Double Fine Adventure vs. Wasteland 2

[HeavyStorm]

Probably everyone realized it, but anyway: Wasteland might be a very ... particular RPG title with it's view perspective, etc., but it's an RPG, and we've got how many of those every year? Fallout, Skyrim, Witcher... Demon Souls for the more hardcore... Diablo for the button smashing aficionado... A number of D&D titles, etc. While, besides Telltale games, no one is making Adventures.

And then again Double Fine raised US$ 3 Mi without a sweat and Wasteland 2 "only" US$ 2,5 Mi.

I know that, on one hand, not having such titles make it more rare so more people would want to buy/invest on it, but man, how many fans are out there? Adventures are pretty much alive if you ask me. (you didn't. I know)

[agentorange]

Double Fine making more certainly has something to do with them being the first to try it. Also I think adventure games are considered more "hip", and appeal to the hipsters on reddit and other places; whereas Wasteland 2, like you said, would appeal to a very particular subset of RPG players, if it weren't riding on the tails on the the Double Fine project and had all the media attention, I doubt it would have made near as much as it did.

[Mistabashi]

I have no idea what point you're trying to make here. If you think that Wasteland is anything like the Bethesda Fallout games, or Skyrim, or Witcher then... you obviously haven't been paying attention. You should probably read the RPS articles on the subject.

[TillEulenspiegel]

Check out all the other adventure games on Kickstarter, though. Al Lowe and Jane Jensen (big names from Sierra past) are having trouble even getting funded, let alone making it into the multi-millions. Wasteland 2 is doing extremely well, and Shadowrun is still cruising along and will hit $1m very shortly.

The sample size is small, but turn-based CRPGs are a hit on Kickstarter, which is unsurprising given the severe lack of recent titles in the genre.

[icupnimpn2]

There was a time where Leisure Suit Larry was naughty and tawdry and basically stood alone so far as having that sort of entertainment on the computer. Now it's just sort of quaint. I don't want to play it again, do you?

[vinraith]

There's nothing like a Wasteland 2 being made out there right now, whereas point and click adventures seem to be undergoing something of a resurgence. Wasteland, however, is a much more niche project than something with Tim Schafer's name attached, I'm surprised (and mildly concerned) that it did as well as it did.

[JackShandy]

Why mildly concerned, Vinraith?

[vinraith]

Why mildly concerned, Vinraith?

The nature of the Kickstarter model is that the developer ends up somewhat beholden to the investing players, so it's concerning if there are a lot of investing players with a different notion of what the game should be than the developer. A support base much larger than the niche being served would imply a lot of people were buying in that wanted something markedly less niche than the proposed project.

That said, TillEulenSpiegel rightly points out that the sum there isn't as much a product of a worryingly broad support base, it's a product of a smaller group of very enthusiastic supporters, so I'm probably worried about nothing.

[TillEulenspiegel]

Wasteland, however, is a much more niche project than something with Tim Schafer's name attached, I'm surprised (and mildly concerned) that it did as well as it did.

While the dollar figure is high, the number of backers is only 52,000. It'll sell more once it's out of course, but that's about the right size for the hardcore audience of a niche game from a mid-sized indie.

Some people probably will be disappointed it's not Fallout, but the game is going to be made, and I'm confident it won't be Bioware-ified.

[Kevin]

At least a turn-based cRPG will have a heluva lot more going for it in the replayability department than ye olden point-and-click adventure game.

[Wizardry]

Probably everyone realized it, but anyway: Wasteland might be a very ... particular RPG title with it's view perspective, etc., but it's an RPG, and we've got how many of those every year? Fallout, Skyrim, Witcher... Demon Souls for the more hardcore... Diablo for the button smashing aficionado... A number of D&D titles, etc. While, besides Telltale games, no one is making Adventures.

Seriously? The last proper RPG from a "major" developer was probably Temple of Elemental Evil in 2003. That's nine years ago and will be ten years when Wasteland 2 gets released. I don't think you are aware of what Wasteland was actually like. If you think it's comparable to Dark Souls, Skyrim, The Witcher or Diablo then you'll be in for a huge shock if you decide to play it.

