100% this, well said mate.

Couldn't agree more.

Nothing that has been offered for purchase in the A La Carte store has any real influence on an individuals or kingdoms success or provides any advantage. Its purely cosmetic and no one is forced to buy anything.

is it a cash grab? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on the criteria used to define such as thing, but that doesn't mean its a bad thing if it is. Funds are needed to pay the bills and complete the development of the game, so SBS has found another, completely optional way to pay the bills allowing people to fund more of the game and also receive something in return..

I also don't want this game to be another clone or cookie cutter MMO like <insert existing MMO title>.

I like and MUCH prefer the original ideas and concepts that were put forward. I want this game to take people, myself included, out of their comfort zones, to do things differently. I'm getting a little tired of all the demands and suggestions to make this game like <insert existing MMO title>.

Frankly, if you want to play <insert existing MMO title>, go play that instead.

Fully agree. They need money to make the game, the less money with big corporate strings attached the better. If you backed the game it must mean you want it to succeed so why get so upset that they want to get more money to do that? If you regret spending the money because all you wanted was alpha access and now others may be able to do that for an undisclosed amount then instead of being angry look at you spending habits and motivations.

Personally if alpha 2 isn't to expensive I might get it so I'm very pleased.

This. Very much this.

But also this-- I have a lot more money to spend on this game (relative to my measly 80 dollars currently spent, not relative to you high rollers...) but I can't really go up any more. I want to start out as a Ward of the state, for my own personal story purposes. As such, I can't go up higher without changing my story- but I'd /love/ to get into some earlier access, and would happily double my pledge for that alone if not for it ruining my potential story options. I'll be eager to throw down some cash for earlier access, and there doesn't seem to be any real reason to not allow it, so I'm damned glad they're doing that!

I know I sure would love the opportunity to buy merch.

Just to point out SBS has been looking for investors since prior to the Kickstarter.

As such, we're currently evaluating multiple options for raising capital, including crowd founding, angel investment firms, and private investors. If you're a certified investor or a member of an Angel or VC firm and would like to help make Soulbound Studios successful, please contact us at [email protected].

Linky

The point of continuing to sell packages and the changes to the system ie ala cart for some items means SBS doesn’t need as much secondary funding from investors. Not that they won’t need any.

I fully expect Capsian to make sure any deal he and the rest of the team accept will be in the best interest of the game studio. Which in this case would likely be in our interest as well.

Think of it this way.

The perfect game with everything we could ever want but not enough capital to actually open the servers.

Or.

A few small concessions that actually get the game out the door?

well take 2... had spent ages writing a reply but but error killed it all :(

@malais yes i am aware that casp always planed to have investors in the game i am not naive enough to think we can completely fund this game thru crowd funding alone. but i do know he will do the best he can to protect the core values of this game in doing so. i trust his judgement in this matter.

but that being said i also like the idea of us not needing that investor until way latter in the development where they cant screw up to much of the game mechanics alot better.

my post was in response to the constant claims that SBS has been doing cash grabs the last 5-6 months... it was getting on my nerves.. i understand what people were saying but they were totaly looking at it all wrong. i have been totaly fine with the business choices of the last 6 months and just wish they could implement some more.

there are 2 things i realy would like them to implement as soon as feasible.

• Donation system - as has been posted in this thread there are some who just want to donate money. we should let them.

• Merchandise - there are alot of companies that make custom merchandise that SBS can then sell on with reasonable profit margin to help fund the game.

some ideas of merchandise SBS could sell that would sell well are

• Shirts (every one loves shirts with logos)
• hats (hats are a main stay)
• coffee mugs (also a main stay but i think they should go for a larger mug so it can double as a beer mug hehehe)
• Mouse Mats ( yes people still use these why not?)
• Signet Rings (i feel there will be a huge demand for these if done well. and ok to be pricy if made right.)
• Medallions (just like the signet rings these would be cool to own. may sell alot of them)
• Banner (dose not need to be a full massive thing but something reasonable sized might be cool to hang up in my room....)

so as you can see there is alot of scope and there are alot of companies that specialise in making this stuff so sbs can shop around.

this is something just down Kaizen's ally so look forward to what his thoughts are on this.

but yes i look forward to getting my hands on some COE bling....

I see them wearing their t-shirts and have wondered why we don't see them in a shop. Winter is coming... I mean Christmas...so how about we get some merchandise out!

