Hawken - Catch All

WipEout wrote:

Either way, $10M is a lot of money-- I hope they can afford their rent now.

LOL. Yes, we can pay our rent. You talk like someone who knows intimately what life in a small indie start-up is like....

Swarfigo wrote:
Elycion wrote:

The only link actually needed is playhawken.com . All these referral links aren't necessary to sign up for the beta.

BUT WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE SURPRISE IS FOR HITTING A CERTAIN NUMBER OF REFERRALS!

Actually, Elycion, the referral links are needed to achieve Officer status. Only Officers will be invited to participate in closed beta.

I won't give out too much, but there is HAWKEN branded swag and VIP invites to special parties. ((Speaking of parties... who's going to PAX East?))

Ah good, one of the devs!

1) Congratulations on your recent windfall. That must feel amazing.
2) Here's my pro tip on making 10 million more dollars: hats.

Michael wrote:

Ah good, one of the devs!

1) Congratulations on your recent windfall. That must feel amazing.
2) Here's my pro tip on making 10 million more dollars: [b]hats[/i].

I love a good hat. Thanks for the tip!

PlayHawken wrote:
Swarfigo wrote:
Elycion wrote:

The only link actually needed is playhawken.com . All these referral links aren't necessary to sign up for the beta.

BUT WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE SURPRISE IS FOR HITTING A CERTAIN NUMBER OF REFERRALS!

Actually, Elycion, the referral links are needed to achieve Officer status. Only Officers will be invited to participate in closed beta.

I won't give out too much, but there is HAWKEN branded swag and VIP invites to special parties. ((Speaking of parties... who's going to PAX East?))

Guess I won't get in the initial beta. I hate spamming out stuff like that to friends.

Glad to see you checking around web sites for interest in your game, though. This is a good one

Ditto. Spamming friends is one rung down the ladder from "like us on Facebook for stuff!", even considering that I don't have a facebook account and refuse to create one for those sorts of things. I'm more than a little annoyed to learn that it's needed to actually get into the beta and that there are other rewards involved.

demonbox wrote:
Hypatian wrote:

And this page is exactly why I loathe this form of marketing. T_T;;;

Me too. It's obnoxious and rude.

I just need one more person to use my referral link, if such a person is out there: https://www.playhawken.com/?ref=6l1fj0b

Who ever that third person was- tonight- thank you. Twenty one days after I first posted this, surprised-- maybe they just threw me an insignificant, marketing-related bone. Yay!

PlayHawken wrote:
WipEout wrote:

Either way, $10M is a lot of money-- I hope they can afford their rent now.

LOL. Yes, we can pay our rent. You talk like someone who knows intimately what life in a small indie start-up is like....

Indeed I am Though I've yet to be on a project that's even come close to the success story you guys have achieved. Say... If you ever need another character artist, I'm currently updating my portfolio

PlayHawken wrote:

((Speaking of parties... who's going to PAX East?))

I think he's talking about me! I think your booth is a no-brainer stop for me. 10M does buy a booth, right? (Math!) After all, because of the weird beta scheme, I think it's the only time I'll get to play until release.

cyrax wrote:

10M does buy a booth, right? (Math!)

One really awesome booth, or ten pretty decent booths.

Norfair wrote:
cyrax wrote:

10M does buy a booth, right? (Math!)

One really awesome booth, or ten pretty decent booths.

Or 10,000,000 $1 booths

Maybe the F2P nature will help it, but does anybody but me think coming out in December will make this launch get lost a bit?

Hawken:Bunny Hoppers Revenge

MannishBoy wrote:

Maybe the F2P nature will help it, but does anybody but me think coming out in December will make this launch get lost a bit?

*hmm*

*looks at gameplay*

*looks back at comment*

*chuckles*

cyrax wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:

Maybe the F2P nature will help it, but does anybody but me think coming out in December will make this launch get lost a bit?

*hmm*

*looks at gameplay*

*looks back at comment*

*chuckles*

Mech games haven't been wildly successful for years. So you need all the attention you can get. And if a world where shooters are coming out right and left around that time (assume at least CoD, Halo 4, and Medal of Honor), and a lot of people will be pre-occupied.

