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

[jsonedecker]

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

It's not something I'm trying to do. It's simply me trying to defend myself from those that seem to want take stabs at what I'm trying to do. Which is ironic, because all I have ever tried to do, since my first day at Red Storm in 1997, is try to give gamers what they want.

I guess you can't win them all.

[MeanMF]

No offense or manipulation intended, and I am not trying to paint anything in a bad light. There was a response in a very public Reddit thread that I thought you might not realize reflected poorly on your staff. If I was trying to start something I would have started it on Reddit where a lot more people would be looking at it.

[ApexMods]

Oh boy, what's going on in here?!?

Guys, remember we are at GhostRecon.net and in its inner sanctum (GR1 forums) to boot. We should all be on the same side here! Since Ghost Recon no new game has offered what a real squad-based tactical shooter should offer, and Ground Branch represents the only hope for a true spiritual successor. Let's try to rally behind Ground Branch rather than bickering about minor PR details.

Admittedly, I am shocked at the apparent lack of Ground Branch Kickstarter support from the Ghost Recon fan community. Even if some of us disagree on how this KS is marketed or criticize how the AMA went or don't like John's haircut - one thing should unite us, and that is a common wish for a new Ghost Recon game.

BFS has been working on this without pay since 2007, and they're putting a lot on the line right now, so maybe we should cut them some slack when they show some nerves here and there with that much of their future in the balance. Who cares if the video isn't all that it could be or the AMA could have gone better or whatever - as long as Ground Branch itself stays true to its goal, there is absolutely no reason not to pledge for this project.

So where are you, Ghost Recon fans? What's the hold up? WHY U NO PLEDGE?!?

[JohnTC02]

No need to get smart twcrash posting that in Spanish got your post deleted.

[MeanMF]

Apologies if I've stirred anything up or my posts came across as anything other than trying to help. I'd really like to see this project succeed, and I frankly wish I could afford to donate more than I have. Anyway, I'm done so carry on

[jsonedecker]

I'm done as well.

[ApexMods]

YouTube celebrity SideStrafe has just

of Ground Branch supporters:

[media=]

[Bota:16]

Oh boy, what's going on in here?!?

Guys, remember we are at GhostRecon.net and in its inner sanctum (GR1 forums) to boot. We should all be on the same side here! Since Ghost Recon no new game has offered what a real squad-based tactical shooter should offer, and Ground Branch represents the only hope for a true spiritual successor. Let's try to rally behind Ground Branch rather than bickering about minor PR details.

Admittedly, I am shocked at the apparent lack of Ground Branch Kickstarter support from the Ghost Recon fan community. Even if some of us disagree on how this KS is marketed or criticize how the AMA went or don't like John's haircut - one thing should unite us, and that is a common wish for a new Ghost Recon game.

BFS has been working on this without pay since 2007, and they're putting a lot on the line right now, so maybe we should cut them some slack when they show some nerves here and there with that much of their future in the balance. Who cares if the video isn't all that it could be or the AMA could have gone better or whatever - as long as Ground Branch itself stays true to its goal, there is absolutely no reason not to pledge for this project.

So where are you, Ghost Recon fans? What's the hold up? WHY U NO PLEDGE?!?

Truer words can not be spoken. It baffles me when people from within the "tactical shooter" community (i.e. GR, ArmA, and BFS as well) make this whole thing about the PR/marketing of the KS campaign instead about Ground Branch as a game that so many of us have wanted for a better part of a decade. This is the chance to get what we want, but people want to make mountains out of mole hills from very minor stuff relative to the grand scheme of things. Who knows when another opportunity like this will ever happen, if it ever happens again.

[ROCO*AFZ*]

Well, here is my deal from and old school GR1 player. There are a few reasons GB is not getting the funding that it's looking for. The Video is the 1st... While it may excite those of us that loved OGR or can see farther into what the game might be... people that never played it will say... all i see is someoen shooting targets. I see noone taking a bloody shot and limping until someone puts the guy out of his misery. People want to see the blood and guts of the game... they base that on how fun it will be because it shows more than the beginning training.

2nd - Timing - in todays economy someone is only gonna kick start one game. Takedown came out 1st and got the money.

3rd - History - for those of us that knew about groundbranch and waited years for it's free release... only now to see it going paid if we want it finished. That leads to dissapointment.

4th - Momentum - It has to start out fast. Peeps see a game getting quick money and steadly climbing in amounts.. they get excited. They feel everyone is feeling this is gonna be a great game so they join in. If it's not climbing fast, peeps think hmm maybe i shouldn't really spend anything on this because it's not gonna be popular because no one is donating.

