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Hi DakkaDakka- Steven Lumpkin here, Lead Level Designer for Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade. I have an important question for you!

We recently announced that we're considering a Founder's Program, where our fans can buy Eternal Crusade early and possibly earn special rewards for investing in the game before release. What are your thoughts on pre-sale programs like this? Do you generally approve of them, or are you generally wary of them?

I put together a one-question survey to gauge general feeling on this, and for us to get a lot of value out of it we need as many responses as possible! Please go ahead and vote, it should only take a moment.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RC2HF2S


Hmm... while I'm here... are there any questions you've been dying to ask about the game? I can't ask you for a favor without doing you one in return!

I've voted the good, but only if it's implemented well option. Having followed the development of this game, I'm fairly confident that you guys will deliver a good game, so I wouldn't be too worried about this.

Anyway, what sort of rewards for early purchasing were you considering? Stuff like extra items, I'm presuming?

Also, for a general question, are the Sisters of Battle on the list to be added as another faction at some point? I think that others devs have said as much before, but just wanted to confirm.

On the top of your head, if a founders program is introduced, which I think it should, what would the benefits, gameplay and aesthetically be?

Or perhaps finish the game before getting people to buy it.

Pre-Ordering is stupid. Early access is worse.

Pre order is not stupid, it's a good marketing tool and early access helps iron out mistakes or issues that the dev team may miss..cos there umies.

Big ask here, will this be on ps4 or Xbox3

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Or perhaps finish the game before getting people to buy it.

Pre-Ordering is stupid. Early access is worse.

This. I'm also acutely aware that a significant portion of the community that would be vested in such a development (which happen to have a rather large influence on the EC forums, as it happens) would be quite happy to use this time to find exploits and glitches. And no, it would not be with good intent.

 Formosa wrote:
Big ask here, will this be on ps4 or Xbox3

I think that in a recent behind the scenes vid, they mentioned that they were playtesting with controllers as well as pc controls. I also recall them saying a while ago that they wanted it to be on consoles, but whether it would be or not was dependant upon what Sony and Microsoft did with their next consoles (IIRC, policies were the potential issue). However, their line on this may have chnaged since.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Early access is worse.

 liquidjoshi wrote:
This. I'm also acutely aware that a significant portion of the community that would be vested in such a development (which happen to have a rather large influence on the EC forums, as it happens) would be quite happy to use this time to find exploits and glitches. And no, it would not be with good intent.

Uh, where did he say early access? Pretty sure this is just pre-ordering.

I'm all for Founder's Programs. They are an opportunity for those who believe in the product/studio to financially support its development (which should be the main reason for someone considering to become a Founder) and have their faith be represented by some cool exclusive bonus which marks them as "a champion of the first hour", so to say.

The important thing is that whatever exclusive stuff is given away as rewards does not give them an advantage that cannot be compensated by normal in-game "grind", or lets other players feel they have seriously missed out on customization that is critical to their faction's representation.

A good example of what you could offer in this case would be something like, say, a relic weapon for Space Marines. A "+1" bolter or power sword that is mechanically no different from other "+1" bolters and power swords you can unlock via normal game progression, but which has a look that makes it instantly recognisable as a Founder bonus whilst maintaining thematic consistency. It could be golden, for example, where other Marine weapons in the game are grey or silver, and its tooltip could have a small fluff box stating that this is a weapon that dates back to the glorious days of the Great Crusade or something.

Early Access is another good incentive/reward, though ideally it should be coupled with a subsequent public beta (which I assume you are planning anyways), so that Founders are simply granted a guaranteed spot in the closed beta. I can see nothing wrong with such an approach, or how it could possibly be worse than pre-orders (which is like early access, except you don't get to play after paying!).

Including Kickstarter campaigns, which really tend to operate the exact same way when it comes to video games, I am a "Founder" in about half a dozen games by now (MechWarrior Online, Elite IV, Shadowrun Online, etc). I won't become a Founder for Eternal War, but that is just because my favourite faction(s) won't be in for some time (making me miss out on any rewards associated with them) and have not even been 100% confirmed to be added later yet (affecting my overall interest in the game). Given that Space Marines are easily the most popular faction of the franchise, however, I don't think you will have trouble finding gamers interested in this program anyways.

That you are gathering opinions and setting up surveys indicates that you intend to carry through with your commitment about open communication, which is refreshing and commendable. Best of luck to you and your team!

While I personally approach stuff like this carefully, a founders program is actually a cool idea. As Lynata pointed out tough, please, PLEASE take care to not offer anything that puts others at a disadvantage Gameplay-wise. Otherwise it may come over as one of the usual marketing-hooks that plague the gaming-industry currently.

Closed-Beta Access would be cool tough, so founders can actually try out what they invested in. Apart from that, I would generally be interested what exactly you are planning to offer for founders.

if i can have a big purple pimp hat for my space marine you got me

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Or perhaps finish the game before getting people to buy it.

Pre-Ordering is stupid. Early access is worse.

Actually from the forums this idea came from the forumites, the dev's considered it after a while and decided okay, if people really want to we might as well.

Also, for a general question, are the Sisters of Battle on the list to be added as another faction at some point? I think that others devs have said as much before, but just wanted to confirm.

They are on the list for potential races. The only one's not really allowed as a faction is Tyranids.

