Elite on Kickstarter...

[Jamesac]

Like when you post a 7-day eBay auction and it just sits there for the 5 days in the middle. The edges are what matters. I wonder why they chose to run it so long? Because of the free publicity?

Judging by the poor initial posting, I'd say a complete unfamiliarity with Kickstarter.

James

[venusian]

I do wonder if the massive amount of publicity it's already had willl have a dampening effect on the final surge. There can surely be few people left who haven't heard about it and will the fanboys still be excited enough after two months to increase their pledges? Either way it's going to become a significant datapoint for kickstarter trackers.

Are boosts from major updates usually visible on the graphs? There no sign of that first video on Elite's.

[Stuart B]

This is interesting - Gary Whitta interviews David Braben and Chris Roberts about space games and Kickstarter.

[melkig1967]

I would think they will get the money from somewhere else, and rather than having a large number of pledges to fulfil they have a bank or investors who will be wanting a share of profits or a stake in the business.

You are joking right? Getting money from banks right now it like getting blood out of a very dry stone. They may be borrowing another 4.4 billion in the last 2 months but they're just plugging up holes of debt and still gambling it away on dodgy investment for immediate returns.

Investment in someone like frontier wouldn't be the immediate returns the immoral bastards want right now. Wouldn't give them bonuses either...

[merman]

It's obvious they have gone down the Kickstarter route because they could not get a publisher to fund it. A failing Kickstarter is even more likely to put publishers off. There will be a surge at the end thanks to social networkers badgering all their friends to chip in, but I remain sceptical - both about them reaching the target, and the game offering a true Elite-like experience.

[adam]

but is worth remembering that it's a target of £1.2 million, for anyone fancying a kickstarter

[pogo]

But that's not how Kickstarter works. They don't take the classic bump in donations that updates and the end of the Kickstarter bring in. We've seen this pattern a million times (or at least a couple dozen) where the project pokes along at a leisurely pace, then surges at the end. There's no reason to think this is an exception. I know what this project has done, and the slow pace of donations is normal. Basically, while not impressive numbers, it's doing fine for this stage of its life.

Any examples? The KS projects I've followed have seen an impressive start then have levelled off to a steady rate of improvement. It's not like eBay where there are advantages to delaying your bid as it's a competitive auction, so bids pile up at the end, often the very last few seconds. Nor is this a project hat's languishing due to lack of publicity. Again go to the kicktraq site and look at the "[Exp] projection" tag, which projects where it will end up, in a range from Low to High. Those two limits are currently £840,282 and £1,184,417; wherever it ends up in that range is too low.

[venusian]

Go here http://www.kicktraq.com/archive/. Every funded project I looked at had a boost at the end.

[defsdoor]

Well I've just backed it - for a substantial (in my terms) amount as I really want this to be the game I hope it will be.

[Darkflame]

I might up my bid. I am actually sure it will be quite different to old Elite, more accessible, for sure.....but I just want to fly around exploring a rich universe and I think they can deliver that.

[Little stoned kiwi]

It's not like eBay where there are advantages to delaying your bid as it's a competitive auction, so bids pile up at the end

While Kickstarter isn't competitive, human nature is still in play as people like to back winners.

[axel000]

Elite just crossed 15,000 backers and is closing in on 700,000 GBP with 25 funding days to go.

I think this one just may be funded after all.

[Sir_LANs-a-lot]

The funding seems to have been moderately steady.. But it's still a ways to go yet...

As has been pointed out, I'd expect a flurry in the closing days - particularly with some more updates from him.

[axel000]

New Elite gameplay footage up, dogfighting action... looks good, plays like the original Elite, not the newtonian physics and flight model of Frontier :



http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/146 ... f=activity




Still well below were they should be for funding on kickstarter....

[Mqark]

Shit! that's purrdy...

Might have to switch from my normal stance of assuming something great will get funded anyway without my contribution and I just trot down to the shops and buy it to: I'm throwing money at this until it becomes a thing!

Will need to go and buy a capable machine to un it too, gulp!