Pillars of Eternity, formerly Project Eternity

[Ninja_Khorin]

They are making an old-school isometric party-based cRPG a la BG and PST.

Tells about 90% of what i need to know.

[SeQuel]

Even if they had that much people, they aren't financially successful 100+ employee company. Their games were great in most cases but that's not what people buy. People buy shit like CoD, not Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale or Arcanum.

Exactly this.

[cmp]

Source?

[Ninja_Khorin]

It doesn't matter. I like to think of crowd funding as something for projects that don't have the means to finance themselves, not for big companies to cut their expenses.

They had 135 employees in 2008 according to Wiki. This is around when they were making New Vegas and Alpha Protocol, which were two big titles for them.

Since then they've fallen on some hard times and I doubt they have that many currently. The reason I'm completely fine with this is because I'm thrilled to see a large(ish) developer show the middle finger to all the shitty publishers and actually do something they want to do. And making something I've been waiting for way too long.

It's simply tragic to see what some publishers have done to some developers and I'm glad to see that Obsidian, the creators of so many old gems have realized to break off before they get neutered like Bioware. I find it ironic that a few years ago I held Bioware and Bethesda in much higher regard than Obsidian which always stood in the shadows of both making sequels to their games. Nowadays I consider Obsidian to be the one of the last old-school RPG devs that we have left. It's for this reason I'm happy to see Obsidian make a game without going to a publisher for funding and truly getting their own IP to work with and make sequels to.

And the reason I quoted above post is because iirc the reason they do it through kickstarter is because no one will fund an old-school isometric party based RPG. They would rather have Obsidian make Scroll Effect: The Re-Reckoning 5. After all the random sequels, they deserve their own IP and if they truly pull off the magic of this games forerunners, I'll be amazed and overjoyed.

I mourn Bioware. They made some of my favourite RPGs(BG, Jade Empire and even Dragon Age: Orgins). And lately, all they've achieved is a mediocre MMO, an action-RPG 3rd person shooter and currently they're developing Command&Conquer: Generals 2, a free to play strategy game. This from the same publisher that killed the original creators of C&C. It's like they really want to make people angry. Yes, I bear no love for EA. Or Activision. Or Ubisoft.
Skyrim was alright, and there's still some hope for Bethesda, if only for their positive attitude for modding.

Yes, it is tough for smaller companies that in theory lose money due to larger developers using kickstarter, but if the end result is a top quality RPG without the influence of evil publishers, then so be it. Kickstarter is a means to fund games by going directly to the consumer. I wish Bioware could have done that 5 years ago. And, yes, I still hope that games like Castlestory, Wasteland 2, etc will continue to find opportunities in this new business model. The huge blockbuster graphics orgies will still be around(don't misunderstand that I don't like graphics, I really liked Deus Ex:HR, and many recent games, but I usually prioritize content over graphics, DX:HR had both). But I hope that in the future when developers want to do something for the fans, they will not be hampered by their publishers.

I kind of nostalgia tripped there and this post turned out way longer than originally intended. I apologize for that. I remember sitting next to my older brother watching him play Planescape, Baldur's Gate, Fallout and Icewind Dale, and later played through a few of them. And they had something I have missed in recent games. If they fail with this game, then I will be angry and will find it hard to forgive them. But then again, if they don't...

This reminds me, I should really play Icewind Dale.

[Bulzur]

OMG.

Coming back from holidays, and seeing this. Didn't realize my birthday was so soon.
Definitely backing this up, hoping not to be disapointed.

A shame there's really NO image from their actual project. We're actually backing up an idea. But it seems to be worth it, time will tell.

[Ninja_Khorin]

I'll back this only to inspire more developers to take a risk. If they actually live up to their promises I'll be in heaven and the world has indeed ended in 2012.

[Ninja_Khorin]

Project Eternity is still early in development and we are still working on many of the cultures, factions, and ethnic groups of the world and debating many of the system concepts.  However, there are certain fundamental things we want to let you know about the game and the setting for Project Eternity.

