by Simon Dean, Project Lead
It comes as no surprise that with a growing community comes an increasing call for information on when everyone can get their hands on the Folk Tale demo. Today I'd like to shine some light on our current thinking.
For those of you who don't follow gaming news, there have been a number of high profile cases recently of games including The War Z and Towns where a significant number of vocal customers accused the games of not being ready for release or to have mislead them in some way. In the case of The War Z, Valve pulled it from sale on Steam and for the developers a PR disaster ensued. Towns has fared better and remains on sale, presumably because of their regular updates, supportive community, and smaller volume of complaints.
The outcry of the wider gaming community has echoed reservations we already had; that it would be a mistake to release the Folk Tale demo early, no matter how keen our community is to start playing. To do so would risk the 18 months of hard work all the team have put into development.
So instead, once we consider the demo polished and ready, we're going to be contacting members of the gaming press to participate in first impression sessions. It will be these select journalists who confirm whether it's ready or not. If they do not, we'll head back for more development with our tail between our legs, but with our reputation in tact as hopefully no damaging coverage will be published. Of course we hope all our hard work in refining the demo will be well received, and there will be a modest fanfare and maybe even a little dance as a torrent of articles drives potential backers to the Folk Tale Kickstarter campaign that we'd launch shortly thereafter. At least that's how I see it happening in my delusional mind.
So when will the demo be released? That's still the subject of much debate. We're considering providing a few months of alpha exclusivity to reward backers before commencing the demo closed beta.
Greater Communication
In the meantime, we have increased our regular communications in the build up to demo launch to help keep you up to date on Folk Tale news. The most significant step was the launch of our new monthly email newsletter to everyone who has opted in during sign up for beta. We plan to establish regular features including a summary of news from the previous month, as well as highlighting important questions that we hope to get answered. At the moment we are asking you the very important question of what gameplay mode should we prioritize in development following completion of the demo. Transparency is as important to us as it is to you.
A few weeks ago we started posting a weekly image from development to www.screenshotsaturday.com via Twitter ( #screenshotsaturday ) which has already generated coverage on indiestatik. Twitter ( @gamesfoundry #FolkTaleGame ) has the latest snippets of news and thoughts as they happen. The more significant tweets are posted on the facebook page.
If there are other ways you would like us to communicate, please let us know ( our email is at the top of the right panel on this page ).
Beta Signup
For those of you visiting for the first time, applications for closed beta are now open. Please don't forget to opt in if you wish to receive the email newsletter.
I think I must be one of the few that enjoys watching a game be born and polished. Getting excited for new updates on next builds and helping to contribute feedback.
ReplyDeleteLike youtube, Steam comments are generally just as constructive. Normally the most vocal and immature minority that taint the community for everyone else.
With that in mind. WarZ, AoS and Towns did not make any statement at the beginning that the game was still beta or incomplete. It was only with persistent peer pressure did they actually decide to do this. That was wrong, they actively encouraged people to pay full price for something that blatantly was not and in some cases showed graphics of content that had not even been implemented yet!
Personally I would suggest you throw up a demo for people to get a taste - with a clear message to say it's a beta. Encourage the community to participate and give feedback.
Sadly I will be sorely disappointed not to have access to the demo. It's a demo after all.
I was one of the people that bought towns but being a minecraft fan I'm quite willing to watch a game evolve. My only concern is that Towns will not. I was going to comment on their complete lack of development since release.
http://steamcommunity.com/app/221020/discussions/0/864956554703855846/
I'll accept that statement instead and wish them all my support. It explains a lot - There are indeed many lessons to be learned from the games above, but the most important is honesty and transparency.
I do appreciate your statement on this and it does give pause for thought.
IF you have a good gaming model, IMHO release early and often. Release a basic game, refine it over the next week or two with community suggestions and then throw 'freebies' in as free DLC every odd month or so. Then charge for a huge DLC/addon. Then the sequel and rinse and repeat.
One of the better models I've seen for this is Wargame : European Escalation - one of the best RTS games most people have never heard of. Hype is not a bad thing, if managed correctly. Sadly I would hate those 3 games at the top of this to deter developers from community interaction.
Thanks for taking the time to comment Nossie.
DeleteWe're inclined to agree with much of what you've written. Certainly transparency and honesty are the most important points, and we shall endeavour to continue practicing those principles.
Current thinking is that the demo is our primary presentation to the crowd funding community, without whose support developing Folk Tale would become a major challenge on a project of this scale. It is therefore important that we maximize that opportunity by not releasing until the demo is polished, and by offering a period of exclusivity to backers. During the few months following Kickstarter, we'll focus development in the direction that our community votes ( campaign, sandbox or mp ), and once we've progressed the game a little more, make the original demo ( with any new bug fixes ) available to all with a purchase option to gain access to the very latest build ( which will be at a higher price than those backing during Kickstarter - further reason to support the KS campaign ).
This approach may seem a contradiction to the blog, but the point of the blog is that we are resisting releasing the demo too early, because in our minds we only get one shot, so we've got to make it count. While early backers will gain access to the release and update cycle ( with our full disclosure as to its current state ), the full game won't be made available to the wider gaming public via Steam et al until the first game mode is complete, bug free, and well and truly finished.
You guys are totally right. The first impression is what gets, so, if you send a demo to sites who post reviews and the demo sucks, they probably will not test it again with another months later e-mail saying "That is a update and better!", push yourselves to get a real thing and at last with all mechanics you will have in the final game.
ReplyDeleteAnd please, keep up with the news e-mails! They are great!
(as always, sry for grammar)
Hello Folklore team. I agree on getting the best game of the best for the demo, but after all it is a demo. Why not release a closed alpha version for some of the followers you have. Then if they give credit or hints and tips for fixes, then you could push it on to journalist who talks about the game. This will give you more hints and tips on how to improve the game aswell as getting you an impression of how journalists will judge the game.
ReplyDeleteBetter to have more tests out with real gamers/people who likes and follow the game than having a journalist who maybe isnt that interrested in the game genre. Thats only my opinion :)
Regards Mads
I applaud your commitment to quality coding and community involvement.
ReplyDeleteArenaNet was the first developer that I noticed giving "When It's Finished" as their release date. I also saw a lot of griping about the vagueness of that statement, but I always respected the principle behind it while I agonized in anticipation. I've also been privileged to exchange emails with and PUG with some of the biggest names in ANet, so I can avow their involvement with their leastest players.
I'm so glad to see GF following a similar course. It's easy to imagine Great Things coming for you!
PLEASE support enough payment methodes..like paypal when you guys are starting kickstarter.
ReplyDelete