Cyan Kickstarter Project Open: OBDUCTION

Tai'lahr · **Posted:** Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:48 pm

Nalates wrote:

Keep spreading the word by posting on Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, Reddit, Google+ and other places. Think about where Myst fans hangout online. Get posts where long time fans will see them.

But, be careful not to spam anyone or any one site; we've seen complaints about that.

JWPlatt · **Posted:** Tue Oct 29, 2013 6:12 pm

Maybe contact the production offices of Big Bang Theory. Obduction could support Klingon translations, and BBT loves to make fun with video games and Star Trek, so they might contribute. Just two minutes of the producers and stars' salary might add up to a $few hundred thousand.

Tai'lahr · **Posted:** Tue Oct 29, 2013 7:02 pm

JWPlatt wrote:

Maybe contact the production offices of Big Bang Theory. Obduction could support Klingon translations, and BBT loves to make fun with video games and Star Trek, so they might contribute. Just two minutes of the producers and stars' salary might add up to a $few hundred thousand.

Send out the Jim Parsons signal? :wink:

chrissifniotis · **Posted:** Wed Oct 30, 2013 4:36 am

JWPlatt wrote:

Maybe contact the production offices of Big Bang Theory. Obduction could support Klingon translations, and BBT loves to make fun with video games and Star Trek, so they might contribute. Just two minutes of the producers and stars' salary might add up to a $few hundred thousand.

Maybe they can finish my Myst BBT episode I left half finished here. :lol:

angelmyst · **Posted:** Wed Oct 30, 2013 12:15 pm

As a retail merchandiser I know it is common business practice to create something new to help boost a product that is struggling. Cyan could have easily let URU go, but I am so thankful they are working behind the scenes to generate revenue that will benefit the whole. One piece of the puzzle does not make the whole picture, and as much as I LOVE URU, it is just a tiny piece of the puzzle.
I await the beginning of this new venture.....but I will never leave URU...they will have to pull this angel out kicking and screaming...lol

Thanks to all those hard at work to do what we can not see, to help bring to us a time of entertainment. My kids love this place, and I will work on getting my third generation involved. It is great fun, a safe environment, and mind challenging. Few games on line, none in my personal opinion, even come close to URU and the whole Myst community, when it come to being good family online fun.

janaba1 · **Posted:** Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:20 pm

Amen, angelmyst ...

For all who are not much into roaming many forums, I esp. speak of the new Cyan forums right now, I'd like to make you aware of two awesome links, Tai'lahr posted on that forum here and here ... There is first an absolutely stunningly awesome campaign poster matthornb created for Obduction ... Please, have a look here ...

Another link leads to a great informative article revealing "Exclusive details on Obduction — Cyan’s $1.1 million Kickstarter for a sci-fi Myst successor" on the 'Inlander' Spokane urban weekly online magazine ...

Thanks to Tai'lahr for pointing us to those ... Enjoy ...

matthornb · **Posted:** Fri Nov 01, 2013 3:48 pm

I'm glad people are finding the poster useful.

We will need to reach beyond the active Myst fanbase if this Kickstarter is to continue gaining momentum. I'd said it was trending towards a point slightly below the 1.1 million goal, and it was, briefly, but things seem to have picked up a bit since then so... I'm cautiously optimistic.

We're at $700,000 and closing in on the 2/3 mark. Still, we can't slack off on this.

That means some sort of widespread promotional effort will need to be made by both the fanbase and by Cyan Worlds, and it also would help if Cyan Worlds would reveal a bit more for those who are still unconvinced.

I'll be making a few simple banners for people to use as signatures on forums they're active in.

I'd also like to point out the clever things other fans are doing, like:

-selling old Myst-related or adventure-game related items on eBay with the stated goal of raising funds for Obduction, which serves the dual purpose of raising cash and spreading awareness of the Obduction project.

-Creating printed cards with a tantalizing image and the word 'Obduction'... at this point the kickstarter for obduction is #1 in search results for the search query 'obduction' so this appeal to peoples' curiosity could actually work.

-suggesting all manner of creative add-ons or other ideas that could help raise funds. (I, for one, think an unsigned 'Art of Obduction" book as an add-on item might be a good idea.)

Publicity is essential to a successful Kickstarter. I made a lot of mistakes when I launched a KS way back when, it never reached its funding goal and didn't even come close. (And its goal was under $1000!) So I know firsthand how this sort of thing can fall apart even if you've got an intriguing concept and a neat video.

Cyan Worlds, and the fanbase, will need to work hard if this is to reach - and ideally exceed - the current goals. I, for one, would love to see this move past the base goal, past even the $1.3 million goal (localization and Oculus Rift), and make it to the point where there are additional worlds to explore, and an even bigger, better game.

[EDIT: A first set of banners added.]

Magic88889 · **Joined:** Tue Sep 19, 2006 4:33 am **Posts:** 91

Hey everyone, we're in the last week here, and we still need your support! We're less than 200K from our goal, and every dollar counts!!

If you haven't checked out the kickstarter page, please do.

