Ahoy there. I'm unemployed, mentally ill, and rather poor. I saw the Kickstarter within the first few days, was wowed, and determined to contribute. I didn't get around to it at the time but kept it tabbed for later. Four days to go on the kickstarter and I jump in, keen to make my $40 contribution, then I realise... You've surpassed your goals by miles, you're sailing smoothly to all appearances, while I in my personal endeavors am not. I was going to pay the dollar equivalent of around £25-30 pounds, which in the UK is RRP for a new mainstream game (unless it's by Blizzard-Activision, of course), and was keen to take part in the beta test to try to contribute something that could be more valuable than a few bucks. So I'm stuck. I must admit, if you're now well-funded within your goals for this game, I feel less impulse to give you so much money - yet I'd love to be able to contribute to the pre-release testing - it's something I enjoy, as an aspiring designer myself. So, whether Uberfolk read this or not I can at least ask for some advice from the community - should I abuse my rather empty bank account by giving them as much money as a high-street store would ask for a brand new AAA game to be allowed the privilege of helping them with their testing of early, buggy builds of the product? Should I give them a tiny donation they don't need to harm my own finances less? Should I go away and watch, bitterly, from my dark corner, wishing them luck? Dilemma!
I would feel much better if you save your money and get into a better position yourself before supporting us.
You gotta take care of yourself first, it sounds selfish, but i look at it this way, if you can't help yourself how much can you really help someone else? Like if I couldn't swim and I see someone floundering out in a lake or something I'm not going to jump in to try and save them as chances are I'm just going to double the casualties. I wouldn't sit by and do nothing of course but still. That being said for the kickstarter I think you might be viewing it from the wrong perspective. Yes Uber has reached the mininum threshold, and we're well on our way to doubling it, but it's not like there isn't a reason to back the project anymore, you still get whatever rewards you pledged for(and it's up to you to decide if the rewards are worth it or not) and don't forget about the Stretch Goals. With the Stretch Goals so far unlocked we have 4 new planet types(Water, Gas Giant, Lava and Metal) and 2 brand new unit types(Naval and Orbital) and the next Stretch Goal(Galactic War) is pretty huge, offering a player driven "campaign" either single player, or multiplayer(think clan wars ect ect) to conquer/annihilate a galaxy. So we are going to get a much bigger and better game for 1.8M than we would have at 900K. There is a reason to pledge, the rewards aren't worth any less than before, if anything the rewards are greater for everyone the more money we raise. But make sure you help yourself first, that is the most important thing. Mike
Go out into the world, find a good job, get rich and support PA after its release by buying a few accounts later on. gl
Being in an almost identical situation (the bank account replaced with an indebted credit card!) I decided to support the game with the $20 pledge under the assumption i'm going to buy it anyway...and $20 may be slightly less than the final release value. Support the game...and save money in the long run, worked in my mind/situation. May be the best for you too (if your long term financial prospects are the same as mine ).
I just upped my pledge in your honor, let me know your email or whatever so I can send you a beta key when they are out.
Hah. I like this community. I've had some bad times with Super MNC players so I came here with dread, and knew I was saying something that might make me unpopular. Too many years in the gaming world have made me a bit paranoid about flaming. So very pleasantly surprised at such a universally warm response. Thankyou for your feedback, all =) What I really wanted, I guess, was to somehow hear from Uber that they still need the money, just as an emotional nudge that they aren't sailing through delicious gravy now... I appreciate in particular Mike/OrangeKnight pointing out through italics that it was only a 'minimum' goal, and that it still won't necessarily be easy for Uber to do what they aim to do. But ultimately you've convinced me - my finances are dodgy as I live on government support for mental issues, but I have enough to eat, to live, and to contribute to causes I think are worthy. warexe, however, has decided to SPOIL ALL OF YOUR GOOD WORK, by being immensely generous and increasing his pledge, then offering me the resultant, eventual beta key xD I SHALL NOT BE DEFEATED SO EASILY, however. warexe, I very much appreciate the offer, but keep the key, or give it to someone in circumstances worse than my own - any unlucky unemployed without the support I have, or any kid with stingy parents, save it for them. I'm off to make a $40 pledge, if not for UberEnt, then for the community who will play their game ^_^ I hope to see some of you in the testing phase. I will try not to annihilate your world <3 - Jack
It is done! I thought to add a dollar in honour of each of the people who replied to this thread, but by that point it was nearly $50 anyway - so I'll be seeing you as a 'Progenitor' commander, when the time comes. Thanks again, people.. I think I have spent money well. - Jack
Glad to have helped, Kickstarter/Crowdfunding is still pretty new, especially in the Video Games context, and it's always backing that first project that's the hardest! Mike
I'm not sure, my first contribution was to Defense Grid 2 - I had no problem there, because Defense Grid 1 was a game I truly loved. I know they can do well, and I felt like I owed them something... UberEnt are more of a promise of good things to come =) I've enjoyed the style of the Monday Night Combat games, but not so much the gameplay.
Well the Uber Employees have a pretty good catalogue of RTSs they've worked on, not to Mention that quite a few of the core staff have been working on games for a good 18+ years or so.... To me it's not much of a gamble. Mike
As an SMNC player I feel the need to apologize on behalf of this game's community, even though I never flame anyone. But actually the SMNC community overall seems kind of friendly compared to others I have seen and heard of, you probably just got unlucky, or met people who were frustrated about matchmaking. So, again, welcome to the uberent forums.
I'm familiar with their pedigree, having watched the Kickstarter video (and loved it <3), but individual developers versus whole-team feeling can be so different. I was very surprised to find that a team who made a cheesy, grinning slow-paced Tower Defense team combat game with huge health bars and dirty humour had such strong connections with indepth RTS design. Teju: I find tournament combat games attract a certain kind of smack-talking, obsessive player-base who believe that their investment of hundreds of hours into learning how to exploit the abilities of their preferred character justifies being an utter arsehole >.< With SMNC's matchmaking system a balanced game is a one-game-in-five experience for me, resulting in more flaming and screaming than playing. Worst thing is I can't really blame the players; SMNC really isn't fun most of the time due to the immense imbalances that crop up - worse than ever when players leave, of course, and no-one is allowed to replace them. Very poor idea there. Thankyou for the welcome =)
This, your going to support the team after release anyway, I don't think you need to kick yourself for not supporting now. Besides from what we have seen, they are just going to reach the Galactic Warfare stretchgoal before the kickstarter closes. There was no chance of reaching stretchgoal 5. I'm in a similar predicament at the moment as I get paid on the 25th of each month. The way things are going, I'll only be supporting the team in the last hour of the kickstarter, because I want to make sure it will be finanically viable for me to do so. The predicament for me is is whether I can afford Alpha or Beta, or put in $20 and wait for the finished product :?
