What Kind of Dev Are You?
- Thread starter The Wooster
- Start date
I guess 'The Long Con' was a meta-joke on us.Souplex said:
Taking the title, follow-up text, and (mis)comic, I like to think that the Moira Kickstarted the Survival Guide, and had to rush out a final copy riddled with errors because she was tired of people calling her 'Star Citizen'.
On the topic of that blurb, though, there's a difference between a publisher doing yearly releases, and a Kickstarted project meeting deadlines. Both of them chose the time frame that they considered reasonable to complete the project. For EA, they clearly have picked a schedule that's too ambitious, and scaling back the volume of Assassin's Creed games would allow them to actually address bugs before the game gets to market (and even toy around with making entirely new aspects of the gameplay, instead of small variations on a theme).
For Kickstarted projects, they know that the consumer expects it within a certain window of handing the money over, and they almost always have a projected date when it will be ready. If you ask for X money, promise to use it to make Y product and have it to us by Z time, people get suspicious when you start changing those variables, because they get worried that the money they've already invested is never going to come back to them. I agree with the general stance that the best way to avoid that is only giving to Kickstarters for finished products.
Souplex said:
Glad it isn't just me. I believe this is an artistic representation of the current meeting between ffronw and WoosterHartland said:
Don't you guys get it? The "What kind of Dev are you?" question mixed with using the same comic is obviously a stance on the blandification of our industry! AAA games just spitting out the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again while doing no real innovation! Open your eyes Sheeple!!!
#PoliticalCommentary
#Gamergate
#YouMadBro?
#MindBlown
#CardGamesonMotorcycles
#NoUnderpants
#BlameKross
#Getonmylevel
#JugglingCatswithChainsaws
EDIT: Now that the actual comic is up, that absolutely makes sense. Everyone's 100% on board with gambling away money when it's not their money that is being gambled...
#PoliticalCommentary
#Gamergate
#YouMadBro?
#MindBlown
#CardGamesonMotorcycles
#NoUnderpants
#BlameKross
#Getonmylevel
#JugglingCatswithChainsaws
EDIT: Now that the actual comic is up, that absolutely makes sense. Everyone's 100% on board with gambling away money when it's not their money that is being gambled...
You forgot #FucKonami.tippy2k2 said:
OT: Damn you! I NEED MY SILLY GAMING INDUSTRY COMMENTARY!
Edit: Yay! The actual comic is up now! Funny that this would be the topic as I just listened to Total Biscuit's podcast yesterday and they spend a good amount of time talking about how Tim Schafer is a fucking prick for exactly this reason: at best he's a monumental failure at money management. At worst he's an incompetent liar.
So basically Tim Schafer wasting Bobby Kotick's money vs. Tim Schafer wasting the backer's money? And as a consumer, I don't care about Kotick's money, but I do care about my own[footnote]Disclaimer: I have not invested any money in Shafer's projects. I like my money too much to shovel it into a furnace that instead of delivering warmth only delivers disappointment.[/footnote]
Thing is. I wasn't really that upset about Double Fine Adventure going over budget or past deadlines. I was upset that it wasn't a classic adventure game in the same vein as Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle. Instead we got the more watered down adventure game where puzzles are rather basic and just require you to use a limited out of items on everything you see, and the storyline is completely linear. And it all ended up in a lackluster ending with no real payoff for the effort and a final puzzle solution that was convoluted and unsatisfying.
That's why I don't see crowdfunding as an investment; but as charity. That money is as good as gone; and receiving a game for it at the end is a bonus, not a given. Of course, I won't give money if I don't trust they will actually use it for the project that they are presenting, or if the project isn't even feasible. The only crowdfunding I have participated is the OUYA's... oh, and Grey and Cory's Patreon.The Wooster said:
Aww, what's the matter Grey? Still upset that Schafer proved Kotick right?
Besides the answer to both panels is "A self righteous prick who thinks that money should be given to him for "reasons", otherwise known as "a pitch to run away from really fast".
Besides the answer to both panels is "A self righteous prick who thinks that money should be given to him for "reasons", otherwise known as "a pitch to run away from really fast".
This... You are comparing the consumer in two different roles for the scenarios. In one we are simply the consumer. We care about the finished product and most of the time will defend the Developer from the Publisher to get a good game rather than a game on time, money be damn.TheBigOne0305 said:So basically Tim Schafer wasting Bobby Kotick's money vs. Tim Schafer wasting the backer's money? And as a consumer, I don't care about Kotick's money, but I do care about my own[footnote]Disclaimer: I have not invested any money in Shafer's projects. I like my money too much to shovel it into a furnace that instead of delivering warmth only delivers disappointment.[/footnote]
The other we are the financial investors, we put X amount of dollars towards a project with the anticipation of Y in Z timeframe. When Y or Z start changing then that impacts X.
In reality, it should have bee more like:
[table border="3" cellpadding="1"]
[tr][td]Thought Matrix[/td][td]Backed by a Publisher[/td] [td]Backed by Kickstarter[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]What Publishers Think:[/td][td]You're a Horrible DEV![/td] [td]Who are you again?[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]What Consumers Think:[/td][td]Screw Corp's Bottom line[/td] [td]You're a Horrible DEV![/td][/tr]
[/table]
Anybody trying to sell that "Tim Schafer takes the time to get it right" slop ought to have a look at Space Base DF-9's Steam reviews.
I've been saying this for a while. I don't think Tim really did anything that wrong. He eventually delivered the game he promised, after all.
Nothing changed. Kickstarter simply removed the curtain hiding the creative process, revealing all the ugly grease and stains that go into making a game. Guess what, guys? The creative process is messy, and there's no guaranteed way to know how long it will take you to complete a project. That's why I was fine with Red Ash, and that's why I'm fine with psychonauts 2.
Nothing changed. Kickstarter simply removed the curtain hiding the creative process, revealing all the ugly grease and stains that go into making a game. Guess what, guys? The creative process is messy, and there's no guaranteed way to know how long it will take you to complete a project. That's why I was fine with Red Ash, and that's why I'm fine with psychonauts 2.