Get What You Pay For

How would you feel if a group of people just gave you four hundred thousand dollars in about eight hours? What if people like the first ones continued to give you money until you had about three million by the end of the month? Would you feel obliged to them somehow? What would you do in return? This is what acclaimed game designer Tim Shaffer is looking at with his newest adventure game. He and his team raised three million dollars on the website Kickstarter. Shaffer, and others like him, have been using this website to fund various projects, from book publishing, to game design, to technological innovations. The success of these creators and this kind of business deal shows us something amazing.

If we want it, we can fund it.

Adventure games are pretty old hat. They had their time in the early years of gaming, and games like Sam and Max did their best to bring them around again, but they were never a big enough hit to warrant major publishers investing the money needed into them. The genre pretty much died out. Independent studios tried to revitalize them, but none of these were ever major successes. It seemed like it was the end for adventure games.

And then Tim Shaffer, god father of adventure games, decided to try out Kickstarter. He would appeal to a niche audience and see if you couldn't get some minimal funding to do a game he would enjoy making and he hoped people would enjoy playing. He as asking for four hundred thousand dollars at the start, more than had ever been raised on Kickstarter. It was a pipe dream, but he and Double Fine Productions had nothing to lose. In the first eight hours, when fans and professional sites saw what he was doing, they raised their goal. For the next month, the money kept pouring in. People were excited for his project and willing to throw a few dollars his way to make it happen.

Tim Shaffer isn't the only one out there. Familiar classics are coming back. Cult Classic "Leisure Suit Larry" is making a return, Wasteland 2 is being developed, Shadowrun is getting and update, and many more. Popular material thought dead is getting a second wind. And new material is also being added. People with a passion for their work and their niche are turning to the consumer to help them make their dream real. Whether it is a school project about social groups, an online role-playing game, or a bands first CD, creators are asking the consumer what they want to see, and the consumer is backing them with their dollars.

This may be one of the first times that consumers have had direct say in what gets made and what doesn't. Have you ever wondered how crappy movies keep getting made? Or how so many trash, boring novels keep getting publish? Or how the same grey and brown shooting games keep getting pushed into gamers' hands? If you keep seeing pointless wastes of material that you hate, this kind of marketing is your chance to support that which you really care about. Don't buy what the faceless publishers throw at you, choose what you want to support.

I hope that this kind of method catches on, or at least draw the attention of bigger publishers. If they realize that people are willing to support smaller ideas, ideas that innovate, or ideas that aren't "mainstream" then they might realize that if they support these small projects with their large wallets, they could turn a profit. We might see a rebirth of innovation and creativity. We'd stop having Micheal Bay action movies with nothing but explosions, we'd stop having pop music that just repeats the word "baby" a thousand times, we'd stop having games that have you shooting Nazis in WW2. A bold, fresh, new landscape would open up to creators everywhere.

Great, another site I have to resist spending money on.

Just something to chew on.

Truly Bazaar

Who am I? You might never know. I am the eloquent gentleman, toast of parties all over the city, charmer of countless noble women, verbal combatant with some of the greatest minds, the creator of vivid and unrivaled poetry, theater, and books. His amused lordship enjoys my company, the Wry Functionary and share cards and drinks, even the Duchess herself seems to hold me in good regards. The common rabble love my work. I am not, however, just another pretty face in society's upper circles. My eyes are always watching, picking up clues and secrets that so many would wish hidden. I even turn my hand at thieving, though it is still a new hobby for me. I am a person of some consequence in this city, and I will become someone of Importance.

Or at least, that's who I am in Fallen London.

This entry is to talk about an innovative game that I came across last year. It was then called Echo Bazaar, and has recently revamped itself and now goes by the name Fallen London. This is not your normal game you might find on Steam or some other digital provider. It's not even a flash game like you might see on Armor Games or Miniclips. What this game is, is a browser game: a game that tells a story without a lot of strict "game play."  Typically, you click through some cards and prompts and then chance decides if you succeed or not. You gain levels in four key skills, as well as in story specific occurrences, and gain items of a large variety to use in later story arches.

So basically, this whole game wouldn't seem all that engaging. It might come across as a novelty, a gimmicky website with nothing to offer. Yet, I find myself coming back to this game in my spare time. If I have a few minutes I like to hop on and run through a few missions, earn a level or two, or maybe hunt after some useful times. There's no sound, no three dimensional models, nothing but text (and a spinning hat load icon). What makes this game so appealing?

