http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity/posts/326152?ref=activityUpdate #19 - $2.6M Achieved! Adventurer’s Hall in! Full List of Rewards at Every Tier, Art for T-Shirts and Mouse Pad
Update #19 · Oct. 11, 2012 · 58 comments
Another stretch goal down! We are happy to announce that we’ve made our $2.6M stretch goal counting both Kickstarter and PayPal backers!


We have a lot of great stuff planned over the next six days. Josh is doing a lore update tomorrow along with some other BIG announcements, we are organizing an AMA over on reddit so everyone can ask Tim, Josh, Feargus and myself (Adam) a ton of questions, and we are getting our crazy ideas put together for the live stream of the last hours of the campaign next Tuesday.

Along with this update, we wanted to get some housekeeping out of the way. First off, we get asked a lot about what is in each of our reward tiers. You can find the full list farther down in this update. We are going to keep this list constantly updated, so if you ever need to refer to it, just come back to this update.

We are also working on our main Kickstarter page to keep things organized and have a new stretch goal image that combines all the stretch goals that have been added.


The Chanter and Paladin classes are up next at $2.7M, and the talented George Ziets will be joining the team if we hit $2.8m! With each stretch goal hit not only are we adding a new feature, we are also making the entire game larger. The additional money raised lets us add designers, artists, animators, and programmers to help build this incredible new world we are creating. This means adding more reactive quests, choice and consequence opportunities, a varied bestiary, memorable characters, adventure areas, and combat abilities.

New Add-On

Due to popular demand and for a limited time, we are offering the ability to add our first expansion pack, due out approximately six months after Project Eternity ships. Any money contributed to add-on the expansion now will be used to make the main game larger. The expansion budget is not being created by money from this Kickstarter.

Digital Download of Expansion Pack + $20 (included in tiers $165 and above)
We will be sweetening the $165 reward tier with something extra in the upcoming days as well.

Add-Ons

If you are at the $20 Pledge level or higher, you can add the following items to your reward tier. Check out Update #4 on more information on how to Add-On rewards.


Digital Add-Ons (Any Tier $20 and Above)

Digital Download of Expansion Pack + $20 (included in tiers $165 and above)
Digital Strategy Guide + $7 (included in tiers $80 and above)
Early Access Beta Key +$25 (included in tiers $110 and above)
Extra Digital Download of the Game +$25 (requires a minimum $20/$25 tier contribution)
Extra Three Digital Downloads of the Game +$60 (requires a minimum $20/$25 tier contribution)
Physical Add-Ons (Physical Tiers Only, $65, $100, $140, $250 and above)

Project Eternity Mouse Pad +$15 (included in physical tiers $140 and above)
Black Project Eternity T-Shirt +$25 (included in physical tiers $100 and above)
Black Obsidian T-Shirt +$25

For t-shirt add-ons, we will ask for your size at the end of the Kickstarter campaign in a survey sent to you in e-mail.

56,140
backers
$2,587,173
pledged of $1,100,000 goal
5
days to go

Tonight's Q&A:

Feargus: We have been having some problems with the updates and using Amazon for storage. When we edit an update it does something strange and deletes but then adds the image again. Amazon thinks it is deleted and then scheduled it to be deleted. So, we are going to start storing everything on our own stuff.

Question: Hi feargusaurus, give us stronghold and Chinese translation please!
Feargus: I'm not so sure about the Chinese translation. We will see what we can do though, we have been contacted by a couple of Chinese companies.

Question: You've done a great job of fielding questions and many topics have been exhausted or told to hold off questioning for later. So, what information do you want to share with us that we just don't know to ask for at the moment?
Feargus: Good question. I asked a lot about the documentary last night. So, I'll ask something much different tonight. What do you all think is the most important aspect of an RPG?

Question: The most important part is a compelling story
Feargus: What makes a story compelling to you?

Would you all say that for the most part, what really separates an RPG from most other genres is choice? I can choose to develop my character this way or that way. I can choose to participate in the story this way or that way. I can choose to go explore over here or go on a quest over there. I can choose to follow the main story line or go off somewhere else. I must choose how I want to deal with a situation, because he game will react based upon my decision.

Question: Yes thats sure bring it to a point. But for me as soon the Character development shrinks down to much I see it more like Genere X with RPG elements.
Feargus: I agree. I can be a real min-maxer and when I feel the system is just not giving me any return for my time thinking about it - I get a little frustrated.

Question: Personally I've had so many discussions about that subject that I've finally come to the conclusion that what makes a great rpg isn't any one system, but the way all the systems (story, graphics, combat engine/other gameplay) all come together to make an experience... or perhaps a "world to live in" would be a better phrase. So, my answer would be: There is no one most important part.
Feargus: Good point.

Question: Choice is subjective. What i would Like to see os That of if i offened someone alot, That That person isnt going to be happy the rest of the game . Or Like in skyrim That after 10 hours people still dont recognise me.
Feargus: That reactivity is cool as long as it doesn't have the game degenerate too much.

