[gketter]

Yess!!! It's over $700K. Glad to see this.

[subversus]

they did it...

[Qwomo]

Had to withdraw my $50 pledge because I'm poorer than I thought, but it's good to see them hit 700k.

[Ignis Fatuus]

I really think they could have hit another stretch goal if they'd added one at 750k. Regardless, nothing to do now but sit back and see where they end up.

[subversus]

backed them with 10$ but my debit card is almost empty so I'm not sure if there is enough to charge me. Well, whatever.

[V_Ben]

Ok, backed. I'm a sucker for good animation :)

[mclem]

The interesting thing here, I think, is that this isn't really being made by a huge name; sure, they're developers with a pedigree, but they're not exactly 'celebrities', for want of a better word.

And yet, despite that, they were still able to manage to get around three quarters of a million dollars through kickstarter. Is this the most successful gaming kickstarter without a big name or franchise behind it?

[Ignis Fatuus]

The interesting thing here, I think, is that this isn't really being made by a huge name; sure, they're developers with a pedigree, but they're not exactly 'celebrities', for want of a better word. And yet, despite that, they were still able to manage to get around three quarters of a million dollars through kickstarter. Is this the most successful gaming kickstarter without a big name or franchise behind it?

Yes. It's proof that true indie titles can hit it big on Kickstarter and it provides a model for others to follow. Until now I think FTL held the record at around 200k, or maybe that atrocious Takedown thing passed it a bit. This sum is just unprecedented.

Seven digits remains the realm of the celebrity developer or known franchise for now, but The Banner Saga has opened the door, so to speak.

[RPGCrazied]

I'm curious to see what Tim Shacfer does with his several million dollars, that has got to be one hell of an adventure game.

[MightyHedgehog]

The interesting thing here, I think, is that this isn't really being made by a huge name; sure, they're developers with a pedigree, but they're not exactly 'celebrities', for want of a better word. And yet, despite that, they were still able to manage to get around three quarters of a million dollars through kickstarter. Is this the most successful gaming kickstarter without a big name or franchise behind it?

It really helps that they came across as earnest and brought with them footage of the early game and showcased its artstyle. That video really sold it, just like all of the super-successful KS projects, along with constant updates that reflect the backers' concerns and wishes.

Glad this one turned out so successful and I hope the three chapters turn out awesome.

[Piecake]

Got home and saw it was at 720k. Talk about awesome! The additional content explanation in the new update sounded fantastic as well. Just the type of stuff that I want to see

[NichM]

Dang, if they can somehow get 12 more pledges in the next 15 minutes, they'll be at an even 20,000 backers.

EDIT: And of course they did that too.

[superdeluxe]

Awesome hitting the 700k mark

[El-Suave]

This project is a nice success for Kickstarter, it's the first one I'm funding that I found through Kickstarter itself and not through GAF or some famous developer being involved.
Edit: Of course it was already successfully funded when I jumped on board and the GAF thread existed, I just hadn't heard of it yet.

[mclem]

I'm curious to see what Tim Shacfer does with his several million dollars, that has got to be one hell of an adventure game.

Um, no, that has got to be a fairly normal-sized adventure game. It's only a couple of million, after all!

Anyhow, a couple of minutes left to go!

[Des0lar]

This project is a nice success for Kickstarter, it's the first one I'm funding that I found through Kickstarter itself and not through GAF or some famous developer being involved. Edit: Of course it was already successfully funded when I jumped on board and the GAF thread existed, I just hadn't heard of it yet.

haha me too

[~Kinggi~]

Shit, saw only 7 minutes left and had to donate real quick. 25 for me.

[mclem]

Shit, saw only 7 minutes left and had to donate real quick. 25 for me.

If you up it to 50 you'll get the other two parts as well (but do it fast!)

(Although it sounds like each component is a full game)

Edit: And there we go!


Edit:

723,751 Nice!

If that's right, someone *literally* got in at the last second.

