Torment: Tides of Numenera Burns Up Kickstarter - UPDATED

[BrotherRool]

That pitch was incredible. I can't imagine that any gamer could listen to a pitch that eloquent, that compelling, and not become immediately excited about this game.

He could be selling chocolate teapots, and if he'd put across the pitch as good as that, I'd now own one.

Really you dont think anybody could be put off by the massive douchebaggery that was just dripping off him the entire video? I will admit though that he knows exactly how to appeal to a certain group of people who I will not mention.

One of the interesting differences between Obsidian and inXile is how they talk about publishers. Fargo relishes in his stories of silly publishers, whereas Obsidian are big enough that they want/need a good working relationship with them and always position the stories a lot less negatively

 

[Little Gray]

One of the interesting differences between Obsidian and inXile is how they talk about publishers. Fargo relishes in his stories of silly publishers, whereas Obsidian are big enough that they want/need a good working relationship with them and always position the stories a lot less negatively

Or the dude knows that plying on nostalgia and insulting big publishers is an amazing way to connect to the indie/hipster/hater/nostalgic crowd and get a good amount of funding for a small game. Either way it doesnt change the fact that the guy came off as a massive douchebag to me and really put me off anything he will ever touch.

 

[BrotherRool]

One of the interesting differences between Obsidian and inXile is how they talk about publishers. Fargo relishes in his stories of silly publishers, whereas Obsidian are big enough that they want/need a good working relationship with them and always position the stories a lot less negatively

Or the dude knows that plying on nostalgia and insulting big publishers is an amazing way to connect to the indie/hipster/hater/nostalgic crowd and get a good amount of funding for a small game. Either way it doesnt change the fact that the guy came off as a massive douchebag to me and really put me off anything he will ever touch.

(EDITED)I mainly meant that it was interesting that Obsidian don't do that/don't seem to be part of that culture because they're something of a poster child amongst that sort of people for the problems of executive meddling

I think it's a mixture, inXile are a small independent company whose existence used to rely on satisfying publisher whims in a time where there core interests were considered very niche and from what Obsidian say (and Obsidian are more trustworthy in their negative stuff because they actively try to portray publishers fairly positively) stories about massively drawn out talks that fail and lead to you having to fire colleagues are true. And it seems true that publishers say dumb stuff all the time. Some publishers wanted Obsidian to kickstarter a game which the publisher would then take the IP for and contribute no money to and it seems that SEGA genuinely did ask for Aliens: Colonial Marines to be 'more like Call of Duty'.

So the idea that he's talked to publishers who don't know what a Planescape: Torment is and the idea that he's got some negative feelings towards publishers and relishes not having to work with them doesn't sound like it would be too false to me.


But I also get the same vibe that he's playing it up because he knows it will fit right with a certain sort of audience and I can understand that that would be off-putting. But there's probably some genuine emotion their and at the very least he's probably part of the hipster crowd rather than being completely cynical about it

 

[mattaui]

I backed their WL2 game, since Wasteland was one of my all time favorites, but I'll be passing on backing this one. After all, they're already well funded and they've got plenty of time to go, so I don't have a doubt that they'll make something great. I'll just pick it up at retail.

Glad to see there's still plenty of an appetite for KS funded games, since we need studios and games like this to provide an alternative to the ladled-out pablum provided by so many of the major publishers these days.

 

[Little Gray]

(EDITED)I mainly meant that it was interesting that Obsidian don't do that/don't seem to be part of that culture because they're something of a poster child amongst that sort of people for the problems of executive meddling

Ah that makes sense now.

I think it's a mixture, inXile are a small independent company whose existence used to rely on satisfying publisher whims in a time where there core interests were considered very niche and from what Obsidian say (and Obsidian are more trustworthy in their negative stuff because they actively try to portray publishers fairly positively) stories about massively drawn out talks that fail and lead to you having to fire colleagues are true. And it seems true that publishers say dumb stuff all the time. Some publishers wanted Obsidian to kickstarter a game which the publisher would then take the IP for and contribute no money to and it seems that SEGA genuinely did ask for Aliens: Colonial Marines to be 'more like Call of Duty'.

So the idea that he's talked to publishers who don't know what a Planescape: Torment is and the idea that he's got some negative feelings towards publishers and relishes not having to work with them doesn't sound like it would be too false to me.


But I also get the same vibe that he's playing it up because he knows it will fit right with a certain sort of audience and I can understand that that would be off-putting. But there's probably some genuine emotion their and at the very least he's probably part of the hipster crowd rather than being completely cynical about it

I mostly agree with you here. Large developers like Obsidian dont really want to piss off publishers by insulting them but they are also treated better by publishers then indie devs. A publisher is more likely to let you do your own thing if your company name alone can sell a product. Something that Obsidian can do. One thing though that you should never do is underestimate the cost/power of distribution and marketing.

On the publisher note I dont think many out there would want to be associated to a game like this that is relying so heavily on the goodwill created by an IP they dont own to sell itself. The extremely risky and borderline legality of it makes it very off putting for any large company.

 

[Buzz Killington_v1legacy]

Oh, hey--I finally get to use this one:



I'm actually a little annoyed that I didn't find out they'd opened up the Kickstarter page until just now--otherwise I would have been one of the first people lining up to throw money at them.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

And pledged.