[BDH]

Seriously? The last proper RPG from a "major" developer was probably Temple of Elemental Evil in 2003. That's nine years ago and will be ten years when Wasteland 2 gets released. I don't think you are aware of what Wasteland was actually like. If you think it's comparable to Dark Souls, Skyrim, The Witcher or Diablo then you'll be in for a huge shock if you decide to play it.

Wizardry I'm going to have to ask you to stop being so melodramatic.

Neverwinter Nights 2 and Drakensang : River Of Time were definitely decent, recent RPGs (Unless you don't qualify the two grandaddies of paper RPG systems RPGs.)

Like them or not I don't think you can write them off that easily as not being "proper" RPGs.

[Wizardry]

Wizardry I'm going to have to ask you to stop being so melodramatic.

Neverwinter Nights 2 and Drakensang : River Of Time were definitely decent, recent RPGs (Unless you don't qualify the two grandaddies of paper RPG systems RPGs.)

Like them or not I don't think you can write them off that easily as not being "proper" RPGs.

Real-time.

[deano2099]

Real-time.

I would buy that RPG:

real-time-bill-maher.jpg

[Fumarole]

I would buy that RPG:

real-time-bill-maher.jpg

New Rule: This must now be Wizardry's avatar.

[soldant]

The Kickstarter for Double Fine Adventure got to where it did by Schafer's name alone, because everyone is expecting Psychonauts or Grim Fandango in a point and click game. Plenty of people didn't know anything about Wasteland until the Kickstarter for the 2nd one came up, so it's a remarkable achievement.

It's no surprise that point and click adventure games are making a comeback. In terms of game logic they're not as complex as a full 3D environment and there's plenty of authorware packages out there for making them, so they're pretty attractive to "art game" (even though I hate that term) developers. Also I'm sure we can blame it on hipsters too, why the hell not?

[thesisko]

And then again Double Fine raised US$ 3 Mi without a sweat and Wasteland 2 "only" US$ 2,5 Mi.

Your statement is hyperbolic, Double Fine did not raise 3M "without a sweat". It was actually "only" at $2.65M with 3 days left while Wasteland 2 is at $2.52M with slightly more than 3 days left. Not exactly a significant difference.

[thesisko]

Double Fine did not raise 3M "without a sweat". It was actually "only" at $2.65M with 3 days left while Wasteland 2 is at $2.52M with slightly more than 3 days left. Not exactly a significant difference.

The final 48 hours seem to be following Double Fine's pattern, with yesterday bringing in twice the average of the preceding days. It's now at $2.74M whereas Double Fine Adventure was at $2.9M with 24 hours left.

Unless the final day develops in a completely atypical manner, $3M should be easily reached.

[Lambchops]

I'm confused about the comments about adventure game fans being "hipsters" unless that phrase is just getting bandied around as a generic name for fans of a genre that the person using it isn't particularly fond of! I thought the whole hipster thing was supposed to be deliberately championing a retro aesthetic and cultivating an air of deliberate uncaring (generally coming accross as snobbish). Whereas I'm pretty sure most of the people backing Doublefine's Kickstarter are enthusiastic adventure game fans who played classic adventure games when younger or are younger backers who liked Schafer's later stuff. Doesn't strike me to be somehting that will be dominated by hipster types; it's a niche as much as the backers of Wasteland are a niche, it just so happens that adventure games is a niche that has been served more in recent years than that of turn based RPGs.

[TillEulenspiegel]

I'm confused about the comments about adventure game fans being "hipsters" unless that phrase is just getting bandied around as a generic name for fans of a genre that the person using it isn't particularly fond of!

Yes, that's the sense of the term as it's now used by annoying nerds throughout the internet: anyone whose interests I don't approve of. It's about as meaningless as "entitled".

There are a few "hip" things among indies, though. Pseudo 8-bit graphics? Still in. Puzzle platformers? Possibly fading.