Jump to content

There's a new Ghost Recon. It's called Ground Branch.


Recommended Posts

Good points, MeanMF. I agree that a reboot of that KS page and video is urgently needed. I think the main message is somewhat lost in translation at the moment, as there's just too much detailed info many people new to the genre won't understand or be able to appreciate. To me the core message should be boiled down to 3 things:

  • Ground Branch fills the void between unrealistic run-and-gun action shooters like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Medal of Honor, etc. and complex war simulations like ARMA, VBS, and Operation Flashpoint. It is the only spiritual successor to Ghost Recon (2001), Rainbow Six (1998), SWAT 4 (2005), and UT Infiltration (2004) to date. If this Kickstarter does not reach its goal, we may never see another game of the true squad-based tactical shooter genre... ever again.

  • Ground Branch is already a playable pre-alpha running on fully licensed Unreal Engine 3. The Kickstarter goal is the money needed to finish the game and have it on your PC/Mac by summer 2013. There will be full multiplayer (objective-based TvT, PvP) and core single player/co-operation gameplay (e.g. terrorist hunt against bots) from the start. An intricate full-scale SP/Co-Op campaign and advanced AI will be added (for free) after release.

  • Unlike big publishers, Blackfoot Studios is an independent developer who actually cares about their product and their fans. The team consists of former Red Storm and Valve employees with dozens of AAA titles under their belt. These guys left well-paid jobs and turned starving indie to do what they love for the people they love. They mean what they say, answer all questions honestly, listen to feedback, and don't push any PR bullsh1t.

These 3 facts alone should be more than sufficient for anyone with a single drop of tac shooter blood in their veins to pledge whatever they can, and there's a plethora of detailed information at the Ground Branch web site to convince anyone still on the fence. BTW - anyone please feel free to copy / use the above verbatim when spreading the word for the Ground Branch Kickstarter in other forums, web site comments sections etc. There's still almost 2 weeks left, so I ask all of you GR diehards to please support this amazing project.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 134
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

The video, or at least the first minute or two of the video, is purely an exercise in marketing... When it comes down to it, the it's basically a commercial. Facts are less important than getting people's attention and showing them something interesting or entertaining. Facts can come later - first you need to get their attention and differentiate yourself enough so they'll want to learn more. And you've probably got no more than 60-90 seconds to grab them before most people zone out or click away. A good video also demonstrates that the team is competent and knows how to create an entertaining or interesting experience. A bad video makes potential donors think "why should I think these people are capable of putting together a game if they can't even do a 5-minute video that won't put me to sleep?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good PR people don't necessarily make good game developers and vice versa. I think there's more than enough proof of excellent PR for horrible games out there. But I agree that you have just about a minute to "sell" your product in that video and it much rather requires emotional impact than dry information to win attention.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sure, but people still want to see that the team can put together a quality product. If you're asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars but aren't willing to shell out enough to hire somebody who knows what they're doing to put together a good promo, what does that tell people?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That may be true, but people could also get the impression that you're not confident enough in your project to risk your own money. You're basically asking for people to hand you money with no guarantee of anything in return. They're going to want to see that you're serious about the project. A professionally-done (or at least professional-looking) video goes a long way towards building that confidence.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good points, MeanMF. I agree that a reboot of that KS page and video is urgently needed. I think the main message is somewhat lost in translation at the moment, as there's just too much detailed info many people new to the genre won't understand or be able to appreciate. To me the core message should be boiled down to 3 things:

  • Ground Branch fills the void between unrealistic run-and-gun action shooters like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Medal of Honor, etc. and complex war simulations like ARMA, VBS, and Operation Flashpoint. It is the only spiritual successor to Ghost Recon (2001), Rainbow Six (1998), SWAT 4 (2005), and UT Infiltration (2004) to date. If this Kickstarter does not reach its goal, we may never see another game of the true squad-based tactical shooter genre... ever again.

  • Ground Branch is already a playable pre-alpha running on fully licensed Unreal Engine 3. The Kickstarter goal is the money needed to finish the game and have it on your PC/Mac by summer 2013. There will be full multiplayer (objective-based TvT, PvP) and core single player/co-operation gameplay (e.g. terrorist hunt against bots) from the start. An intricate full-scale SP/Co-Op campaign and advanced AI will be added (for free) after release.

