It's a service that has made all sorts of incredible games possible after traditional publishing failed. Isn't it just awful?
Never back a game on Kickstarter.
I thought it cut to black on Meadow?
Yes... I said it's 'not' like a novel for that reason.It wasn't uncommon for novels to be written chapter by chapter in magazine and newspapers, in fact, Ulysses, generally regarded as the finest novel of the 20th century was published this way.
Guilty as charged.
$15 for a 6-8 hour game is still pretty reasonable. This is one of the risks of backing Kickstarter projects. Kickstarter is a good option when so many publishers only care about profits.
Not to change the subject or to dismiss what appears to be an unfinished game but we also see many big blockbuster games that have DLC to be purchased on day 1.
Sadly for Valve it actually is their fault that they seemingly refuse to hire people for the purpose of rote tasks like CS or QC. SteamOS is going to be a hoot for that reason.They used to, and everybody fucking hated it because not enough games were getting on Steam. Then they said "fine you do it and we'll take the best few" and everybody fucking hated it because there weren't enough games getting on Steam. Then they started adding way more games, and now people go "WELL WHY DON'T THEY HAVE SOMEBODY LOOKING AT THESE? WHERE'S THE QUALITY CONTROL?"
Didn't Halo 2 end on a cliffhanger?Bungie did effectively the exact same thing with Halo 2 and they were owned by fucking Microsoft.
IN GAME FORM
Sadly for Valve it actually is their fault that they seemingly refuse to hire people for the purpose of rote tasks like CS or QC. SteamOS is going to be a hoot for that reason.
The game isn't a complete dud. Based on feedback, people were really enjoying the game until it just stops out of nowhere. Had it got funded, they could've actually finished the game and it would probably have been a very enjoyable experience all-in-all (though, of course the intended ending could've sucked as well, but at least it would've been an ending).Yes, we all read that part. Doesn't explain your comment "This is one of the risks of backing Kickstarter projects."
If people actually did back it, they likely would not have released the game in this unfinished state.
The way I see it, the system worked. People sensed a dud, didn't back the game, turns out it's a dud.
This game's Kickstarter campaign failed, they didn't get funded. They developed this 4+ hour part of the game without any funding from others, ran out of money and then just released the game as is. This has no relevance to Kickstarter being risky for customers.$15 for a 6-8 hour game is still pretty reasonable. This is one of the risks of backing Kickstarter projects. Kickstarter is a good option when so many publishers only care about profits.
Not to change the subject or to dismiss what appears to be an unfinished game but we also see many big blockbuster games that have DLC to be purchased on day 1.
This is not unprecedented. Quite a few animated series have run out of money and suffered from abrupt endings. Evangelion is most famous. The final few episodes have reduced animation, and the last two are hyper-abstract because they didn't have the budget for any action.
The End of Evangelion movie attempted to correct this, but was so expensive that they ran out of money again. They released the first half as a separate film to raise funds. They called it 'Rebirth' and it just ends abruptly, 40-odd minutes in.
Of course, ultimately The End of Evangelion came out and it was awesome.
I seem to recall Limbo being like 2 hours for $10 and no one complained, so I'm not seeing the big deal with 4 hours for $15. Gone Home was $20 for like 4 hours as well.
EDIT Seriously WTF is up with people bitching about KS in this thread?
I like how this thread is now about taste dickmeasuring about movies/games/etc that didn't feel like complete stories instead of actually discussing a game where the developer has straight up admitted that they actually weren't able to complete their goal. That is a massive, massive difference.
Planned content gets cut from games all the time. This is perhaps a more extreme example as they didn't do much to polish the end they did end up going with, but seriously guys -- just don't buy it if it bothers you that much. It's only $15.
...that's what reviews are for. People acting like they should pull it and offer refunds are nuts. The game has a lame ending -- consider that when deciding to purchase it or not.
I've spent $60 on a game where I thought the ending sucked. Doesn't mean I deserve a refund. Means I made a poor purchase choice."don't like it, don't buy it" is always the laziest fucking argument
what about the people who bought it without knowing the ending sucked? obviously you don't get to the ending until after you've already plunked down your cash.
It's not a case of having an unsatisfying ending - many games do - it literally just changes to a blank screen with text. Nowhere do the developers mention this on the Steam page.
No one should have to read a review to expect some kind of proper ending to a game they've paid $15 for. Unless they're reading GAF or other forums how would someone know. This only will lead to much negative publicity.
I've spent $60 on a game where I thought the ending sucked. Doesn't mean I deserve a refund. Means I made a poor purchase choice.
This reminds me that there was some shitty horror movie a couple years ago that ended with a URL to see the ending. One of the few things that would ever get me to demand a refund.
The ending didn't suck. It's in another castle.
I like how this thread is now about taste dickmeasuring about movies/games/etc that didn't feel like complete stories instead of actually discussing a game where the developer has straight up admitted that they actually weren't able to complete their goal. That is a massive, massive difference.
Eeeeeeeeexcept some of the examples in this thread are pretty much exactly like what this game has for an ending and the creators have admitted as much. See: Neon Genesis Evangelion (they ran out of money and the final couple of episodes are basically anime equivelant to having a game end abrubtly with a few sentences of description after going through a not-special looking door).I like how this thread is now about taste dickmeasuring about movies/games/etc that didn't feel like complete stories instead of actually discussing a game where the developer has straight up admitted that they actually weren't able to complete their goal. That is a massive, massive difference.
I interviewed the dev for this game during the KS process. This is how this all went down:
So they developed the 4-6 hour demo prior to the Kickstarter campaign. Each area of the game is segmented from the other, with little backtracking between areas. The plan was for them to have 4 main areas IIRC: the areas in this portion, plus a lab and an alien area, with each as its own separate, unique spot.
So that's why it ends abruptly. They literally haven't built those levels.
Here's my interview with the dev: http://www.vgrevolution.com/2013/07/behind-the-bits-dark-matter/
The problem I see is that people seem to think it matters that they talked about wanting to make more content.
ie:
So if they lied and said it was their artistic decision, it'd be the same bad ending but that's just how the game is. But they had the gall to be honest about regrettably not being able to create all the content they'd like, which totally changes things?
Sorry, but the product is the product -- buy it or pass on it. I'll pass on it and if someone happens to ask me about it, I'll warn them. The reasoning behind the product being the way it is has little to do with it.
I interviewed the dev for this game during the KS process. This is how this all went down:
So they developed the 4-6 hour demo prior to the Kickstarter campaign. Each area of the game is segmented from the other, with little backtracking between areas. The plan was for them to have 4 main areas IIRC: the areas in this portion, plus a lab and an alien area, with each as its own separate, unique spot.
So that's why it ends abruptly. They literally haven't built those levels.
Here's my interview with the dev: http://www.vgrevolution.com/2013/07/behind-the-bits-dark-matter/
This reminds me that there was some shitty horror movie a couple years ago that ended with a URL to see the ending. One of the few things that would ever get me to demand a refund.
A more experienced/responsible dev would have realized they were almost out of money and worked to create an appropriate end point.
Never back a game on Kickstarter.
first of all this.
first of all this.
i never heard about a project which ended well.
Man I keep coming back to this thread hoping that their is a developer update about them changing their mind. Oh well game looks very promising.
first of all this.
i never heard about a project which ended well.
also i read about some frauds...
Fun fact: I ran a Kickstarter campaign for a video game, and it released, and everyone on GAF got free copies.first of all this.
i never heard about a project which ended well.
also i read about some frauds...
so iam really hesitant about backing a project in the first place.
i feel so sorry about all those awesome ideas, but on the other hand, so much did not end well, so whats the point.
also the dev didnt say that the game is not finished or is short. so there is no problem. its a really unconvinient way of ending a game, i would be mad, but its not a bad thing, because the kickstarter failed in the first place.
so whats wrong about it?
also, you dont have any bugs or something during gameplay, right? why complain?