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Post by distantsmoke on May 8, 2020 20:53:22 GMT -5
Kickstarter campaign starts May 27. There are already 778 people following the campaign.
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Post by mkarrett on May 27, 2020 13:22:58 GMT -5
Funded in 4 HOURS!! Wow!
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Post by Memosinstilettos on May 27, 2020 14:05:38 GMT -5
I honestly didn’t love the first one, Tale of Ord, but I know this project had a big following.
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Post by dmikester on May 27, 2020 16:01:22 GMT -5
I mostly enjoyed Tale of Ord, but I agree with memosinstilettos that I ultimately didn't love it, and found aspects of it needlessly frustrating (I could also never get one of the puzzles to work correctly despite emailing back and forth with Rita multiple times). I'd more say that I was impressed by its ambition than its execution.
With this, while it looks great, I'm quite taken aback by the gap between the price of the Standard Edition and the Collector's Edition, and that the Collector's Edition is so limited. I hate that I'm losing out on an exclusive puzzle and other neat things because of how limited the number of copies is, and to have the Collector's Edition be roughly triple the cost of the Standard Edition seems excessive. I'm still going to back the Standard Edition of this, but I'm not in love with the pricing model at all.
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Post by fluorescein on May 27, 2020 16:11:04 GMT -5
Tale of Ord was around $200, wasn't it? I was actually happily surprised that the base game for Emerald Flame was about 1/3 of that! For the number of puzzling hours you get, it seems on par with the retail cost of the Unlock and EXIT series. Yeah, I'd love a collector's copy, and agree it was too expensive for me. But I assume they priced it for what they needed to get, and most importantly, at least they didn't make you pay extra for extra puzzles. The puzzling experience is the same, so you have to really want the upgraded components to buy the collector's copy.
The designer mentioned that if the collector's tier sells out (which it has), they may offer it at a cheaper price ($199) but without the extra piece of original artwork. That's still too much for me to upgrade my tier, but maybe that's a better price point for you!
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Post by dmikester on May 27, 2020 16:30:20 GMT -5
Tale of Ord was around $200, wasn't it? I was actually happily surprised that the base game for Emerald Flame was about 1/3 of that! For the number of puzzling hours you get, it seems on par with the retail cost of the Unlock and EXIT series. Yeah, I'd love a collector's copy, and agree it was too expensive for me. But I assume they priced it for what they needed to get, and most importantly, at least they didn't make you pay extra for extra puzzles. The puzzling experience is the same, so you have to really want the upgraded components to buy the collector's copy. The designer mentioned that if the collector's tier sells out (which it has), they may offer it at a cheaper price ($199) but without the extra piece of original artwork. That's still too much for me to upgrade my tier, but maybe that's a better price point for you! There's a "bonus" puzzle involving a cocktail recipe exclusively available in the collector's edition, so I certainly consider that paying (substantially) extra for a puzzle! Tale of Ord was about $100 less than Emerald Flame's Collector's Edition (I paid $150 for it because I got a pre-order discount), but you're right, the standard edition of Emerald Flame compares well price-wise to Ord. Believe me, I'm comfortable with spending a lot of money for premium upgrades for things when I think the price differential makes sense. Here, I think it's really that bonus puzzle that bothers me so much, as it's to me by far the biggest incentive for getting the Collector's Edition (the upgraded components are certainly nice but don't add new content). I trust Rita in general, but if she's reading this, I'd urge her to consider making the bonus puzzle available as an add-on to the Standard Edition instead of be restricted to a very expensive edition of the base game.
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Post by fluorescein on May 27, 2020 22:37:01 GMT -5
Ahh you’re right. I didn’t consider the cocktail puzzle. Still, at least it feels like it’s something outside of the normal game, and you’re not missing out on any part associated with the actual gameplay. Wilson Wolfe, for example, really made you feel like you missed out on a lot of content if you didn’t get platinum. Here, I didn’t even blink an eye for (and in fact actually forgot) the bonus cocktail puzzle.
The tier that annoys me more is the prequel. About $20 for two more puzzles didn’t seem like the right price point either. I know it’s a nice piece of art, but I just wanted to play the puzzles! Maybe they’ll make them available as PDFs to everyone later.
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Post by distantsmoke on May 28, 2020 1:40:21 GMT -5
Just noticed that Jack Fallows from CCP is doing the postcard puzzle. Pretty cool.
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Post by dmikester on May 29, 2020 15:58:59 GMT -5
To follow up on the bonus puzzle in the Collector's Edition, Rita and I have been talking via Kickstarter, and she is not going to make the bonus puzzle available outside of the Collector's Edition. I've cooled off a bit in terms of my feelings about this, but I'm still fairly unhappy about the situation. I don't think it compares favorably to other Collector's Edition products that I've purchased in the past, and I don't think I'll purchase the Collector's Edition even if it becomes available cheaper later.
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Post by distantsmoke on Jun 1, 2020 5:36:38 GMT -5
I just went with the Master Alchemist level for 86$. I found the different accounts of contents too confusing to wade thru. But I am looking forward to it.
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Post by distantsmoke on Jun 17, 2020 17:24:43 GMT -5
I upgraded to the master collector edition. There are still 23 Master Collector editions ($199) available. Honestly, I just wanted the upgraded components (ceramic and wood as opposed to chipboard). Not thrilled with the current Aug 2021 delivery date. I hope I still have a brain by then, but who knows?
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Post by distantsmoke on Jun 20, 2020 11:14:14 GMT -5
Looks like The Emerald Flame has reached the final (so far) stretch goal. Pretty cool.
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