[Piecake]

723,886

Nice!

20,042 people pledged

average pledge is $36.12

[epmode]

If that's right, someone *literally* got in at the last second.

The total actually changed a few times after the funding was completed.

[El-Suave]

The backer only "Thank You!" video and progress report is already up!

[LiquidSolid]

If that's right, someone *literally* got in at the last second.

A lot of people seemed to get in right at the last second. $723,886 now. I'm guessing quite a few of them were halfway through the process so it let them finish as it was closing.

[mclem]

A lot of people seemed to get in right at the last second. $723,886 now. I'm guessing quite a few of them were halfway through the process so it let them finish as it was closing.

Letting any currently-active backing processes finish makes perfect sense, of course.

[Zulithe]

Got my confirmation e-mail. Best $50 I've spent this month (after GW2 :))

[Vulcano's assistant]

I'm happy they did it. Or should i say, we did it.

[Piecake]

I'm happy they did it. Or should i say, we did it.

Im happy I did it with everybody

Wait... What?

[bounchfx]

Crap!! I forgot to contribute.. I thought I already had. Is there any way I can get them to take my money?

[Ignis Fatuus]

Crap!! I forgot to contribute.. I thought I already had. Is there any way I can get them to take my money?

Too late!

[Mejilan]

Pledged $80 a few days ago.
Shit's amazing.

[shagg_187]

Crap!! I forgot to contribute.. I thought I already had. Is there any way I can get them to take my money?

You can always buy the game when it releases!

That said, YES!! $700K+! Customized towns, bitches!!

[Stantron]

Glad to see this one become such a success past its goal. These kickstarters are giving me a warm fuzzy feeling.

[Corto]

So stoked for this one. I have really high hopes for this game.

[Man-is-Obsolete]

It really helps that they came across as earnest and brought with them footage of the early game and showcased its artstyle. That video really sold it, just like all of the super-successful KS projects, along with constant updates that reflect the backers' concerns and wishes. Glad this one turned out so successful and I hope the three chapters turn out awesome.

BINGO!

They had a true vision and related that through art, how the story will work (brief synopsis, branching dialogue, caravan, etc), how they will do the animation and thus adding value to the Rotoscope reward tier, and of course they showed actual gameplay. Having said that not every project that does what Stoic did will reap the same rewards (Starlight Inception has a similar kickstarter that has not got off to nearly as fast as a start), but it is definitely a vast improvement over Takedown's kickstarter where the developer didn't even have art or even know what perspective they wanted the game to be in.

[matmanx1]

Proud to be a part of this Kickstarter project. $10 was all I could do at this point but even with that I feel like I made my vote towards the development of this very cool looking project. Congrats, Stoic!

[Ignis Fatuus]

If the game delivers, it could be legendary, the sort of thing people talk about decades from now. Think about it. The graphics will never be dated.

edit: Damn they've been working in a goat shack. For real.

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Do they pay rent? From the window, it doesn't look like they are on an abandoned lot.

[Ignis Fatuus]

Do they pay rent? From the window, it doesn't look like they are on an abandoned lot.

I think they are, but it must be ridiculously cheap for a place like that. Now that they're hiring new help I wonder if they'll move into a real studio.

[Ignis Fatuus]

So it turns out that 75 people showed up at the pub. Anyone here among them?

Just got home from the Kickstarter closing event at the Pour House in Austin. About 75 people showed up to the chagrin of the waitresses...we told them about 20-30 people would show up. oops! I think Alex took some video so we'll be sharing it when we can! Next week we'll be works on getting forums up on the site to give this amazing community a place to call home. Hope everyone's haveing a great weekend. -Arnie

Torn by indecision over my crest.

[DTKT]

If the game delivers, it could be legendary, the sort of thing people talk about decades from now. Think about it. The graphics will never be dated. edit: Damn they've been working in a goat shack. For real.

Bah, it doesn't look too bad.