Your Party
The maximum party size is the player's main character (PC) and up to five companions for a total of six characters.  This does not preclude the addition of temporary characters in special circumstances.  Companions are never forced on the player. Players can explore the entire world and its story on their own if they so choose.  We feel companions are excellent sounding boards for the player's (and other companions') actions, but the story is ultimately about the player's personal conflict among the larger social and political complexities of the world.

Formations
A key element of the classic party-based tactical combat that we are developing is the use of party formations. As in the good ol' games, you can arrange your party in a large number of set formations.  You can also construct your own formations if you want to get fancy.  When moving companions, you have the ability to rotate formations for more precise positioning.

Character Creation
At a minimum, players will be able to specify their main character's name, sex, class, race (including subrace), culture, traits, ability scores, portrait, and the fundamental starting options of his or her class (gear, skills, and talents).  We have not worked out customization details of character avatars, but we believe those are important and will be updating on these specifics in the future.

Companions
In Project Eternity, companions exist for both narrative and mechanical purposes.  Companions are designed to have a driving interest in the player's central conflict.  Their personalities and motivations open plot branches and generate conflicts for players to resolve over the course of the story.  They are highly reactive to the player's actions and to the world around them.  Additionally, companions exist to give players strategic management options in party composition that expand the party's capabilities in exploration, combat, and quest resolution.  It is no coincidence that there are at least as many companions as there are classes.  As stated above, companions are not required to play through Project Eternity's story, but we feel that they can add greatly to the experience.

The Set-Up
The player witnesses an extraordinary and horrific supernatural event that thrusts them into a unique and difficult circumstance.  Burdened with the consequences of this event, the player has to investigate what has happened in order to free themselves from the restless forces that follow and haunt them wherever they go.

The Nature of You
Your character is not required to be of any particular race, cultural background, sex, class, moral outlook, personality, organization, etc.  The premise is that you are a victim of circumstance.  How you choose to deal with your situation is up to you.  You can bear it with stoicism and restraint or fly off in a rage at anyone who gets in your way.  The world will react to your choices, but the game is designed to give you the freedom to play your character the way you want to.

Races
We are still developing the races of Project Eternity, but we are creating a range that encompasses the recognizable (e.g. humans, elves, dwarves), the out-of-the-ordinary (e.g. the so-called "godlike"), and the truly odd (?!).  Races and subraces differ from each other culturally, but the races also have different physiological factors that can contribute to friction and confusion between them.

Within even the recognizable races (including humans), we are creating a variety of ethnic subtypes and nationalities.  This world's races did not all spring forth from the same place, and millennia of independent development have resulted in distinctive and unconnected groups.  For example, the dwarf ranger below is originally from a southern boreal region that is quite different from the temperate homes of her distant kin to the north.

Additionally, Project Eternity's world contains some isolated races and ethnicities, but transoceanic exploration and cultural cohabitation have heavily mixed many racial and ethnic groups over time.  This mixing is not always... peaceful.  At times it has degenerated into genocide and long-standing prejudices are ingrained in many cultures.

***

That's all for today's update.  We'll have more information on the world and systems in the near future.  Please give us your feedback and thank you for all of the ideas and support you've given so far!

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Sounds great.
Video telling a bit about the story here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity/posts

[SeQuel]

I hate how your name goes over into the post, it's annoying Khorin.

[Ninja_Khorin]

It does? Doesn't happen on my end.

[Zlisch_The_Butcher]

I'll back this only to inspire more developers to take a risk.

Take a risk=Ask for 1mil?

[Ninja_Khorin]

This would take you about 5 minutes of thinking if you really cared, Zlisch. Somehow I doubt you can concentrate for that long so
Sorry, this assumed that you have ever studied or read about economy in any form, which you may not have done.

here is what I came up with:

1. New business model.
2. Niche product. May not sell aswell as predicted.
3. No publisher to handle the possible losses. If the game fails, Obsidian takes all the losses and not the publisher.
4. No publisher. They handle all the finances personally, something which they have not had to do.
5. No publisher -> no marketer. Marketing done by Obsidian themselves.
6. No publisher -> distribution of physical copies is problematic.
7. Potential increases in cost of game production in the future may require additional funding and with no publisher that will again be trickier.

