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Maybe the best crowdfunding video in the history of Sapien Kind

DashiDMVDashiDMV Registered User regular
edited October 2012 in Games and Technology
So I liked the old first person rpg games. Wizardy, Bards Tale, Eye of the Beholder etc. I have a secret stash when I lose the internet where I can play Dungeons and Dragons treasure of Tarmin as a filler. So when I heard about a spiritual successor to Wizardry, I was stoked. By that I don't mean the SOE port of the Japanese MMO, nor do I mean Shaker, no my friends this is the real deal.

Cleveland Mark Blakemore worked in Wizardry 7 and also Wizardry 8, not the Wizardry 8 that came out but the original design that ended up getting scrapped when the company just ran out of money at that time. This guy can make games but that isn't the reason I am posting this. I am posting this because the guy is batshit insane and has been one of the best sources of entertainment for me recently. This is a guy that make Brad Wardell look like a piker. He believes he is a Neanderthal superman moved form the US to Australia to escape the coming race war and other wild stuff. He routinely goes off on these insane rants. But the man can make games.

This game he is making Grimiore has been in development for 17 years. That's like 1 1/2 Duke Nukems. The game is partly is dream and partly a FU to Sir-Tech, the company he worked for and revenge against the people who made Wizardry 8. Even though that game has been out like 11 years now, he just doesn't care. He is almost done but only wants like 250k(lol) for polish and what not.

The video is a masterwork. 20 minutes of rambling and heavy breathing, you can hear the crazy just ooze out of your speakers. This isn't some dross about living your dreams, no my friends this is meglomania at it's finest.

Even the crowdfunding had to be different. Kickstarter? Why use that? No this game uses Indiegogo. Why have the drive for 1 month when you can have it for 4. Also the thing is that even if the goal isn't met, he gets to keep all your money. It's too much.

Now by hearing this you probably think I hate the guy and am trying to warn you. I will be honest with you, I have not laughed so much in a long long time. To see his rambling proclamations, to see people arguing with him over whether it is a hoax or not and to see him fight back, it is a special kind of entertainment. I plan to donate knowing full well I may never see the game but not caring, this has been like going to a comedy club every day. It's great.

Well enough for me going on about it, check the video out for yourself and get ready for the awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDyXSCd2Lp0&feature=plcp

DashiDMV on

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    ArchsorcererArchsorcerer Registered User regular
    edited October 2012
    Talk to the moderators first man. Good intentions but this can get you banned considering this is your first post.

    Archsorcerer on
    XBL - ArchSilversmith

    "We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
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    DashiDMVDashiDMV Registered User regular
    No worries, didn't want it to come off as an ad or anything. Just wanted to show people the video and share the laughs. Thanks for the heads up though.

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    ArchsorcererArchsorcerer Registered User regular
    edited October 2012
    I'm probably overreacting. You are not asking for money.

    You might want to add the name of the game you are commenting to thread's title to get some discussion.

    Archsorcerer on
    XBL - ArchSilversmith

    "We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
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    C2BC2B SwitzerlandRegistered User regular
    Reading up on Cleve exploits (at least those you can still read upon) is the most hilarious thing.

    He's apparently really talented as a crpg designer. Most reactions of people who got to playtest Grimoire seem to be overwhelmigly positive about it.

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    RaggieRaggie Schattenjäger Registered User regular
    Apparently he's using IndieGoGo because he's Australian. Kickstart accepts only U.S. addresses.

    Anyway, then man is clearly nuts and his game looks delightfully nuts as well. I'm not enough of a gambler to pledge, but damn I want that game.

    ypvha57nnenm.jpg
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    DashiDMVDashiDMV Registered User regular
    Man this guy is so great. Non stop laughs.

    Here is something he just dropped on the Shaker Kickstarter page:

    Cleveland Mark Blakemore less than a minute ago

    http://www.indiegogo.com/grimoireforever

    There is a spiritual successor to Wizardry. It is called Grimoire and it is done.

    Brenda already got her Kickstarter at Sir-Tech. It was called Wizardry 8 and it cost two million dollars for Brenda to play game designer. Sir-Tech believed Brenda when she told them that nobody was interested in playing old skool RPGs anymore. It ended with Sir-Tech going bankrupt with less than $50 in assets at their hearing. If anybody had thought Brenda was a good bet to head up another team after Sir-Tech went out of business, with her huge social networking skills I am sure she could have headed up another team.