Isn't it always summer where they are? :P

[hym]

Torn by indecision over my crest.

Speaking of which, the FAQ says this:
"We'll be talking more about the template before the campaign ends so you can see if it's something you can commit to!"

Any idea if and where they expanded more on the template crest arrangement?

[Ignis Fatuus]

Speaking of which, the FAQ says this: "We'll be talking more about the template before the campaign ends so you can see if it's something you can commit to!" Any idea if and where they expanded more on the template crest arrangement?

Here.

[Ignis Fatuus]

The wallpaper is out for backers, looks great. New backer video, an endorsement for Republique, and forums hit Monday.

[eudaemonic]

I'm interested to see how far this will deliver. I backed it mostly because I liked the project as soon as it was announce (before the kickstarter). But when they started tacking on all the features (three episodes instead of the first one, multiple platforms, orchrestra, etc - it sent off a huge red flag that maybe they're not thinking realistically for the amount of money pledged.

But we'll see. I'll be hopeful. :)

[Nohar]

The forums are up, though it seems that they won't work perfectly right away.

[Khar]

There's an interesting interview with Stoic's Alex Thomas at Wired.

They seem have this planned out thoroughly and aren't trying to overstretch their small team of 3 guys in a goat shack. Outsourcing some elements of the game to bring up the overall quality seems a sensible way to add polish with their extra funds.

[HP_Wuvcraft]

The wallpaper is out for backers, looks great.

It is now my desktop.

[Alextended]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...ner-saga/posts Breakdown of costs. Thought you mike like to post it, since you are the OP and all, and I can't doublepost.

http://youtu.be/nEaY4JYooJk

The quick answer is that so far things are going according to plan and we've budgeted correctly! The longer answer is this breakdown: - Of $730k, 10% immediately comes out for amazon, kickstarter and failed payments. We actually had a shockingly low number of these failed payments, but this alone leaves us with roughly $650k. - Actual prizes cost us about $22k to produce. $22,000 certainly is a lot for posters, tshirts and some fancy art, but this was not a surprise to us since we had gotten estimates and set prices based on that. - Shipping costs are a bit troublesome, especially since we have a fair number of international backers. We estimated that shipping would cost roughly an amount equal to the prizes themselves. When comparing our prices to other kickstarter campaigns we felt that we couldn't ask for more than the standard international shipping rate- between $10 and $20. This helps but does not cover the cost. Now any time I see a campaign asking for an extra $10 for international shipping I just assume they have no idea what they're talking about. That said, it's not like this will cut into our budget by a significant amount with the kind of volume we're pushing. Between prizes and shipping that's another 18% of our total funds. - Once we've dealt with all that business we've got about $600k to work with. I want to re-emphasize that this came as a surprise to none of us! - As for development, contractor salaries take the lions share. We've now contracted (not hired) two programmers, a sound design team, a dedicated composer, a QA specialist, a writer, an interface artist, a community manager and an entire animation production house working for us to produce more content than we ever dreamed at higher quality. That, my friends, is currently where a good 50% of our total funding goes. - We've got the mundane business expenses like a (rather miniscule) office lease, software like adobe products, dropbox and fmod, computer upgrades, and hardware coming out to about 5% of our budget. - We're anticipating the relatively small operation costs of maintaining our own server-side data on amazon's cloud so people can download the game from us and play online without Steam. - Lastly, we've put aside the remaining funding as our safety net which will be re-evaluated as we go. You never know when things are going to go unexpectedly wrong. - We're still not taking personal salaries. We'll be living off our savings until our game starts making income. To summarize: so far, so good.

[Beautifully Shaped Monsters]

They seem to really know how to handle this. Good, can't wait for the game to be done!

[HP_Wuvcraft]

So I see you took my PM quite literally, Alex.

[HoosTrax]

I think getting those Kickstarter rewards out to the donors might prove a bit more daunting than they had anticipated.

(source: RPS)