Castle Doctrine Contest Lets You Steal Real Money From Players

Cognimancer

Imperial Intelligence
Jun 13, 2012
1,906
0
0
Castle Doctrine Contest Lets You Steal Real Money From Players


What better way to celebrate the release of a competitive home invasion game like The Castle Doctrine than a crime spree with real cash on the line?

Jason Rohrer's The Castle Doctrine is a somewhat controversial game, with a new marketing strategy that's equal parts twisted and brilliant. The game is an asymmetric MMO that gives you a house and a family, and tasks you with keeping them (and your possessions) safe from harm. You have a limited pool of money with which to buy defenses for your home, and when the cash runs dry you can attempt to break into somebody else's home and steal theirs. With the buy-in alpha coming to a close, Rohrer has started a contest to sweeten the deal: for the next five days, the in-game cash you steal will be worth a real-world payoff. Assuming you can hold onto it.

The money comes from The Castle Doctrine's alpha earnings. Rohrer has set aside $3000 to be proportionally divided among the players based on their house's net worth on January 27. The exact exchange rate will fluctuate as money enters the system, but at the moment $160 of in-game currency is worth $1 in real life. Since players start the game with $2000, you would actually make a profit of four dollars (assuming the rate stays constant, which it won't) if you buy the game now and simply avoid losing money. Easier said than done, of course.

Every player with some money will get a slice of that $3000 incentive, but the top thieves will win a variety of bonus prizes. The eight most valued players will receive a real-world version of an in-game painting of their choice, with other defense-themed prizes including gift cards to a gun store and Jason Rohrer's own extendable police baton.

If you think you've got what it takes to protect your household from all challengers, you can buy The Castle Doctrine at its alpha discount for $8 [http://thecastledoctrine.net/buy.php]. The game will hit Steam on January 29, for its full price of $16.

Source: The Castle Doctrine [http://thecastledoctrine.net/stealRealMoneyContest.php]

Permalink
 

Vryyk

New member
Sep 27, 2010
393
0
0
What a cool idea. Anyways, I'm giving this abooooout... two days before the first fatal real life stabbing over this.
 

Blarg Blargson

New member
Dec 7, 2008
42
0
0
I've been avoiding the Castle Doctrine up to this point because it seemed to be crossing the line from "aggressive PVP" into "scarily aggressive PVP."

Putting real-world stakes into it can only make the paranoia and myopic spite that the game encourages worse.
 

JaceArveduin

New member
Mar 14, 2011
1,952
0
0
This actually looks interesting... Kinda reminds me of a Minecraft server I was on where everything goes. Would have been a blast if I'd had a computer to pay it on...
 

Eddie451

Minor Jr. Pvt. -1st Class
Apr 4, 2010
36
0
0
When I read the headline I was hoping it would be a system that replaced the in game currency with real currency and let you actually steal money, not just a prize pay out. Would be far more interesting if you just put your money on the line to be eligible for stealing real money that you could cash out when you wanted.
 

Vryyk

New member
Sep 27, 2010
393
0
0
Eddie451 said:
When I read the headline I was hoping it would be a system that replaced the in game currency with real currency and let you actually steal money, not just a prize pay out. Would be far more interesting if you just put your money on the line to be eligible for stealing real money that you could cash out when you wanted.
Yeah, maybe some system like a buy-in for a poker tournament would work. It would feel more like you had something to lose that way.
 

NoeL

New member
May 14, 2011
841
0
0
Huh. Looks like this game is almost exactly the game I was considering making after seeing The Mighty Quest For Epic Loot. Guess I don't have to make it now!
 

Quellist

Migratory coconut
Oct 7, 2010
1,443
0
0
Blarg Blargson said:
I've been avoiding the Castle Doctrine up to this point because it seemed to be crossing the line from "aggressive PVP" into "scarily aggressive PVP."

Putting real-world stakes into it can only make the paranoia and myopic spite that the game encourages worse.
Glad someone else sees it that way, the more i read about this game the more uncomfortable it makes me.
 

Smooth Operator

New member
Oct 5, 2010
8,162
0
0
Well it's certainly a novel marketing strategy, but I absolutely do not support it because this sort of thing invites nothing but the most heinous exploitation tactics to the game which will then stick, not to mention anyone trying to enjoy legit themselves is in for a wild ride on this event.