In short, the world. This game has created a world that is unique and intriguing. It is dark and mysterious while also being entertaining and lively. Through only the text before and after each challenge, the team behind Fallen London have built up a city that you come to understand and love. Whether you're a charmer like me, a thug, a thief, or whatever, you find how your character fits into the world and you can peruse that which interests you. Want to be a novelist? Work up and get into the literary circles, then dominate them. What to be a detective? Put in some time and hunt down big cases. The game functions much like you would think life does, working the menial jobs and low tier work until you get better and move on to more important work.

Every action you take is combined with story bits, short blurbs of text that talk about what you did, how you did it, and how it affected the city or the people. Your knowledge of the city and the people groups, various factions and locations, all grow in time. Nothing is ever just dumped on you, you learn in bits until you understand a good deal of how the whole Fallen London runs. The world is so complex, but is given to you in such digestible parts that you can understand its complexity and really immerse yourself in the world.

I love this game for its story and for showing that not all games have to be fast-paced and big budget. It also shows that an interesting story and believable world can keep a player around just as much as lots of explosions and collision physics. It is a step in showing games as mediums for storytelling and interactive art. I love the game, and I want to see how it grows. Maybe one day I could help shape the streets of Fallen London and influence the various factions.

You should join and play. It's fun.

Just something to chew on.

Mr. Fix-It

I'm not a techy; I can't fix your computer. I don't know how to deal with a Blue Screen of Death, I can't get your Skype cam working (or my own for that matter), I don't know how to get into your e-mail. I can't fix home stuff either. I don't know how to cook that well, I would probably struggle changing a fuse, I have no idea how to repair a roof. Honestly, I can't fix a lot of things, (I'm rather worried what I'll be like on my own). Yet there even with my technical failings, there is still a drive I have. It doesn't revolve around the physical, like computers or home repair, but a little deeper.

I always want to fix other people's problems.

I get this desire to be able to reach out to someone and help them past their problems. If it's school work, I want to offer advise on how to work better. If it's people, I want to give opinions on what to say or do. Heck, even in video games I want to make the choices that help my ally characters. Games like Dragon Age have me agonizing over what ways I could help my party members. That might show me as a bit more neurotic than is probably healthy, but it underlines my point. I want to help people.

It bugs me that I can't as well. I might see someone that I only marginally know and they might just look dejected or sad, and I get this drive to help. I want to be able to reach out and let them know that it is all right, that I can help them. I know it sounds arrogant, but the goal isn't to show how they need me in their lives, but to let them know that whatever it is that they are dealing with, someone is there to help them through.

The reason this comes up is twofold. The first is that I started reading through a "visual novel" (a very Japanese kind of computer 'game' that is mostly text with a few distinct choices all in all) and the characters are all burdened with their own problems. While the story follows through the main character, who is not really the player, we get to see how he interacts with the other characters and helps them, or doesn't. Reading that, I can't help but think how I would want to react and help. The only reason I picked up on this idea in this type of game is because the preset story and dialogues don't usually fit how I would handle a situation. I make a few choices, maybe ten in total, but how they play out is strictly in the mind of the central character and his personality rather than my own. I want to help in my own way, but the story doesn't lend itself to such freewheeling.

The second reason for this comes simply though the society that college seems to be for me. Maybe it's something about the Christian community, or maybe it has something do with my place as lounge furniture, but I find I hear about and see people and their problems. I might walk in on someone crying in the prayer chapel, or over hear two people hashing out a tough issue. Whatever the case, when I hear these things or see others in a state of distress, my heart goes out to them.

Maybe this is just your stereotypical guy mentality. Something wrong? Must fix! But I hate to think that what I'm feeling is just base instinct. I'm not moved to solve a problem; I'm driven to help someone. That's the desire, to help. I want to help people, to be their personal life Mr. Fix-It and give them a solution so that they aren't burdened anymore. I know that isn't what people need. Some people need to try it on their own, some just need someone to talk to (I make a great sounding board as well, might get into that another week), some people need to go break balloon animals in half with caramelized steak. I'm not one to judge people's coping mechanisms.

I suppose this overly-drawn-out series of poorly joined paragraphs is a build-up to say that: someday, in our interactions, I may try to help you solve a problem. This isn't me imposing on your life, or trying to be the hero your life deserves, it's me having a desire to help you not be burdened anymore. If you need someone to help you, come to me and I would be glad to do whatever I can. Your problems aren't a burden to me, and even if I can't help, I'll be there to listen.

Just don't ask me to fix your toaster; I'll short out the whole state.

Just something to chew on.