    Brenda is good at social networking but not much of a game designer. If she had any pleasure or enthusiasm for the genre she'd be working in it instead of writing politically correct social games for FaceBook.

    She wants another two million, this time to pay her to make a game she can't even seem to describe. Maybe that is because she is more interested in two million dollars than old skool RPGs.

    For those of you who don't understand why Sir-Tech turned away from their core and blew their money on junk like DRUIDS, it was because they thought Brenda knew what she was talking about. That's why they are out of business today.

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    RaggieRaggie Schattenjäger Registered User regular
    He's got the assertiveness and poise of a pint-sized terrier, that's for sure.

    ypvha57nnenm.jpg
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    DashiDMVDashiDMV Registered User regular
    He just called John Romero a child molester on his own KS page. Man some solid gold flowing late at night.

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    RaggieRaggie Schattenjäger Registered User regular
    DashiDMV wrote: »
    He just called John Romero a child molester on his own KS page. Man some solid gold flowing late at night.

    Link?

    ypvha57nnenm.jpg
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    RaggieRaggie Schattenjäger Registered User regular
    "Brenda and John are fakes. I am the genuine article. I've got more talent in my little finger than these two and everybody they know."

    :D Way to promote, Mr. Blakemore!

    ypvha57nnenm.jpg
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    DashiDMVDashiDMV Registered User regular
    Guess for those worried that he wasn't going to do enough to promote the game, well looks like that problem got solved :)

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    RaggieRaggie Schattenjäger Registered User regular
    looks like Cleve isn't done yet. :shock:

    ypvha57nnenm.jpg
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    Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
    edited October 2012
    DashiDMV wrote: »
    He just called John Romero a child molester on his own KS page. Man some solid gold flowing late at night.

    That's going a little far but from what I've heard it's also darn close to the truth. Didn't he meet his east European wife (and by that I mean she lived in eastern Europe) when she was 13 or 15? And married her when she was 16?

    I would love nothing more then to be proven wrong about that, by the way.

    Magic Pink on
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    DashiDMVDashiDMV Registered User regular
    Yeah from Cleve's account of it, John "befriended" the girl at 15 and married her at 17

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    Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
    DashiDMV wrote: »
    Yeah from Cleve's account of it, John "befriended" the girl at 15 and married her at 17

    I don't know if he's a very good source tho.

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    DashiDMVDashiDMV Registered User regular
    somethingawful.com/d/news/god-bless-you.php

    Now some of you more negative Nellie naysayers might find some fault in a 37-year old game designer (who has three kids, one a 15-year old son, and was previously dating a Playboy model) marrying an 18-year old Romanian girl (who first began flirting with Mr. Romero online when she was 15). To you worthless crumb-bums I say, "a pox upon thee!" You obviously have no concept of true, pure love and the obstacles it can overcome like the car from Bump N' Jump which could leap over small bodies of water and large boulders which would unfortunately fall from pickup trucks for no readily apparent reason. So if you've got a potty mouth and are just waiting to write something mean-spirited and nasty about their whirlwind romance, let me remind you that you do not grasp their complex relationship and do not understand unbridled love and cannot comprehend all the delicate intricacies of marrying a Romanian girl in high school who is half your age. Let me list just a FEW of the many, many benefits that Mr. and Mrs. Romero will be able to take advantage of in their relationship:

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    DashiDMVDashiDMV Registered User regular
    Cleveland Mark Blakemore less than a minute ago

    I predict this Kickstarter will raise zero dollars.

    I think he's right on that one.

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    DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    I don't care if you don't support me on IndieGoGo. If you have already supported this project then you are a very confused person who is easily fooled by appearances.

    My game is the real deal. It's not a mirage or a bunch of fast talk or some social networking or a lot of smiling followed by ambiguity designed to be disarming.

    Again, there is a spiritual successor to Wizardry and it is called Grimoire. I don't care if you play it or not because unlike Brenda and John, I am a real game designer. I don't need your permission to be a game designer nor do I need to hear the outcome of your vote on the subject.

    Brenda and John are fakes. I am the genuine article. I've got more talent in my little finger than these two and everybody they know. So let them go off and get some more testimonials and engage in some more self-referential logic and see if they can post some more celebrity references. Me, I will keep working on games as I have been doing since forever.