TOOO · **Posted:** Mon Nov 11, 2013 3:32 am

angelmyst wrote:

As a retail merchandiser I know it is common business practice to create something new to help boost a product that is struggling. Cyan could have easily let URU go, but I am so thankful they are working behind the scenes to generate revenue that will benefit the whole. One piece of the puzzle does not make the whole picture, and as much as I LOVE URU, it is just a tiny piece of the puzzle.
I await the beginning of this new venture.....but I will never leave URU...they will have to pull this angel out kicking and screaming...lol

Thanks to all those hard at work to do what we can not see, to help bring to us a time of entertainment. My kids love this place, and I will work on getting my third generation involved. It is great fun, a safe environment, and mind challenging. Few games on line, none in my personal opinion, even come close to URU and the whole Myst community, when it come to being good family online fun.

It is kind of sad, though. There is obviously so much more to the Uru story that Cyan wants to tell, but, sadly, may never get the chance to tell it.

janaba1 · **Posted:** Mon Nov 11, 2013 10:12 pm

A lovely post by Robyn Miller posted by someone in the Kickstarter comments section ...

matthornb · **Posted:** Tue Nov 12, 2013 11:39 pm

3 days left, about 90% of the way to the baseline funding goal.

I personally would love to see us blow way way past that and hit the second stretch goal, which is strongly suspected to be "an additional world to explore".

That may be 1.5 - 1.6 million. I wonder if Cyan Worlds has one more (really exciting) update they are prepared to post - one that perhaps confirms that stretch goal and contains a brief preview (a concept drawing or something) hinting at what that world looks like.

Note that Myst - the original one - cost an estimated $600,000 to develop (1991-1993) and that that is almost exactly $1 million when adjusted for inflation. $1.1 million, is the base cost for Obduction - roughly the same amount. Rand has further confirmed that Obduction is about the same size as the original 'Myst' but of course should look much better visually simply because the technology and tools have improved dramatically since the early 1990s. Myst had a team of seven working for 2 1/2 years, this will have a team of around 12-20, working for 2 years. (I'm guessing 12 if they barely hit 1.1 million, and more than twelve if they hit one or two of the stretch goals.)

It also seems clear from interviews... That Obduction's game world, consists essentially of three explorable worlds. Myst had five substantial worlds, plus K'veer which we saw very little of in that game. So we might guess that these three baseline-goal worlds are each, on average, about 60-70% larger than Myst Island. Just speculation, but I think it makes sense.

The difference then, between three and four worlds is significant for Obduction. We're talking about a game that is 30-40% bigger, if we can hit the second stretch goal. It would make Obduction larger than Myst, and - in effect - nearly the size of Riven. Now I'm not saying we need to get much past 1.1 million during the Kickstarter, the 1.1 million goal is the critical one - but I would like to see us get somewhere beyond it. supposing that we only barely scrape past the crucial 1.1 million goal on KS, we may still have a few days or weeks past the end of the KS where we can continue backing the project via Paypal.

What I am pointing out is that just because we fail to hit the stretch goals on Kickstarter, doesn't necessarily mean they won't happen. We still have the (PayPal) option after the Kickstarter is over, and even if that fails, there's always the chance that in 2015, when the game is released, it'll sell well enough on Steam and GOG to merit an expansion pack or "collectors edition" a few months after that (early 2016?) with some of the content (a new world or worlds) that the Kickstarter couldn't get funded but which Cyan Worlds was hoping to make.

But while the Kickstarter is still active let's push it as far as it can go and tell as many people as we can (short of spamming or otherwise annoying people who clearly are not interested.)

janaba1 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 13, 2013 12:10 am

OMG, we're about to hit the million mark!!! I cannot sleep right now lol, I have to see and feel it!!! ...

Thanks for the great post, matthornb ... ohh, wow, the most awesome people are pouring in ... Cyan sent nice reminder emails, got mine today, a few minutes ago, too ...

See you all for the 'Final Countdown Party' on Friday in the DMR and Obductee's hood ...

OMG!!! We made it ... $1,002,991 in this very moment and counting ... ok, everyone, on to 1.1 and even more ...

janaba1 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 13, 2013 12:47 am

This deserves another double post, haha ...

Please, watch Rands awesome Kickstarter Million Thank You video ... Enjoy ...

... and Saxy just posted the link to the incredible Neil Patrick Harris effect, which is boosting everything even more ...

matthornb · **Posted:** Wed Nov 13, 2013 1:14 am

Between Cyan Worlds messaging everyone on their email list, and the Neil Patrick Harris effect, we're seeing an enormous last-minute boom in pledges. Over a million dollars and climbing rapidly, could easily hit some of the stretch goals at the rate this project is gaining momentum.

Wohba!

HarveyMidnight · **Joined:** Sat Apr 14, 2012 2:59 pm **Posts:** 432

janaba1 wrote:

... and Saxy just posted the link to the incredible Neil Patrick Harris effect, which is boosting everything even more ...

Awww.... can't help but wonder if maybe there's a small role for a character in Obduction, that might be perfect for NPH!

Cyan Kickstarter Project Open: OBDUCTION

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