KickStarter Underworld Ascendant Pre-Prototype Thread

[Metro]

It'll be five hours long.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Hopefully mindx2's majestic write-up will provide a late campaign boost.

 

[Metro]

Let's put it this way: they won't be hitting any stretch goals. It's kind of telling this got enough votes to be Greenlit within a week but still hasn't hit the KS funding level.

 

[Zombra]

Perhaps that's it. Sure you can speed run Morrowind in like 30 minutes or whatever. But I always assume a developer is going to overestimate the content for marketing purposes.

Yeah. These guys seem like pretty straight talkers to me, not marketeers. So either they aren't doing the PR-speak thing, or they're secretly very good at it.

 

[mindx2]

Perhaps that's it. Sure you can speed run Morrowind in like 30 minutes or whatever. But I always assume a developer is going to overestimate the content for marketing purposes.

Yeah. These guys seem like pretty straight talkers to me, not marketeers. So either they aren't doing the PR-speak thing, or they're secretly very good at it.

They are definitely not PR speakers...

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

I predict $768,429 total crowd funds. Let's see how full of shit I end up being. As mentioned many times they have other money already.

I'm good with a relatively speedy direct path to victory as an option. You can finish a lot of RPGs that are not considered short on content in under 20 hours if you stick to main quest only. An exception would be games that require a lot of grinding. I am glad to hear that they will focus attention on replay-ability. I prefer to spend 100 hours doing 2-3 play-throughs than 1 play-through. It takes a special game for me to replay it if it is over 50 hours in a main quest + moderate level of side shit.

 

[mindx2]

Another update:

#17
Chattering Bart

Posted by OtherSide Entertainment

We fibbed. We said there would be no Update this weekend. But we simply could not contain our excitement on reaching the $500,000 funding milestone. The support of our community for Underworld Ascendant is extraordinary. We are humbled, and triply motivated to make a wonderful game for you.

Onward to the $600,000 milestone!

We also had to share that our community has grown to over 9,200 strong today! This means all our Kickstarter backers will get a free Dark Elf sling, with 5 special purple splatter seeds and at least 2 bonus seeds too. Let’s see if we can reach at least 9,300 Backers by noon (ET) tomorrow, for another bonus seed.

On that note, the most important thing we can do as a community over the coming week is to bring even more backers onboard. We know the original Underworld games have been played by well over a million players. There are even more RPG gamer fans who, while they may not have played the original games, would surely enjoy the amazing game we’re making.

Yet the vast majority of these folks are still utterly unaware that this Kickstarter is underway. At OtherSide we have engaged two PR firms to help get the word out. We also have our friends at Shroud of the Avatar, Star Citizen, Torment, and other projects helping get out the word. Events such this past week’s play of Thief on Twitch reached over 15,000 viewers! We’re also enlisting the full spectrum of social channels to spread the news.

All that pales compared what our community, now more than 9,200 strong, are able to reach with your collective voice. So… continue to speak out! Use Facebook, Twitter, or whatever works for you.

As part of this big push we have another reward to offer. It's appropriately themed around getting the word out. Meet Chattering Bart ...

Ages ago a nobleman, whose own name is long-forgotten, had a favorite court jester, Bartholomew. Bart was famously sharp-witted. Sadly, Bart drowned in a huge vat of mead one evening after feasting. The nobleman had a necromancer animate Bart’s skull so that, in death, Bart could still chatter up a storm.

Years later the Shambler elders somehow came into possession of this curious artifact. Now the Shamblers are offering to share this artifact with each and every member of our community if we reach 10,000 Backers by noon (ET) next Saturday.

Bart is also chipping in. He will let the community write extra quips for him. For every 200 Backers over 10,000 reached by next Saturday, Bart will select from the fan submissions a bonus quip to use in his repertoire. So go to the forums HERE, and suggest quips for Bart’s consideration. PG-13 please. Bart will utter these exclusive quips only when his skull is held by one of our Kickstarter Backers.

The Team at OtherSide

I kind of wish they didn't have to try these kind of... gimmicky things. It just doesn't... feel right. Not for Looking Glass 2.0...

The bright side is I'm much more confident that this will reach it's funding goal and even more above that!