  • Unlike big publishers, Blackfoot Studios is an independent developer who actually cares about their product and their fans. The team consists of former Red Storm and Valve employees with dozens of AAA titles under their belt. These guys left well-paid jobs and turned starving indie to do what they love for the people they love. They mean what they say, answer all questions honestly, listen to feedback, and don't push any PR bullsh1t.

These 3 facts alone should be more than sufficient for anyone with a single drop of tac shooter blood in their veins to pledge whatever they can, and there's a plethora of detailed information at the Ground Branch web site to convince anyone still on the fence. BTW - anyone please feel free to copy / use the above verbatim when spreading the word for the Ground Branch Kickstarter in other forums, web site comments sections etc. There's still almost 2 weeks left, so I ask all of you GR diehards to please support this amazing project.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@MeanMF The guys at Blackfoot Studios have been working on Ground Branch without pay for years, and the money for the Unreal Engine 3 license, motion capture etc. came out of their own pocket, too. Admittedly they could have done a better job preparing the Kickstarter, but they have loads of efforts and finished work to show, which should gain them some confidence. And frankly I prefer people who actually walk the walk to those who just talk the talk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know that and you know that, but does that come across to somebody watching the video who has never heard of the project before? It's not the hardcore fans that need convincing.

I wish I could say I agree with you on that. Unless there are only a 1,000 or so fans of tactical shooters out there, in which case games like Takedown and Ground Branch should not be even considered.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wish I could say I agree with you on that. Unless there are only a 1,000 or so fans of tactical shooters out there, in which case games like Takedown and Ground Branch should not be even considered.

I meant hardcore fans of Ground Branch - people who already know about the project and what John has put into it. For somebody without that knowledge the video has to make a convincing case that the developers are serious about the project and capable of pulling it off. First impressions are incredibly important - if they aren't impressed within the first minute or two, they're more likely to click away to something else than they are to dig deeper to find out more about the project (who's doing it, how long it's been in production, why it's different than other "tactical" shooters, etc)

More than 60,000 people have watched (or started watching) the pitch video on youtube. That's 10x as many people as donated to Takedown. The problem isn't getting them to look at it, it's getting them to donate once they've watched it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am stunned by this response in the AMA today: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/vjam4/indie_game_developer_ground_branch_by_blackfoot/c54ziwr

There's a guy there who's obviously interested in learning more about the game. You have the developers doing an AMA, a forum where they've invited people to ask questions. The guy asks a bunch of detailed, on-topic questions looking for simple yes/no/maybe answers, and the answer is basically "sorry I don't have time to read your list". Do they not understand that they're asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations with no guarantee of people getting anything back in return? And they can't be bothered to take the time to answer this guy's questions in a highly-promoted event that a lot of potential donors are going to see? WTH? The team should be bending over backwards to get information out to people like this, not blowing them off and making snarky comments like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You have no idea how much it takes to make a game. $425k is ridiculously low as it is.

Oh I have an idea I just doubt you're gonna get it.

And I agree with BOTA that the audience for Tactical sims are slim. ArmA Series is a great example of that. They gave it away and still can't fill servers. Doesn't help its 3 bucks a slot for a dedicated either.

And I disagree with Riley on Steam. I own 200 games through them and have never had a single issue. They are always having deals and specials and I have purchased many games I would have passed up if they hadn't peaked my interest in them.They allow for hard disk back up, gift purchasing and auto updating of games. So I think if GB gets to the point of release they should think about a huge audience they would be eliminating from seeing their product by not using Steam.

And all fairness to the GB guys on that AMA thing that is one seriously HUGE list of questions. I woulda probably said the same thing. But they could always repost that topic on their site and answer the questions at their leisure.

Edited by twcrash
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am stunned by this response in the AMA today: http://www.reddit.co...ackfoot/c54ziwr

There's a guy there who's obviously interested in learning more about the game. You have the developers doing an AMA, a forum where they've invited people to ask questions. The guy asks a bunch of detailed, on-topic questions looking for simple yes/no/maybe answers, and the answer is basically "sorry I don't have time to read your list". Do they not understand that they're asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations with no guarantee of people getting anything back in return? And they can't be bothered to take the time to answer this guy's questions in a highly-promoted event that a lot of potential donors are going to see? WTH? The team should be bending over backwards to get information out to people like this, not blowing them off and making snarky comments like that.

