I assume song licensing costs are largely responsible for the $1.5m goal, but I'd wager most people who had backed the project would have been fine with just having the base game ported and DLC being released later down the track using left over funds (if any) and post-release revenue -- an approach that would have undoubtedly resulted in a significantly lower funding requirement and indeed a successful campaign.
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Rock Band for PC canned -- Consoles only
- Thread starter Se7enSword
- Start date
Son of a Witch
Member
It's BS because they can't honestly expect people to finance 1,5 million for a port.
I haven't bought RB4 yet in hopes that it would be released on PC, but there's no way I'm going to support this practice and now I probably won't buy it on PS4 either.
Se7enSword
Banned
To add to this, only 1674 people funded it in that kickstarter and there was hardly any campaign for it too. Plus, not many even knew it was a kickstarter, I think.
They only get the money once the goal is reached, which it didn't.
Mushroomer25
Member
I think their justification was sound. Putting up 100% of the capital themselves to make this happen would've sunk the studio if it flopped. It was clear that this was only going to work if the demand was as fervent as some fans had claimed.
But alas, I just didn't see who this was for. Especially with the RBN content being PC-exclusive. I would've donated just to have that functionality open across all platforms, but that just wasn't going to happen.
I wonder if they would've done better by offering some sort of 'DLC import' reward tier. Donate $100 or so, and get ~60 DLC downloads of choice on PC. That would've softened the blow of repurchasing the catalog, and it would only cost Harmonix the cost of lost revenue to license holders.
But alas, I just didn't see who this was for. Especially with the RBN content being PC-exclusive. I would've donated just to have that functionality open across all platforms, but that just wasn't going to happen.
I wonder if they would've done better by offering some sort of 'DLC import' reward tier. Donate $100 or so, and get ~60 DLC downloads of choice on PC. That would've softened the blow of repurchasing the catalog, and it would only cost Harmonix the cost of lost revenue to license holders.
Stone Ocean
Member
Because their campaign was garbage. Put it in a storefront like a normal fucking dev and people will buy it, the fact that consumers don't feel like funding the port - asking for 1.5m no less, we've funded entire games with half that amount - doesn't mean they aren't willing to actually buy the game.
This is a self fulfilling prophecy due to their own mistakes.
GhostTrick
Banned
NOLA_Gaffer
Banned
Skipping a platform due to lack of interested customers is BS...wat?
Vlaphor
Member
It also seems like the game bombed on consoles as well, so maybe the demand just isn't there anymore. Maybe they tried to start the "plastic-instrument-rhythm-game renaissance" too soon.
Gipsy Danger
Member
The audience was there - 8 years ago. To put this on a lack of demand completely takes away from the fact that the lack of demand is entirely HMX's fault. They fucked this, not the audience. Who the hell is going to buy a PC version of an incomplete game which they probably already have on another platform along with DLC they can't carry over?
I have like £400 worth of DLC all told on the Xbox version of this game. Am I just going to start again with the PC version? A version I've wanted since the day Rock Band 1 came out. Am I fuck.
There's your answer.
It's not that there isn't an audience for that sort of game. It's that what they were offering isn't something that is all that appealing. Rock Band 4 is not a good game to begin with. It's not the audience's fault that a crowdfunding campaign to do a late port of a subpar game wasn't very appealing.
Harmonix blaming their audience is horseshit when the problem is with the product.
DJSharpeCheddar
Banned
Maybe there'd be a more enthusiastic audience for a PC version if they hadn't completely botched RB4's release and launched a laughably subpar product that immediately alienated a ton of hardcore fans for good.
This is funny, considering Rock Band DLC is at the top or near top of the console charts repeatedly, and sold enough that DLC is profitable for Harmonix, even though the game requires hundred or more dollars worth of peripherals to play.
Meanwhile, Amplitude uses the standard controller, and couldn't make enough sales to make DLC viable.
Rock Band VR is 100% funded by Oculus and also isn't Rock Band 4.
LordRaptor
Member
FTFY.
There's no product to purchase, therefore you can't describe a lack of customers.
Se7enSword
Banned
This is the BS part. Thank you for explaining better than i could.
Gipsy Danger
Member
What does that even mean? What is a "console game" and how is it different from PC games? What other games would fall under this category exactly?
Stone Ocean
Member
Just because it bombed on consoles doesn't mean it'll bomb on PC. It's a different market with a different mindset - and most important of all, keyboards.
There is no lack of customers, there is only a lack of people who are willing to throw away money.
DJSharpeCheddar
Banned
CambriaRising
Member
Ah yes. It was the consumers fault that they didn't want to pre-fund the port of a game that's been out elsewhere for 6 months.
All it means is that certain games have a larger audience on consoles than on PC.
It's no real surprise. $50 is probably double what they should have charged. People (reasonably) expect a discount when they are not paying for a game, but for the promise of a game at some point in the future.
It didn't help that they have repeatedly snubbed PC gamers with Rock Band in the past, even stooping as low as to invoke the specter of piracy.
Plus there are all the other issues associated with Fig.
$1.5m sounds less like the cost of porting Rock Band 4 to PC, and more like the size of a black hole in HMX's finances.
They should have spoken to someone who understands the PC market before launching this.
It didn't help that they have repeatedly snubbed PC gamers with Rock Band in the past, even stooping as low as to invoke the specter of piracy.
Plus there are all the other issues associated with Fig.