    Also, tell John to pay his child support and leave those 15 year old slavic girls at home with their mothers.

    This is some next-gen trolling from a retro dev.

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    DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    Oh, god. I just checked the comments on the YouTube video in the OP. This is gold, Jerry. Gold!
    you say that you'll release this in may 2012 no matter what in this video. well - may 2012 is already passed! :)
    Chudinho83 4 days ago
    Chudinho83, it is true I did say that accidentally during the pitch. Most people who do not suffer from severe autism would realize that was a mistake. See if you have an adult nearby who can explain it to you without getting you overstimulated.

    Cleve Blakemore 4 days ago

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    Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
    Wow.

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    DashiDMVDashiDMV Registered User regular
    Yeah it depends how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go, This guy has some all time great quotes. The thing is though, at the core of all this is that Grimoire is really good and it will be cool to play after waiting 17 years for this guy get it together and get it ready for release. I just hope people who are turned off by his over the top stuff look at the actual game. This is mad genius territory and this guy should be given his due as a game designer.

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    Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
    Yeah, I don't think so. He's an asshole first and foremost. It's ridiculously easy to not support those people.

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    UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    Yeah this is all very off-putting, no matter how cool I thought it looked in the video. Geez.

    Switch Friend Code: SW - 5443 - 2358 - 9118 || 3DS Friend Code: 0989 - 1731 - 9504 || NNID: unclesporky
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    C2BC2B SwitzerlandRegistered User regular
    edited October 2012
    Magic Pink wrote: »
    Yeah, I don't think so. He's an asshole first and foremost. It's ridiculously easy to not support those people.

    So was H.P. Lovecraft *smugface*

    Really, though. There's no need to support cleve. I wouldn't either. He's best enjoyed taking a few steps back, looking at his craziness and laughing about it in the distance. Best he's in his australian bunker anyway. ;)

    C2B on
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    RaggieRaggie Schattenjäger Registered User regular
    Cleve's got some mental problem. He can't help himself.

    ypvha57nnenm.jpg
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    ZxerolZxerol for the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't do so i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered User regular
    DashiDMV wrote: »
    This game he is making Grimiore has been in development for 17 years. That's like 1 1/2 Duke Nukems.

    Someone get ISO to standardize the DNF unit of vaporware, stat.

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    TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    I just want to reiterate that you are correct that this is probably the best crowdfunding video ever, OP. I couldn't stop smiling the entire 20 minutes or however long it was.

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    DashiDMVDashiDMV Registered User regular
    Yeah I don't think anyone is going to watch after what he did but still funny. If you guys can spread the word it could help.

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    DashiDMVDashiDMV Registered User regular
    Looks like Cleve was the final dagger in the heart for Shaker:

    Project Update #10: THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! STAY TUNED....
    Posted by Loot Drop Like

    Uncharted Isles, Mineshaft, Contraption...

    In the industry, games are pitched every day. Some make it to the next stage, but many don't, like those named above. We regret to announce that we're adding Shaker: An Old-School RPG to the latter list.

    We are profoundly grateful to our fans. You were as excited about this game as we were, and from the very beginning, you encouraged us to post more details about it and even sent in fan art! We have received backing from over 7,000 of you and raised a quarter million dollars in just a few days (!). That's humbling and wonderful.

    We are profoundly grateful to the press. You covered our Kickstarter's launch and story update and gave it as much attention as you possibly could. It was through your efforts that many heard about our game.

    We are grateful to our friends in the game industry who gave us suggestions, support and critique. We are a wonderfully tight-knit community, and we owe you for all your feedback and friendship.

    Ultimately, our pitch just wasn't strong enough to get the traction we felt it needed to thrive. Sure, it may have made it. We could have fought our way to a possibly successful end. In reading your feedback and talking it over internally, however, we decided that it made more sense to kill it and come back with something stronger.

    In game design, mercy killing is the law.

    So, please accept our thanks and apologies in equal order. Expect something more soon.

    You may keep in touch by joining our forum, following @LootDrop on Twitter and friending us on Facebook. Again, thanks so much for your help and support!

    - Tom & Brenda

    Maybe they will comeback with a more focused project next time. That 2 RPG thing did them in from the start imo.

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