City of Titans Funds With 26 Days Still To Go

[Karloff]

City of Titans Funds With 26 Days Still To Go

Chris Hare's a bit Kermit right about now.

"I'm pretty sure Kermit The Frog would just panic up and down the backstage for a while, then straighten up and head out front, in a perfectly calm, if somewhat choked voice, and thank everyone," says Chris Hare of Missing Worlds Media, the folks behind the City of Titans [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/128379-City-of-Heroes-Successor-Seeks-Kickstarter-Funds] Kickstarter. It just goes to show you can't keep a good hero down, as the spandex-clad spiritual successor to City of Heroes has reached its $320,000 funding goal, with 26 days still to go on the funding clock.

Now Missing Worlds has to deliver, and Hare knows it. He promises new videos, and glimpses of new content, in the coming days. At the moment, Titan City has yet to really take shape; it's just words and a few art assets, but the game's being built in the spirit of City of Heroes, and that has been enough to lure fans. This will be a digitally distributed game at launch and there is an optional VIP Subscription after you've bought the game, as well as an in-game shop. "This game has to pay for itself," says Missing Worlds, possibly with one eye on the fate of NCSoft's original superhero title, which went under, despite strong support, thanks in part to a lack of cash [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119921-NCSoft-City-of-Heroes-Cant-Be-Saved].

"Someday, we hope to be worthy of the trust you've placed in us," says Hare. "I've placed my name and reputation on it." This one runs until November 4th so, if you're interested, get thee to Kickstarter.

Source: Kickstarter [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/missingworldsmedia/the-phoenix-project-city-of-titans/posts/621727]


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[Darmani]

How did this happen and River City Ransom Underground barely clear in its last 72 hours and Shantae ... okay it got double its needed amount. but I thought all the fan money was dried up from Mighty No. 9

and WOOOORD on those goals looking damned low.

 

[kajinking]

$320,000 for an mmo? that seems awefully low to develop one when they normally run in to the millions

It's usually to prove there's interest in the concept so they can get some actual backing elsewhere, I'm pretty sure most kickstarters usually aren't made totally with just the money given. Most of the money likely goes towards getting the base built (playable demo at most) so they can try and get some real investors.

 

[quinch]

Keep in mind that until it hits live, the development is a volunteer effort - which means that wages, the by far biggest financial drain in game development is removed from the equation. It's also not being developed as an AAA title, and without an outside publisher means that there's also less top-heavy management and middlemen to support. Far as I can tell, a lot of the content, artistic and otherwise, will also be crowdsourced, and that's been working out pretty swimmingly for online games so far.

So on the whole, for a core, independently developed game that primarily needs to be supportable, rather than raking in millions on launch day just to balance out the corporate investment, $320,000 is pretty much in the right ballpark.

 

[MCerberus]

Alright, a little background in the decision to shut down CoH for clarification.

As a business, you're always hit with opportunity costs, size constraints, and future possibility. CoH was profitable, but it was still shut down because it wasn't profitable enough. The parent company made the judgement call that resources would be better put elsewhere. They couldn't just start something new on top of it without messing up their whole structure (diminishing returns, or The Man-Month Myth). NCSoft looked at it and didn't see much potential for growth. So in the end they decided it was better to shut down, sell off, and invest elsewhere.

This is assuming NCSoft didn't do something in order to do something (that's where the kill-off of the Sonic SatAM cartoon came from) in an irrational fashion, which happens sometimes.

OT- I hope this doesn't fall into the 38 Studios trap and they find additional outside investment to supplement initial funding.

 

[Eiv]

Alright, a little background in the decision to shut down CoH for clarification.

As a business, you're always hit with opportunity costs, size constraints, and future possibility. CoH was profitable, but it was still shut down because it wasn't profitable enough. The parent company made the judgement call that resources would be better put elsewhere. They couldn't just start something new on top of it without messing up their whole structure (diminishing returns, or The Man-Month Myth). NCSoft looked at it and didn't see much potential for growth. So in the end they decided it was better to shut down, sell off, and invest elsewhere.

This is assuming NCSoft didn't do something in order to do something (that's where the kill-off of the Sonic SatAM cartoon came from) in an irrational fashion, which happens sometimes.

OT- I hope this doesn't fall into the 38 Studios trap and they find additional outside investment to supplement initial funding.

You failed to mention the refusal of several buyout offers and some that weren't even heard.

 

[Sixcess]

How did this happen and River City Ransom Underground barely clear in its last 72 hours and Shantae ... okay it got double its needed amount. but I thought all the fan money was dried up from Mighty No. 9.

The City of Heroes community was/is VERY dedicated to their game, and I imagine that most of the backers of this KS are from that community, rather than the pool of general gamers who may be experiencing Kickstarter Fatigue.

And that dedication has only been fuelled by how sudden, and how unexpected, the shutdown was... and as Leviano mentioned, by NCSoft's handling of it, and their response, or lack thereof, to attempts to rescue the game.

 

[weirdee]

How did this happen and River City Ransom Underground barely clear in its last 72 hours and Shantae ... okay it got double its needed amount. but I thought all the fan money was dried up from Mighty No. 9

and WOOOORD on those goals looking damned low.

city of heroes has a fanbase bordering on obsession, like firefly but with a longer run and an even more inexplicable ending

don't know if they're gonna be able to fill those shoes, this ain't even like a reboot of a 2d game, who knows what will happen?...

 

[RoonMian]

$320,000 for an mmo? that seems awefully low to develop one when they normally run in to the millions

It's usually to prove there's interest in the concept so they can get some actual backing elsewhere, I'm pretty sure most kickstarters usually aren't made totally with just the money given. Most of the money likely goes towards getting the base built (playable demo at most) so they can try and get some real investors.

Star Citizen started out like this... But crowdfunders kept piling on more and more money that now even the investors aren't needed, they broke through the magic 21 million barrier today that made them completely independent from any investors for all they orginally planned to include into the game at some point. No they have to make up new shit.

OT: I hope this game is going to be as awesome as CoH/V, which I liked both.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I am a huge City of Heroes fan but I still can't bring myself to back this. I think the likely hood of them capturing the lightning in a bottle that City of Heroes had for me is unlikely. As someone who hates MMOs, I loved CoH. The leveling, the character customization, the gameplay, everything kinda meshed together for a perfect storm for me. I am worried that by "spiritual successor" they simply mean a superhero MMO with a character creator. Which doesn't do it for me, since the superhero aesthetic wasn't that critical for me.
I suppose we shall see.

 

[RicoADF]

$320,000 for an mmo? that seems awefully low to develop one when they normally run in to the millions

As its a volunteer job theres no wages to pay, costs are kept down etc. Tbh its an example of how bloated the AAA industry really is, esp if they pull this off well.

 

[Darmani]

Guys, sorry but uhm Status update on this wonder fan project?