$1.5m sounds less like the cost of porting Rock Band 4 to PC, and more like the size of a black hole in HMX's finances.
They should have spoken to someone who understands the PC market before launching this.
Hydranockz
Member
Forgive me if I feel comparisons between Rock Band, a game made popular from its appeal of being a group karaoke experience, to Rocksmith, the use of gamification to aid the solitary learning of guitar and music theory are shallow at best.
PC Rock Band was always going to be a fraction of a fan base for the series.
PC Rock Band was always going to be a fraction of a fan base for the series.
If we're talking guitar I'd rather play Rocksmith. But for drums and singing Rock Band is really nice however the last game was a disappointment. If you can't put out a game that has the same features or more than the last one, then don't put it out at all. They should have just ported Rock Band 3 to the new consoles and started up dlc again.
GhostTrick
Banned
That is BS when you pull such a terrible campaign. They could've ported the base game, without any songs and let the community do the work. And sell songs separately. Instead, they use an unknown crowdfunding platform, with an unappealing product and blame the failure on audience.
Having a smaller audience doesn't mean having no audience.
Shift Breaker
Member
The prolific DLC and export library was, oddly, the exact opposite of a selling point for this. The most common reason I saw why people didn't put money towards it was because their DLC didn't transfer over, and there's a hell of a lot of that. It's unrealistic to expect that though, but a lot of people wouldn't budge. Unstoppable force, immovable object, etc. Combine that with the large amount of money they needed to cover all aspects of the port which a lot of people didn't understand the reason for (although more clarification would have been nice), including relicensing (the Rock Band platform likely only covered consoles) and it was never going to work, unfortunately. If this was RB1 or 2 (or hell, even 3) then things might have been different because there was much less DLC for people to reinvent.
It just felt like it was too late for Rock
Band PC, even with the attempted revival of the network.
It just felt like it was too late for Rock
Band PC, even with the attempted revival of the network.
DJSharpeCheddar
Banned
Church.
Gipsy Danger
Member
Rock Band 4 failed on consoles too so I don't see how this game fits into that mould. We will never know how Rock Band would have done had it actually been sold in a real store.
The conclusion they should be coming to is: don't tell the PC audience they're not getting the game because they're pirates, then after said game tanks on consoles, try to bring it to PC a year later, while also asking for a $1.5 million handout.
Chezzymann
Member
I really don't like crowd funding sites that let you keep the money if you didn't reach the goal. If you don't reach the goal, you're probably not gonna be able to deliver the project you promised. So why should they keep the money? That's just shitty
Baron von Loathsome
Member
Campaign was ridiculously mishandled, game is arguably incomplete, price for entry was high.
Yeah, it's our fault, Harmonix.
Fig didn't keep the money from this campaign.
Yeah, it's our fault, Harmonix.
Fig didn't keep the money from this campaign.
Also, people play both. They're not even the same game. The only people that think somoene has to choose between Rocksmith and Rock Band are usually people that own neither.
Gipsy Danger
Member
Too late.
Mushroomer25
Member
It was a bad value proposition, but one that Harmonix really couldn't have shifted. The contracts they signed with license holders ages ago commit them to single-platform entitlements for each purchase.
RB4 for PC was pretty much as good of an offer as Harmonix could make. If the fans/investors couldn't make it happen, that's just the reality of the market right now.
BRocknRolla
Member
Is it a BS conclusion? Maybe.
Is it the only possible conclusion to be draw? Certainly not.
It is however the conclusion that paints their approach to all this in the most favorable light, so I'm not surprised that's how they've presented it.
Is it the only possible conclusion to be draw? Certainly not.
It is however the conclusion that paints their approach to all this in the most favorable light, so I'm not surprised that's how they've presented it.
Yeah, that's why Indiegogo is such a haven for scams and Alibaba resales.
It doesn't really have anything to do with this though. No money was collected.
Just telling you what it means. "Call of Duty is more of a console game", "RTS games are more of a PC thing", etc.
Yeah, my cousin used to be a Guitar Hero/Rock Band freak. Then he picked up a real guitar and now he's got countless hours on Rocksmith.
I think people just moved on to the real deal once software was good enough. How can you beat the value of actually learning how to play the instrument AND have a system like the old Harmonix games did?
shiftplusone
Member
I wasn't going to back it as soon as they decided to hold rock band network hostage.
They said in the first AMA that RBN could make its way to consoles because the licensing got worked differently, and then now they turned it into their own name for steam workshop support and said not for consoles.
That's not even including how much of a mess the campaign actually was, too.
rocksmith is a 50 dollar product that is "bring your own instrument"
This is literally that except plastic instruments instead of real guitar
What are you even saying?
Only one of these games let's me use my electronic drum kit to play along can you guess which one
They said in the first AMA that RBN could make its way to consoles because the licensing got worked differently, and then now they turned it into their own name for steam workshop support and said not for consoles.
That's not even including how much of a mess the campaign actually was, too.
rocksmith is a 50 dollar product that is "bring your own instrument"
This is literally that except plastic instruments instead of real guitar
What are you even saying?
Only one of these games let's me use my electronic drum kit to play along can you guess which one
Chezzymann
Member
Oh, I just got that impression when they said "we raised $800,000"
The campaign was poorly run (and tbh, they were also prety arrogant in how they handled it) but quite frankly, Rock Band 4 is a poorly made game with poor performance and plenty of issues, it's no Rock Band 3 by any stretch.
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