Nexus 2 - Jupiter incident Sequel! - needs you

[BobTheJanitor]

Yeah that's basically the alpha-funding model. Release a partially done game on the cheap, hope that people like it enough to pre-purchase, and fund the rest of your development. It's a little overplayed these days since everyone hopes their game will be the next Minecraft, which is the poster child for ridiculously successful alpha funding. That game's hardly even past alpha now, even if they tacked the number 1.0 onto a release. It's hardly what I would call feature-complete or anything like optimized. But Notch-bashing is overdone too, so I'll try to resist.

Also I wonder why they didn't try kickstarter instead of some funding site that I don't think I've heard of before now. If you're going begging, at least go where you can open your palms in front of as many people as possible.

[eRe4s3r]

Yeah but Kickstarter is crap and way to US centric and requires a credit card, which is NOT how I pledge money, ever.

-> Sorry, Kickstarter only supports credit card payments through Amazon Payments

Amazon Payments sucks

And as to why they don't support paypal we got this gem

Kickstarter uses Amazon's Flexible Payments Service, which enables our all-or-nothing funding method. No other credit card processor currently supports our requirements. We're always talking with other companies and exploring other services, so expect more options in the future.

And what Amazon Payments supports is this

Amazon.com accepts American Express, Diners Club, Discover, JCB, MasterCard, Eurocard, Visa, Visa Check Cards, payment from your bank account, Amazon.com gift cards, Amazon.com Gift Card claim codes, and the Amazon Store Card.

That means if i pledge in $ I am at the mercy of the currency exchange as to how much i actually have to pay. Which makes Kickstarter one of the WORST options for pledging money for any non American. The difference for larger sums can be as high as 20%

And if you ask for 500000$ the value of these dollars is subject to massive fluctuations if you are an European company. Thats why Kickstarter is not just bad for pledgers, but for companies not in the US altogether.

[x4000]

That game's hardly even past alpha now, even if they tacked the number 1.0 onto a release. It's hardly what I would call feature-complete or anything like optimized. But Notch-bashing is overdone too, so I'll try to resist.

As an aside, just to respond to that: I think that it's disingenuous to say that Minecraft isn't feature complete.  It was feature-complete a year ago, aside from ironing out bugs and such.  The game isn't an adventure game, and that's not how most players play it.  It's a block-building game, and was extremely "complete" in terms of core features even way back when it started getting massive alpha funding.  That's part of why Minecraft's success in alpha is misleading: for the core kind of game that players were looking for from Minecraft, it was practically complete as a solo experience when it hit the big-time.  It just was incomplete in terms of the kind of game that Notch and others apparently thought they were building, which is an important distinction.  One I'm learning a lot about lately.

[x4000]

Wow, talk about contrast: http://toucharcade.com/2012/02/09/double-fine-asks-for-kickstarter-support-with-new-adventure-game-totally-gets-it/

[BobTheJanitor]

I think that's a sign that there are some superstar game devs, even if they're only superstars here in our own little niche community. All you have to tell some people is 'Tim Schafer needs donations to make a new game ' and they will be logging in to their paypal account before the end of the sentence.

And I don't want to gripe about Minecraft, because it's so easy to do. But while I agree that it's complete as far as a putting blocks on other blocks simulator, there were a lot of announced or hinted or coming-soon features that still haven't made it in. Although now that Notch has stepped back and handed the reins to Jeb I'm actually hoping that it might get interesting again, eventually. I've spent a lot more time being impressed by pictures of other people's work in Minecraft or watching videos set in Minecraft than I have ever spent actually playing it.

[x4000]

I think that's a sign that there are some superstar game devs, even if they're only superstars here in our own little niche community. All you have to tell some people is 'Tim Schafer needs donations to make a new game ' and they will be logging in to their paypal account before the end of the sentence.

Yes, quite agreed.  More people are familiar with Day of the Tentacle or similar than more recent games in a more niche genre, probably.

And I don't want to gripe about Minecraft, because it's so easy to do. But while I agree that it's complete as far as a putting blocks on other blocks simulator, there were a lot of announced or hinted or coming-soon features that still haven't made it in. Although now that Notch has stepped back and handed the reins to Jeb I'm actually hoping that it might get interesting again, eventually. I've spent a lot more time being impressed by pictures of other people's work in Minecraft or watching videos set in Minecraft than I have ever spent actually playing it.

For me, it did what I wanted it to, so I can't really gripe.  Most of the stuff being added now I actually gripe more about, because I feel like it's trying to tack on a second game and not doing a good job of it.  I want more of what actually made Minecraft great in the first place, not a second game grafted onto it.  Anyhow, we'll see how things go as time passes for them, like you say.

[BobTheJanitor]

I just realized I hadn't checked Double Fine's kickstarter page since they passed their goal in a quick 8 hours. So I looked again to see what number they were up to. I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything at the time, or I might have ruined my keyboard.

[zespri]

and requires a credit card, which is NOT how I pledge money, ever.

Erm... Can you think of a better way?

[eRe4s3r]

paypal  (which supports delayed/planned payments)

I don't even have a credit card, and never will. I don't live on credit. ^^ (By the way, what i have is an EC Card, but i wouldn't use Amazon payment regardless)

I just realized I hadn't checked Double Fine's kickstarter page since they passed their goal in a quick 8 hours. So I looked again to see what number they were up to. I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything at the time, or I might have ruined my keyboard.

I wonder if people even know they aren't pledging money for Psychonauts 2 there? Unless Psychonauts is a point and click game now, in which case i don't want that.