And why i haven't donated - Although i love the fact of an actual injury model (That is the thing i miss most about OGR that is never included in any game since) - I cannot donate to a game that i can only see a training level in a game that was originally thought to be free (or that is how i perceived it) in todays economy after i already donated to takedown which had an awesome video that spoke to us so clearly... there video clearly got into your head. I do however wish groundbranch the best and i would pay full price later down the road but currently i feel it's a risk. (note its the way i feel, not neccesarily how it is)

[NYR_32]

Well, here is my deal from and old school GR1 player. There are a few reasons GB is not getting the funding that it's looking for. The Video is the 1st... While it may excite those of us that loved OGR or can see farther into what the game might be... people that never played it will say... all i see is someoen shooting targets. I see noone taking a bloody shot and limping until someone puts the guy out of his misery. People want to see the blood and guts of the game... they base that on how fun it will be because it shows more than the beginning training.

Dude, it's pre-alpha. That stuff either isn't in the game yet, or is so broken you can't show it. Most Kickstarters, by the way, only have screenshots, "Concept Art" and a talking head. Most projects don't show nearly as much as BFS has, in game, real time.

2nd - Timing - in todays economy someone is only gonna kick start one game. Takedown came out 1st and got the money.

Games today cost $60, you can get a copy of GB for $15. I spend that for two days of lunch. Takedown didn't take all the money, they got it from different sources (ie. Socom community and Notch followers) and had more media exposure, both good and some bad.

3rd - History - for those of us that knew about groundbranch and waited years for it's free release... only now to see it going paid if we want it finished. That leads to dissapointment.

When was GB ever going to be free? They NEVER, EVER, EVER said it was going to be a free to play game. It has always been a game you would have to buy.

And why i haven't donated - Although i love the fact of an actual injury model (That is the thing i miss most about OGR that is never included in any game since) - I cannot donate to a game that i can only see a training level in a game that was originally thought to be free (or that is how i perceived it) in todays economy after i already donated to takedown which had an awesome video that spoke to us so clearly... there video clearly got into your head.

You'll give money to a project that had nothing but words, but one that "just" shows a training level isn't enough. What? Logic disconnect... I didn't pledge for Takedown simply because all he had were words. No engine, no name, no concept images, just words. Haven't we had enough people shoving words in our faces all these years? GB has in game, pre-alpha footage of solid working features, the core of the game. More maps and other content mean jack if those aren't right. What do you expect to see from Takedown when they finally, if ever, reach the same state as GB? You're not going to see a bunch maps all done at pre-alpha. That's not how the process works. Speaking of maps though, John Sonedecker created some some of the best R6 maps ever, and lead the art team for GR. You want good maps, he is THE man for the job.

I do however wish groundbranch the best and i would pay full price later down the road but currently i feel it's a risk. (note its the way i feel, not neccesarily how it is)

Personally I'd feel more risk of $200k for "startup costs" walking away than $425k that is directly funding development and release, but hey that's just me.

[twcrash]

I just don't see why if you have a difference of opinion of a project you MUST hate the project or the person. The opposite is the actual truth. I buy a TON of games every year. Some I buy multiple times.

ArmA is a great example I bought the German version because it wasn't available in the U.S. first.

I then bought it from Gamestop when it finally released in the U.S. 6 months later and lately bought it through Steam and then directly from Bohemia itselfs as a digital download (because it is ArmA Gold and the Steam version isn't)

And I am one of the BIGGEST critics of how crappy the ArmA Series is.

How many of you have bought into a game that turned out to be a total turd? Do we wanna make lists? Hell I bought the Retail version of Warrock and it was free to play game.So it isn't about the money.

I don't hate this guy or his project.

I JUST DON'T BELIEVE HE WILL FINISH IT .

Its really that simple.

FYI i didn't buy into Takedown either.I just don't feel it for that project either.

[jsonedecker]

Well, here is my deal from and old school GR1 player. There are a few reasons GB is not getting the funding that it's looking for. The Video is the 1st... While it may excite those of us that loved OGR or can see farther into what the game might be... people that never played it will say... all i see is someoen shooting targets. I see noone taking a bloody shot and limping until someone puts the guy out of his misery. People want to see the blood and guts of the game... they base that on how fun it will be because it shows more than the beginning training.

Unfortunately people that like these kinds of games miss the point of Kickstarter entirely. It's being viewed as some sort of pre-order and are expecting the game to be almost finished. When in reality, Kickstarter is to gain the money to fund the CREATION of something. We can't show all that "gameplay" stuff because we don't have it. What we do have is lots of in game footage demonstrating that the game exists, we know what we are doing and that we are capable of delivering on the general experience we are going after.

2nd - Timing - in todays economy someone is only gonna kick start one game. Takedown came out 1st and got the money.

Agreed.

3rd - History - for those of us that knew about groundbranch and waited years for it's free release... only now to see it going paid if we want it finished. That leads to dissapointment.

