Class of Heroes 2 Kickstarter by MonkeyPaw Games and Gaijin Works

[Eusis]

Kotaku link here.

Incidentally (and this could use its own thread) the first was among several Atlus games that just got price dropped on the PSN.

[sagagadego09]

hope this does well.

[Zendervai]

I'll probably support this.

[Fadedsun]

Kind of want the PSP version of Knights in The Nightmare, but I can get the UMD version for the same price. I like my physical copies too much.

[ZeronHitaro]

Ugh; I abhor that article.

"If MonkeyPaw Games raises $500,000, they'll know that gamers still love JRPGs."

So...if you don't make that goal, because the first one was a pretty terrible game, obviously people aren't fond of JRPGs anymore. Logic! *rolls eyes* If this was Persona 5 you might be able to get away with that hyperbole. Class of Heroes 2? Not so much. XP

Edit: Buy those PSP games while you can btw. If hackers can exploit the Vita through them then Sony will yank them right off the PSN without warning.

[Dice]

wtf.... maybe some other series you could get nerds to get a nerd-hard-on and raise the money... but Class of fucking Heroes?????  Did that many people like the first game?!?!!

This feels wrong and stupid.  Maybe it could work, lord knows I've probably wished a title to come here even if it meant I'd pay extra for it... but I guess it's the way they're angling it to "raise half a million to prove you still like JRPGs out west".  It feels like I'm funding them to do what is their job to begin with. 

I also think this assumes people are DYING to have limited editions a bit too much.  They're cool and all, but a lot of the content easily forgetable.


Maybe I missed something -- I'm too tired and this is just odd.  I do think it sets a bad precedence as well.  Last thing we need is a whole bunch of companies wanting funds for games (to list an extreme, mind you).

[ZeronHitaro]

Personal Theory: I think it's just another 'trickle down effect' where something in the PnP RPG industry effects the Digital RPG industry.

For some reason these guys thought it would be a good idea to try this. In the PnP sector it's not unusual for small groups/collabs to try and raise funds to turn their homebrew material into something with near-mainstream production values. Usually with the blessing of the parent company since this material is 'just' niche enough to have a following who would make it profitable for a smaller group to sell but not so much if released as a main-line product. A big example of this is the 'Psionics' system in the Pathfinder RPG. There are a lot of Psionics fans who respect and adore the system for a smaller group like Dreamscarred Press to release a supplimentary source book under theirs and the fan's dollar (lower production values but also lower price); but if Pazio invested the usual amount of time and resources one of their primary source books (higher production value and price) it would likely be a net loss.

So apparently MPG and GW think CoH2 is one of these legendary goldmines in the niche market.

Edit: Here's a more direct example of one of this niche processes in the PnP sector; as you can tell, their 'investment to reward' system is far more reasonable even with scaling than this project is.

[Wild Armor]

So the half mil is for reassurance more than anything, or is it for quick cash now thing, like selling your gold and relics?

[cj_iwakura]

It's not an amazing choice, but not a bad one either. And I hear the sequels really are much better than the original.

If Vic thinks it's worth the effort, he's got my support.

[ZeronHitaro]

So the half mil is for reassurance more than anything, or is it for quick cash now thing, like selling your gold and relics?

*I'm making up the cost; just for example sake.*

My guess is it's the companies going: "Hey guys; you want more JRPGs, but we know it's niche enough that if we foot the full $1.5M bill we're going to lose money hand over fist. So if you as fans will spot $500K then we'll shoulder the $1M, which is a much more acceptable risk/return for us. Here's some additional shinies as incentive."

Admittedly that 'top tier' prize is pretty powerful. If I had the money I'd consider dumping a ton into it just to earn it. I could theoretically ask about getting my novel character inserted as the cameo character rather than 'myself'. You can't beat that kind of advertising. XD

[Kevadu]

I saw a lot of people getting excited about this over at Siliconera, so I guess somebody likes this series.  Personally, I'm with Dice on this one: There are so many overlooked and better games out there...

[Cyril]

I adore first person dungeon crawlers, they're probably my favorite subgenre of RPGs.  I found Class of Heroes boring and, no matter how hard I tried, couldn't spend more than 10 hours with it.  I can't say I'm all that interested unless they made some changes to the formula.

That said, I think this type of thing is an understandable idea.  Localization of these games is a niche within a niche.  To reduce the risk, let those who are willing to assist do so. Now if this was for a larger game and a larger company? Absolutely not.

[Monsoon]

I'm pretty disappointed by this announcement.  I heard about the Vic Ireland project a week or so ago from Zeboyd's website, but it ends up being Class of Heroes?  If I wanted to play a dungeon crawler I'd just fire up Etrian Odyssey.  I was hoping for Last Ranker or Shining Blade.  

[daved]

I'm pretty disappointed by this announcement.  I heard about the Vic Ireland project a week or so ago from Zeboyd's website, but it ends up being Class of Heroes?  If I wanted to play a dungeon crawler I'd just fire up Etrian Odyssey.  I was hoping for Last Ranker or Shining Blade.  

I'm not crazy about dungeon crawlers either, but if you noticed the article said "If this project works out, the team has a "laundry list" of other JRPGs they'd like to bring over to the US".  Perhaps this game had the lower licensing fees than some of the other titles they want to bring over...  Or maybe it's that the other ones are even more obscure so they thought it best to start with one that at least had some recognition in the West.   I'm almost tempted to support this project in the hopes that they later bring over something I would really be excited for. 

[Zendervai]

I did support it, but the final goal does seem to be kind of high. I don't know that much about how the industry works, but 500K does seem to be somewhat excessive. I do want one of those plushies though.