I am now the proud owner of a digital copy of a game to be released in 2014 or 2015. Yay!

I just wished I'd realized they were doing the KS so soon - I would have gotten onboard during the first rush and gotten one of those rare 20 dollar deals.

 

[shiajun]

So, none of these people want to hope over and donate some of that obviously abundant cash flow to Dreamfall Chapters? I mean, that one is also fully funded and more by now, but the last stretch goal is really enticing. No? pretty please?

Captcha: make it so

See! Captcha agrees.

 

[Terrible Opinions]

And pledged.

I am now the proud owner of a digital copy of a game to be released in 2014 or 2015. Yay!

I just wished I'd realized they were doing the KS so soon - I would have gotten onboard during the first rush and gotten one of those rare 20 dollar deals.

Check in from time to time. People change their pledges all the time, so those limited slots will be opening up fairly frequently from now until the end.

 

[weirdee]

Alternatively, you can ask a friend who has already pledged to put in your 20 bucks as an add on reward to their donation for an additional copy of the game...

And pledged.

I am now the proud owner of a digital copy of a game to be released in 2014 or 2015. Yay!

I just wished I'd realized they were doing the KS so soon - I would have gotten onboard during the first rush and gotten one of those rare 20 dollar deals.

Check in from time to time. People change their pledges all the time, so those limited slots will be opening up fairly frequently from now until the end.

Alternatively, you can ask a friend who has already pledged to put in your 20 bucks as an add on reward to their donation for an additional copy of the game...

tacking on the beta testing there sounds tempting but at that point you might as well be hitting up that 75 dollar thing anyway

also this game might be one of the rare cases where you would actually want to wait for the completed product before diving in

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

Pledging the moment I have money
Hopefully the 45$ deal will still be up.
I never got the chance to back Wasteland 2

Oh and it's already on 1,5million dollars
jeez, this is going fast

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

All you berks need to stop rattling yer bone boxes and back this already!

 

[Terrible Opinions]

Pledging the moment I have money
Hopefully the 45$ deal will still be up.
I never got the chance to back Wasteland 2

Oh and it's already on 1,5million dollars
jeez, this is going fast

1: You aren't actually charged until the campaign ends successfully.
2: The $45 tier is unlimited.

 

[aelreth]

Pledging the moment I have money
Hopefully the 45$ deal will still be up.
I never got the chance to back Wasteland 2

Oh and it's already on 1,5million dollars
jeez, this is going fast

1: You aren't actually charged until the campaign ends successfully.
2: The $45 tier is unlimited.

That would be April 5th.

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

Pledging the moment I have money
Hopefully the 45$ deal will still be up.
I never got the chance to back Wasteland 2

Oh and it's already on 1,5million dollars
jeez, this is going fast

1: You aren't actually charged until the campaign ends successfully.
2: The $45 tier is unlimited.

Ah, well that's nice to know, completely forgotten about how it didn't charge you till it ended.
Thanks for that

Off to pledge then

 

[Genocidicles]

They've added a couple of stretch goals, one of which has already been met.

The other one is $400,000 off, and it includes a new party member, and more music by Mark Morgan done with the help of a live orchestra.

 

[Miral]

Fully funded in six hours and two minutes. At nine hours, over $1.6 million. Somehow I get the impression that people want this game. Just a theory.

 

[Milanezi]

First time I pledged a game in Kickstarter, did the 20 bucks pledge so i could get a copy of the game as soon as it releases. A while later I got an e-mail telling me that the project had been funded, basically, almost a million box in SIX HOURS!!! Amazing.

I never got to play Planescape but have wanted to for a long while, it looks like the old Fallout when it comes to gameplay. Since I feel like I'm never gonna play it (being a Mac owner nowadays, don't know of any OFFICIAL Mac version...), I decided to try this one, the idea sounds great at least...

 

[KillahMate]

To Milanezi if he ever gets the chance, and anyone else interested in playing the original Torment, don't forget: GOG.com sells a DRM-free digital copy for ten bucks! Best place to buy it from:

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/planescape_torment

For those who get it, or those like SonOfMethuselah who already got it: due to its dialogue-heavy design and high-end 2D engine, Torment has aged incredibly well. However, it *is* a 14-year-old game, and as such IT IS VITAL TO USE THE FAN PATCH. Here is the obligatory Planescape: Torment patching/modding guide that I obsessively link to in every discussion concerning PST:

http://thunderpeel2001.blogspot.com/2009/01/planescape-torment-fully-modded.html

GOG have a modified version of the same guide that might be of use if you bought it there, but the original guide above accommodates the GOG version and is more up-to-date/better.

This will help you easily and cleanly drag Torment into the Win7 era, including high resolutions, widescreen, UI improvements, ZERO bugs (the release version had PLENTY), dialogue corrections, optional restored quest content (not fanfics, but original quests lost due to bugs and budget cuts), optional playability tweaks... This is highly recommended, Planescape was a lot more buggy than people remember. Plus the artwork looks amazing in 720p/1080p. There is NO REASON you should EVER play the game without this!

NOTE: The patches invalidate old gamesaves! Patch before you play!

PS Arbi Trax, how could you mention Morgan is back for the music, but not include the Torment main theme, one of the best RPG themes ever? Behold!