Broken Age - Double Fine's Kickstarter Adventure Game

[evdk]

sharing your impressions on unofficial sites (like the Codex) is allowed according to the latest update.

Good that DF graciously allows people shit they a) can't prohibit and b) can't enforce. Tim is my hero.

 

[Frusciante]

Bullshit. Those games are simply that good, there's no nostalgia involved. Last year I replayed DoTT, Grim Fandango and Monkey Island 1 & 2, and they all are absolutely brilliant.

DoTT was even better than I remenbered.

Ok, fine. But still you and some other people here have already judged the game instead of giving it a fair chance.

Something else, is there an ETA yet? Hope they release it early morning in the US so that I dont have to wait another day.

 

[J_C]

sharing your impressions on unofficial sites (like the Codex) is allowed according to the latest update.

Good that DF graciously allows people shit they a) can't prohibit and b) can't enforce. Tim is my hero.

Why are you so passive agressive? Did Tim touch you somewhere? They didn't use the term "allow". They asked, and said please.

 

[Irenaeus]

Gotta love fanboys

 

[J_C]

I just stated the truth.

 

[Blackthorne]

As someone said, a lot of people expected Tim Schaefer to make a game like he used to - DoTT, SMI, Full Throttle - and while in a similar vein, it's not exactly that. Which, now, I can say is okay - he's doing a combination of what he wants and what will have the most likelihood of wider appeal and thus great financial success for DoubleFine. I suppose it's up to other people to fill that niche, the old school scratch, that needs to be filled. Which is odd, cause I know a couple of people doin' that...

I will be interested to see what Broken Age looks, feels and plays like. At this time, almost two years later, it's been a lot of speculation, debates, arguments, and outright guessing as to what it'll be... and I'm tired of pontificating (myself, anyone else is free to do so, of course!) and now I want to see if the proof is in the pudding, as they say.


Bt

 

[J_C]

As someone said, a lot of people expected Tim Schaefer to make a game like he used to - DoTT, SMI, Full Throttle - and while in a similar vein, it's not exactly that. Which, now, I can say is okay - he's doing a combination of what he wants and what will have the most likelihood of wider appeal and thus great financial success for DoubleFine. I suppose it's up to other people to fill that niche, the old school scratch, that needs to be filled. Which is odd, cause I know a couple of people doin' that...

I will be interested to see what Broken Age looks, feels and plays like. At this time, almost two years later, it's been a lot of speculation, debates, arguments, and outright guessing as to what it'll be... and I'm tired of pontificating (myself, anyone else is free to do so, of course!) and now I want to see if the proof is in the pudding, as they say.


Bt

We will see how the pudding tastes in a few hours.

 

[tuluse]

Bullshit. Those games are simply that good, there's no nostalgia involved. Last year I replayed DoTT, Grim Fandango and Monkey Island 1 & 2, and they all are absolutely brilliant.

DoTT was even better than I remenbered.

You're not really helping your case because DoTT looked like a Saturday Morning Cartoon. It was probably the most childish looking adventure game Lucas Arts made.

 

[DeepOcean]

At this point, I'm just interested to know how the puzzles are. There is a fucking infuriating trend on last years, even on german adventure games, of making puzzles almost solve themselves. I used to be stuck for a long time trying to figuring out what to do, nowdays it's very rare for a puzzle to give you a challenge and based on the little I experienced of Double Fine forums, most people that backed this game are casuals LARPING being "hardcore". We will see if Tim managed to put some intelligent design on his puzzles because based on most of his backers, he can make an interactive book with no puzzles in it and they would be fine with it.

 

[J_C]

At this point, I'm just interested to know how the puzzles are. There is a fucking infuriating trend on last years, even on german adventure games, of making puzzles almost solve themselves. I used to be stuck for a long time trying to figuring out what to do, nowdays it's very rare for a puzzle to give you a challenge and based on the little I experienced of Double Fine forums, most people that backed this game are casuals LARPING being "hardcore". We will see if Tim managed to put some intelligent design on his puzzles because based on most of his backers, he can make an interactive book with no puzzles in it and they would be fine with it.

It won't have as difficult puzzles as you mentioned that's for sure. But I hope it will be challenging enough.

 

[taxalot]

I've read that there is an embargo on backers posting their impressions of the early copies they get until the date the official review embargo for magazines and sites is up. Not sure how ethical that is.

Backers working at review sites and running blogs are under embargo, sharing your impressions on unofficial sites (like the Codex) is allowed according to the latest update. They just ask to be sensitive about spoilers.

How on earth can they legally enforce this embargo ? Isn't there such a thing called Freedom of the press ? Whatever this is, they are not in a buisness relationship with Double Fine. Double Fine can't fire bloggers, and I strongly doubt they can sue them.

Yes, I am perfectly aware that this applies to all games NDA.

 

[tuluse]

How on earth can they legally enforce this embargo ? Isn't there such a thing called Freedom of the press ? Whatever this is, they are not in a buisness relationship with Double Fine. Double Fine can't fire bloggers, and I strongly doubt they can sue them.

Yes, I am perfectly aware that this applies to all games NDA.

You have to sign a contract to get the early copy. That contract says you can't discuss it until a certain date.