The more they earn in kickstarter, the less the potential risks.

I could probably think of a few more risks, but I have another risk assessment and management assignment for Uni which I should be doing instead.

[cmp]

You think not having a publisher is risky if your game fails? Well, having a publisher is risky even if the game is a success.

[Ninja_Khorin]

You think not having a publisher is risky if your game fails? Well, having a publisher is risky even if the game is a success.

Well, to continue with my Econ 101. All investments involve risk. Positive NPV investments with no risk don't exist(in theory). There's always risk.

Of course it is risky, but practically and normally the major part of all losses are covered by the publisher. Losing out on a bonus is not the greatest loss to a development studio.
And as far as I can recall, New Vegas was a fairly good commercial success. And I sincerely hope Obsidian did make a profit of it. I highly doubt any studio would be stupid enough to rely on a bonus unless they were really desperate.

Of course without knowing about the financial state of Obsidian, I'm working on the assumption that they are not financially that stable, since they've had a game cancelled and their two latest games(Alpha Protocol and Dungeon Siege III) have been commercial failures. If Project Eternity turns out to be a moneysink with no light at the end of the tunnel, they may have to take on debt or sell part of the company to stay in business.

In related news, they've announced that they will not be using Onyx, their own engine, due to too high middleware costs.

EDIT: I just realized how aggressive I sound. I don't mean to. Just tired with throatache and forced to clean my apartment because I've invited my grandma and aunt to dinner 

[cmp]

And who stops you from using part of KS money as bonus even before your game is released? You can use all of it for development, but then you're creating the risk. And what about rewards? Those will be much higher unless your publisher is giving you a majority share (hint: that does not happen).
I'm sure you know more than me about the economic side, but you shouldn't forget that there's much more to it. A publisher will set deadlines, force you to change stuff you don't want to change and more of the like (and what's even worse is that the guys who will be doing that are managers who know a lot about making money and jack shit about making games).
Try asking some small/medium (i.e. no EA) game developers if they'd prefer to work with a publisher or without, the answer will be pretty much unanimous.

[Ninja_Khorin]

Oh of course. Don't take me wrong. The internet has caused a great opportunity for developers since they can basically fund(kickstarter), market(viral, word of mouth) and distribute games practically for free without the need of publishers.

Kickstarter has the wonderful effect that you can just sell people a promise and get money way in advance. This is something publishers have wanted to do with pre-orders for ages. This is usually based on the idea that "Money today is worth more than money tomorrow"(Money today can be used to invest and to earn more money + inflation and whatnot). And this money comes way way in advance. This is a great feature of fan funding, from a indie developer perspective and arguably from the fans perspective. There's also the nice side of fans paying more for the game than what you would normally charge. However, a side effect of this is that the current 38 000 people will not buy the game when it is released, because they already own it. Just something to keep in mind when estimating how many people are willing to buy the game when it's released.

And publishers often force these limits because they want to appeal to a wider audience to earn more profits, by cutting down costs or by simplifying the game. This is really annoying for the developers and fans, but may lead to an increase in profits, though not necessarily in the quality of the finished product. Problem with many publishers is that they aren't usually just publishing a game(i.e. marketing and distributing), they often go as far as to completely fund the game and thereby "buying" the studio making the game. This has the benefit of the publisher taking on the risk of potential failure, but it may hamper the actual product, since the publishers want to minimize risk.

In essence, from a purely money making perspective, using a publisher can be safer and less risky for a developer, but does not necessarily lead to a better product.
Not using one, can lead to more profits or losses for the developer, and may lead to a better product.

I'm personally very interested to see how all the Kickstarter games will turn out, because fan funding is a fairly new and untested business model( there are some great successes like Minecraft, though). I'm hoping it will turn out great and believe it will create great opportunities for developers to finally create the games they want to create without losing their jobs.