Also, there are several other mech games coming out this year, all competing for a genre that's been largely abandoned.

Add to that trying to make it in a F2P world where people are still not really on board in the US, and I think putting it in a slot where the heavy hitters aren't going to be would make more sense.

But maybe the beta will ramp up over late summer and get the attention it needs.

I'm just not wanting an Alan Wake here. A very good game released up against a great and highly marketed game from a big publisher. In the end, Alan Wake didn't do well at all.

Hope I'm wrong, but I'd rather it either launch in October (probably not likely), or hold in beta state until it can make a real splash in January when the rush is over.

On the other hand, they just got a good chunk of investment dollars that may give them a little room to breath on the launch. And since it's a service as much as a fixed release game, maybe that will be enough.

I don't like putting on the mean hat, but just about everything you said sounds crazy to me. I don't like dissecting comments, but since no one else has made a retort yet, here I go.

MannishBoy wrote:

Mech games haven't been wildly successful for years.

And I could say that some genres come and go, and it's the Mech's turn in the spotlight.

MannishBoy wrote:

And if a world where shooters are coming out right and left around that time (assume at least CoD, Halo 4, and Medal of Honor), and a lot of people will be pre-occupied.

I can agree that the lowest common denominator console player won't even be aware of this game's existence. Also, League of Legends, Tribes Ascend, and countless FtP MMO's.

MannishBoy wrote:

Also, there are several other mech games coming out this year, all competing for a genre that's been largely abandoned.

We've seen little of RoT, but this seems like an arcadey title, likely quite different from the others.

So, how are those ARPGs doing now? I remember hearing about some game called Diablo 3, and Torchlight 2, and the upcoming Krater...

MannishBoy wrote:

Add to that trying to make it in a F2P world where people are still not really on board in the US, and I think putting it in a slot where the heavy hitters aren't going to be would make more sense.

Talk about generalization. Where's your evidence? While I don't think the opposite is true, there's no denying FtP is vastly growing. Besides, this isn't an American exclusive. Also, what heavy hitters in December?

MannishBoy wrote:

But maybe the beta will ramp up over late summer and get the attention it needs.

Yeah, those guys that invested 10M, I mean, what were they smoking? The devs really pulled the wool over their eyes.

MannishBoy wrote:

I'm just not wanting an Alan Wake here. A very good game released up against a great and highly marketed game from a big publisher. In the end, Alan Wake didn't do well at all.

Apples and Oranges.

MannishBoy wrote:

Hope I'm wrong, but I'd rather it either launch in October (probably not likely), or hold in beta state until it can make a real splash in January when the rush is over.

So you were worried about it releasing against heavy hitters, but would prefer it release in October. Riiiiight.

MannishBoy wrote:

On the other hand, they just got a good chunk of investment dollars that may give them a little room to breath on the launch. And since it's a service as much as a fixed release game, maybe that will be enough.

We'll keep our fingers crossed!

*retracts claws*

So far these Mec games seem fairly frantic..is that ok with everyone? I don't imagine plodding and slow would be much fun either..but these Mechs seem to play more like Tribes 2 on hover boards than 10 ton hunks of steel.

All the same that YouTube vid looked awesome...sound was dead on and this game in now on my radar... Not a fan of LoL at all but I do find their F2P model excellent

And I could say that some genres come and go, and it's the Mech's turn in the spotlight.

You could say that about space sims, too. But that still hasn't gone anywhere. It died because sales weren't there in the past, and it's having a hard time making it back. There are four-five mech F2P games launching this year along with a console mech game. It's a lot of titles in a genre that's currently niche.

I can agree that the lowest common denominator console player won't even be aware of this game's existence. Also, League of Legends, Tribes Ascend, and countless FtP MMO's.

I'm not even considering consoles, because this isn't a console game. But there are tons of good titles that die in that time frame up against a lot of heavy hitters.

Yeah, those guys that invested 10M, I mean, what were they smoking? The devs really pulled the wool over their eyes.

Lots of money gets lost on much bigger franchises. Hello THQ.

Apples and Oranges.

No, it's a small indie game vs a lot of AAA titles with marketing budgets of $10M+, and dev budgets in the tens of millions. Alan Wake was a small dev on one platform producing a good game that got slaughtered by a triple A.