They want to get all factions in if they can.

Troike wrote:I've voted the good, but only if it's implemented well option. Having followed the development of this game, I'm fairly confident that you guys will deliver a good game, so I wouldn't be too worried about this.

Anyway, what sort of rewards for early purchasing were you considering? Stuff like extra items, I'm presuming?

Also, for a general question, are the Sisters of Battle on the list to be added as another faction at some point? I think that others devs have said as much before, but just wanted to confirm.

Hi Troike! YES, Sisters of Battle are one of the factions we want to add. We think they have a really neat perspective to offer, and a passionate fan base. This would be post-launch, however. We're aiming, post launch, to add every tabletop army as a playable faction.

Rewards for early purchasing- we're considering releasing playable modules well ahead of the launch of the game. Character customizer, shooting range, maybe a small map on which you can battle with your friends. It's likely you'll see exclusive cosmetics and maybe a unique hero or two. At this stage, these are just things we're considering- we will be listening to feedback to see what people want, and what worries people the most.

H.B.M.C. wrote:Or perhaps finish the game before getting people to buy it.

Pre-Ordering is stupid. Early access is worse.

This is valuable feedback for us- I hope you did vote your conscience on the survey. We need to know how many people are truly opposed to the idea.

silent0siris wrote:Rewards for early purchasing- we're considering releasing playable modules well ahead of the launch of the game. Character customizer, shooting range, maybe a small map on which you can battle with your friends.

This sounds like a good idea.
Some of those modules you might also offer to everyone who stops by your website as an incentive to get more people interested in the game, and possibly become Founders themselves. For example, the Mandate kickstarter had a little tech demo where people could build and then destroy a starship. Character customisation sounds like a good example for a free-for-all module, showcasing some of the game's visuals and working as a teaser: "this is the character you could play if you sign up".

The more advanced stuff may well remain an exclusive "backer's preview", of course.

silent0siris wrote:This is valuable feedback for us- I hope you did vote your conscience on the survey. We need to know how many people are truly opposed to the idea.

One thing, though - the survey really only gauges interest in a Founder's program, not necessarily your Founder's program. If you want numbers on specific details, perhaps you may want to put out a follow-up survey that addresses a number of options you are considering, or that potential players have suggested?

Pre orders.. can have skins etc to them..


Give Beta access, titles, forum titles.. based off founder level.. . rest is bad.
Don't make it pay to win or pay in advance for limited content.

If anything.. an improper founders will drive people away.

If there are special skins..heros etc.. that only founders got.. i think ill pass.

I feel i shouldn't be force to purchase an unfinished.. unproven product for these things. Especially from a company with the game lineup they have in the past.

(No offence, im looking forward to this game, but with a game lineup of: Naughty bear, brave, Alvin and the Chipmunks, misc wii and nintindo handheld games etc.. doesnt have me jumping for joy as a producer to a 40k game)
I see this has alot to prove, Most MMO's fail, and fall free to play - Pay to win to try to stay alive.

Ive been playing mmo's for 14 years.. 2 words

Impress me
Then ill pay.

To many mmo's come out unbalanced, clunky gameplay, lack of content anymore to throw money at them early.
In short.. Give me a playable product that founders gives me access to Alpha/Beta.. then id consider $$

Best of luck with your release.

ZebioLizard2 wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Or perhaps finish the game before getting people to buy it.

Pre-Ordering is stupid. Early access is worse.

Actually from the forums this idea came from the forumites, the dev's considered it after a while and decided okay, if people really want to we might as well.

Knowing a good portion of the invested community already, I am really, really, really railing against this idea. Most of the community is fine, but I know certain rather influential sects in the game that will, most assuredly, actively find and exploit glitches to their fullest extent. I know this, because I've seen it before in the Space Marine game.

silent0siris wrote:

Rewards for early purchasing- we're considering releasing playable modules well ahead of the launch of the game. Character customizer, shooting range, maybe a small map on which you can battle with your friends. It's likely you'll see exclusive cosmetics and maybe a unique hero or two. At this stage, these are just things we're considering- we will be listening to feedback to see what people want, and what worries people the most.

And again, this bolded stuff is what I'm worried about. This gives those determined people time to find the exploits early and ruin the game from day 1, and early access heroes just screams "NO!" to me.

 Spyder68 wrote:
Especially from a company with the game lineup they have in the past.

The company itself isn't all that relevant. The people who are actually making the game were hired by Behaviour to do so, and are experienced MMO developers.

Ahh he's still alive. Neat

I voted yes but I really want to see good implementation and a decent price. One thing I would personally suggest is it's not a full price early-access, because we are not paying for a fully released game. If you charge full price at the start that is essentially a pre-order, which isn't right.
Any exclusives you decide upon, I would suggest keeping them simple like fancy cosmetics and reskins. Don't offer any mid-endgame weapons (reskinned or exclusive) or armour or any gear - game balance for all is a must. Once you start offering those, you'll create a divide between playerbases.

So, assuming you guys went ahead with an Early Access programme, do we get access to one or multiple races that'll be available on launch? And do we carry those over to release date? E.g. if the Early Access was per faction and I chose Orks, would I still get the Orks on launch.

And to you Steven, I ask this: when are you next doing Dark Heresy because I really like watching it xD