Free release? It was never going to be free... not sure where you heard that.

And why i haven't donated - Although i love the fact of an actual injury model (That is the thing i miss most about OGR that is never included in any game since) - I cannot donate to a game that i can only see a training level in a game that was originally thought to be free (or that is how i perceived it) in todays economy after i already donated to takedown which had an awesome video that spoke to us so clearly... there video clearly got into your head. I do however wish groundbranch the best and i would pay full price later down the road but currently i feel it's a risk. (note its the way i feel, not neccesarily how it is)

I appreciate your honesty, but this line of thinking confuses me. You like what you see. There are features no other game does and that excites you. It's what you want, yet you won't back it. You say you cannot donate to a game that "I can only see a training level.." yet you backed Takedown, that had zero to show. Nothing but vague descriptions of bullet point items.

They did a good PR piece video for sure. They did a great job of doing what big publishers do all the time. But I'm not exactly sure what was so clearly delivered about the actual game. I guess my mistake was believing that people wanted substance, demonstration and details instead of just another glitzy PR piece. I was wrong. And again, I'm not sure where the "GB is going to be free" idea came from.

I understand financial reasons and that fine. But not that thought process.

And just to be clear... I like Christian a lot and wish them the best of luck. I truly do and I'll be supporting him the entire way.

I JUST DON'T BELIEVE HE WILL FINISH IT .

Its really that simple.

Fair enough. I'm not sure what I can do to earn that trust from you though. Kickstarter is a leap of faith of sorts, but I feel we have done a solid presentation outlining who we are, why we can get it done, what work has already been done and a solid plan for where we are going.

I have a solid 15 year industry reputation on the line here. I'm not going to mess it up.

It's all good though. You can support us when the game is released and we can all have some fun.

[jsonedecker]

Just thought I'd let everyone know that we are going to include SP/Co-op of Ground Branch FREE to all KS backers. Here is the official update:

We have heard the message loud and clear and are happy to announce that we are going to offer ALL of our Kickstarter backers that pledged from the minimum $15 reward up, the Singleplayer/Co-Op portion (with advanced AI) of GROUND BRANCH for FREE. Every copy of the game gets this; So for example, if you get a FIRETEAM EDITION then all 4 copies will be eligible for the additional release.

This will be available some time after the initial release that will include full multiplayer (objective-based TvT, PvP) and core single player/co-operation gameplay (e.g. terrorist hunt against bots) from the start.

Let the world know so that we can all enjoy GROUND BRANCH!

[Blame]

Just thought I'd let everyone know that we are going to include SP/Co-op of Ground Branch FREE to all KS backers. Here is the official update:

We have heard the message loud and clear and are happy to announce that we are going to offer ALL of our Kickstarter backers that pledged from the minimum $15 reward up, the Singleplayer/Co-Op portion (with advanced AI) of GROUND BRANCH for FREE. Every copy of the game gets this; So for example, if you get a FIRETEAM EDITION then all 4 copies will be eligible for the additional release.

This will be available some time after the initial release that will include full multiplayer (objective-based TvT, PvP) and core single player/co-operation gameplay (e.g. terrorist hunt against bots) from the start.

Let the world know so that we can all enjoy GROUND BRANCH!

That just looks stupid to me..Can't everyone get the same game?

[jsonedecker]

What do you mean? You back te kickstarter and you get the MP portion (with terrorist hunt style co-op) then some time after the initial release we will give all those people the SP/full co-op portion.

[Rocky]

I still see people talking about risk, as a reason for not supporting GB. The only valid reason for not supporting the GB KS project is that you don't want to play a tactical shooter.

There is no other reason.

If you like tactical shooters, you support the kickstarter with a measly 15 bucks and if the target is not reached, you get your pocket money back. If it succeeds, you just got a new game in your favourite genre and a direct line to the developer.

Everything else is just chit chat muddying the waters.

Seriously, if you are a gamer, and everyone reading this post is, I cannot think of a valid reason not to cough up $15 and see where this goes.

Just do it.

[jsonedecker]

Thanks Rocky!

[ApexMods]

I still see people talking about risk, as a reason for not supporting GB. The only valid reason for not supporting the GB KS project is that you don't want to play a tactical shooter.

There is no other reason.

If you like tactical shooters, you support the kickstarter with a measly 15 bucks and if the target is not reached, you get your pocket money back. If it succeeds, you just got a new game in your favourite genre and a direct line to the developer.

Everything else is just chit chat muddying the waters.

Seriously, if you are a gamer, and everyone reading this post is, I cannot think of a valid reason not to cough up $15 and see where this goes.

Just do it.

[Joseph_Q]

I still see people talking about risk, as a reason for not supporting GB. The only valid reason for not supporting the GB KS project is that you don't want to play a tactical shooter.

