Re: Elite: Dangerous - and the return

[xzanfr]

On the strength of your previous work I'd back you on kickstarter if you choose to do so, Drew.
The writers pack also contains "all of the rewards above™" and it would be interesting to have someone from the oolite comunity who comes from the fiction writing side of things having an input in to E:D.

As mentioned in the posts above, there are a few disadvantages - particularly from a comercial perspective as it looks unlikley that the money will be recouped from selling the books alone, so a kickstarter or some other method of group payment is necessary.

[Disembodied]

I think I'm disappointed that FD see game fiction as a potential cash cow, for which they can sell licences (for unreasonable amounts of money, in my opinion), rather than something which will promote the game and enhance a player's own game-in-the-head. It's doubly strange asking authors to pay for individual licences, rather than selling a licence to a single publisher; authors shouldn't be charged to write stuff!

But, that said: nothing ventured, nothing gained, and more power to your writing elbow, Drew!

[drew]

On the strength of your previous work I'd back you on kickstarter if you choose to do so, Drew.
The writers pack also contains "all of the rewards above™" and it would be interesting to have someone from the oolite comunity who comes from the fiction writing side of things having an input in to E:D.

Hadn't thought of that - good point. I'd get to be a conduit...

Cheers,

Drew.

[Commander McLane]

I think I'm disappointed that FD see game fiction as a potential cash cow, for which they can sell licences (for unreasonable amounts of money, in my opinion), rather than something which will promote the game

I guess that's because their main promotional tool is the Kickstarter itself, so the rest (also the Kickstarter itself) is all just about money.

[Thargoid]

Personally I'd be more worried that the whole project seems to have stalled at around the 40% of target mark. The figure there is very similar to what it was a few days ago, so unless they can come up with a more interesting way to boost things then the whole thing might be moot.

[drew]

Thanks all. I'll make a decision later today on whether or not to go for it.

Looks like a lot of work, but I can handle that. I've got enough gear to make a promotional video (something similar to the Incursio one I did 18 months ago) and I've even got Spectrum Elite to run on my Raspberry PI, how's that for full circle?

Writing, editing and pubbing (!) a 90k-ish book in a little over a year will be an ask. (I managed it in 2011 with Incursio and Finis in 2011, but only managed 70k in my new novel this year - although this year has a been rather pony in the RL department).

Cheers,

Drew.

[DaddyHoggy]

You could of course potentially, depending on how you intended to write/compose/construct the supporting novel, by crowdsourcing it on the Forum, I read a novel a few years ago (have been struggling to think of name all morning!) that was effectively a dozen short stories conjoined by a common narrative, story arc - while I'm not suggesting a collaborative effort, that would perhaps be more cumbersome and slower than writing the whole thing yourself, I'm sure the coomunity could pool together to supply additional material you might need to enrich the story - I'm thinking perhaps relatively minor stuff, but stuff I know can sometimes take a while to think up - such as ship and station names, minor characters inc. backgrounds, cargo manifests, Galcop directives, station comms...

Lots of stuff a community could come up with (and does, here, on pretty much a daily basis) that you could, and have, obviously come up with on your own, but it takes time and you'll be wanting to concentrate on the main plot and characters.

So, while writing is generally a lonely business, we're right behind you and will supply the literary equivalent of tea and biscuits as and when required.

[drew]

Update in this thread....

Cheers,

Drew.

[drew]

Interesting interview with db here > http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/23/elite-d ... quare-peg/

Cheers,

Drew.

[Gimbal Locke]

I read a novel a few years ago (have been struggling to think of name all morning!) that was effectively a dozen short stories conjoined by a common narrative

Could that be the Elite/Frontier Huge Plasma Accelerator (HPA) Saga?

(Oh, mistaking this thread for the Science Fiction Trivia one )

[JazHaz]

When the game is released, what people think about having an Oolite BB group on there? If yes, then lets think of a name?

[Gimi]

When the game is released, what people think about having an Oolite BB group on there? If yes, then lets think of a name?

I was hoping someone with power and influence would name a planet or station Oolite or something else we would recognise.

Planet Oolite: Known for its oolite sedimentary rock formations.

Would give us somewhere to hang out in E:D

[Gimi]

Some interesting new pledge levels are out...
Somehow I think these were planned all the time....

Pledge £60 or more
Physical DRM-free boxed edition of "Elite: Dangerous" plus all rewards above (please note: the disc in the pack is simply an alternative way to install the game - it will have the same online account code whether installed off disc or downloaded digitally).
Estimated delivery: Mar 2014
Add £15 to ship outside the UK

Pledge £90 or more
Physical DRM-free collector's premium boxed edition of "Elite: Dangerous". This includes all the rewards above, except a premium boxed edition is in place of the standard boxed addition, which includes a T shirt with "I backed Elite: Dangerous" on the back, and a paperback copy of the official sequel to "The Dark Wheel".
Estimated delivery: Mar 2014
Add £15 to ship outside the UK

[Griff]

yay, i was hoping there'd be a boxed copy! £60 is a bit steep but at least it'll stop me having to try and download the digital copy of the game, probably take 25 years, just in time for Elite 5 to be announced

[Gimi]

yay, i was hoping there'd be a boxed copy! £60 is a bit steep but at least it'll stop me having to try and download the digital copy of the game, probably take 25 years, just in time for Elite 5 to be announced

I'm already above the £90 edition (new golf clubs is just going to have to wait), but this is great. I do get the feeling the FD is testing the market more than they actually are trying to raise funding. Regardless, good news.