And even better

All money raised will go to make the game and documentary better. Additional money means it can appear on more platforms, be translated into more languages, have more music and voice, and an original soundtrack for the documentary, and more!

So it all goes into this point and click game, and not Psychonauts 2.. lmao I wonder what makes people pledge money for a game like that as it says specifically POINT and CLICK.

I am confused?

[keith.lamothe]

I don't even have a credit card, and never will. I don't live on credit. ^^ (By the way, what i have is an EC Card, but i wouldn't use Amazon payment regardless)

In the states we have debit cards, which (at least in my case, not sure if there are other forms) just pulls the money out of my checking account and if it's not there it fails.  No credit involved, no debt involved..  But the card works everywhere an actual credit card would, and in fact just looking at it you wouldn't be able to tell it was debit instead of credit.  Is that basically what an EC card is where you live?

[chemical_art]

the other big benefit to using paypal is that you put your card info once, then you don't have to again, minimizing security problem.

[Nalgas]

I've spent a lot more time being impressed by pictures of other people's work in Minecraft or watching videos set in Minecraft than I have ever spent actually playing it.

By far the most fun thing to do is to look at things other people have made.  It's far too tedious and time consuming to do anything yourself, and then it just blows up anyway.  The "game" parts of it aren't actually fun or terribly interesting, or at least weren't last time I checked them out, and the sandbox construction stuff is too much work.  But it's still neat seeing what other people do sometimes...

the other big benefit to using paypal is that you put your card info once, then you don't have to again, minimizing security problem.

You're funny.  PayPal?  Minimize security problems?  PayPal is a nightmare.  It tries to act like a bank without any of the restrictions or responsibilities a bank has to follow.  It seems great until you run into a problem, and then it's the worst thing ever.  Good luck if you verified your PayPal account by linking it to a bank account that you actually use for anything else or did that so you could transfer money out of PayPal and then someone disputes a transaction because they were feeling like a dick that day.  Your life will potentially be hell for months while trying to sort it out as PayPal is completely uncooperative, unhelpful, and unresponsive.  Even if you only use it to make payments, that still means someone else is putting themself at risk in that position to be able to accept them.  The whole company should've died years ago with the way they treat people and the sheer number of horror stories there are about them.

[keith.lamothe]

Yea, everything I've seen publicly about taking money through paypal screams "DO NOT DO!".  Of course, I'm not sure I'm being responsible in saying that, as I'm just echoing stuff I've heard second- or third- hand.  Has paypal offered any defense for what looks like underhanded skulduggery?  To be specific: without warning, freezing a payment-receiver's account and not letting them pull the money out, nor explaining to them why they froze it, nor being willing to speak with them at all about the issue, and (in some cases) never unfreezing the account.

[BobTheJanitor]

So it all goes into this point and click game, and not Psychonauts 2.. lmao I wonder what makes people pledge money for a game like that as it says specifically POINT and CLICK.
I am confused?

If the words 'Tim Schafer' and 'Point and Click adventure' don't make you sit up and beg, you are either ill-informed, or possibly dead. Check your pulse, just in case.

Yea, everything I've seen publicly about taking money through paypal screams "DO NOT DO!".  Of course, I'm not sure I'm being responsible in saying that, as I'm just echoing stuff I've heard second- or third- hand.  Has paypal offered any defense for what looks like underhanded skulduggery?  To be specific: without warning, freezing a payment-receiver's account and not letting them pull the money out, nor explaining to them why they froze it, nor being willing to speak with them at all about the issue, and (in some cases) never unfreezing the account.

My limited experience with Paypal has been fine, but I only ever use it for the few payments that require it, and it only pulls that exact amount of money from my bank account. I wouldn't ever leave any money just hanging out on Paypal. I, too, have heard the many horror stories about them.

[eRe4s3r]

Paypal is the only way to send money semi-anonymously with instant currency conversion with only the email address visible, for some people *hint* freelancers *hint* this is incredible useful and in fact, a service that with any other service would cost money.

But yes i know about Full Throttle and the like, but just because he made good games in eons past makes him no expert on good modern adventure games now. Though I'd be happy if something decent comes out of it.. but with no theme and style detailed this is gonna be a laugh if it fails to live up to the hype. This is the worst kind of hype imo, you have what, 50000 customers before you even started developing, without design documents, nothing. Theres a 100% chance at least half of these "pre-order" customers are gonna be raving flame-masters of doom on release day. "This is not what i gave money for" and so on...

Only thing i care about is Psychonauts 2 and Nexus 2 (Nexus should definitely retry on Kickstarter, but if its only via amazon payments I won't pledge.. just support)

Ps.: @ x4000

In Germany EC cards are linked to a Giro Bank Account so technically they are a debit card and credit card in one. Its just that with EC cards payment is instant. But more importantly, I'd never pay online with my EC Card or by giving away my bank account details (exceptions like the specific amazon.de system for EC/Giro account prove the rule)

Paypal acts as an intermediary between my Giro bank account and whoever gets my money. Something of vital important when dealing in non € but also something of a safety feature. Nobody who got money from me via paypal knows my bank account details. And this is why I would never forgo paying via paypal if at all possible. I can't even think of a single online purchase I didn't make via paypal.

EC means electronic cash and thats what it is. You don't pay with "future" money, you pay directly with real (virtual) money and its directly subtracted from your bank account. Its literally, a "credits chit" Like you see it in many sci-fi games ,p