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This came up while chatting in the Kickstarter comments last night (where those of us who have no life/are addicts still hang out hahaha)

There was mention of the fact that the increase in funds might mean a delayed release for the game, and thoughts that Divinity: Original Sin might get a December release instead. sad

Please, please don't release in December

December is usually packed with back to back AAA releases and on top of that you have all the December/January sales to contend with.

If Larian releases in December - even people who are really interested in the game will hold off buying in the hope that they get a discount during the Steam sale, or some other digital game distributors sale - then if there is no discount to be had there will be a whole lot of bitching about it.

As much as I would love to have the game right now, if a release in November is not on the cards, and the money can be stretched that far, it would be better to hold off releasing the game until the end of February.

February is becoming a great month for independent game studios to do a release. There is less competition, people have recovered from Xmas spending, and are beginning to look for good new games. In the last few years Magicka, Terraria, and Kingdoms of Amalur (to name a few) have had great February/early March releases.

(Yes I know the dev studio for KoA went bust but they still made a ton of money first - just not enough to pay for their ridiculously large loans)

The game is also more likely to get press attention with a Feb release with fewer titles at that time that they would want to write about.

The idea that a game must get a release in time for Christmas is a hold over from retail sales and really does not hold true any more in the digital age.

Obviously these are just my opinions, but I hope that if a delayed release is being considered someone from Larian will see this post, and consider them. Thanks.

Last edited by Kiya-Elle; 27/04/13 11:44 PM. Reason: spelling correction

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Kingdoms of Amalur isn't indie, it was published by EA. I also don't think it actually sold that well, either, especially not on PC where it only sold 220,000 worldwide. That said, I do see your point. I just wonder if the existence of big blockbusters like CoD and the other usual suspects will really have any impact on the sales of D:OS. They really don't share audiences at all, so I'd only see it as a risk if another fantasy RPG PC exclusive is coming out at the same time. Either way, I'm sure Larian know more than us about this kind of thing. Release schedules are perhaps one of the things they hated about working with publishers before.

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If going to December sales means pushing out a half-finished game, then absolutely not. Otherwise I think I'll trust Larian more than myself in this.

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The guys at Larian are professionals, they know when it's best when to release the game.

Although it is quite possible that the game will be delayed until 2014 in order to get all of the new features in. We'll have to wait and see.

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Originally Posted by Kingslayer
Kingdoms of Amalur isn't indie, it was published by EA. I also don't think it actually sold that well, either, especially not on PC where it only sold 220,000 worldwide. That said, I do see your point. I just wonder if the existence of big blockbusters like CoD and the other usual suspects will really have any impact on the sales of D:OS. They really don't share audiences at all, so I'd only see it as a risk if another fantasy RPG PC exclusive is coming out at the same time. Either way, I'm sure Larian know more than us about this kind of thing. Release schedules are perhaps one of the things they hated about working with publishers before.


EA only had a retail/origin distribution deal for Kingdoms of Amalur, they were not the publisher. 38 Studios was the developer and they aquired Big Huge Games to manage other aspect of publishing for them - they released independently on Steam.

On March 10, 2012, it was projected by NPD that the game sold over 330,000 physical copies just in the U.S (that's just physical copies mind, the game was #1 for a several weeks on steam alone so who knows how many digital copies were sold) and while I can understand that people might take Curt Schilling's word as suspect, he tweeted that the game had sold 1.2 million after three months.

38 Studios failed because of massive overspending and really bad management they closed with $151 million in debt which is just insane http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2012/07/38-studios-end-game/


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Release when it's ready. Period.

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classic RPG's are a unique genre, I don't think it really matters when you release it, the people that are interested in these sort of games will buy it.
As long as you get the hype train going in time ofcourse, but I'm sure we can all help out with that smile

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I have no idea why people are so scared of an hypothetical delayed release, Larian clearly stated, numerous times, that they'll hire new teams to work on the new features, and that it'll not influence the release AT ALL.

Relax.

Last edited by Asyreon; 27/04/13 06:40 PM.
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This game will do quite well regardless of when it is released. A Larian game has never had this much publicity and the fact it is the fans that help funded the game is a huge plus in their favor. So much information on how the game will function and quests are set up has been leaked that we all know what to expect. Yet none of us really know how the story will play out other then what will be revealed in the demo.

This game won't be buried under AAA titles.

If there is a delay, most of the backers will have support as they will have beta access and can support Larian in the decision to hold the game back for more bug crushing.

Last edited by LightningLockey; 27/04/13 06:36 PM.

