Backer – MMO Fallout

Mighty No. 9 has been out since June 21st, long enough for the internet to blow up in anger and then mostly forget about the title at least until the ‘most disappointing games of 2016’ lists start coming out, to the tune of $4 million in wasted crowdfunding cash via Kickstarter, and while the fire has been mostly put out, the embers are still burning somewhere underground. It may seem hard to believe but after $3.9 million in funding, three delays, and six months post launch, Mighty No. 9 still hasn’t fully delivered.

And I am not talking about the game being disappointing. Individuals who pledged at higher levels in the original Kickstarter campaign were promised all sorts of goodies and many of them have still not been delivered. Take this post from Reddit:

Mighty No. 9 was finally released on June 21st, and almost 6 months later Comcept has not sent out any physical rewards other than t-shirts early in the year. Those who backed the game for the handheld versions have just been told by Engine Software (the company porting the game) that it is in development with no scheduled release date. Mighty No 9 twitter and kickstarter page has been silent since September 15th as well.

According to one poster, the list of items includes books, USB keys, sketches, physical copies, instruction books, art books, and possibly PAX rewards and 3D printed figures. At this point, the game still hasn’t come out on handhelds, meaning those who backed the game to get it on their 3DS and Vita have had six months of knowing just how disappointing the game is, coupled with no idea when it will actually be released.

Fans (or backers) have no idea when they are receiving the rewards they pledged for, and Comcept isn’t talking.

(Source: Reddit)

What do you do when your game sells items for real money but also includes a separate offline mode that can’t reasonably be regulated by the developer? For Shroud of the Avatar, the folks at Portalarium figures that no matter what their stance on the issue, there is little doubt that hackers will figure out a way to nab those cash shop items for free. So why not do everyone a favor, since the only impact the player can have is on their own world, and give everyone access to exclusive items in offline mode?

The idea was polled, and so far the response has been in overwhelming agreement. 96.5% of the voting community, approximately 860 votes as of this publishing, agree that it is OK for all add on and pledge rewards to be available in offline mode. This obviously comes with a caveat that items will need to be crafted, with the biggest and best stuff becoming end-game content, and that numerous items will have no real effect in offline mode like Fyndoro’s Tablet, an item that is used to find other players.

Community response to the idea has been overwhelmingly positive, especially from those who had invested serious money into the game:

I have 5k in and my greatest concern is someone will feel I bought a advantage over them. That’s not what I want. I like the nick nacks, their cool, but I don’t want anyone to feel its pay to play outside of the basic costs for the game.

And not all of the ‘no’ votes were against the idea entirely, with many citing the extra development time required to turn the items into craftables and figure out balancing.

I don’t really care either way, but voted NO because I do not want the developers wasting any time on making the items craftable. Just put them all on a special vendor and be done with it please.

If you add up all the hats, cloaks, costumes, weapons, armor, prosperity items etc. you would probably have at least 100 new items, each one requiring a unique recipe. How many unique recipes for hats alone are needed? Can it even be done without adding new ingredients?

How do you feel about pledge items, considering they can run a pretty penny, being available to players for free in offline mode? Let us know in the comments below.

(Source: Shroud of the Avatar)