STEAMFORGED GAMES TO DEVELOP
DARK SOULS BOARD GAME
Steamforged Games is proud to announce we will be working with Bandai Namco Entertainment, developing an exciting board game for the Dark Souls universe.
As Dark Souls fans, we could not be more excited to be given the honour of developing a board game that embraces everything that makes Dark Souls the deep, compelling game experience that it is.
The Dark Souls board game will be launched on Kickstarter during April 2016.
Not much info but one to keep an eye on...I know my wallet is hiding beneath my bed cowering in fear right now.
"Further to the exciting announcement we made last week, it's time to share some details about the upcoming Dark Souls board game.
Designed from the ground up, the Dark Souls board game is a brutally hard exploration miniatures game for 1-4 players. Prepare to die. Because this will be the hardest board game you have ever played.
Featuring an exciting "fast setup, long reveal" mechanic that gets you into the game faster and builds the location as you explore. The sense of danger is palpable as you discover new locations and the monsters that inhabit these dark places. The core combat mechanic and enemy behavior system forces deep strategic play and clever management of stamina to survive.
The game will ship with numerous boss and mini-boss encounters, and as mentioned above, will utilize an innovative behavior mechanic that will mean no two encounters are ever the same, thus giving the game near infinite replayability.
Using our advanced miniatures pipeline and working with one of the finest board game manufacturers in the world, the quality and detail in the miniatures will be world class. As Dark Souls fans, and with the entirety of the Dark Souls universe available to us, one of the hardest decision has been to narrow down which enemies and bosses to include in the core game. We wanted to be sure to use both old favorites as well as new enemies from Dark Souls 3.
We are pleased to reveal that one of the boss fights included in the core game will be the Dragon Slayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough.
From the start of this project, Steamforged Games has worked closely with the team at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment; Dark Souls fans can be sure that this board game will give an experience that captures the very essence of the original video games.
We launch the Kickstarter project on the 19th April."
There was a little talk about this down in the board games subforum.
I'm certainly interested, especially since it's basically come out of no-where that Bandai Namco went with Steamforged, of all companies, instead of someone like Gale Force 9 or CMoN. Maybe the Japanese Guild Ball scene is spreading quickly?
There's already a pretty successful board game in the market that captures the feel of the Souls games pretty well, in the form of Kingdom Death. If Steamforged can do the same, with a somewhat less sexualized theme and for less money, then they may have a winner. At least we know they're pretty dedicated to making good rules, and producing good miniautres.
Sinful Hero wrote: Wouldn't this just be your basic dungeon-crawler that just resets your equipment and such to zero every time you die?
Well, you don't lose your equipment in the Souls series when you die...
In fact, I wonder if they'll do something like in Dark Souls, where you need to store and use Humanity as a resource, or Dark Souls 2, where dying decreases your health, which can be restored with Humanity.
There's also that Bloodbourne card game/ deckbuilder (?) that Eric Lang is developing for CMON too.
We'll see if it brings anything new to the table that games like Kingdom Death and Darklight: Memento Mori haven't/ won't already have done by the time it sees release.
We'll see if it brings anything new to the table that games like Kingdom Death and Darklight: Memento Mori haven't/ won't already have done by the time it sees release.
If nothing else, I hope for some Siegmeyer and Solaire minis
We'll see if it brings anything new to the table that games like Kingdom Death and Darklight: Memento Mori haven't/ won't already have done by the time it sees release.
If nothing else, I hope for some Siegmeyer and Solaire minis
Oh yeah! Iron & Sun set, Catarina set, Favor set, Black Iron set, Elite Knight set, all the good stuff. I want a Havel mini!
I agree, it's odd that Bandai doesn't just do it themselves. Then again, why use their resources when someone else can do all the legwork, all of us can pay for it, and they can just rake in the cash?
So many potentially awesome figures that could come out of this though...
Nito, Gwynn's Knights, the Gaping Dragon, the Black Knights... hell, just about every basic enemy!
I'm sure Solaire is a given.
In a perfect world we'd see Kingdom Death style armor kits to mix and match gear.
We'll see if it brings anything new to the table that games like Kingdom Death and Darklight: Memento Mori haven't/ won't already have done by the time it sees release.
If nothing else, I hope for some Siegmeyer and Solaire minis
Praise the sun!
I will try to get you guys some good info shortly. I actually had lunch with Miyazaki-san not too long ago and this was one of the topics we discussed. As I mentioned in the Darklight thread, Miyazaki-san is a huge fan of old-school fantasy, DnD, and miniatures (especially Heroquest and Warhammer Quest). Unlike a lot of licensed stuff, he will probably ensure that this keeps to the things he likes and built the IP around.
So if I'm understanding, and not just putting my own hopes and dreams into this, is that you're saying is Miyazaki is going to have some input into this?
highlord tamburlaine wrote: So if I'm understanding, and not just putting my own hopes and dreams into this, is that you're saying is Miyazaki is going to have some input into this?
Yeah, I'm okay with that.
Miyazaki-san deplores the idea of having ZERO input into something he has created. The extent of that contribution varies greatly on his time demands (and right now he is deep into pre-production of a game I really can't mention), which means he will probably do some approvals, but not "design" per se.
I hate to use this analog as I know its poison in the fandom, but even on Dark Souls 2, he approved certain lore/story points, etc...
The "big thing" with the Souls series is that the combat is intentionally made super clunky, which in turn makes it very strategic. Once you commit to an action (attacking, lunging, rolling, jumping) you're 'locked' into the full animation until you finish it or something makes you flinch; usually striking a shield / wall or being hit by something. Well and the game punishes you fairly hard for dying and save points / check points come with drawbacks, but that's it.
I don't really think that any of the Dark Souls experience would translate well to a TT environment. Implementing some version of the resource lost / death punishment system would actually make things easier in the long run, given most RPGs just consider death-death and tell you to reroll. The combat being all dice throws / DM narration means that the gimmicks which define it would be impossible to replicate. At best you'd get something akin to early-characters in Dark (Failure) Heresy where you're throwing d100 at things you barely have the stats for, leaving you with about a 60% chance to accidentally hang yourself every time you tie a knot.
So basically the only way I can even begin to imagine a functional Souls game on the TT would be re-spawning on death but losing all of your currency (souls), abysmally low success chances on most actions taken, and plenty of 'rocks fall everyone dies' death traps. Which would be a truly horrible experience, as the point of Souls games is to reward you for being patient and skillful.. Yet there's no skill to simply rolling well in a TTRPG.
What about if it's also about grinding, pumping up your stats and taking risks to bring down that one boss so you can get his unique weapons and armor?
It sounds pretty cool to me all the same as I'm a bit of an Dark Souls fan(atic).
I'm really excited to see any models for it as well!
even if the game sucks, as long as the mini's are good is what matters to me. The crazy designs in Dark souls is amazing, and would love to have mini's of the heros and monsters to use in other games lol.
Lockark wrote: even if the game sucks, as long as the mini's are good is what matters to me. The crazy designs in Dark souls is amazing, and would love to have mini's of the heros and monsters to use in other games lol.
My thoughts exactly!
Though some kitbash creativity can go a long way like this player shows.
I'm certainly interested, especially since it's basically come out of no-where that Bandai Namco went with Steamforged, of all companies, instead of someone like Gale Force 9 or CMoN. Maybe the Japanese Guild Ball scene is spreading quickly?
I'd hazard a guess it's due to Mat and his contacts.
Mat is an ex computer game guy, worked for Ninja theory on stuff like enslaved and DmC, before almost being poached by Capcom.
So, he knows people for sure.
The art guy from Guildball is a concept artist for games for sure.