Question: Choice can be in games that are clearly not RPGs. Just like story can. While so many will complain that BioWare has damaged RPGs with cinematics and romances... I really feel that if they did any damage to RPGs it was by helping convince people that a good story and many choices (some pretty false, but that's a different issue) makes a game an RPG.
Feargus: How about what it is all about is really "meaningful choice".

Question: and I mean character and story choices, not just like which weapons to use or such.
Feargus: Gotcha.

Question: I would like to add to your list the freedom to choose how to solve a given problem. For example, to get an item you may bribe it's guard, sneak behind him to steal, or to kill him. Well, an RPG is all about developing your character and to have fun, and that's usually a freedom of choice (much more in Pen and Paper).
Feargus: Tim Cain and Chris Taylor were very behind that concept on Fallout - I'm not sure if it was that game that really started that or something later. But, they made it a point that many parts of the game you needed to be able to Fight, Steal or Talk your way through them. If I remember right it was Stealth Boy, Charisma Boy or Action Boy - maybe that was Combat Boy. Been a long time.

Question: Let me try this. The most important aspect of a role-playing game is the control the player has over his character's development, interactions, and choices in the game. The game story can be simple, or linear, or offer none of the branching choices we've come to expect from most RPG's. The character can be pre-defined for us, or let us only tweak around the edges. The interactions can be very limited. But as long as the player feels like he is making decisions for the character, as long as the game give the player the agency to be able to inhabit the persona of said character and feel like the player can make decisions for the character based on said character's make-up, and the game reacts to and acknowledges the decisions and choices the player made... I think then it is a role-playing gme.
Feargus: Good way of saying it. In the end it is about the perception of what you can do and the impact.

Question: so what's the schedule look like for tomorrow
Feargus: Update will be at 10AM PST - really this time, we talked about it a lot tonight and most of the stuff we need to do for it is already done.

Question: Are you planning on having non-obvious, non-combat usage of spells and other skills for problem solving? For (a bad) example, casting fire to burn off an otherwise unreachable rope. More generally, will combat skills be combat only and non-combat skills non-combat only? I love when you have to think about ways to utilize your abilities like that, both in and out of combat, in an almost adventure game way, but I can also see if it doesn't fit the scope of the game.
Feargus: That is a really good question. I know that we want to include puzzle elements in the levels (fun ones), some of those could involve using spells from time to time. However, we also don't want to have you try to figure out the one time you use this one spell in the whole game - unless we lead you up to it right. So, if we do have spells used in puzzles, we will want to make sure that they are all used often enough (not every four minutes to make it tedious) that it occurs to everyone to use them.

Question: It may be too early in development to answer this, but are there plans for creatures analogous to demons and angels?
Feargus: Josh likes to include themes like that, and the gods, so I there is probably a good chance of things like that.

Question: I wanted to ask if there will be "natural" affinity for magic in some races. Like elves is some roleplaying systems are natural magicians, and some other races can't use magic at all, but also very resistant to it?
Feargus: Josh is working a lot on the races right now and I heard Tim and him talking about them just the other day. I know we want them to all feel different not just based upon how they look, but how their race both effects their starting statistics and statistics as they grow. Having said that, we want to be careful about having a race have too much of an affinity for a certain class. If we do that, then we really create the situation where everyone builds the same characters.

Question: did You have time to Check my question via email ?
Feargus: The mercenaries that you create and hire from the Adventurer's Hall will have the normal NPC voice set - charging in to combat, getting hurt badly, scoring a really good hit, etc... But, they won't involve themselves in the story - I don't think.

Question: Soooo... close.... Someone was musing earlier today that there might be an inverse correlation between interest in old school rpgs and facebook @Feargus Do you think the facebook likes contributed to the huge funding upswing we've seen since the weekend?
Feargus: We are just trying to do everything we can to get the word out - and the Facebook likes, I think, are totally helping that. Chris did about six or seven interviews over the last couple of days at the Austin GDC - those should all hit over the next day or two, which should help as well.

Question: Just a minor concern I've been reading elsewhere some comments about the introduction of Paladins as a potential class for PE. Some people are worried that Obsidian have compromised their vision by offering this as an option and they are worried that you guys feel in someway beholden to vocal elements of the fan base and are shoehorning in elements that you don't really want to include at their behest. Rest assured they are coming from a caring place and just want to feel that Obsidian is make the game that they want to make. This worried me a little because having been outspoken I'd hate to feel that we were affecting your companies vision. How do you feel about this?
Feargus: I like to play Paladins.

Question: With all the big rewards for this project are you guys making any money for the game? I'm asking this because I remember that for DFA the rewards took a considerable portion of the money. On the other hand they were 11.5k for the collector's box so that would have been pretty expensive to fulfill.
Feargus: We are watching all the numbers very carefully and when all is said and done, we are confident we will end up with a good amount of money to make the game.

