Do You Like Shadowrun and/or Small, Independent Game Companies?

[Lycantropus]

Hey everyone! (I'm usually quiet and lurk a lot so warning, I'm going to be wordy, but I appreciate you reading so you understand the entire situation)

First off, thanks for taking the time to read this. I check in from time to time, and mostly lurk, however, this is important enough to me (and has some very similar situations to our Paragon Studios) that I thought it worth mentioning here.

After the close of Paragon Studios, I had a very low period that started to turn around when I became more involved in another game community due to some Kickstarters that was pointed out to me. Shadowrun started out as a tabletop game back in... '89 and also had a Sega and SNES game (we don't usually talk about the FPS for the 360...) and was always one of my favorite settings. I was excited to hear that a couple new video games were going to tackle the property. One for single-player, the other... a tactical turn-based MMO! It was being produced by a small independent studio out of Austria, called Cliffhanger Studios.

I was delighted at the concept of a tactical turn-based MMO based on one of my favorite games, and kicked in (I did for the single-player ones too, but that's a different story). It had a bit of a weak start due to the fact that it literally followed on the heels of the single-player version, launching only a month or so afterward (there were many remarks by fans that they would have donated more had they not already heavily invested in the other one). So the single-player version asked for 400k and got over 1.5 million, while Cliffhanger asked for 500k, and barely crested 550k... to make an MMO.

That didn't stop them though. Because there were so many that had said they wanted to donate more if they could, they continued to take donations (offering comparable rewards on their own, which I contributed to). Now, I was there through the whole process, and their setbacks, including their portrait artist literally disappearing! (like they couldn't locate/contact them through the company they contracted- and they hadn't finished the job!) to realizing the engine they had created wasn't robust enough to follow through with fan's desires (it was originally supposed to be accessible to tablet as well and be much simpler- though they have planned to release such versions, they wanted to create a 'fuller' system first, then optimize down)... and had many ambitious goals along the way (including voice acted cutscenes... for an MMO that started with a 500k budget)... They even designed a simpler mini-game with other resources to fund the new engine that would eventually become Shadowrun Chronicles. (a tactical PvP game called AErena) in an effort to get it all together.

I had the pleasure of meeting some of the team when they went to GenCon. I actually wound up spending most of the weekend with them, talking about the game, and helping explain things to the interested folks (so if I saw you there, HI! ). What I took away from that was that they're a very passionate group that was very talented and capable, but again, a small independent game studio with a relatively BIG title in their hands. I enjoyed spending the time I did with them, and didn't regret a moment. They're good people.

But you know what? They pulled it off. It wasn't easy, it was behind schedule, and it wasn't pretty (the RESULTS WERE, getting there wasn't, which is why I'm here now)... but they did it. They really did it. Even as a contributing member who played every iteration, they literally blew me away in the furious last few months of development with all the changes and improvements. In a year it went from an Alpha version with a clunky tablet-based UI to a much more familiar MMO style UI with lots of character options and interesting mechanics... and wrapped it in a tight lore-filled story.

Then, they had trouble at launch. Even after the Head-Start and Stress testing, an unexpected case of lag (taking 30 seconds or more to register a move) for the first week until they could nail down all the things causing it... resulted in less than stellar sales, and a lot of freaking out on the Steam forums.

Needless to say, as a small independent studio with an ambitious plan, and the rights to a recognizable IP, they have lived up to their name, Cliffhanger.

[Lycantropus]

Now, here's why I'm telling you all this.

Just about a month after they launched, they announced that their development studio (Cliffhanger Productions) is filing for bankruptcy. They just didn't generate enough revenue off sales to make up the difference it took to get everything launched (something I think is rather endemic of the Kickstarter phenomena, as everyone who was really interested already has invested and gotten the product, so they aren't buying new copies themselves).

Cliffhanger Games (as opposed to Cliffhanger Productions) the part of the company that actually runs Shadowrun Chronicles and has the rights to publish the game, is fine, and will continue to operate on Steam, with the next update to launch next week. They were smart enough to protect it. However, what this does mean is that they will have to restructure the development studio and make efforts to repay all their debts, part of which was the salaries of the development team who volunteered to stick it out without pay to see the game through to launch.

Here's where you come in.

They're selling copies of their game through the Humble store off their website:

http://www.shadowrun.com/shadowrun-online/

They get 95% of the profits off of their sales through this way (vs buying it through Steam or the box set off Amazon) and the money they can make there will go toward paying their debt (and their programming team) and soften the blow to the development studio.

Like the Freem 15 (though this studio only started with 20something folks) this studio is pushing through a really dark patch in their history with plans of continuing on as the independent studio they started out as.

So, if you are a fan of Shadowrun, tactical turn-based combat games, or just want to support a small independent game studio... I'd ask you to consider buying a copy and if you like it, posting positive reviews.

Now, I'm not going to say it's the BEST GAME EVAR (because we all know which one actually is... I just don't want to see this one ending up the same way ) and it's not without its flaws. The story is great, and the dialogue, both written and voiced ("Main" characters of interest have voice acting, other NPC's don't) is great and there's a LOT of it... but as an RPG, it's a bit 'on rails'. You're following a story, and the game speaks for your character (a limitation of development as much as they're working in the realm of canon with the tabletop game- it ties into the actual future of the tabletop game as well!!) There's currently no 'endgame' to carry it on (though that is being rectified with next week's patch introducing the first of 'challenge missions') and due to having to restructure, development will be slowed down (there has been, until now, an update every few weeks to a month). I fully support this game, but I also have no illusions about it's limitations... However, I can see what it can grow into, and really, really want to see that happen, for Cliffhanger, and us as fans and players.

It's a VERY polished game... for a small, independent game studio of 20something people, and I really enjoy playing it. The community (on their forums, not the Steam ones) is mature, civil, and passionate. I'd hate to see it wither just as the game launches. Plus, I personally don't want to see another City (in this case, Boston circa 2070's) disappear, leaving its community without a home before it's had the chance to reach it's potential.

Anyway, I've said my peace, and I hope you consider supporting it. It's worth at least the 39.99 price even if you just play it solo (with NPC henchmen) once through for the story and gameplay, as much as any other game out there is, and as I said, it has a LOT of potential with a small passionate team working on it. So I guess I'm calling in any favors I'm owed (real or imagined) on their behalf. I think it's worth it.

Thanks again everyone for your time in reading this.

Lyc~