 

[Bubbles]

I wonder what exactly the two PR firms are doing right now. Are there a lot of ads out there than I've been blocking? Is one of the firms coming up with stuff like splatter seeds and Chattering Bart? Or were they responsible for "arranging" the inXile and Chris Roberts shout-outs?

 

[Zombra]

At least they're curating submissions instead of just saying $5 lets you write a line in the game. I guess it's up to us to submit tons of them that aren't stupid so they'll have plenty to choose from that aren't awful.

 

[CyberP]

I kind of wish they didn't have to try these kind of... gimmicky things. It just doesn't... feel right. Not for Looking Glass 2.0...

They absolutely don't though. I told them last year they need to market the game as the hardcore experience it should be. Dark Souls took this approach and look where that got it, and that was marketed to so-called "Console Tards". Have some balls, take some risks and I think it would pay off. But look where having balls and taking risks got them last time...
I reserve judgement for the final game. They seem intent on making a great game but some of the content is sending mixed signals.

 

[Bubbles]

They absolutely don't though. I told them last year they need to market the game as the hardcore experience it should be.

That's how they are marketing it.

As to the casual audience, Underworld Ascendant is not being designed for them. We have deep passion for the core RPG experience of the Underworlds. We know this will limit the game's appeal to casual gamers, but we're perfectly fine with that. There's more than enough RPG fans out there to make this game a great success.

 

[CyberP]

Bunny companions, rings of AI detection through walls as pre-order bonuses of sorts, co-op and gimmicks aren't exactly the 90's hardcore singleplayer RPG features I have in mind. Why not offer something like Dark Souls' bonfire aesthetic, which makes enemies have x2 attack and defense for the area it is used? That shows what kind of game they intend to make is what I want. What does bunny companions & co-op reveal? Do you want bunny companions and co-op? Yes they want to reach a wider audience, but do so without sacrificing design.

But as said, I remain optimistic despite these facts and reserve ultimate judgement for release.

 

[CyberP]

I honestly think they would have been more successful if they opened the curtain, said "brace yourselves for the most complex hardcore FP RPG you've ever witnessed" & showed no compromise with the kickstarter incentives. I know I'd be extra motivated in hyping and shoving it down peoples throats.
Kickstarter is the perfect opportunity to take the Immersive Sim to the next level no-holds barred, and they pull the curtain and reveal a fucking bunny?
But again, LOOKING GLASS.
I love these guys so I'm going to restrain myself of any negativity for the time being.

 

[Metro]

They cast their net too wide: trying to cater to both the niche and mainstream gamers.

 

[Jaesun]

Why is Metro so butthurt over this game?

 

[Metro]

Why are you addressing me in the third person, I'm right here, dawg.

 

[mindx2]

They cast their net too wide: trying to cater to both the niche and mainstream gamers.

The thing is they're not catering to mainstream gamers. Certainly not based on their game design philosophy but these little "KS bonus incentives" make it seem like something different than what it truly is.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

He's right. I see wanton detraction Metro.

 

[Metro]

It's because I'm working on my own UU successor and want to sabotage them!

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

I would back your project. Let's hear about the design.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

It's because I'm working on my own UU successor and want to sabotage them!

Sounds interesting. Will wait til it's 90% off in a Steam sale.

 

[Metro]

I anticipated that so the retail price is $300.

 

[Shaewaroz]

I kind of wish they didn't have to try these kind of... gimmicky things. It just doesn't... feel right. Not for Looking Glass 2.0...

Makes you feel somehow tainted, doesn't it?

They desperately need more nostalgia coating to cover up the rotten core of decline. Keep eating dat pie boys!

 

[Infinitron]

We also have our friends at...Torment... helping get out the word.

They have? Where?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Why are you addressing me in the third person, I'm right here, dawg.

Because you've proven yourself, time and time again, to be simply not worth the attention.

You can't bring anything to a table of discussion without being overly negative, outright abusive, nitpicking and an utter cheapskate. Nothing is ever good enough for you, and even if it was, it's too expensive to bother with.

Unfortunately for you there are dozens of posters on the Codex alone that can say the same thing that you can - only better. Unlike some of those same posters, you don't bring along a controversial viewpoint or a radical perspective that would warrant banning you or for people to start using the Ignore function against you on a large scale - you're just another naysayer.