Question: Do you think the success of the Kickstarter will make publishers take you guys more seriously at future pitch meetings?
Feargus: We continue to talk to publishers all the time (well not much the last couple of weeks). The best way of looking at PE is, agreeing with Telix here, it's just not their business. Will they listen more - I think so, but I don't know if it will be enough more to make them want to make PE like games.


Feargus: Almost at 16K on Facebook - nice! Share'em if you got'em. :) $41K and 960 people in Paypal.

"
Question: Just a minor concern I've been reading elsewhere some comments about the introduction of Paladins as a potential class for PE. Some people are worried that Obsidian have compromised their vision by offering this as an option and they are worried that you guys feel in someway beholden to vocal elements of the fan base and are shoehorning in elements that you don't really want to include at their behest. Rest assured they are coming from a caring place and just want to feel that Obsidian is make the game that they want to make. This worried me a little because having been outspoken I'd hate to feel that we were affecting your companies vision. How do you feel about this?


Feargus: I like to play Paladins.

"

Not good enough.

And all that pointless talk about "what is a RPG and what isn't". And what is with this modern choices fad? How many meaningful choices did PS:T have?

I love it how people are criticising recent Bioware RPGs but then want the elements they brought to the genre.

Obsidian should have just said: "You know us, you know what we can do, give us money" instead of catering to the masses. Unlike a certain other RPG kickstarter, it would have actually worked for Obsidian.

Pretty much what Double Fine did.

That said I think the RPG genre is a complicated mistress. If you surf RPG dedicated forums like the Codex or RPGWatch you will see a TON of people want ONLY traditional fantasy, the fact this game has muskets bothers them. A TON of people disagree on what an RPG is in the first place, i.e. tactical combat or loot or story choice or MMO roles.

To be honest they do seem to be trying to please everyone a little too much, similar to Bioware. The difference though to me is that at least they are trying to please everyone in the RPG fanbase, rather than literally every gamer like Bioware has been. That's an important distinction.

In any event no matter the marketing or style of the game I trust them to make something I want to play.

After reading the posts of many "proper RPG players" I personally like the average gamer more than those "RPG experts". We should drop the RPG tag anyway. I don't care what Alpha Protocol was, but I want a game of that quality.

Mate this RPG is being made to cater for RPG players. Proper RPG players. Not to the general masses. There have beena LOT of suggestions. But at the end of the day its up to Obsidian to decide what goes in and what does not. Id be surprised if they hadn't already thought of a lot of stuff people had suggested already. Mate i dont want a dumbified/consolefied Bioware type rpg at this point (ME/DAO imho were all action rpg's catering to the casual/average gamer - which felt more like an interactive movie esp ME)

But who is a proper RPG player? Does such a mystical person even exist? Are those the elitist and hyper-orthodox idiots over at the Codex?

The "RPG" label has become so incredibly diluted it doesn't really stand for anything anymore, if you ask me. Besides, I really don't see how Mass Effect is less of an RPG than Baldur's Gate.

What does that make MOO3 then? :P

You know, I did like MoO3 somewhat when it came out. I liked the numbers interface. That wasn't what put me of the game.

Yeah, I know stereotypes ...

The overview of the goodies included in the various tiers looks very good, and giving the option of addons to the tiers (-> survey at the end of the kickstarter) looks great as well. +1 for organisational stuff.
Offering the expansion right now looks clever: they get more money to make the main game awesome, and revenue from the main game should pay for the expansion by itself. Everybody wins...

Let's hope everything turns out the best way possible. I'm eager to see the results of the big kickstarter projects (Double Fine, Shadowrun, Wasteland 2, etc)

Player skill matters more than character design/skill.

That's a good point. Though to be fair, I'm currently playing the first ME (on normal difficulty) and I really don't feel a whole lot of player skill is involved there. But yeah, that's not a bad way of looking at this.

Well, your personal tactics skill is a lot more important, which most characters shouldn't know. I know that is a "flaw" in any game. But a dumb ass brute shouldn't know how to use proper tactics.

In the end it all boils down to the endless discussion of what is an RPG. I really don't care. I don't want RPGs, I want great games. If they happen to be RPGs by whomever definition, fine by me.

I don't disagree with you but baz asked a question and I answered it. What an RPG is has certainly been open to interpretation but the Codex nutjobs are not wrong when they say a true RPG means playing a role you build, rather than playing your own skills. No matter which role you try to play in ME you're the one shooting the dudes with your own aiming skills. That (and several other) reason is why it is a hybrid shooter-RPG. Especially 2 and 3, since they removed stats impacting aiming.

In the end I just want good games too, but I think you are missing the forest for the trees a little bit here. The entire point of this kickstarter is for Obsidian to make a Baldur's Gate homage. It will be traditional fantasy and it will be real-time with pause and it will be "core" RPG-like because that is the goal and the inspiration.

I kind of wish they shot for something else but I can't argue they're screwing up at what they are trying to do.