update on Settlers of Elyria - MMORPG.com

Comments

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV