Information Thorvalla Kickstarter goes online

[evdk]

That's why I suggested hiring for a percentage of money raised.

 

[kaizoku]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/g3studios/thorvalla-an-rpg-by-guido-henkel/posts/355852

 

[Moribund]

Art is so terrible for this game

Why are people so unable to mentally extrapolate what something will look like with more work from a sample? Well, my neanderthal brain can and it will be awesome. Except the cards remove that shit.

 

[Kz3r0]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/g3studios/thorvalla-an-rpg-by-guido-henkel/posts/355852

I want to cry, this game seems to be old school as a Korean MMORPG.
Spiky animu teenagers.
Card combat.
Badass female bombshells, this one at least is a shared sin between JRPGs and WRPGs.

 

[kaizoku]

All the artwork has been done by his wife, so it's a delicate matter.
It could either be due to a financial issue or affective reasons.

The anime character has been removed from the front page.
This one doesn't look "bad", but it's not going to win an award either. It's fair an gives a better image of what he's aiming at.
As for female bombshells, well, one just has to look at RoK covers.

The card combat also puts me off, but I kept my pledge. Not that it matters.
I wonder if he decided upon that in order to cut combat animations. (well, given it's a card game, I'm assuming there won't be combat animations)

 

[Wyrmlord]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/g3studios/thorvalla-an-rpg-by-guido-henkel/posts/355852

I want to cry, this game seems to be old school as a Korean MMORPG.
Spiky animu teenagers.
Card combat.
Badass female bombshells, this one at least is a shared sin between JRPGs and WRPGs.

Well, my first thought was that an enthusiast of Nordic mythology such as Mr. Henkel & co. would know that Vikings didn't have horned helmets, but that it was pure Roman propaganda that the northerners were evil people with horns growing out of their heads.

This is supposed to be much more representative of the Viking headpiece.

See what you and your fellow Romans have done, Kz3r0? Even the Nords and Germanics understand their history through the lens that Romans created for them.

 

[Kz3r0]

Well, my first thought was that an enthusiast of Nordic mythology such as Mr. Henkel & co. would know that Vikings didn't have horned helmets, but that it was pure Roman propaganda that the northerners were evil people with horns growing out of their heads.

This is supposed to be much more representative of the Viking headpiece.

See what you and your fellow Romans have done, Kz3r0? Even the Nords and Germanics understand their history through the lens that Romans created for them.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Come to think of it, even the rather silly world of Skyrim managed to get Nordic helmets right, and had all the guards wear the proper Viking gear.

 

[Zed]

Only 96,7% remaining!

It's sad that this won't happen. What will Guido do? Fade back into obscurity creating mobile games? Give up game development for good?
He has stated that this was his one shot at getting money for this. Will he change his mind?

 

[Kz3r0]

Come to think of it, even the rather silly world of Skyrim managed to get Nordic helmets right, and had all the guards wear the proper Viking gear.

Are you saying that Skyrim is more hardcore than Thorvalla?

 

[Hobbit Lord of Mordor_]

Well, my first thought was that an enthusiast of Nordic mythology such as Mr. Henkel & co. would know that Vikings didn't have horned helmets, but that it was pure Roman propaganda that the northerners were evil people with horns growing out of their heads.

This is supposed to be much more representative of the Viking headpiece.

See what you and your fellow Romans have done, Kz3r0? Even the Nords and Germanics understand their history through the lens that Romans created for them.

Um, the Roman Empire and Vikings were two different eras... the two never met

The Romans did have contact with the Celts who definitely had horned helmets

 

[Wyrmlord]

Well, I can't compare a released game with an unreleased one.

But I am a backer of Thorvalla, so it's not like I have low expectations.

Zed
What shocks me is that they can't even fill the quota of their Early Bird Edition.

Mr. Henkel expected at least 5000 backers in the first couple of days, but this KS isn't one-fifth of that. As a backer, it will continuously make my heart sink seeing the slow and gradual car crash of this KS over the next 23 days.

 

[Hobbit Lord of Mordor_]

Yeah, we know that. Only total sad cases like Feel the Rads still believes in this game

 

[tuluse]

Well, my first thought was that an enthusiast of Nordic mythology such as Mr. Henkel & co. would know that Vikings didn't have horned helmets, but that it was pure Roman propaganda that the northerners were evil people with horns growing out of their heads.

This is supposed to be much more representative of the Viking headpiece.

See what you and your fellow Romans have done, Kz3r0? Even the Nords and Germanics understand their history through the lens that Romans created for them.

Maybe they know and decided to go with horned helmets anyways?

Because horned helmets look pretty cool.

 

[Zed]

What shocks me is that they can't even fill the quota of their Early Bird Edition.

Mr. Henkel expected at least 5000 backers in the first couple of days, but this KS isn't one-fifth of that. As a backer, it will continuously make my heart sink seeing the slow and gradual car crash of this KS over the next 23 days.

It sucks. I'm excited for what could potentially happen if he got 1 million, but I'm almost angry at the way he's trying to procure it.

It will be very interesting to see what his thoughts were before, during and after the campaign if he ever writes some sort of postmortem.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Thorvalla could alternatively go for the standard publisher route.

Yes, yes, I know that the very purpose of a Kickstarter was to avoid having to sell the project to publishers and have independence from them. But what is the worst that could happen? Obsidian is not some indie company and does live under publisher expectations. They manage just fine.

But more than that, going to publishers will mean he will have to up his game. Improve his pitch, show something real and substantial, and work harder to get his money. Thus improve the chances of Thorvalla being more than a vague pitch. Ubisoft did fund the turn-based strategy card game Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes. He could go to Ubisoft, say he has a similar idea, but geared more towards a particular setting and game style, and for PC release only. Plus, if that is the last remaining option, then it is better than nothing! At this point, after the support of so many people, you can't just say "Kickstarter or bust!"

 

[tuluse]

Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes came out on 4 different systems. I don't think any publisher is going to accept PC only because they see it as just ignoring 80% of the market, not that they're different markets.

Brian Fargo, who clearly knows his way around the business side of video games, wasn't able to secure funding for Wasteland 2 when Fallout 3 and New Vegas were both multi-million copy sellers.

He needs to go back to the drawing board (and literally in this case), and come back with a solid pitch from the beginning in a few months.

 

[Excommunicator]

I am also very annoyed at their attitudes managing this pitch. They come across as helpless, naive, fatalistic. I actually don't want them to get this money now given that every struggle and failure we have heavily reflects on the platform at this early point when there are still no major successes to act as counterpoints to those failures. I don't want million dollar projects struggling their way along or getting far enough to receive their money when the signs are bad from the beginning, and few people can deny that they have been here

The thing I find most enraging is the "we have been wanting to do this forever, we will not restart, we put everything into this and if we fail, this is all over, no second chance" That is such a horribly immature and contradictory stance to have. Nobody anywhere who genuinely believes in their passion would ever give up or accept defeat so easily. If you are that quick to give up then you were never as driven or as enthusiastic as you should have been. People make major sacrifices to achieve their dreams and I don't see these guys really stretching themselves to make things work. If you aren't even willing to present yourself as totally committed and willing to sacrifice then you need to think about what it is you really want, and whether or not you have the constitution to make the project succeed even once you have the money.

There's only two types of people who truly deserve to be supported by kickstarter:

1. Those who already have all the necessary resources, skills and experience to delivery exactly what they are offering
2. Those who are willing to sacrifice everything to get those things, and can do what's necessary to convince people of that

People like Double Fine always undeniably had the expertise to produce the game they offered but their target was very low anyway. inXile had a higher target and much less development expertise (but plenty of good management) but Brian Fargo showed he meant business by saying he would make up the shortfall with his own money in order to lower his target by 100k. Although Obsidian never had to make any real sacrifices and initially didn't put themselves out there as much as they should have, they nonetheless have the expertise required to get the job done and are offering no more than what they have delivered a number of times in the past.

G3 Studios has even more questionable expertise (in the broader team/studio; Neal and Guido are fine), and while the updates have been improving, they haven't done anything massive to try to counter the loss of momentum. They're also asking for more than Wasteland 2 or Double Fine. It just doesn't balance out, whichever way you look at it.

At this point, shutting it down immediately, going away to regroup and coming back with much more strength and energy would be about the minimum required to show they really mean business. Saying you will never do that is just a horrible mistake that allows your lack of resolve to show through. At the end of it all, if the developers aren't willing to do everything required and make major sacrifices in their own lives then they are wrong to expect the public to make a huge collective sacrifice for them.

 

[PosledniKovboj]

It sucks. I'm excited for what could potentially happen if he got 1 million, but I'm almost angry at the way he's trying to procure it.

hell yeah. I'm pissed too, I was genuinely excited for this, but he blew it, and to add insult to injury he's acting like nobody in the world told him what's wrong and he can't figure it out himself (that latter part I believe though)...so alibistic.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Brian Fargo, who clearly knows his way around the business side of video games, wasn't able to secure funding for Wasteland 2 when Fallout 3 and New Vegas were both multi-million copy sellers.

Yes, but Brian Fargo got the money and Guido Henkel most likely will not.

So if Guido has to get something out of this project, anything at all, maybe one of those turn-based combat games that are popular on handhelds such as DS, it would be better than nothing. Now, the name escapes me, but you remember the Wizardry I style game for the DS made in Japan? Plus, KOEI co. could help produce a game like that; they make lots of TBS games.

Make that sort of game for a multiplatform release, and the outcome need not be so painful.

 

[Stainless Veteran]

I think that that attitude - "If we fail, we won't do another Kickstarter ever again, project will be dead, deaaaaad!" it's just another bad marketing ploy, same as "At the kickstarter's launch we shouldn't give backers concrete information, else they won't return for more! We must keep them guessing to generate buzz!". That threat of project's imminent demise if not funded is used to make backers up their pledges, and to motivate more people to back the project.
But if it is genuine sentiment: "My kickstarter has failed, it's not because I did something wrong with presentation/promoting, it's because people are bastards who don't appreciate my baby! So I better give up, also - NEVAH AGAIN!" - weell, than it's incredibly childish.

 

[HobGoblin42]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/g3studios/thorvalla-an-rpg-by-guido-henkel/posts/355852

She is definitely too skinny, more like a Top Model than a Warrior. I would prefer a stronger woman with arms that could possibly swing a sword. And beside that, Vikings NEVER used horned helmets.

Edit: it was already mentioned, but as lazy talkative bitch as I am I didn't read the whole before posted

 

[Kz3r0]

She is definitely too skinny, more like a Top Model than a Warrior. I would prefer a stronger woman with arms that could possibly swing a sword. And beside that, Vikings NEVER used horned helmets.

Next you will try to make us believe that there is snow in Greece.

 

[HobGoblin42]

I didn't play Diablo III yet (and I probably never will), but some of their concept artworks are pretty nice. I think that's how a female (barbarian) warrior should look like, adding some armor would make a nice viking warrior girl.

 

[Morkar Left]

People are bitching that a fantasy culture isn't exactly like the vikings of the real world? :D

You guys must have despised RoA because Thorwaler wear horned helmets all the time...

Seriously guys, Guido Henkel can come up with whatever you want and it would still be not good enough for you by now. It's not that the ks is lacking content about what the game is. He described the gameplay mechanics as much as is possible at the moment and he introduced you to the lore and how the story will start.