Interview Vince D. Weller Speaks Truth With RPGNuke

[Zeriel]

I think he means $43,750 over the time they have been actively working on it is minimum wage (several years). $43,750/yr is quite good, at least entry level engineering degree pay.

 

[hiver]

Various jokes about a man in Ukraine winning a lottery, or Argentinian running naked across the city with shooting firecrackers in his hands suddenly appeared in my head.
also quips about hiring foreign help, outsourcing workforce and something about a sweat shop in some spooky tower

 

[J_C]

I think he means $43,750 over the time they have been actively working on it is minimum wage (several years). $43,750/yr is quite good, at least entry level engineering degree pay.

Ah, get it.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I meant a year. Since the sales/advertising industry is all I know, a sales rep gets 25-35k plus commission and bonuses, a sales manager 45-80k plus override, a director or regional manager 100-125 plus override, and so on. 44k is a good starting salary when you're young and don't need much, but it's not a lot for a grown man with 2 kids.

 

[Infinitron]

You're going to sell more than 10k copies, VD. Not all at full price, of course.

Bundle up with the other retro RPGs that will come out next year and you'll get plenty of attention.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Hopefully.

 

[hiver]

Well, its an entirely different story in other countries, especially those of other devs of the team.

Still, i expect 10 K to be reached in the first month. Almighty be willing. (and you know who he likes to help the most)

Leave bundless for later, i would say. Let the game breathe and live on its own for the first two months, deal with bugs and patches and customer support - then switch to bundles and some DLC and all that other stuff.

 

[J_C]

Codexers recommending DLCs. I vote for different weapon skins for 5 dollars.

 

[hiver]

Not that kind of dlc. A small expansion, an addon, whatever. A new smaller city or some other interesting location. A new plot or a faction.
Point is getting the game in the spotlight again - at some opportune moment after the game has been out for several months.

 

[J_C]

Not that kind of dlc. A small expansion, an addon, whatever. A new smaller city or some other interesting location. A new plot or a faction.
Point is getting the game in the spotlight again - at some opportune moment after the game has been out for several months.

Of course, I'm just teasing. I still prefer the oldschool "expansion pack" phrase. Although I assume it would take another 2 years to make that. :D

 

[hiver]

Thats why i didnt say expansion but something smaller that wouldnt take that much time.

... anyway, wheres that new demo? getting close? few days? few weeks?

 

[J_C]

Thursday, obviously.

I think I'll pass on the demo, I don't want to spoil more, than I already spoiled with the first demo. I want to play the game in its full glory.

 

[Kem0sabe]

People talk a lot of shit about VD and AoD, but the simple fact is that the playable demo they put out brought more incline than a lot of RPG's in the past decade. That might be because the last decade brought us mostly shit in terms of RPG's, or because AoD truly has the potential to be something awesome... come Thursday we will invariably find out which.

 

[AbounI]

hiver, some time ago, Vince talked about a dungeon crawler, party based, still upon the AoD background.
Fast development, re-using assets and things like that.It could take only 6 months he said.Little price.Doable in 6 months approximatly
That kind of DLC I assume
Before ITS go for the next big project

 

[hiver]

It could take only 6 months he said.-

 

[Goegoff]

What's the story with Shadowrun's boxed copy?

Just a little hyperbole on my part. I was disappointed in the SR boxed edition as it had no manual and was "small" and cheaply made. I am a collector of cRPGs (and other games) from days gone by. The new wave of KS games promising a return to those boxed days of yore has stirred my collecting bug once more. Nothing like unfolding a map and looking at a new world or flipping through a thick manual describing the adventure that awaits.

Indeed. I have the same appreciation of a good manual as you, so when we shopped around, we were looking for a high quality box, a map, 200-page spiral-bound manual with history, lore, concept art, and such. Something that people would enjoy reading and displaying.

Why not start a kickstarter for the boxed version on wednesday?

 

[Scruffy]

If there is enough interest. Quality printing requires a large run. 500 copies min, 1,000 preferable.

i do of course respect your idea not to use KS and the reasons why, but you are developing a VERY niche game. Wouldn't KS be a way to understand how big this niche is, after all? It is your time and your money, so the choice is obviously yours, but your product is targeted at a not-so-big audience, therefore being quite a risky gamble. Maybe having other people share the risk of this gamble could turn out useful if the end result isn't what expected.

After all, 20/50 bucks for an individual is nothing, and if things don't go well, at least you didn't lose a lot of money.

I mean, sure it's upselling and hype, but in the end, if it turns out to be a game "that nobody wants to buy", what do you plan to do? give up making games, or try again?

Because if you plan to only give it one shot, and give up if it doesn't sell, then not using KS makes little sense really. Just my opinion ofc. (And if it does sell, then yay! I sure plan to buy this, and i would also throw a 25 or 50 for a KS)

 

[Infinitron]

idonthavetimeforthiscrap This really isn't a good time for an RPG Kickstarter. Vault Dweller's marketing efforts are best spent elsewhere.

His game will soon be available for pre-order on Steam. That's more and easier money than any Kickstarter. His focus should be on promoting awareness of that.

The "measure the size of the market" argument isn't even applicable since that's something you do BEFORE you begin production of a game.

 

[Scruffy]

The "measure the size of the market" argument isn't even applicable since that's something you do BEFORE you begin production of a game.

DID he do it? Or (as i understood it) did he just decide that he wanted to make a RPG?

 

[Vault Dweller]

I've always wanted to make an RPG. I don't care about the market. If it's there, great. If it's not there, well, I go back to managing sales, thinking fondly about the time I worked on the game full time.

 

[Rake]

The "measure the size of the market" argument isn't even applicable since that's something you do BEFORE you begin production of a game.

DID he do it? Or (as i understood it) did he just decide that he wanted to make a RPG?

As i understood it, the second. He just desided to make an RPG as he wanted it to be, and if there is a market for it all is good, if not there is no point to continue making games he don't like just to sell more copies.
But i could be wrong.

EDIT: Ninja'ed

 

[Vault Dweller]

His game will soon be available for pre-order on Steam. That's more and easier money than any Kickstarter. His focus should be on promoting awareness of that.

That I agree with.

 

[hiver]

Me too. Best way to go about it in short term is to tell us wheres the bloody new demo at.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Within days of release. Tweaking balance.

 

[Scruffy]

Within days of release. Tweaking balance.

but do you think that the graphics are ok? don't you feel like a different graphics engine would benefit the game?