If you breach the contract, Double Fine can assuredly sue you. Now obviously bloggers don't have much worth going after. So in that case, Double Fine would just let everyone know the blogger breached the NDA and no company will trust them in the future, so they'll never get early access again.

 

[taxalot]

How on earth can they legally enforce this embargo ? Isn't there such a thing called Freedom of the press ? Whatever this is, they are not in a buisness relationship with Double Fine. Double Fine can't fire bloggers, and I strongly doubt they can sue them.

Yes, I am perfectly aware that this applies to all games NDA.

You have to sign a contract to get the early copy. That contract says you can't discuss it until a certain date.

If you breach the contract, Double Fine can assuredly sue you.

Not all contract clauses are exactly legal, especially depending on the country you are in. They might sue a Kwan, but can they sue a European ?
If not, what is the goddamn point ?

 

[Kem0sabe]

But in this case, the backers in general are getting the game. If a backer decides to post his/her impressions on their Facebook or Tumblr before the street review date, how can Doublefine pressure them? They are not professional reviewers, they are just customers who got their product and decided to review it, these are not press copies after all.

 

[Aeschylus]

I've always found it kind of funny how the movie and video game industries have gone in completely opposite directions with regards to how early reviews are handled.

In general a studio producing a good movie will allow critics to post reviews early, before the film is widely available in theaters in order to generate positive hype. A shit movie will generally not screen for critics, or have an early review embargo. The opposite seems to be true for video games -- big, low-quality, AAA cash cows tend to give out tons of early exclusive reviews (Dragon Age II being shamelessly fellated by PC Gamer comes to mind), while smaller, quality games tend to get/allow a lot less early press. I wonder what this says about the respective critical coverage of both industries.

 

[tuluse]

Not all contract clauses are exactly legal, especially depending on the country you are in. They might sue a Kwan, but can they sue a European ?
If not, what is the goddamn point ?

NDAs have decades of precedents, so I'm going to assume they know what they're doing. You also conveniently ignored the rest of my response.

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

embargo on backers reviews

and people still defend that pile fo shit

 

[tuluse]

But in this case, the backers in general are getting the game. If a backer decides to post his/her impressions on their Facebook or Tumblr before the street review date, how can Doublefine pressure them? They are not professional reviewers, they are just customers who got their product and decided to review it, these are not press copies after all.

This I don't know and it seems like a bad idea. InXile realized that and put no restrictions.

 

[evdk]

Not all contract clauses are exactly legal, especially depending on the country you are in. They might sue a Kwan, but can they sue a European ?
If not, what is the goddamn point ?

NDAs have decades of precedents, so I'm going to assume they know what they're doing. You also conveniently ignored the rest of my response.

I am pretty sure that the decades of precedents are not worth a damn in for example potatoland. And trying to sue someone across borders is pretty much futile.

 

[Aeschylus]

But in this case, the backers in general are getting the game. If a backer decides to post his/her impressions on their Facebook or Tumblr before the street review date, how can Doublefine pressure them? They are not professional reviewers, they are just customers who got their product and decided to review it, these are not press copies after all.

This I don't know and it seems like a bad idea. InXile realized that and put no restrictions.

It's made pretty clear that posts on facebook/whatever is not what they are talking about.

we are requiring all -->formal reviews<-- be held until January 27 at 10am Pacific time (6pm GMT).

RE: backer comments/LPs, all they said was

As you know, backers are getting access to Broken Age Act 1 before anyone else, so we request that you be sensitive to spoilers when discussing the game and releasing Let’s Plays and similar game footage.

To that end, we are requesting that any videos you release of the game be cut off after the Sugar Bunting Maiden’s Feast in Vella’s world and upon meeting Marek in Shay’s world.

They can't actually enforce that, so it's a request.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Admittedly im speaking without first hand experience. Any backer here that can give more info on what the email allows and doesnt allow in terms of publishing a review on your own if your not an accredited press source.

Edit: Aeschylus just answered for me.

 

[taxalot]

[You also conveniently ignored the rest of my response.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize we were having a fight of some sort.

Also, you didn't answer my question. At all.

 

[tuluse]

I'm sorry, I didn't realize we were having a fight of some sort.

Also, you didn't answer my question. At all.

There are ways to sue Europeans, I'm pretty sure European companies do NDAs.

 

[taxalot]

I'm sorry, I didn't realize we were having a fight of some sort.

Also, you didn't answer my question. At all.

There are ways to sue Europeans, I'm pretty sure European companies do NDAs.

"Pretty sure'" is not an answer when it comes to law.

Enforceable to employees, or people in business relations ? Probably.
Limiting the freedom of the press to customers and random people on the internet who are not in a business relationship? I highly doubt it.

 

[tuluse]

"Pretty sure'" is not an answer when it comes to law.

Enforceable to employees, or people in business relations ? Probably.
Limiting the freedom of the press to customers and random people on the internet who are not in a business relationship? I highly doubt it.

As I said originally, even if you can't sue, the press who leaks their info would get blacklisted and not given any more early information.

But seriously, are you telling me BMW, Audi, and Mercedes don't use NDAs on new cars they're going to launch?

Also, the US has much stronger protection of speech and the press than the UK, I don't know about the rest of Europe, but I believe this is the case as well (like Nazi paraphernalia being illegal in Germany).