Shadowrun Shadowrun: Hong Kong Pre-Release Discussion [GO TO NEW THREAD]

Money is easier to multiply when it's a few thousand bucks. When it's a million, that's considerably harder.

Harebrained doesn't have InXile's rep. Also, it's motherfucking Torment, widely regarded as the paragon of all RPG's. Even Biowhores probably donated en masse for the emotional engagement factor.

 

Maybe not, but they have certainly started to build a reputation after they proved they can make a very good game on a limited budget. I think they can make something really amazing if they have enough funding.

I personally didn't back SRR because I didn't trust those "hacks". All they had back then was the SR sublicense and Jordan Weisman's person as a marketing tool.

 

Ummm no way will get more than 1.5 million....I just can't see it. Their last kickstarter was pathetic with the giant dildo that you use with mini's.

I dont think they deserve more than a mil tbh....It's not like Shadowrun was the 2nd coming of christ...

 

Will back this, but not sure they can get even 1.5mil. People won't expect anything new out of this and will probably wait for release. Yeah, i know...thus there might be no release.

 

I'm going for option 2, Dragonfall didnt perform as well as DMS aparently, and their PR department seems to be 1 step removed from incompetent considering the lead up to this KS.

 

This thread went from very positive to very negative very quick.

 

Honestly i think even 1.5 million these days would be a victory for them...Their last kickstarter really put a bad light on the whole company for me... Why anyone would want to touch a mini with a giant dildo is beyond me....I'll just leech the game or buy it at a discount....

 

I will probably pledge the lowest amount that allows me to get a digital copy, hoping that it will be a little bit cheaper than on release that way.

Hey, Im poor, sue me! (Or better don't, I can't afford it).

 

My random guess: 1,630,000

I agree with all the comments about the initial wave of kickstarter hype dying down as reality sets in, but I'd like to hope that things will be slightly different in this case. Many other KS campaigns had names/companies that people trusted or got excited by, then didn't meet expectations and will probably get less in future campaigns. With SRR I think it was bit different as some didn't pledge as they didn't expect much from HBS. With an upward trajectory from DMS to DF: DC they could perhaps be a rare case where some people have higher expectations now than for the first campaign.

 

If we're making a wish list:

I'd like to see a more open world with a world (city?) map.
Real persistence in maps
Some kind of technomagic so all shadowrun games run from the same exe and they unite the modding community
More quirky "rpg things" to do. I love finding small little things you need one particular skill or another for.
I'd also like to see simplified or reduced character system with more real choices. It's not really fun to spend 5 karma and raise shotguns by one point to get 5% more often and not get anything else. A trait/perk system would be good as well (in addition or just instead).

I'll be very surprised if this hits 1.5 million. I think 500k-1m is the expectation depending on how good the pitch is. Sometimes I think Fargo should be running like a midlevel developer alliance where he just sells games as a full time job.

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or maybe run a publisher

Edit:

Please don't make it longer just for the sake of being longer. DMS and DF were both about the right length where any longer and the simplicity of the game would have become painfully obvious instead of mildly irritating.

 

Main thing I want is some more variation in the magic animations, like Jesus Christ I think there's only one in the entire game.

 

My guess without having seen the KS pitch yet is somewhere between 750k and 1250k. Hopefully they'll pull on some RPG GOTY 2014 coverage for Dragonfall to draw people to Hong Kong. That said, they had better have something Awesome planned to justify begging for funds for what is essentially a campaign pack for a game they already made.

Things I'd like to see:
- Overhauled matrix to not suck
- Inclusion of non-combat skills
- Stealth reintroduced
- Couple of new pieces of cyberware, a new drone, a couple of new weapons and a couple of new spells
- "Overmap" with multiple locations you can go back and forth between. Think athkatla&surroundings from BG2.
- Failable missions and generally less linearity
- Writing on par with Dragonfall DC
- Backwards compatibility with DC/DMS
- Wilderness terrain for non-city adventures
- Non-human enemies (lots of fun, magic critters in SR)
- Stretch goal for another setting (like Dragonfall was a stretch goal for DMS). Tir Na nOg, Tir Taingire, Scandinavia, London and Azlan are all good choices.

I've got between $10 and $500 earmarked for this thing depending on how convincing a pitch they can make me. I rather enjoyed the book that came with my DMS collectors edition. The short stories and additional background info on the DMS NPCs motivation was good reading.

 

That. I'm alright with relatively short RPGs if they're well done. Ideally they'd have more paths in the campaign (Dragonfall was a step up from DMS because the side missions helped make it feel more open (And helped it feel more Shadowrun in my opinion. I really liked taking on a mission and equipping the bro-team before and getting a pile of dosh after), but there weren't mutually exclusive missions or alternate branches for the whole campaign) but even that I could live without if each mission had more ways to play and more skill use. That's one area I felt even Dragonfall could've used more love in. Way more etiquette use, more decking opportunities, more options for riggers to mess with mechanical shit, more magic stuff for wizards to do, etc etc etc. Obviously some runs lean more heavily on tech or magic (Usually tech) but I'm a sucker for skill and stat checks.

Sort of along this line of thought, Fallout 1. Not exactly branching paths in Fallout 1 (Though open, of course), pretty short RPG, retarded companion and opponent AI, still possibly the best RPG. Don't have to be 100+ hours and have a musical sequence and a green hand that shoots ghostbuster lasers to be a good RPG.

I'm also all for that magical absorbing all Shadowrun campaigns into one executable too. And if they somehow improved the editor and the way the game/engine handled playing one-off adventures. Not sure if they've already hemorrhaged too many interested modders or not but it still would be cool if it ends up being the modern NWN1 where anyone can make an adventure casually over a few weekends. I guess it probably never would be though since painting tiles in NWN1 was miles easier than snapping individual pieces in SRR, so even the most basic map creation is more time consuming.

 

throwing money for shadowrun king kong nao

 

Well a meteorological reading would suggest that launching an indie RPG crowdfunding campaign tends to go better if it coincides with a Bioware release.

Problem is a lot of people didn't play Dragonfall, so the upward trajectory is lost on them.

 

Less than a million, IMO, unless they feel they need to ride the wave or something.

 

If they only want to make another campaign like Dragonfall, then they defintely won't get more than 1.5 - 2 million.

But I somehow get the feeling that they want to do more than that and make a much larger game with an increased scope. But we will see soon. I hope the pitch is good.

 

I can't believe this isn't mentioned on HBS's front page, nor on their Shadowrun subsite front page. Their lack of PR is kinda astonishing.

 

At least it is mentioned on their facebook page.



But seriously, it might be a good idea for HBS to hire a PR guy during the kickstarter, possibly even on freelance basis. I'm sure Brian Fargo can give them a few tips on what to do.

 

I just want the atmosphere back, that's what made Dragonfall memorable to me, the game was quite safe. Also, better level design.

 

Despite their hardest to try and hide the fact that they have an upcoming Kickstarter game, it will do no less than $1,5 million. Mark my words.

 

Do kickstarters end at the same time of day as when they go live? If so, I bet we won't see the KS post until it's after work (5 pm) pacific. A US-based campaign ending in the morning or afternoon seems like it would take away from last minute pledges. Infinitron any idea?