Posted By Gerardan at 05:27 AM - Tue Oct 24 2017

I see them wearing their t-shirts and have wondered why we don't see them in a shop. Winter is coming... I mean Christmas...so how about we get some merchandise out!

You think it would be something they would do. Just to get the name out there. "oh that t-shirt is cool, I asked the guy about it". Oh look more people knowing about the game. Give me some bumper stickers. I would buy all that stuff up.

Mandrake speaks the truth.

A CoE shop would be great!

I bought into this game because it is an Indie development. I sincerely hope it stays that way. Regardless of whether I stay around for the full 10 years, I want the the ideas and concepts presented to come to fruition, if for no other reason than to break the traditional MMO mind-think. I would not be impressed if they sold out to the large publishers for the reasons others have stated above.

I'm not fussed about SBS offering Alpha access as an a la carte menu option. My understanding is is that they are true Alpha experiences. It's not Early Access. It's not a 3 day head start. It's QA testing of the game's mechanics. Given many are expecting a 'complete' game at Launch let those who want to spend a bit extra help out. It can only benefit everyone in the long run. If you want early access, make sure you have EP in your account.

The merchandise suggestions are great. I hope SBS are looking into this option. Suggestion for a top-shelf item: Engraved wine goblets - SBS logo on one side, an apple on the other, to remind us of how important the consumption of apple juice was during development (well, maybe not the apple, but something to think about).

As long as they don't implement micro-transactions and loot boxes in game, even if it's just "aesthetic".

Normally I would be okay with this if the game was f2p, but as we've seen with newer releases, or games you buy in general (Shadow of war, overwatch, Mass effect Andromeda, Injustice 2, Lawbreakers, Forza Motorsport 7, For Honor, Star wars battlefront 2 beta, Destiny 2 etc

We all know the game industry is getting a hard on, when it comes to getting as much money out of us as possible with EA's, (Early access, though what's the difference, right?) etc.

I hope SBS will never implement any kind of in game system after launch that will try to get more money out of players through gambling (loot boxes) or just any micro transactions.

That said I'm happy with the La cart, not just because it will hopefully decrease the influence of investors, but also because it will give incentive for new players, who haven't pledged, but would like one specific thing, could then get that without needing to pledge big amounts of cash. So we could potentially see more players join in. :3

Love the goblet idea would buy it as well...

also to put my money where my mouth is you will notice my rank is increased from Rank 8.... well i am uping my pledge to give more cash to help fund the game. sure i will get a 2nd county out of this but i also want to give the cash earler to give better results.

but oh yes... i want my signet ring.... (please make it so it can fit bigger hands please lol our local jeweller can always resize it smaller after all.)

i am no kypiq after all...

I agree, cash shop items, like the new a la carte system or hopefully at some point, merchandise. Will go a long way to help with CoE and keep the bad apples of investors away.

Now, I want to say some stuff about investors to help clear up some confusion or concerns about them, since there have been quite a few "hang all investors" kinds of threads over the years.

Investors aren't bad. Unfortunately they get a bad rap because of a very small minority that is loud and obnoxious, some louder and more obnoxious than others (yeah EA games, I mean you). And this minority thinks that since they have put money into something that they own it and can do what they want with it. Most investors aren't like this and are in-fact the exact opposite.

Here is a quick lesson on investors and how they think (being one myself). There are two major categories of investors that most investors fall into. Income investors or growth investors. Income investors invest with the idea that they will get a monetary return on a regular basis. Growth investors invest with the idea that if they put money into a project now, that money would be used to better it. And they hope that later down the line the project would be worth more and would sell for more, or will provide some kind of return on investment (ROI for short).

Neither of these investors have any interest in harming their investments. So, besides that small minority I mentioned, most investors will invest money and then say "I'm here if you need me" and then they walk away and work on investing in other things while they wait.

Investors aren't evil or bad, but like any other group of people, there are some bad ones in the mix. Which is why if you intend to acquire investors you set up rules upfront that state exactly what the investor is getting in return and what authority they have. Just like what they did with The kickstarter and pledges.

Which brings me to a final point in the lesson, we are all growth investors when it comes to CoE. We put money into this project in hopes that somewhere down the line this project will come to fruition and we get our ROIs.

Now, where's my T-shirt SBS!