Well, to be fair, I didn't like the answer either, but really, there were other people doing questions and the AMA was going to end, sooner or later, so answering all the questions could let some other people waiting for their turns.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes/no answers to those questions would have take no more than five minutes to put together. And its not like there was much activity in the AMA. But sure I can see maybe you wouldn't want to just focus on that one guy's post. So how about answering a couple of them and adding "I want to make sure other people have a chance to ask questions too so I'll come back later and answer as many as I can". No, he gets an attitude and basically "I don't have time to read your wall-of-text post, filter it down to one question because that's all the time I'm willing to spend answering you". There are no time limits on Reddit other than the ones that you set yourself - they could have stayed there answering questions all night if they really wanted to.

They need to raise $350k in under two weeks. That's an insanely difficult thing to do, and copping an attitude with potential donors in a public forum that you've been heavily trying to promote is NOT going to get it done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, I would have liked to see all the questions(minus duplicates of course) posted on their web site for future visitors to look through. For people who may not browse reddit(like myself), and people who come by later on and missed the whole thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am stunned by this response in the AMA today: http://www.reddit.co...ackfoot/c54ziwr

There's a guy there who's obviously interested in learning more about the game. You have the developers doing an AMA, a forum where they've invited people to ask questions. The guy asks a bunch of detailed, on-topic questions looking for simple yes/no/maybe answers, and the answer is basically "sorry I don't have time to read your list". Do they not understand that they're asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations with no guarantee of people getting anything back in return? And they can't be bothered to take the time to answer this guy's questions in a highly-promoted event that a lot of potential donors are going to see? WTH? The team should be bending over backwards to get information out to people like this, not blowing them off and making snarky comments like that.

The guy is a current backer and has asked us the same exact questions, and recieved answers, no less than 4 times in private messages, emails and on our forums. He spams us that same list multiple times.

And I would hardly classify our response to him as "sorry I don't have time to read your list".

Here is our response to the question:

"No offense man, but, holy ######? :P

Please pick your most-important question out of that wall-of-text and present it to my reply. We only have so much time, and we'd like to answer everyone if possible. Thanks."

You know, you really seem to nitpick a lot and point out our "difficencies". You used to do it blatantly on the Serellan forum but I've realized that you have taken the passive agressive approach lately. It's getting on my nerves.

So I think if GB gets to the point of release they should think about a huge audience they would be eliminating from seeing their product by not using Steam.

We are going to be on steam. In fact, we are already approved by Valve and have been for some time. We did an update to the kickstarter announcing we will be a Steam release as well as doing a DRM Free exe that supports local and offline play only.

There are no time limits on Reddit other than the ones that you set yourself - they could have stayed there answering questions all night if they really wanted to.

We held the AMA for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Life continues on around you and doesn't stop you know. You have all the answers don't you. Oh right, because you spearheaded the awesome Takedown campaign. It's getting more than a bit tiresome listening to you.

Actually, I would have liked to see all the questions(minus duplicates of course) posted on their web site for future visitors to look through. For people who may not browse reddit(like myself), and people who come by later on and missed the whole thing.

We are in the process of doing that. Hopefully it should be available early tomorrow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh right, because you spearheaded the awesome Takedown campaign. It's getting more than a bit tiresome listening to you.

Was that really necessary? Man for someone who wants people to back you you sure sound like a pompous AHole.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Again, another one that seems to have it in for me for some reason and that has tried to go at us at every turn here. He is passive agressive in trying to paint us in a bad light by misrepresenting comments in the AMA. There is a history between he and I on the Serellan forum where he took your "pompous AHole" approach so I was calling him out on it. MeanMF seems to like to introduce controversy where there is none. No need for you to get involved.

And yes, I am getting tired of listening to him. I'm all for help and greatly appreciate it if it's genuine. But trying to manipulate a situation to paint us in a bad light is unacceptable and I will not stand by and let it go.

Edited by jsonedecker
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think you all need to cool off a bit, You are all entitled to your opinions but all this name calling has to stop.

Yes, I'm involved with Serellan.com but I also want Ground Branch to hit their goal so I wish John all the best and hope he makes it.

Please let's not make this a Ground Branch v Takedown war.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...