Founder Of Larian Studios Teases Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition For Linux

Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: Mountain ManJust treat Kickstarter and early access as scams, and things will make more sense.

No, that's completely wrong. Crowdfunding is investment, early access is paying for beta testing (which is weird).

I stand by my statement. They're scams because there is no way for the customer to hold the developer accountable, and too many developers have taken advantage of this fact. For instance, do you really think Larian Studios would be dragging their feet on the Linux version if their backers could hold their feet to the fire? Of course not, but they have your money, and what can you do about it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Anybody who backed this game because of the promise of a Linux version got conned. It's as simple as that.

Quoting: liamdaweErm, no. An investment is "the action or process of investing money for profit."

That's just one example of investment. You can invest for other reasons (not profit but something else).

Quoting: tuubiTL;DR: Linux gamers should not pre-order, kickstart, pay to be allowed to beta-test (EA) or in any other way support projects or developers if/when it's not certain that this actually benefits Linux as a gaming platform and thus themselves as Linux gamers. Don't trust a developer until they have shown their ability and will to deliver. It's too early for us to take anything as a given.

I agree with that, and it has nothing to do with Linux specifically, it's a general issue. You can rephrase what you said in simpler terms - don't invest if you don't trust those who manage the project. Assessing the trust and risks, that's the hard part. I personally trust Larian enough to back them. Same as let's say inXile, Obsidian and some other studios.


Last edited by Shmerl on 14 August 2015 at 4:04 pm UTC

Quoting: KeyrockWhy are you folks arguing over semantics? What difference does it make what term you chose to use and which one is "technically" correct?

Quoting: Mountain ManFor instance, do you really think Larian Studios would be dragging their feet on the Linux version if their backers could hold their feet to the fire?

They offered refunds already for those who couldn't wait for the Linux release. They aren't frauds, but they weren't professional enough in managing this release. This should teach them, so next one will be managed better.


Last edited by Shmerl on 14 August 2015 at 4:06 pm UTC

Glad to see Larian coming through with this, and maybe it will be the first game I shall try with the new Steam controller and Steam Link. I pre-ordered both :).

Aside from Larian, in my Humble opinion the biggest issue with Kickstarter projects, especially PC games, is the demands for stretch goals and physical items. The first one, stretch goals, I have rarely seen many projects actually fulfill these and it can give the bad impression that more money equates directly to features and when or if dropped it can give the impression that the developer was greedy or lying. Physical items, whilst cool, bring nothing to the actual project itself and can easily take a larger chunk of the funding, especially if the original supplier falls through and a second, more expensive option has to be found.

Overall though, Linux gaming is in a much better shape than it was just a few years ago and arguably better than it has ever been, hopefully we'll see less and less trip ups, but for companies new to developing directly to Linux that may still happen.

It will be interesting once Valve really pushes Steam Machines, I doubt it will be an overnight sensation, but Xbox wasn't either, so certainly fascinating to see how thing pan out, no way to know yet.

Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: liamdaweErm, no. An investment is "the action or process of investing money for profit."

That's just one example of investment. You can invest for other reasons (not profit but something else).

You're just mixing up financing and investment.

Investment: the investing of money or capital in order to gain profitable returns, as interest, income, or appreciation in value.

Financing: the act of obtaining or furnishing money or capital for a purchase or enterprise.

Kickstarter has nothing to do with investment, you have no return on investment. It's about raising founds for a project, an enterprise, and you get a compensation, or not.

Quoting: NelYou're just mixing up financing and investment.

Did you hear the phrase "investing in a better future"? Investment is not limited to goals of profit.

The return of your investment is creating of the project.


Last edited by Shmerl on 16 August 2015 at 1:02 am UTC