The Guild Ball models aren't exactly my favourite sculpts (though I have 4 teams feom the KS ...), but they're good with the rest, so I'm interested. Maybe if the campaign runs into May or lets ua late pledge and has a good offer. Without the crazy shipping prices SDE and CMON suddenly have.
I will be interested to see what the game is about. Steamforged are a minis company right? So I expect minis. I might well pick it up then. Just played the game and the monster design is amazing.
Rules are just four lines
1. place your victim \hero on the board.
2. place a Monster of your choice next to your hero.
3. the Monster goes first and kills your hero.
4. Reset the board to step 1.
...sounds like someone wasn't very good at Dark Souls then.
But yeah, I don't see how Dark Souls could be recreated "faithfully" on the tabletop. Reminds me of how people keep trying to make tabletop MOBAs...it doesn't really work, and it's probably better left alone as a video game.
If it means cool Dark Souls models though then feth it!
I wouldn't even play the game. I just want all the knights, and maybe the Moonlight butterfly in model form. I hope that even if the game sucks the models turn out amazing.
"Further to the exciting announcement we made last week, it's time to share some details about the upcoming Dark Souls board game.
Designed from the ground up, the Dark Souls board game is a brutally hard exploration miniatures game for 1-4 players. Prepare to die. Because this will be the hardest board game you have ever played.
Featuring an exciting "fast setup, long reveal" mechanic that gets you into the game faster and builds the location as you explore. The sense of danger is palpable as you discover new locations and the monsters that inhabit these dark places. The core combat mechanic and enemy behavior system forces deep strategic play and clever management of stamina to survive.
The game will ship with numerous boss and mini-boss encounters, and as mentioned above, will utilize an innovative behavior mechanic that will mean no two encounters are ever the same, thus giving the game near infinite replayability.
Using our advanced miniatures pipeline and working with one of the finest board game manufacturers in the world, the quality and detail in the miniatures will be world class. As Dark Souls fans, and with the entirety of the Dark Souls universe available to us, one of the hardest decision has been to narrow down which enemies and bosses to include in the core game. We wanted to be sure to use both old favorites as well as new enemies from Dark Souls 3.
We are pleased to reveal that one of the boss fights included in the core game will be the Dragon Slayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough.
From the start of this project, Steamforged Games has worked closely with the team at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment; Dark Souls fans can be sure that this board game will give an experience that captures the very essence of the original video games.
We launch the Kickstarter project on the 19th April."
Further to the exciting announcement we made last week, it's time to share some details about the upcoming Dark Souls board game.
Designed from the ground up, the Dark Souls board game is a brutally hard exploration miniatures game for 1-4 players. Prepare to die. Because this will be the hardest board game you have ever played.
Featuring an exciting "fast setup, long reveal" mechanic that gets you into the game faster and builds the location as you explore. The sense of danger is palpable as you discover new locations and the monsters that inhabit these dark places. The core combat mechanic and enemy behavior system forces deep strategic play and clever management of stamina to survive.
The game will ship with numerous boss and mini-boss encounters, and as mentioned above, will utilize an innovative behavior mechanic that will mean no two encounters are ever the same, thus giving the game near infinite replayability.
Using our advanced miniatures pipeline and working with one of the finest board game manufacturers in the world, the quality and detail in the miniatures will be world class. As Dark Souls fans, and with the entirety of the Dark Souls universe available to us, one of the hardest decision has been to narrow down which enemies and bosses to include in the core game. We wanted to be sure to use both old favorites as well as new enemies from Dark Souls 3.
We are pleased to reveal that one of the boss fights included in the core game will be the Dragon Slayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough.
From the start of this project, Steamforged Games has worked closely with the team at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment; Dark Souls fans can be sure that this board game will give an experience that captures the very essence of the original video games.
We launch the Kickstarter project on the 19th April.
***Be sure to Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter (@steamforgedltd) to receive the most up to date information***
Hanskrampf wrote: Sounds like Warhammer Quest or the recently started Darklight.
The first render looks nice, though.
One week to the Kickstarter. Have to convince my wife to back this.
Yup, exploration is awesome!
I can only imagine how big some of these minis will be. If they have a Nameless King expansion? Yes please!
I'm even more curious how they handle PC's though. Customizable? Class archetypes? Will I be able to field Siegmeyer and Solaire in jolly co-operation?
Yup, beat me to it with the latest update. Its right now I'm shokcingly thankful I have no money right now because I'd be setting up a direct debit to Steamforged right now. That Ornstein is beautiful
Hope they have more than renders when the Kickstarter launches. There have been a few occasions where the end product was not up the promised quality on the front end.
Well, if they can at least get the 'high quality' PVC/Boardgame stuff - using the same factory that Blood Rage/Black Plague used, I guess that would be...OK?
Alpharius wrote: Well, if they can at least get the 'high quality' PVC/Boardgame stuff - using the same factory that Blood Rage/Black Plague used, I guess that would be...OK?
That would be super with me!
I'm foaming at the mouth for more mini pictures! Really curious as to what's in the base set. Lots of add-on and SG material to work with too if it goes big.
I can't WAIT for more enemy reveals... Dark Souls basically has the best art direction and environment/enemy design I've seen in anything, ever. Such a beautiful/horrifying game series. Can't imagine a better candidate for a miniature-based dungeon board game.
Mymearan wrote: I can't WAIT for more enemy reveals... Dark Souls basically has the best art direction and environment/enemy design I've seen in anything, ever. Such a beautiful/horrifying game series. Can't imagine a better candidate for a miniature-based dungeon board game.
I've always thought of Dark Souls as a tamed version of Kentaro Miura's Berserk. The knight with the giant hammer would fit perfectly in that universe.
Hidetaka Miyazaki (FromSoftware's president) has often cited Berserk as a big influence on the aesthetics of the Souls series. Artorias is an homage to Guts, and Guts' sword shows up as the Greatsword in DS1 and DS2.
infinite_array wrote: Hidetaka Miyazaki (FromSoftware's president) has often cited Berserk as a big influence on the aesthetics of the Souls series. Artorias is an homage to Guts, and Guts' sword shows up as the Greatsword in DS1 and DS2.
I wasn't aware of that. Thanks for that bit of info.
infinite_array wrote: Hidetaka Miyazaki (FromSoftware's president) has often cited Berserk as a big influence on the aesthetics of the Souls series. Artorias is an homage to Guts, and Guts' sword shows up as the Greatsword in DS1 and DS2.
And there's got to be a 'Greatsword' or two (or three, or...) on a few miniatures here as well, right?
Man, one KD:M game was one to many, having 2 would just not work out at all. Backing for the models at the least, and hoping the higher powers that be grant me more free time to actually play..
The "big thing" with the Souls series is that the combat is intentionally made super clunky, which in turn makes it very strategic. Once you commit to an action (attacking, lunging, rolling, jumping) you're 'locked' into the full animation until you finish it or something makes you flinch; usually striking a shield / wall or being hit by something. Well and the game punishes you fairly hard for dying and save points / check points come with drawbacks, but that's it.
I don't really think that any of the Dark Souls experience would translate well to a TT environment. Implementing some version of the resource lost / death punishment system would actually make things easier in the long run, given most RPGs just consider death-death and tell you to reroll. The combat being all dice throws / DM narration means that the gimmicks which define it would be impossible to replicate. At best you'd get something akin to early-characters in Dark (Failure) Heresy where you're throwing d100 at things you barely have the stats for, leaving you with about a 60% chance to accidentally hang yourself every time you tie a knot.
So basically the only way I can even begin to imagine a functional Souls game on the TT would be re-spawning on death but losing all of your currency (souls), abysmally low success chances on most actions taken, and plenty of 'rocks fall everyone dies' death traps. Which would be a truly horrible experience, as the point of Souls games is to reward you for being patient and skillful.. Yet there's no skill to simply rolling well in a TTRPG.
Translating a computer game into a board game isn't always a case of a direct port of mechanics though.
Look at something like X com for example, which is nothing at all like the computer game yet captures the style of it perfectly, and transforms that into something appropriate for a TT game.
In the same way, the creators will hopefully be able to make something that feels distinctly Dark Souls, even with radically different mechanics. At least, we all hope !
Can't wait to see the other figures that will be included, hoping to see Pinwheel and a Black Knight or two, Seath might be a little too large for this game I fear.
Smough looks like he's the right size - but it could really be an issue for packing stuff in if you have a lot of bosses that size! I'm hoping for a Taurus Demon anyway.
I was thinking 15mm as well. Sure it wouldn't be as popular as 28/32/35/whatever is in fashion this week, but just the sheer size of just about everything besides your character... it's huge.
I want my sword doggie! And my gaping dragon! Those suckers would have to be massive even in 15mm to do them correctly!
Renders look pretty good, but I wonder how big the minis will be. There's no way they can do everything "in scale" because the bosses in Dark Souls are so fething massive.
Renders look pretty good, but I wonder how big the minis will be. There's no way they can do everything "in scale" because the bosses in Dark Souls are so fething massive.
Well, they could do the GW Heroic scale thing, where stuff is just "bigger" or "smaller" than other stuff
Mymearan wrote: KDM is obviously heavily influenced by Dark Souls, they just made their board game first
They're both heavily influenced by Berserk(both creators have mentioned it), but who came first is a little murkier. Demon's Souls was released in Japan February '09, but not released in the US until October. Earliest Facebook posts from Kingdom Death date at September '09, and earliest Twitter tweet is March '09 so I think it's safe to say that they just draw inspiration from the same sources, but necessarily from each other.
Frankly I'm just thinking up ways to throw models into my existing SM, GK, Ork, CSM and Tyranid forces as I don't want to pick up the game itself, just the models.
Right now I'm thinking
Smough - Nurgle Prince with Black Mace
Ornstein - Librarian with Fulmination powers
Gwyn - Burning Blade Chapter Master
Black Knights - Chaos Terminators with variety of power weapons (Sword and Greatsword as swords, Halberd and Greataxe as axe)
Gaping Dragon - Haruspex??
Helkite Dragon - Heldrake
Solaire - Brotherhood Champion
Capra Demon - Khorne Herald?
Quelaag - Slaanesh DP with Pyromancy
Nito - Nurgle Prince?
Artorias - Wolf Lord??? (Sif as Thunderwolf version ?)
Priscilla - Slaanesh Princess with Telepathy (try and roll Invisibility )
Moonlight Butterfly - Harpy
Bell Gargoyles - Forgefiends
Iron Golem - Imperial Knight (pure melee version)
Mymearan wrote: KDM is obviously heavily influenced by Dark Souls, they just made their board game first
They're both heavily influenced by Berserk(both creators have mentioned it), but who came first is a little murkier. Demon's Souls was released in Japan February '09, but not released in the US until October. Earliest Facebook posts from Kingdom Death date at September '09, and earliest Twitter tweet is March '09 so I think it's safe to say that they just draw inspiration from the same sources, but necessarily from each other.
The Souls series is also an extension of FromSoftware's earlier series, like King's Field and Shadow Tower, from back in the 90's.
Mymearan wrote: KDM is obviously heavily influenced by Dark Souls, they just made their board game first
They're both heavily influenced by Berserk(both creators have mentioned it), but who came first is a little murkier. Demon's Souls was released in Japan February '09, but not released in the US until October. Earliest Facebook posts from Kingdom Death date at September '09, and earliest Twitter tweet is March '09 so I think it's safe to say that they just draw inspiration from the same sources, but necessarily from each other.
The Souls series is also an extension of FromSoftware's earlier series, like King's Field and Shadow Tower, from back in the 90's.
I'm not sure I'd agree they captured the same aesthetic as the newer games. From a quick glance they seem more like your typical dungeon crawler/DnD campaign than the darker Demon and Dark Souls, but I admit I know very little about them.
Regardless of which came first, based on likely similar circles and influences, I want to see more of the DS stuff, and wonder whether scale will be preserved.
I know it won't happen, but I would love for some Demon's Souls to sneak in. I have much more experience with DeSouls and Bloodborne than Dark Souls. Though I did buy DS3 and am happily struggling through it now.
From what I can tell, this is the mass-market "lite" version of KD:M. Assuming pricing is in line with other such games, we should see base pledge for PVC minis at $100 USD, and a very fair value at that.
What would be interesting is having signs/ messages printed on tiles and having to roll off a chart to see what it says, possibly affecting what comes on the next tile?
I'm also wondering if it'll be run in pounds or the almighty 'Murican Dollar!
Lot of controversy in the comments about the retailer exclusive add-ons. Seems completionists will not be able to get the complete range via the KS, unless Steamforged decide to roll back that decision.
Nostromodamus wrote: Lot of controversy in the comments about the retailer exclusive add-ons. Seems completionists will not be able to get the complete range via the KS, unless Steamforged decide to roll back that decision.
Yup, that seems to have been a tactical error on Steamforged's part. I expect them to roll it back, especially when there are only about 10 retailer pledges compared to the 1,500 or so regular pledges.
I was lucky and got in as #288, so early bird for me!
And remember, people - push for a Giantdad stretch goal!
Interesting that there are no low-end pledge levels nor the ability to simply purchase some of the models. Oh well. I know Highlord Tamburlaine will back this, so I can sit it out.
Hanskrampf wrote: Yeah, the retailer exclusive stuff is bs and for all the flakk they already get in the comments, I expect them to quickly leave that position.
Indeed. I expected the comment section to be very positive considering the pedigree of the subject matter and the apparent quality of the game, but instead it's hundreds of comments about how the retail exclusive add-ons suck.
Good start financially, but they're not making many friends it seems.
So that's roughly $125 USD, a little higher than what I might have hoped, but not unreasonable. Given the obvious crossover from the games, I'm a little surprised there wasn't a bigger rush.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Nostromodamus wrote: Lot of controversy in the comments about the retailer exclusive add-ons. Seems completionists will not be able to get the complete range via the KS, unless Steamforged decide to roll back that decision.
And very deservedly so. The entire point to back KS is to get the exclusives. If you can't get everything, why bother backing more than the minimum?
Incomplete is incomplete, so one might as well pledge the absolute minimum to get whatever KS exclusives are available. This saves on shipping / customs fees, and allows the backer to wait for retail to put the items on sale. As a side effect, it greatly reduces the funding that Steamforged gets, because it is not only delayed until after production and shipping, it is also filtered through retail and/or distribution.
These retail pledges are a simply terrible business decision, and suggest that Steamforged doesn't get how to best leverage Kickstarter for maximum revenue.
I was going to pledge, but I am going to sit on the sidelines until such time that Steamforged gets their head on straight.
Eh... the retailer exclusive thing is going to annoy me to no end. If you aren't Warmahordes, 90% of the stores in our area will not support your game, period (which I deplore). All this does is ensure I will have to play some price-gouging clown on Ebay twice the price to get meaningful Gameplay content.
The retailer addons will apparently be available to everyone via retail and the webstore so not exclusive at all, either poor wording or they have gone back on it quickly.
More concerning is that they are not going to post any more stretch goals until tomorrow and funding is already 60k past the last one. Either they are artificially trying to stretch them out (never goes down well) or they have just planned really poorly and don't have the graphics available.
JohnHwangDD wrote: I was going to pledge, but I am going to sit on the sidelines until such time that Steamforged gets their head on straight.
I'm sticking in because of the early bird discount, but I don't buy the "support your flgs" line when you can just order these "retailer exclusive" miniatures directly from Steamforged.
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote: Eh... the retailer exclusive thing is going to annoy me to no end. If you aren't Warmahordes, 90% of the stores in our area will not support your game, period (which I deplore). All this does is ensure I will have to play some price-gouging clown on Ebay twice the price to get meaningful Gameplay content.
No, it's not that bad. Retailer exclusive stuff will be available through every online store and their own webstore. It's still bs, but at least no ebay hunting bs.
Aeneades wrote: More concerning is that they are not going to post any more stretch goals until tomorrow and funding is already 60k past the last one. Either they are artificially trying to stretch them out (never goes down well) or they have just planned really poorly and don't have the graphics available.
This is what worries me. By tomorrow there should be a ton of SG unlocked. If the gaps suddenly widen right up and it turns out only a few got unlocked, that'll be strike number 2 for Steamforged.
And seriously, you launch a KS for a game based on one of the most popular contemporary video game IPs and then just go to bed? Even if the graphics aren't ready, put the SG text there so we know there's no shenanigans going on.
Grabbed an early bird before I had a chance to read anything!
The figures look okay, but I'm more concerned about all the characters that aren't included; I guess there's plenty of time for more characters & monsters to be added via stretch goals so we'll see how it looks nearer to the end of the campaign.
Retailer "exclusives" seem to go against the spirit of crowd funding so I'm finding the whole thing a little odd.
Ugh, this kind of has the feeling of a Mantic Kickstarter - overcharge at the beginning, then expect the kickstarter to bring in all the stuff that Steamforged already planned to include (case in point, the AI cards).
Man, the longer I think about this, the less thrilled I am. I'm also now somewhat wary about the amount of free stretch goals vs. purchasable add-ons.
It is already at £167K, or, £77K past the last known 'regular' stretch goal...and, that's all for today?
Combine this with the 2 already existing 'fake stretch goals' and the 'retail exclusive' stretch goals, well, PR doesn't seem to be a real concern for them!
Stretch goals look to have been £10K apart, so will they be revealing an additional already unlocked 7 (or more) tomorrow, or will the gap...increase?
It probably had to anyway, but...overall, it isn't making a great first impression.
Not liking the having to check with mom and dad before we can show new stuff.
Worries me we'll see a Prodos/ Fox debacle again.
What would be funny is if they are only allowed to show x goals a day, they show us four or five more that have been unlocked, and then we begin the waiting game again... for stuff already unlocked.
to be included in your pledges:
4 new player characters
enhanced boss behaviour cards or the Dancer and the Executioner
5 legendary weapon treasure cards
plus a mega-Boss add-on: the Gaping Dragon boss mode - can't wait to show you the model tomorrow morning!!
So sounds like things are unlocking, they just can't reveal them until get approval from Japan. Not good planning.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And breakdown of stretch goal locations -
1x every £20k until we hit £500k then every £25k after that until £1m
Do I even want to know how much a Gaping Dragon is going to cost me?
At least if it ends up in the PM and I can add on via Paypal, I don't really mind. My wife is not keen on super large credit card bills, but is fine if I spend all my virtual paypal money on whatever nonsense I'm interested in.
They didn't know a game based on Dark Souls would do really, really well?
I suppose that's possible...
This is Bandai we're talking about. They're not exactly good at marketing or handling their own properties outside of Japan. Just look at how well they handled Gundam- which is their biggest cash cow- outside of Japan.
miniatures will come fully assembled...the game and all its components are being manufactured for us by Ludo Fact so we have zero doubts that the quality will be world class!
Is "Ludo Fact" the same company that did JOURNEY and...(X)?
Backed SO hard... A board game based on DS is like a dream come true, my favorite franchise in gaming history. Just hope they'll sort out the campaign management NOW so they don't lose momentum.
I'm sure at least part of it is needing to check back with the licencor about what they can say/show,
it's all very well saying put up text if you don't have art, but text needs approval too and as prodos/fox showed in AvP jumping the gun can lead to very awkward stuff further down the line
Mymearan wrote: The Gaping Dragon is retailer exclusive? What the flying feth...
That better not be the case. Guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow, but c'mon, Steamforged. What's next, is Gwyn going to be a retailer only stretch goal?
Worst part is, every mistake they make here puts a damper on my Guild Ball enthusiasm.
They haven't said when the gaping dragons was unlocked, just that we have unlocked 4 extra characters, 2 sets of boss cards, 5 bonus treasure cards and the dragon addon.
Aeneades wrote: They haven't said when the gaping dragons was unlocked, just that we have unlocked 4 extra characters, 2 sets of boss cards, 5 bonus treasure cards and the dragon addon.
I had been looking at this on a lark, in parallel to KD:M. However, the more that I think about it, the less excited I am.
I'm not bothered by the lack of backer exclusives, but the creation of retailer exclusives of any sort? Feth that gak. If SFG wants retailer money, they can let the retailers finance the production.
And if I can't get the stuff now, why shouldn't I wait until it hits retail a year or two from now?
Because you can pledge now and get all the stretch goals that aren't add ons or retailer exclusive for "free". That's why there's value in pledging now.
The retailer exclusive stuff really doesn't matter when you can still buy it later and you're still getting the core game plus stretch goals for your base pledge amount.
The alternative is waiting til the game is released, buying the core game for its retail price, then having to buy all the stretch goals you didn't get at full retail price because you didn't pledge on the Kickstarter. People who pledge will get all that without having to spend more money than a core game set costs. And then you will still have to buy the retailer exclusive addons as well, just like everyone else.
Also as I said above the value in pledging now is you get the stretch goals for free, which are already adding up in terms of value... if you don't pledge now you have to pay for them after the game is released.
I'm not trying to persuade you, sorry if it sounded that way. It just seems to me that it is quite obvious what the value is in pledging as opposed to waiting until the game is released and you're not the only one I've seen say there's no value to it.
Backed this one! I'm a big fan of these dark medieval universes like KD:M and DS, and DS is much more up my alley (much lower number of scantily clad buxom women making me feel less akward about showing the models to other people )
MaxT wrote: Discussing the "value" an entire 3 hours in is bonkers anyway in any modern Kickstarter. See where it's at later if you're unsure of the value.
No, it's not when they offer 2 different pledge levels, and the one is far better than the other. That's pretty easy to assess:
a) 33 Retail + FREE shipping
b) 80 Individual + 10 shipping
Maybe they close the 57 GBP gap, maybe not. I'm just thinking they're gouging with that $80 premium over retail.
I don't really get why they're bothering with the"Retailer Exclusive" stuff. Only a select few get access to them and they aren't really even exclusive since they said they would be available on their webshop. So really, it's just something coming out when the game hits retail. Why even bother showing it or including it? Do they expect early access to certain expansions will be enough to entice retailers to support this? If they do, why not just go with a traditional funding model then?
MaxT wrote: Discussing the "value" an entire 3 hours in is bonkers anyway in any modern Kickstarter. See where it's at later if you're unsure of the value.
No, it's not when they offer 2 different pledge levels, and the one is far better than the other. That's pretty easy to assess:
a) 33 Retail + FREE shipping
b) 80 Individual + 10 shipping
Maybe they close the 57 GBP gap, maybe not. I'm just thinking they're gouging with that $80 premium over retail.
But for option A I have to buy 6 copies of the game and also be a retailer. They're buying at trade pricing and in "bulk". I'd expect retailer pricing to be less.
Wouldn't 33 retail be the case simply to promote the game via retailers? They get early access to promote it, do they not, and also have to buy 6 at once to get them for that price don't they? Perhaps I'm just confused but I was under the impression that they would offer the game to retailers at a lower price than an individual regardless of time of purchase anyways, so really an individual backer is losing nothing and just has the unfortunate knowledge of how little the retailer had to pay in comparison to them. But that's always happening anyways, individuals just don't have the knowledge, no?
The retail exclusive stuff is an incentive for retailers because they can demo more stuff when they get early access and show that the game is supported rather than a one box thing? Also it gives us a sneak preview of what else is going to be available when we want to expand, showing us the game has a future beyond the Kickstarter. Wouldn't retailers want to know they can sell more products for a game system than just the core set, and that it's likely to be supported?
I dunno, just seems like they're trying to keep retailers involved to me. But I'm not too experienced in terms of criticizing the industry. It does seem unnecessarily confusing. If anyone can tell me flaws in my perception I'll very gladly listen as I'm refraining from backing it myself until I understand more about what's going on.
I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed, but I believe the retailer stretch goals has been turned into retailer bonus unlocks, and the graphic of the Last Giant has been removed.
Accolade wrote: Backed this one! I'm a big fan of these dark medieval universes like KD:M and DS, and DS is much more up my alley (much lower number of scantily clad buxom women making me feel less akward about showing the models to other people )
Yeah, ol' man-boob scrotum-throat-with-eyeballs is *much* more presentable.
Half a million dollars worth of backers think there's value here. Hope Bandai doesn't have to approve every single model change like a certain other licensor did...!
Very happy with everything so far. So what if I have to pick up a couple of models outside the KS, if it keeps retailer's happy and willing to stock the product and get more pledges in then I don't see what the big fuss is about. It's all going fine IMO, but then I'm not one of these people who needs to be updated every second.
Holy chr*st. The butthurt on BGG about the retailer "exclusives" is amazing. And I think I'll wait a *whole day* for Stronghold to post the SG's before making any conclusions.
Read that Stronghold games planned SG's up to £1M, and they're 1/3 the way there on day one.
Accolade wrote: Backed this one! I'm a big fan of these dark medieval universes like KD:M and DS, and DS is much more up my alley (much lower number of scantily clad buxom women making me feel less akward about showing the models to other people )
Yeah, ol' man-boob scrotum-throat-with-eyeballs is *much* more presentable.
Half a million dollars worth of backers think there's value here. Hope Bandai doesn't have to approve every single model change like a certain other licensor did...!
I... I have to buy both of those. Hopefully they start doing DS2 and DS3 bosses, haven't played those so I could probably talk myself into skipping them
Also it's insane that they're at almost £500,000 already!
Most likely scenario: They were caught off-guard and don't have graphics done and approved by Bandai yet. We'll probably see them in the next few days.
Most likely scenario: They were caught off-guard and don't have graphics done and approved by Bandai yet. We'll probably see them in the next few days.
In two days, this KS will most likely have hit 1 Million, and they will be lagging more and more behind with their updates. I really don't understand how they could have been so ill-prepared and only have approved content for up to 90k.
Most likely scenario: They were caught off-guard and don't have graphics done and approved by Bandai yet. We'll probably see them in the next few days.
In two days, this KS will most likely have hit 1 Million, and they will be lagging more and more behind with their updates. I really don't understand how they could have been so ill-prepared and only have approved content for up to 90k.
Yeah... I hope they comment on this soon. Just admit you were caught with your pants down, like Hawk did in ther Dropfleet Commander KS.
I put in £140 for know, let's see if I'll have to put in even more before this is over... I'll probably spread out my purchases between the campaign itself and the PM.
Wow, wow, wow. This is a bit crazy. Time for me to jump in and clarify a few things from the production side which I can do easier than Steamforged can.
Okay, about the miniatures. SFG has answered, but I am happy to do it again:
Scale will be "heroic", usually 32mm. Bigger would not be good. I know. I know the Gaping Dragon. Wait and see, you will all want it. I know I do!
Those will be PVC miniatures. Of course. And, by the way, yes: Chinese PVC. Since I am not planning on having a conversation with them, I don't care where the PVC was made. China is absolutely top notch when it comes to injection moulding. Now, back @ topic: PVC is the best material for this. Resin is expensive and breaks easily, HIPS is unforgiving when it comes to releasing it from moulds. And: it also breaks easily. Usually it is used for bases and such only. So PVC is not "only PVC", it is "fortunately PVC!". No broken swords, arrowheads or tentacles. As a gamer I'd say: Give me PVC, SFG! Here we go (thumping rhythm starts) ... Gimme PVC, friends at SFG, or you are to blame, if I won't back your game… (Labels: for recording contracts contact my agent).
Miniatures come preassembled. Apart from the fact that SFG said so from the start, I would have tried to convince them of it. I am a gamer, not a model builder. And since one of the minis we are working on consists of at least eleven parts… oh, but I should not say that. Hush, hush, Frank.
Box insert: this question has been raised many hundred comments further down. Let me give you my personal point of view which is NOT SFG's, just to make that clear. So: what you want is a "jack of all trades"-device. Cannot work. If we have an insert it will only work for the retail game version content. Now, if you ever looked at the miniature games that have been made you will see that the storage of minis is actually pretty difficult. I hate to try to get them back into the tray (Zombicide or Blood Rage, for example). My Zombicide minis are in PE bags now. But we are looking into that as well, just need the campaign to be done, pledge manager run and then we can do the fine tuning. The biggest work actually comes *after* the campaign, But the retail version will have some kind of inlay, and all the stretch goals will NOT fit in. The retail game would look really strange with space for expansions and SGs, especially if those become more than the retail version entails. And it does look like that is going to happen...
So PVC is not "only PVC", it is "fortunately PVC!".
How fortunate. I do like saving money.
This is a board game, what were you expecting?
Not much really. Because it's a board game.
HIPS would have been nice tho.
Board games don't do HIPS, unless run by a crazy person like Adam Poots. It doesn't make sense financially or practically, since board gamers hate assembling miniatures.
Mymearan wrote: Board games don't do HIPS, unless run by a crazy person like Adam Poots. It doesn't make sense financially or practically, since board gamers hate assembling miniatures.
Mymearan wrote: Board games don't do HIPS, unless run by a crazy person like Adam Poots. It doesn't make sense financially or practically, since board gamers hate assembling miniatures.
And that should concern me why exactly?
Because boardgames are generally targeted at boardgamers?
Going on the company's other releases, would anyone with experience of them care to comment on the quality?
I've found stuff like Zombiecide Black Plague to be perfectly acceptable to spend time on painting (very good, even) is this likely to fall within the same ballpark?
Alpharius wrote:It's really not the 'buxom women' that make KD:M a truly potential awkward experience!
ced1106 wrote:
Accolade wrote: Backed this one! I'm a big fan of these dark medieval universes like KD:M and DS, and DS is much more up my alley (much lower number of scantily clad buxom women making me feel less akward about showing the models to other people )
Yeah, ol' man-boob scrotum-throat-with-eyeballs is *much* more presentable.
Haha, oh definitely, I was just mentioning the tip of the iceberg regarding all the stuff going on in KD:M
Pacific wrote: Going on the company's other releases, would anyone with experience of them care to comment on the quality?
I've found stuff like Zombiecide Black Plague to be perfectly acceptable to spend time on painting (very good, even) is this likely to fall within the same ballpark?
Guild Ball has been well received and due to the production company they are using I expect the minis to be Zombicide levels of quality.
Pacific wrote: Going on the company's other releases, would anyone with experience of them care to comment on the quality?
I've found stuff like Zombiecide Black Plague to be perfectly acceptable to spend time on painting (very good, even) is this likely to fall within the same ballpark?
Guild Ball has been well received and due to the production company they are using I expect the minis to be Zombicide levels of quality.
Zombiecide miniatures were pretty damn good.
I am PUMPED with this kickstarter. Hot damn, if Solaire shows up, I'm so sold.
Do we know what the expansions come with? At 28 Pounds each those are getting very expensive, very quickly. I don't doubt the model will be cool, and they'll obviously include AI decks.... but do they have any other meaningful gameplay content?
I feel like what we know thus far speaks to a pretty minimal "exploring" part of the game, with more a boss-rush thing going on?
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote: Do we know what the expansions come with? At 28 Pounds each those are getting very expensive, very quickly. I don't doubt the model will be cool, and they'll obviously include AI decks.... but do they have any other meaningful gameplay content?
I feel like what we know thus far speaks to a pretty minimal "exploring" part of the game, with more a boss-rush thing going on?
And any reason to 'buy now' vs. 'buy later from some place that will sell them for quite a bit less'?
All of the unlocked 'free' stretch goals seem...underwhelming and/or were going to be included anyway.
Unless I'm missing something?
(Entirely possible!)
Nope, doesn't seem to be anything special. I guess its just if you want to get them all at the same time.
Then again, the reason why they're so expensive is, I'm going to guess, because they're going to be huge. Kalameet, the Gaping Dragon, and the Last Giant all tower over players in the games.
Oh, and they tied retailer goals to retailer pledge amounts. Very smart, and should settle a lot of the complaints. I know I'm happy.
Element Games mentioned in the comments that at least one of the expansions will be bigger than anything in Warmachine. Expect huge minis!
Buying now ensures you'll be able to get them without having to hunt them down or stare at eternal "out of stock" or "sold out" notices. Also helps unlock more stuff for free. But yes, if you want to save money on the expansions and chance the availability then you're probably better off waiting.
Free SGs are underwhelming? 6 player characters, 2 bosses, a handful of mobs and a demon are quite exciting to me. That's not even mentioning the terrain (including bonfire!) and numerous card decks. And there's plenty more to come.
Pacific wrote: Going on the company's other releases, would anyone with experience of them care to comment on the quality?
I've found stuff like Zombiecide Black Plague to be perfectly acceptable to spend time on painting (very good, even) is this likely to fall within the same ballpark?
Zombiecide and Bloodrage-like is what SFG told me to expect in the KS comments.
And any reason to 'buy now' vs. 'buy later from some place that will sell them for quite a bit less'?
All of the unlocked 'free' stretch goals seem...underwhelming and/or were going to be included anyway.
Unless I'm missing something?
(Entirely possible!)
No reason to pledge now that I see- I don't think there is anything exclusive to the Kickstarter. I'm personally just going to wait for reviews. Of course, I was never really into Dark Souls to begin with.
The comment about how "Chinese PVC" is fantastic made me laugh a bit. Some manufacturers do good work, and sometimes you get Relic Knights. I'm not sure when is ever prefer PVC to HIPS/Resin unless cost is a factor.
And any reason to 'buy now' vs. 'buy later from some place that will sell them for quite a bit less'?
All of the unlocked 'free' stretch goals seem...underwhelming and/or were going to be included anyway.
Unless I'm missing something?
(Entirely possible!)
No reason to pledge now that I see- I don't think there is anything exclusive to the Kickstarter. I'm personally just going to wait for reviews. Of course, I was never really into Dark Souls to begin with.
The comment about how "Chinese PVC" is fantastic made me laugh a bit. Some manufacturers do good work, and sometimes you get Relic Knights. I'm not sure when is ever prefer PVC to HIPS/Resin unless cost is a factor.
Can't really do these types of one-piece models in HIPS.
And any reason to 'buy now' vs. 'buy later from some place that will sell them for quite a bit less'?
All of the unlocked 'free' stretch goals seem...underwhelming and/or were going to be included anyway.
Unless I'm missing something?
(Entirely possible!)
No reason to pledge now that I see- I don't think there is anything exclusive to the Kickstarter. I'm personally just going to wait for reviews. Of course, I was never really into Dark Souls to begin with.
The comment about how "Chinese PVC" is fantastic made me laugh a bit. Some manufacturers do good work, and sometimes you get Relic Knights. I'm not sure when is ever prefer PVC to HIPS/Resin unless cost is a factor.
Can't really do these types of one-piece models in HIPS.
And any reason to 'buy now' vs. 'buy later from some place that will sell them for quite a bit less'?
All of the unlocked 'free' stretch goals seem...underwhelming and/or were going to be included anyway.
Unless I'm missing something?
(Entirely possible!)
No reason to pledge now that I see- I don't think there is anything exclusive to the Kickstarter. I'm personally just going to wait for reviews. Of course, I was never really into Dark Souls to begin with.
The comment about how "Chinese PVC" is fantastic made me laugh a bit. Some manufacturers do good work, and sometimes you get Relic Knights. I'm not sure when is ever prefer PVC to HIPS/Resin unless cost is a factor.
Can't really do these types of one-piece models in HIPS.
Are these going to be "bendy" PVC then?
They are being made by Ludo Fact, so expect CMON quality. The only bendy bits on those are thin extremities. It's fairly rigid overall.
Alpharius wrote: And any reason to 'buy now' vs. 'buy later from some place that will sell them for quite a bit less'?
All of the unlocked 'free' stretch goals seem...underwhelming and/or were going to be included anyway.
According to the a fairly recent update, "Note that the new players characters will have band new models as well as unique cards/stats...they will be included in the KS core pledge, not the final retail boxed product...player characters will be boxed and released to retail for those people that missed out on the KS."
I'm not sure if the other stretch goals then upgrade the retail box but at least anything that is considered "new player characters" won't be in the retail box. I'm still not sure that is enough incentive to buy now vs later. In most cases, at least with expansions, it has always been better to buy the expansions later if they don't have a KS Exclusive in them (which I don't think these do).
Alpharius wrote: IF they match the quality of Zombicide Black Plague AND Blood Rage, then we'll all be happy
I believe those were done by Ludo Fact. They will be manufacturing the game and components as well for this KS.
I'm underwhelmed so far. That Bloodborne hunter from Rum and Bones 2 is a more inteesting mini than what's offered here and he doesn't even have a saw cleaver! Saves me quite a bit of money, though.
PS: I got a scratch built saw cleaver but I can't decide which one of my Nurgle Marines should get it
Alpharius wrote: IF they match the quality of Zombicide Black Plague AND Blood Rage, then we'll all be happy!
Is that the case? Even the painters?
I've never seen these minis first hand.
As a middle of the road painter (on a good day), I think they're perfectly fine. Spent many happy hours painting up the character figs with a bit of detail and batch-painting the zombies. I can't speak for the 'high end' guys who paint eyeballs on 15mm figures or NMM though..
It's supposed to be the same factory the Journey used, right? That stuff was definitely the best PVC I've ever seen, which means about on par with decent HIPS and generally worth painting.
I'm waiting this out for now. The only minis I've seen that are must haves for me are Stein and Smough. I'm confident I'll be able to pick this up locally in the future. But if Solaire is included that could be the tipping point for me.
Still no clear infos from Steamforged about big parts of the game. Bandai is holding the leash pretty tight and who would have thought that a board game for a big name like Dark Souls might get so many backers and should have pre-approved lots of stretchgoals?
Very underwhelmed so far, sticking with my minimum pledge.
Hanskrampf wrote: Still no clear infos from Steamforged about big parts of the game. Bandai is holding the leash pretty tight and who would have thought that a board game for a big name like Dark Souls might get so many backers and should have pre-approved lots of stretchgoals?
Very underwhelmed so far, sticking with my minimum pledge.
Again, this is Bandai. They can pretty much be guaranteed to mismanage any property. Let's also not forget their habit of immediately giving up and dumping a product line if it doesn't perform to their expectations.
Probably buried in hate mail about the retailer exclusives and trying to deal with the approval stuff as well as trying to keep up with the SG breaking.
I'm sure we'll see more soon, the project has only been live for 23 hours and the massive success seems to have caught them by surprise (even though anyone should have realised this was a cash cow).
Mostly, the waiting for approvals part. I just think that if they weren't ready for the first day, with at least part of the sgs pre-approved, what else aren't they ready for? When you're dealing with a large IP you have very little control. Time will tell, I'm trying not to be negative, but there has been little to make me feel better about it.
Grumpae wrote: My issue is this is already reminding me of AvP, which is most definitely not a good thing!
Please. These guys are far more prepared than Prodos was, and you can see it in how SFG is launching with clear SGs, clear rewards, nice graphics, timely response, no backtracking on retailer stuff. They've clearly got their gak together. Right?
Seriously, though, this is a clusterfeth, and I'm not backing it at all. I pulled my 48h reminder as well.
This also looks crazy expensive. For the same money, I'll buy CMoN's Massive Darkness (which is almost certain to deliver) and/or more Kingdom Death (which is almost certainly of higher quality and larger scale).
JohnHwangDD wrote: This also looks crazy expensive. For the same money, I'll buy CMoN's Massive Darkness (which is almost certain to deliver) and/or more Kingdom Death (which is almost certainly of higher quality and larger scale).
That's kind of the thing. I'm in at the Early Bird, right? So that's $117 with shipping. Then each of the stretch goal bosses so far is $40, so that's $277. And the two retailer bosses are an additional $40 after the project, so $357. And that's not counting the amount of other bosses that might come out in the next month that this is going to run.
At that point, why not grab the Kingdom Death box, which has higher quality products and a system that I've played and enjoyed?
Grumpae wrote: Mostly, the waiting for approvals part. I just think that if they weren't ready for the first day, with at least part of the sgs pre-approved, what else aren't they ready for? When you're dealing with a large IP you have very little control. Time will tell, I'm trying not to be negative, but there has been little to make me feel better about it.
We had art for the first few SG. Apparently Steamforged didn't expect a Dark Souls board game to break $1m in the first 24 hours so they are now scrambling.
Ill prepared, certainly, but at least they aren't showing stuff in breach of IP contract and getting their page shut down.
Grumpae wrote: Mostly, the waiting for approvals part. I just think that if they weren't ready for the first day, with at least part of the sgs pre-approved, what else aren't they ready for? When you're dealing with a large IP you have very little control. Time will tell, I'm trying not to be negative, but there has been little to make me feel better about it.
We had art for the first few SG. Apparently Steamforged didn't expect a Dark Souls board game to break $1m in the first 24 hours so they are now scrambling.
Ill prepared, certainly, but at least they aren't showing stuff in breach of IP contract and getting their page shut down.
I didn't see any art for the first sgs, can't find any on the campaign page either.
Grumpae wrote: Mostly, the waiting for approvals part. I just think that if they weren't ready for the first day, with at least part of the sgs pre-approved, what else aren't they ready for? When you're dealing with a large IP you have very little control. Time will tell, I'm trying not to be negative, but there has been little to make me feel better about it.
We had art for the first few SG. Apparently Steamforged didn't expect a Dark Souls board game to break $1m in the first 24 hours so they are now scrambling.
Ill prepared, certainly, but at least they aren't showing stuff in breach of IP contract and getting their page shut down.
I didn't see any art for the first sgs, can't find any on the campaign page either.
It was taken off when they put the SG wall of text up instead. Not sure why
Gotta say, as ill-prepared as this campaign obviously was, it still looks like an overall good buy to me. The mechanics in the gameplay preview video look interesting and pretty well done, so it's getting my money. Also I'm a sucker for Dark Souls. I just hope they unlock Four Kings.....
Also, they've now got text previews of stretch goals up to £875K:
They may well have intended to be well prepared, with everything finalised and tied up before the KS launch,
but if the marketing division of Bandai doesn't move as fast as they expected as is so often the case when licence approval stuff is concerned (no matter who the large company is)
(or Bandai needed changes to stuff they thought would be ok and then needed to run the whole approval process again)
Steamforged would be left with the choice of delay the KS for an indeterminate time and waste any advertising the had booked (if they were able to stop it at all),
or go for it with what they had giving us a result like this
since they've been very switched on an smart with guildball I very much suspect this is pretty much what happened (although I'm sure they've been delighted and terrified about how fast this has blown up as it's certainly a wildest dreams scenario)
Looking at the contents, I;m not blown away. Probably the only thing I'd want from this is Ornstein - that dragoon armour set has always been my favourite.
...which is good, really. I don't need this. I have KD:M and expansions and I have enough trouble getting all those models made as it is, never mind getting a group together to play.
Alpharius wrote: People are pledging ridiculous amounts of without seeing much beyond the core game minis/renders.
Clearly the power of the Dark Souls brand is mighty indeed!
If the core game and each of the expansions is considered "rediculous amounts" then I'm guilty.
Love the current showings, and I know what the other stuff looks like via the video games, so I'm sure the minis will be nice. I have 25 days to change my mind if I don't like what I see for some reason.
We've seen video of the combat mechanics and it looks really fun. With the positive reception of Guild Ball I'm sure the overall ruleset will be solid.
Such is the nature of a KS, you don't always see everything up front, but must weigh the risk based on precidence.
Barzam wrote: Again, this is Bandai. They can pretty much be guaranteed to mismanage any property. Let's also not forget their habit of immediately giving up and dumping a product line if it doesn't perform to their expectations.
Like what? I'd like to look more into how well or poorly Bandai managed licensed products in the past. Links to forum posts, articles, etc. appreciated. TIA.
Barzam wrote: Again, this is Bandai. They can pretty much be guaranteed to mismanage any property. Let's also not forget their habit of immediately giving up and dumping a product line if it doesn't perform to their expectations.
Like what? I'd like to look more into how well or poorly Bandai managed licensed products in the past. Links to forum posts, articles, etc. appreciated. TIA.
While I don't have links to past items, we can take a look at some of their more common franchises and endeavors.
I think the one that comes to mind is their card games. Most of their games never make it past the 'base' expansion before promptly ceasing all production and without a damn word they are doing so. Specifically, the Digimon card game. Every time they 'reboot' it, it lasts less than a year. And instead of learning from prior successes or failures, they just say 'feth it' and don't bother for another x years.
Edit: Another was the Resident Evil; Deck Building card game.
No idea why they ceased production on that, and why so suddenly when the game is fricken fantastic, and RIGHT before RE6 was about to come out. While I hated RE6 as a game, I'd not have balked at getting a mini expansion as some of the stuff the game had was cool enough to make it into the card game.
Jehan-reznor wrote: I am a big Dark Souls fan but i will wait untill there are reviews on the game and mini's
I'm merely going to wait a bit longer. I'd like to grab it during the KS to get the extra player characters, freebie bosses and other little goodies. Though I want to see some renders or actual samples first before diving in just yet.
I mean, already with these stretch goals, the game's initially silly price feels far more suitable.
OK Namco-Bandai officially > Fox for signing off stuff, where it would have taken months to decide where on the aliens mouth inside its mouth the FOX logo should be stamped..
Commander Dante - that should definitely be the official tagline !
Hope that's not all. Only shows renders of two miniatures, rest is artwork/In-Game graphics. No pictures of the add-on bosses or the retailer exclusive stuff. If that will also be just artwork we already know from the Dark Souls video games, I'm gonna stop checking for updates...
Considering the absolute ton of stuff you already get with a basic pledge, I'd say this is already worth it. Very, very worth it.
I just REALLY want to see the Gaping Dragon and those gigantic bosses to see if it's worth throwing even more money at it. I've always wanted to painted Dark Souls miniatures, all I need is a Solaire and Onion Bro to seal the deal.
The Boss Expansions are additional purchases you can make to enhance your board game experience. These models are big - the Gaping Dragon is around 12-15cm tall! They also come with additional items to support their gameplay:
A Tileset for the Boss Encounter (vary in quantity dependent on the boss)
1 Boss Dial for tracking damage
A Unique Boss AI Deck that fully replicates their movements and attacks within the actual game itself
12-15cm tall...