There is no other reason.

If you like tactical shooters, you support the kickstarter with a measly 15 bucks and if the target is not reached, you get your pocket money back. If it succeeds, you just got a new game in your favourite genre and a direct line to the developer.

Everything else is just chit chat muddying the waters.

Seriously, if you are a gamer, and everyone reading this post is, I cannot think of a valid reason not to cough up $15 and see where this goes.

Just do it.

[Bota:16]

Just do it.

[twcrash]

sorry to disagree with you Rocky. But again you're entitled to your opinion but to say its because we don't wanna play a tactical shooter is <insult deleted> and i expect better from you. I am sorry I don't <insult deleted>. I honestly feel <insult deleted> at best. it amazes me that you trust someone who wants cash from you after promising a game for almost a decade but <insult deleted> if ubisoft delays a games release for a couple weeks. If UBISOFT tried this you all would be looking to <insult deleted> in it and rightly so. But don't try and insult our intelligence because you wanna waste your money on a pipedream. I am done arguing about this vaporware.

If you want your posts to remain intact, please try and make your point without being personal and without being offensive.

*Admin edits.

Edited June 27, 2012 by Rocky

[Blame]

I still see people talking about risk, as a reason for not supporting GB. The only valid reason for not supporting the GB KS project is that you don't want to play a tactical shooter.

There is no other reason.

If you like tactical shooters, you support the kickstarter with a measly 15 bucks and if the target is not reached, you get your pocket money back. If it succeeds, you just got a new game in your favourite genre and a direct line to the developer.

Everything else is just chit chat muddying the waters.

Seriously, if you are a gamer, and everyone reading this post is, I cannot think of a valid reason not to cough up $15 and see where this goes.

Just do it.

Eehm, Rocky if 360k is pocket money for you, why not support it ?

And I'd rather support Ground Branch than Kickstarter.

[NYR_32]

I am done arguing about this vaporware.

Good, because that means I don't have to waste my time refuting your fabrications.

And I'd rather support Ground Branch than Kickstarter.

I think you're a bit confused, because when pledging on Kickstarter you are supporting Ground Branch. The funds raised via Kickstarter are funding the game.

[jsonedecker]

I honestly feel the man is a sham at best. it amazes me that you trust someone who wants cash from you after promising a game for almost a decade......

Thanks for the input. Not really sure why you think I have been "promising a game for almost a decade". I started a company and later announced to a community, that I have bent over backwards to support my entire professional career to that point, that I was trying to make a game. We shopped it to publishers and they weren't interested so we have tried to do it on our ownI while being overly transparent about development every step of the way.

I have taken ZERO money for the development of the game and have not promised a release date or put anything up for sale. Ever. So I'm not sure how that qualifies me as a "sham". I'm just trying to make it like any other indie game developer.

If your game development experience gives you insight into a better plan than feel free to share it. I'd happily listen.

[ROCO*AFZ*]

I appreciate your honesty, but this line of thinking confuses me. You like what you see. There are features no other game does and that excites you. It's what you want, yet you won't back it. You say you cannot donate to a game that "I can only see a training level.." yet you backed Takedown, that had zero to show. Nothing but vague descriptions of bullet point items.

They did a good PR piece video for sure. They did a great job of doing what big publishers do all the time. But I'm not exactly sure what was so clearly delivered about the actual game. I guess my mistake was believing that people wanted substance, demonstration and details instead of just another glitzy PR piece. I was wrong. And again, I'm not sure where the "GB is going to be free" idea came from.

I understand financial reasons and that fine. But not that thought process.

Truthfully i backed takedown because it came 1st and it spoke how i feel about tactical gaming. My job has had so many funding cuts i can only back so much and the wifey would probably kill me if she knew i backed any. The risk part is ... if a company gets the money to create it.. will they finish it? kickstarer in general is a risk. 1 risk at a time is all i can take and takedown got it.

The video pr was good but the message that bashed the publishers and spoke as a frustrated gamer in it was genius. That touches people. Frustrated gamers related to it. The video had intesity. Heck the video alone was almost worth the 25.00 i donated. Yours was a training level not showing anything of what you talked about that would give it an advantage. It looked like a generic game. You talked injury model but didn't place another character in the training room that you could shoot and show them limp. That would have got attention. And show the character you are controlling get injured. I'm not saying whole maps, but show what will make the game different. Without doing a pr video, that is about the only other way to get mass attention.

I actually never followed the game Ground branch, much but assumed it was free for some reason and it stuck in my head that way over the years. Sorry if the assumption was wrong.

Don't take this wrong though or as a bash. Just trying to help if you re-kickstart it. Like i said, hopefully financially i'll be in a better place and excited when it launches if it delivers and i wish you the best.