Fund Tim Schafer's next game YOURSELF!

[Roderick]

I can now confirm my shit didn't bounce, so I am a happy official contributor!

[ThunderPeel2001]

Last 12 mins for those that missed it:

oyvb5xHFoKM

As for the extra money, I got the figure from... Kickstarter.com! Although it's changed again. Hmm. I guess DF probably know best.

[Ben X]

http://www.sizefivegames.com/2012/03/14/hello-tim-schafer

(plus a few more bits and pieces here.)

[Thrik]

That Kickstarter figure needs to make its mind up.

[ThunderPeel2001]

http://www.sizefivegames.com/2012/03/14/hello-tim-schafer

(plus a few more bits and pieces here.)

Some great stuff there. I wonder if Tim will comment anywhere?

[ThunderPeel2001]

So the first backers-only video has been leaked onto YouTube by this one kid... Is it wrong? Should he be stopped? Does anyone who hasn't backed the game actually care? Is it inevitable in this day and age?

[Roderick]

Inevitable, probably, but it's a pretty dickish move. Why would you give money to a project and then try to sabotage it?

[MrHoatzin]

It is really not sabotage. It is sharing. I think they should just ask the community to try to police this shit and not spend too much air freaking out about it. If something slips out, it has slipped. Oh well.

[ThunderPeel2001]

It is really not sabotage. It is sharing. I think they should just ask the community to try to police this shit and not spend too much air freaking out about it. If something slips out, it has slipped. Oh well.

There's a lot of discussions on the DF forums, but the main crux of the argument is that some people are trying to argue they SHOULD share this stuff. That it's a GOOD thing for Kickstarter projects, and a GOOD thing for DF.

In other words, blatant trollish bullshit.

[MrHoatzin]

It is not directly bad for Double Fine tho. They would want to reward only those who supported them and in the future, if the wall is too porous, there will be less direct incentive for the more crass of fans to support them. But if you go overboard in policing the porousness, you risk alienating those fans who paid in and all they want now is for Tim to have more exposure and fans. Some of those people the leakers bring into the fold are super likely to pony up moneys next time Tim starts something. It is a pretty standard argument you hear a lot from people smart about how piracy can be leveraged.

I think ultimately they should not encourage sharing the stuff, but err on the side of less enforcement. Maybe they can sell entry into the super secret community and the documentary separate from the Kickstarter—the latecomers can get access to the films through Vimeo...

[ThunderPeel2001]

You're forgetting the basic tenet of marketing: Always make your product look appealing to its audience. Showing production art to people who have bought your product is one thing. Showing it to prospective buyers is something else: You'll want to show the GOOD stuff, not the stuff you threw out for being shite.

Double Fine has PLENTY of good reasons for not wanting other members of the public's first impressions to be a raw and revealing look behind the scenes. First impressions are important.

[MrHoatzin]

I am not sure why, but that sounds completely crazy to me. What is the difference between my first impression and that of someone who is on the fence about this game? Is buyers remorse somehow automatically less powerful than a first impression? I for one seldom stick with my first impressions on anything and anyone. Maybe something can be said for already having developed a kind of "I already the warm fuzzies about this game" feelings what with its thorough panderousness to my interests and the opportunity to rub marketplace realities in the face of boring stewards of coffers of culture—that I will suffer through early ugliness 'cause it's my baby, whereas someone else might not have the benefit of rose tinted glasses.

All that said, this game has very much already made quite a resounding first impression on everyone and nothing about it exists yet. I can't imagine any bit of first info that is legitimately or otherwise unleashed upon the world will not be prefaced by the story about the Double Fine Adventure up to that point, thereby already being a contained pitch as to why this whatever ought to be appreciated, perceived flaws be damned.

Ultimately, there are trolls and wacky stupid people on these here internets. Who gives a shit, you know? C'est la guerre.

[Kolzig]

I feel buyer's remorse already, but I know this is going to be worth it.

(I also didn't tell my girlfriend I put in so much.)

Haha, I know how you feel. On the last day of Kickstarter still being open for this, after careful calculation I raised my $30 to cool $110. That is the most I've ever paid for any game, but the extras seem to be worth it when summed up.

Also my wife is not that happy about this.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I am not sure why, but that sounds completely crazy to me. What is the difference between my first impression and that of someone who is on the fence about this game? Is buyers remorse somehow automatically less powerful than a first impression? I for one seldom stick with my first impressions on anything and anyone. Maybe something can be said for already having developed a kind of "I already the warm fuzzies about this game" feelings what with its thorough panderousness to my interests and the opportunity to rub marketplace realities in the face of boring stewards of coffers of culture—that I will suffer through early ugliness 'cause it's my baby, whereas someone else might not have the benefit of rose tinted glasses.

All that said, this game has very much already made quite a resounding first impression on everyone and nothing about it exists yet. I can't imagine any bit of first info that is legitimately or otherwise unleashed upon the world will not be prefaced by the story about the Double Fine Adventure up to that point, thereby already being a contained pitch as to why this whatever ought to be appreciated, perceived flaws be damned.

Ultimately, there are trolls and wacky stupid people on these here internets. Who gives a shit, you know? C'est la guerre.

While it's impossible for DF to lose money on this project, I'm sure they'd like to make a PROFIT. That means selling it to people who didn't back the game, and who may not even be aware of it. The normal rules of marketing then apply: Make a great first impression. The current story around its budget is not a first impression about the game.

If marketing was just about sharing all the aborted artwork, and other design dead ends, then nobody would ever need marketing expertise.

You may be in the tiny minority of people who when they see the first trailer for a movie that looks shit, doesn't then tell everyone who asks them that it, "looks shit", but for most people it's important to build positive word of mouth. One bad impression can kill the whole thing.