Spoiler:
Seriously, this is pressing all the right buttons and more. I really need this NOT to flop
Alpharius wrote: People are pledging ridiculous amounts of without seeing much beyond the core game minis/renders.
Clearly the power of the Dark Souls brand is mighty indeed!
Well it's ridiculous amounts of people that are pledging, the average £ pledged per backer is only a bit above the standard pledge.
No 57 different types of addons to get wrong while packing ala Mantic either. Will make the packing and shipping process less prone to [MOD EDIT - LANGUAGE! - Alpharius]
I spy a Siegmeyer and Solaire in the armor set expansion!
Also 12-15cm for the Gaping Dragon. HOLY gak. For comparison I just measured my Cygnar Colossal and it clocks in at 13cm to the very top, and the Gaping Dragon is wider than it is tall...
Excited about this! Steamforged have hit a potential gold mine with this. Hope it doesn't get unmanageable for them- a friend of a friend works for them!
Looking forward to seeing a render for Black Dragon Kalameet. Also want a Kapra Demon and Taurus Demon!
A big fat butted Asylum Demon would be sweet, too.
Also 12-15cm for the Gaping Dragon. HOLY gak. For comparison I just measured my Cygnar Colossal and it clocks in at 13cm to the very top, and the Gaping Dragon is wider than it is tall...
No Solaire, that's Tarkus. Hope there will be another Armour Expansion with Solaire, though.
Also 12-15cm for the Gaping Dragon. HOLY gak. For comparison I just measured my Cygnar Colossal and it clocks in at 13cm to the very top, and the Gaping Dragon is wider than it is tall...
No Solaire, that's Tarkus. Hope there will be another Armour Expansion with Solaire, though.
I wonder what this armor set is, exactly? I mean, yes, it's NPCs from the series... But for what purpose? Just alternate player models for pure aesthetics? I guess we'll see.
Unless I'm a dumb and missed something (quite possible)!
The Fragile Breath wrote: I wonder what this armor set is, exactly? I mean, yes, it's NPCs from the series... But for what purpose? Just alternate player models for pure aesthetics? I guess we'll see.
Unless I'm a dumb and missed something (quite possible)!
There is loot in the game so no reason you couldn't get new armor.
The Fragile Breath wrote: I wonder what this armor set is, exactly? I mean, yes, it's NPCs from the series... But for what purpose? Just alternate player models for pure aesthetics? I guess we'll see.
Unless I'm a dumb and missed something (quite possible)!
There is loot in the game so no reason you couldn't get new armor.
Yup, I assume you can pick up armor sets and replace your mini with an appropriate alternative from the expansion.
It might once the unsustainable growth stops as saturation occurs, and it becomes a 1-2 day wait for a 5-card expansion for an existing boss!
Still, looking very nice so far! Although Rocket Games hasn't produced any actual boardgames to date (my understanding is that Guild Ball is rather more boutique and locally produced), so hope the challenges on that front don't produce any issues. Certainly the amount of money ought to offer a substantial buffer against production problems!
Do people feel that combat against mook-type enemies will be of much interest? One thing I think KD: M got right was essentially skipping right to the bosses, and keeping progression to them as a list of events.
Bioptic wrote: It might once the unsustainable growth stops as saturation occurs, and it becomes a 1-2 day wait for a 5-card expansion for an existing boss!
Still, looking very nice so far! Although Rocket Games hasn't produced any actual boardgames to date (my understanding is that Guild Ball is rather more boutique and locally produced), so hope the challenges on that front don't produce any issues. Certainly the amount of money ought to offer a substantial buffer against production problems!
Do people feel that combat against mook-type enemies will be of much interest? One thing I think KD: M got right was essentially skipping right to the bosses, and keeping progression to them as a list of events.
If the boardgame is anything like the "real" game, even the mooks will be challenging. You die far more times to mooks than to bosses
Bioptic wrote: It might once the unsustainable growth stops as saturation occurs, and it becomes a 1-2 day wait for a 5-card expansion for an existing boss!
Still, looking very nice so far! Although Rocket Games hasn't produced any actual boardgames to date (my understanding is that Guild Ball is rather more boutique and locally produced), so hope the challenges on that front don't produce any issues. Certainly the amount of money ought to offer a substantial buffer against production problems!
Do people feel that combat against mook-type enemies will be of much interest? One thing I think KD: M got right was essentially skipping right to the bosses, and keeping progression to them as a list of events.
It's a Steamforged Games game, which will be produced by Ludo Fact. Don't think they will run into big problems.
Sorry, not sure why I thought Rocket Games - Steamforged indeed. And Ludo Fact seems quite a comprehensive business, in that you can give them money and assets and get something quite reliably produced, so good news there!
I have to say...now that they have final image approval from Bandai Namco, they've been releasing updates MUCH more rapidly and consistently. Woke up today to 3 project updates on my phone, and an extra one rolled in shortly after. It would still be nice to see some actual sculpt renders instead of just game art assets, but it's helping to convince me that this project wasn't so poorly managed as day one might have suggested.
Sinful Hero wrote: So what have they shown production models of? Or is everyone pledging based solely on cool sketches of PVC minis ala Relic Knights?
There's prototypes of the Dancer, Knight and Herald. I love them and they seem on par with other high-quality board games like Zombicide or Blood Rage.
Otherwise it's just renders and artwork, but judging by Steamforged's previous work and the fact they are in partnership with Ludo Fact means I have no doubt the finished article will be excellent.
Sinful Hero wrote: So what have they shown production models of? Or is everyone pledging based solely on cool sketches of PVC minis ala Relic Knights?
There's prototypes of the Dancer, Knight and Herald. I love them and they seem on par with other high-quality board games like Zombicide or Blood Rage.
Otherwise it's just renders and artwork, but judging by Steamforged's previous work and the fact they are in partnership with Ludo Fact means I have no doubt the finished article will be excellent.
That seems fairly optimistic. It's not 2013 anymore- people expect at least masters of all the miniatures available on a Kickstarter. We already have elements of the mistakes of past kickstarters echoing all around this project. As I said artwork but no miniatures(Relic Knights), approval from X before releasing anything(Such as Fox and the AVP Kickstarter), and then they were obviously ill-prepared for the amount of interest(Bones 1, where stretch goals became filled with place holder artwork- I believe several other kickstarters have had this problem as well).
These are rookie mistakes that shouldn't be happening in 2016. Have they just willingly ignored every other project before their's? That's some worrying stuff that makes a body wait for retail and reviews.
Sinful Hero wrote: So what have they shown production models of? Or is everyone pledging based solely on cool sketches of PVC minis ala Relic Knights?
There's prototypes of the Dancer, Knight and Herald. I love them and they seem on par with other high-quality board games like Zombicide or Blood Rage.
Otherwise it's just renders and artwork, but judging by Steamforged's previous work and the fact they are in partnership with Ludo Fact means I have no doubt the finished article will be excellent.
That seems fairly optimistic. It's not 2013 anymore- people expect at least masters of all the miniatures available on a Kickstarter. We already have elements of the mistakes of past kickstarters echoing all around this project. As I said artwork but no miniatures(Relic Knights), approval from X before releasing anything(Such as Fox and the AVP Kickstarter), and then they were obviously ill-prepared for the amount of interest(Bones 1, where stretch goals became filled with place holder artwork- I believe several other kickstarters have had this problem as well).
These are rookie mistakes that shouldn't be happening in 2016. Have they just willingly ignored every other project before their's? That's some worrying stuff that makes a body wait for retail and reviews.
I hear what your saying but almost 11,000 backers and almost 1 Million Pound's Sterling disagrees with you.
