Project Eternity closes with over $4.1m

maybe this will send a message to more major developers that these types of games are still very much desrired by the community

I expect a lot from creators of my all times favorite games like fallout 1 and 2 and best planescape torrment. Thou you disappointed me with New Vegas its not big deal since game franchise like Fallout is perfect for his old engine and not for this 3D FPS one. Games that u make require rich details in all aspects of game. Good Luck there.

How can you have an article about a Kickstarter campaign without a link to the Kickstarter page? Come on.

Having clicked through to take a look at their Kickstarter page, I see that they were seeking $1,100,000 (the Kickstarter page still says the total is $3,986,929, but whatever). I don't think people realize how big a problem that overfunding these projects can become. The whole point of Kickstarter is for someone with an idea, means, and plan to execute a product to source additional funding for a project that is already underway. The person or company running the Kickstarter campaign should already know how much money they need to get the project running and exactly how they're going to spend it. They also need to know that they can actually provide the rewards that they're offering to their backers (although Kickstarter has changed their policy recently to allow more wiggle room on this, in the event that things don't turn out as planned).

With Kickstarter, the more people that pledge, the more goodies that have to be given away. Overfunding a project can skew the funding analysis or cause supply/distribution issues, leading to unhappy backers. The bigger problem, however, is where all that money goes. If the company asks for 1 million and gets 4, what do they do with the extra 3 million? They should have already allocated that 1 million specifically, so they have to figure out what to do with the rest. They may very well find something worthwhile to do with it, or they could easily squander it. Pledging money for a campaign that is already funded 2 times over is not spending your money wisely.

There's also the issue of transparency. People want to see where that 3 million is going, so even if it's being spent correctly, the backers might not see it that way if the person/company isn't being transparent enough.

For these reasons, I think Kickstarter should limit the amount of funding that a project can receive. Maybe something like 120% of the project goal. That way, Kickstarter campaigns can still benefit from a bit of extra cash, but the backing rewards don't get out of control and the companies aren't left with tons of money to figure out what to do with. Campaign creators could expect a hard limit to what their campaign earns, which should also encourage them to be more specific and better prepared when setting their initial goal.

My comment disappeared...Odd.

Why are some comments deleted anyways? I posted months ago to GS ask the mods forum, and no one really knows.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to this isometric Obsidian game. I am weary of so many Kickstarters lately though.

Failed to kickstart, but I still sent a 65$ for a physical copy of game.

The only aspect that bugs me when reading the Obsidian forums for more info on the game is the possibility firearms will be present in some parts of the gameworld.

How in the hell will they reconcile that with the fact that they want to continue in the direction of BG, PS:T, NWN, etc. ?

Guns, cannons, etc. were not that present in the Dungeons & Dragons setting (where all these games took place).

I hope they have the same balance between swords, magic and guns as in these games (i.e. firearms are quasi-non-existant).

If you agree with me, why not go vote in the "Project Eternity: General Discussion" part of the Obsidian forums ? There's a poll there (that I did not start) about the topic.

Thanks in advance.

This is going to be one of those games you just buy.

They had me at Infinity Engine.

Donated 1,000 and it was so worth it. I get to design my own __high level__ weapon. How about this guys? Quethbert's Rod of Snow Summoning +1. Upon oral stimulation, Quethbert's Rod of Snow Summoning casts Cone of Cold directly in front of the caster, dealing a base 5d6 damage plus an additional 1d6 damage per 3 levels of caster. THAC0 bonus of -2 if player strength exceeds target strength by a ratio of 1.5. If the target is at least two levels below the caster, it will be frozen in ice for 3 turns, after which it will be slowed for 3 more turns, and will have a pentalty to THAC0 and attack speed. There are no saving throws.

Just backed them on the very last moment with PayPal.

PayPal is still up on their site for a very very limited time if you still want to back them.

With PayPal included they passed $4 mil btw. ^^

no money :(

I feel that with the stretch goals, they have commited themselves to delivering too much and spreading themselves too thinly.  The second 'Big City' would have been far better off (In my opinion), being part of a future expansion, and the effort put into making the first city & stronghold even...  Stronger.  Still, I am certain that whatever they do deliver, shall be Magnificent!

I'm not sure that anyone has asked this question: what happens if/when Obsidian is approached to make someone else's game before finishing Project Eternity? It would be crazy for the company to pass up another immediately paying job when Eternity has no timetable and no board of investors to enforce deadlines. It's way too easy for a nebulous project like this to be put on the backburner. Fans keep saying "take your time, make it perfect," but will they sing the same song if Obsidian completes a whole second outsourced project before release?

"will add a final goal to the game called "Big Big City", where the game will feature a giant city hub, reminiscent of Athkatla from Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn."

A SECOND big city

It fell just short of their final stretch goal, but what an amazing feat nevertheless! It will cost everyone an affordable amount to lower the influence of greedy publishers and their butchering, consolizing, delaying, understaffing, and outright canning games' development in order to maximize profits. Obsidian now has a great chance to show everyone how to deliver an, essentially, gamers' wishlist to the market, and still be financially viable.

$530 donator right here!

I contributed and I will increase my pledge in few days time.

CONGRATS GUYS AND GIRLS !!! you did it !!!

So happy !!! If anyone watched the feed last night from Obsidian live feed it was insane !!! lol....I got drunk with my girlfriend and  them ...lol even at 2 am london time....;)

Nursing Hangover now....

Well done again !!!!

Great news, i'm happy they did so well and look forward to playing what will no doubt be a great RPG =)

Congrats to Obsidian! Very curious to see updates, pictures, videos, and stuff of the sort of this project.

Soon, having your game bought by a publishing company will be a thing of the past. Indy games are taking over!

Hype: The article.

Best of luck to Obsidian. If this game turns out well, it will be a healthy step back in the right direction for the game industry.

Obsidian: take your time and make a masterpiece! 

Don't you just love a revolution? ;)  This is too awesome.

Take it home, boys! We're counting on you to use those funds on something other than 'the man's' personal snack fund!

Kickstarter is inadvertently going to re-vitalize the gaming industry.  Companies like Obsidian are going to show that there are devoted fans for all kinds of genres and it has been absolute stupidity by the big publishers to ignore those genres in favor of turning every one of their games into generic garbage.