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Actually I don't mind, if they do they can even do a combo deal with D:OS with Anthology. I myself just got it yesterday on steam anyway, and the manual alone is a bit overwhelming after so many years of those no manaul/in game tutorial. I like the forewords most, from their fist Divine Divinity game, since you can see Swen's passion and love put into this game from his words, and it's still the same so many years later from this KickStarter campaign. I feel grateful that I found this studio out from KickStarter, when first DD came out, the country I lived in probably won't even have they on local publisher's radar.(And I was probably doing crazy hours of Quake anyway.)

So I give them full trust, they survived this long with self publishing, now have crowd funding as their tools. I'm pretty sure that they will do good stuff for us first instead of worrying about release window. Those who prefer quick fix of action and bullet spamming will do their own stuff anyway, they won't sit down with a friend to go through hours upon hours of adventure.

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Release when it's done is obviously preferable and while and delay would probably be supported by the community they still have to consider the extra costs involved.

Hopefully it will be done on time without compromise... Though I wouldn't be surprised if a delay occurred... After all I'm sure they have been a little less productive the past month wink

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I couldn't care less when it will be released. If it is done and more or less bug free then it ready and should be released, not a day sooner.


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Originally Posted by Estrogen
Release when it's ready. Period.


Agreed.


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"It'll be done when it's done."
-- John Carmack

Though they weren't planning to push back the release date for additional features but rather add them later with patches if they couldn't get them in by release.

Rather have a well tested stable game than a crashtastic one, I've been waiting for a good cRPG for so long, a few extra months won't make much of a difference anymore... wink


* as usual this is imho (unless stated otherwise); feel free to disagree, ignore or try to change my mind. Agreeing with me is ofc also allowed, but makes for much worse flamewarsarguments.

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Hmmm, IIRC, Swen mentioned they the ACTUAL Release date was supposed it be October, but they decided to take =1 month as a failsafe measure. And yes, October was predicted for release with all features that KS brought ie in it's original concept (most of addition KS brought were supposed to be in the game if there were enough funds from beginning).

So, umm... I believe they will manage for November?

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Originally Posted by Kein
Hmmm, IIRC, Swen mentioned they the ACTUAL Release date was supposed it be October, but they decided to take =1 month as a failsafe measure. And yes, October was predicted for release with all features that KS brought ie in it's original concept (most of addition KS brought were supposed to be in the game if there were enough funds from beginning).

So, umm... I believe they will manage for November?


He also said that *if* extras wouldn't be done they would add them as patches after release (but don't push back the release date)


* as usual this is imho (unless stated otherwise); feel free to disagree, ignore or try to change my mind. Agreeing with me is ofc also allowed, but makes for much worse flamewarsarguments.

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Game is AAA. I'll be happy whenever release is and hope it has everything as a whole right off the bat rather than in patches.

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I'm not panicking, trying to impugn Larian's professionalism, or even saying that the game will fail if it gets a December release laugh

I think D:OS has the potential to be one of the best RPG's of this generation and I backed it on Kickstarter for more than I have done for any other game.

Swen said several times throughout the Kickstarter campaign that he appreciated our input so I posted my opinion on the possibility of a December release, that's all. smile

I don't think its as simple as saying that this is a niche RPG title that the COD crowd would not be interested in. We are all fans - we are already sold on the game.

For an example I have over 400 games in my Steam library, and while a large selection of them are RPG's, I also play FPS, puzzle games, adventure games, you name it. If it catches my interest I will play it, and I believe there are many people out there who just love great games and will be interested in this one.

I just think that if it does becomes necessary to delay the release, then for all the reasons I have already stated, a February release would be much better than December.


Originally Posted by Estrogen
Release when it's ready. Period.


That's a great sentiment that I'm sure we all agree with, however while 1 million sounds like a lot of money it is really a drop in the ocean in terms of game development.

I'm sure that Larian will do their utmost to make sure that the game is as great as it can be but they can't work on the same game indefinitely, bills and people's salaries have to be paid - there come's a time when you have to say 'it's done', release it and move on. Setting a release date gives everybody a clear goal to aim for achieving that.


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DKS was made with 6.5M and Swen stated that they could probably have made it with even 4M with better planning etc.


So 1M is not only a drop in the ocean here. It really makes a big impact.


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December is usually a month with little to no new releases. Sure, most people buy games to enjoy christmas holidays (kids, students), gifts, etc. By that time, many people have already spent money in games, gifts, christmas party, etc. So, in December there would be no competition, but it's a poor time for release. OTOH, it might be a time when people indulge themselves a little more and might impulse buy.


I really hope LS keeps the November release date. The game, according to them, is almost complete, all these extra months and funds was to add content and have more time for some extra polish. Also, the Dragon Commander team will be available to help soon.

I'll be disapointed if the game is delayed to 2014.

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