So you were worried about it releasing against heavy hitters, but would prefer it release in October. Riiiiight.

October is before CoD, probably MoH, etc. It's right at the start of the rush but right at the front side while people are looking for something to get them over the hump to the big releases. I didn't say summer because it doesn't sound like they'll be ready. And as I said, January/February in the dead spot is when Tribes is making it's name known pretty well, when the reviewers aren't trying to get 5 big titles reviewed a week and are needing interesting stuff to cover.

No need to get snarky. Our opinions differ. I just think the busiest time of the gaming year might not be the place to drop an indie F2P. I hope I'm wrong. I assume they'll try to market more in the January time frame and that might work.

I'm not going to get into an argument, so that's my piece. I hope it works out, because the game looks interesting.

MannishBoy wrote:

No need to get snarky.

That's not like me when I'm heated. I still disagree, oh, and everything you just said in response was wrong.

Can we hug it out now?

MannishBoy wrote:

October is before CoD, probably MoH, etc. It's right at the start of the rush but right at the front side while people are looking for something to get them over the hump to the big releases. I didn't say summer because it doesn't sound like they'll be ready. And as I said, January/February in the dead spot is when Tribes is making it's name known pretty well, when the reviewers aren't trying to get 5 big titles reviewed a week and are needing interesting stuff to cover.

I'm not sure if October makes sense but I think December is a very odd release for the game. I'm not going to go through and dissect everything you said like Cyrax- mostly because I agree with you, but also because I have a soul (unlike some people who shall not be named). Kidding aside, though, I'm not convinced that all of your words about why it's maybe a bad idea are necessary. I would not feel confident about the release of any F2P during December. There's not enough room for games people are stoked enough to put money on a counter for, I think that it could be difficult to catch attention for this game in December.

Also, looks nice- though I agree with Guru about the frenetic look of what's been shown.

The fact that its F2P will help it in an otherwise busy period.. there is no upfront investment they have to convince people to overcome.. they just need to get people to download and start playing "eventually". With $10M in the bank it sounds like they will have at least enough runway to stick with it after launch for a good period of time to build the community.

And who knows maybe just being released in a time period where lots of people have 2-4 weeks off from work/school means that there is more opportunity to get people to download.

Hawken is a passion project from a group of nine young designers and developers. We like mechs. We like fast-paced FPSs. This game is a gift for people like us, who've been waiting for the resurgence of mecha and want a little twitch (but not too much). You can't charge someone for a gift, so we're giving it away. That is all.

Good luck.. we know the guys over at Benchmark pretty well.. they usually make wise investments in their game portfolio and I know the last time I was at their office trying to raise money for another game project they were wary on the whole space.. they were excited about LoL but not about much else in the space.. so the fact that you got them onboard speaks volumes.

PlayHawken wrote:

Hawken is a passion project from a group of nine young designers and developers. We like mechs. We like fast-paced FPSs. This game is a gift for people like us, who've been waiting for the resurgence of mecha and want a little twitch (but not too much). You can't charge someone for a gift, so we're giving it away. That is all.

I agree with Guru, I wish you the best and hope this is a great game. For that sized team, the vids so far have been impressive.

I've never been big into the "flight sim" style mech games where it's nearly unintelligible to a casual player. Just never had the time to go that deep.

I like the way this looks to be going, though. Maybe a mech game for non-hardcore sim players.

I think more than anything it's going to be about catching player attention-- my only concern about the release date. My hope is that nothing else really matters if you can catch enough interest and get players to see what you have to offer (assuming what you have to offer is good- an assumption I'd prefer to make). I know I'm certainly interested in giving the game a try.

I believe this is new:

As far as I'm concerned, anyone making a mech game can do no wrong at this point. I'm definitely hungry for a hardcore, detail-oriented, heavy-mech (e.g. Mechwarrior style) game, but this style of faster play also looks like huge fun. My commander says that I get a week's worth of leave in December from the hospital, so the timing is absolutely perfect.

Looks really good...need to build a rig!!! lol

I cannot wait to dive into this game. Looks so awesome! If a really solid, detailed mech game came out and lived up to expectations, I could probably be persuaded to buy a joystick rig for it....

Another trailer: