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Stormgate, a next-generation RTS being developed by Blizzard and StarCraft II veterans at Frost Giant Studios, is starting pre-orders through Kickstarter. This includes various tiers of digital content, and also a physical, Collector's Edition of the game.
Digital Founder's Packs will include Heroes (analogous to co-op commanders from SC2), in-game cosmetics, and access to the Wave 1 Beta in February of 2024.
The physical Collector's Edition will include:
Access to 2024 Beta Wave 1 (planned to begin in February 2024)
All the contents of the Ultimate Founder's Pack upon the start of early access in 2024
One hero each from the Vanguard, Infernal, and yet-to-be revealed third faction
Vanguard Chapters 1, 2, & 3 campaign content
Cosmetic items: Army accent, fog of war accent, and chicken pet
Besides the Collector's Edition, pre-orders of various digital content also are available.
If you plan on purchasing the Collector's Edition or other Stormgate content, please consider purchasing it through the TL.net affiliate link above! TL.net will receive a small commission on the referral.
As community members may have reasonable concerns regarding the use of Kickstarter, Frost Giant have made the following statement:
Why Kickstarter?
Stormgate is fully funded to release. This Kickstarter is in part a response to fan requests for a way to purchase a physical Collector's Edition of Stormgate. We think we've put together a truly special collectible for our most dedicated supporters, but producing the Stormgate Collector's Edition will require a commitment from our players to cover our manufacturing costs. We have also received countless requests for beta access. Scaling online multiplayer testing for a massive audience can get very expensive--beyond what we can support without additional funding. This campaign will allow us to welcome many more players to playtest Stormgate as a reward for directly supporting the studio.
I'm really surprised that they didn't explain most of the rewards. They just listed... things... for the pledged tiers, but I don't know what they do, so I can't know if I want them. I guess I'll just get the free version of the game when it comes out, unless they go into more detail about what we're actually buying.
On December 06 2023 06:04 WGT-Baal wrote: So is the campaign going to be sold piecemeal or am I misreading this?
Just looks like the first bit is available at early access, but the entirety of the campaign will be available at official launch.
It doesn't look that way the $25 dollar one gets the first vanguard chapter the $60 dollar one gets 3 chapters. So it looks like it is coming out in chapters which require purchase
On December 06 2023 09:04 BronzeKnee wrote: Is the technology there yet for us to have LAN?
That's the real question.
Given it's free to play, I can practically guarantee you the answer is no.
I do not believe a live service game is viable for the long term success of an esport.
Aren't League of Legends and Valorant live service games?
Anyway, I feel like it's sort of hard to justify purchasing these packs when we have no idea how much content / value is in a Vanguard Campaign chapter. All the rewards here feel super vague, which makes me feel not great about backing it.
Scam? Nah It's just very underwhelming product currently, if you can even call it that.
You can't really fault the cash grab with how mindless your average consumer is (eg. see D4 launch 'early access'. The current game still feels like a pre-beta state and they're already polling users so that they can milk the first "expansion" for maximum value. It's comical really. Literally issues from the original beta and alpha that have been acknowledged by their team publicly, with easy fixes that are being intentionally disregarded so they can be pushed off as expansion 'features'.)
But back on topic, nothing feels innovative outside of the reconnect feature.
I await the comedy that will arise when someone slaps the current game as a sc2 custom.
I'm hoping for the best but it's a little disheartening to see the monetization angle with how things stand now.
On December 06 2023 09:04 BronzeKnee wrote: Is the technology there yet for us to have LAN?
That's the real question.
Given it's free to play, I can practically guarantee you the answer is no.
I do not believe a live service game is viable for the long term success of an esport.
Aren't League of Legends and Valorant live service games?
Anyway, I feel like it's sort of hard to justify purchasing these packs when we have no idea how much content / value is in a Vanguard Campaign chapter. All the rewards here feel super vague, which makes me feel not great about backing it.
Same! I really want to believe in this game and this would have been my first Kickstarter ever but it's so goddamn vague. What is the campagin, how long, how many campaign chapters are there, whats the normal price tag for a chapter? Guess I just have to wait and see.
Edit: Doesn't matter anyway. Goal is reached 7 seven times already
On December 06 2023 16:28 UretArds441 wrote: 99% of kickstarter always feels like a scam, happy its the same here
I've found Kickstarter to be generally reliable and not scammy. I doubt that the Stormgate Kickstarter is scammy, but I just wish the pledge rewards were made clearer. People definitely support the game and the RTS genre, but they also don't really know what they're paying for through these backer-levels.
On December 06 2023 09:04 BronzeKnee wrote: Is the technology there yet for us to have LAN?
That's the real question.
Given it's free to play, I can practically guarantee you the answer is no.
I do not believe a live service game is viable for the long term success of an esport.
Aren't League of Legends and Valorant live service games?
Anyway, I feel like it's sort of hard to justify purchasing these packs when we have no idea how much content / value is in a Vanguard Campaign chapter. All the rewards here feel super vague, which makes me feel not great about backing it.
Yeah, also keep in mind a good chunk of SC2 problems was holding back updates/features to put on the back of the box for Starcraft II expansions, while LoL was blowing up.
EPT
