ClearandSweet

Backer here. I don't have a question but I wanted to take this opprotunity remind of you of what's at stake for your project.

You've said a lot about reviving the JRPG. That's a fantastic goal. I know this is your first time directing a game, and your reputation, along with that of those alongside you, is at risk. I also know that you want this game to make some degree of a profit, especially with the PS4 and Vita announcement.

My forty dollars and goodwill comes not from all that. In fact, I'm quite concerned at the relative lack of any gameplay or specifics so far. You got my money because you're the first multi-national group to ask for it.

You have the unique position of being on the cusp of what I see as an inevitable revolution. As far as I know, no major Japanese (or even western) content company has produced anything via crowdsourcing so far, espeically not using western dollars. I believe in the future, that will change. I think whether this change happens in five years or in twenty five is dependent on how well the first wave of content is recieved.

Japanese companies like Nintendo are stingy and conservative. Even worse, the European and American markets are very much an afterthought to them. They rehash the same story again and again, however polished, and convince us that's what we want. That's backwards, old school thinking and I hate it. If you can set the example for how the future of video game production, and do it well, I'll give you money again and again.

Basically, I need you to suceed so that some young guy at Capcom can talk to his bosses, point and say "Hey, look, these guys got the money up front for their game, got famous people onboard, and it turned out great! It wouldn't be that big of a risk for us to try and get that Mega Man game that we cancelled back on track. People all over the world will pay for it upfront!"

I need your game to be a city on a hill, a shining beacon for how this could work. I need your project and those beside it in the vanguard, like the anime Little Witch Academia, to be close to perfect. Because I want Nintendo and Sony and Microsoft and EA and Activision and KyoAni and FOX and CBS and Disney to ask me what I want. Because I want more JRPGs and multi-national projects. Because I want another season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and a Pokemon MMO, and I can only throw money at the screen for so long before somebody stoops to pick it up.

I know the numbers don't add up and you only asked for a fraction of the cost of what game development costs. There are problems with scale, and I don't know all that much about financing. But I do know that if you fail, the conservative groundhogs will see their shadows in you and scurry back into their holes with a strict publisher business model for another fifteen years.

It won't happen tomorrow. It has only just begun on in the medium of television with House of Cards and Arrested Development and such. But I believe the world is shrinking and that my $40 can help start a change via your project, and that's why I backed.

では、任せるよ

頑張って

I'd just like to add that /u/dino-deb's situation is exactly my situation as well.

~120k in loans, just under 40k a year in income. A few hundred dollars left over after rent and food each month. Most of my free time is spent applying to entry level jobs that require 3 years of experience that I don't have.

There's no possibility that I buy a house or decent car in the next seven years, so I'm not quite sure why I'm so concerned with my credit rating. It is quite good right now in spite of my overwhelming debt. Should I open up a bunch of credit cards, max them out via Paypal transfers, pay off my loans, then declare bankruptcy? Seriously considering it.

And yes, I realize South Park did it.

EDIT: It has been pointed out that bankruptcy court would look into this and see right through it. My next door neighbor did this with ~35-40% of his debt in the bank and was able to settle with the credit card company before bankruptcy. Credit card companies usually sell that debt at about 30 cents on the dollar (or so I've heard), so when it goes to collections, you could negotiate before they sell it off. Still, requires about 50k in cash in hand to pull.

Public Communications from Syracuse University. Actually one of the best schools in the nation. I screwed up a couple chances to get into the media and those are on my ignorance, but still.

Very sick of hearing business people complain that they can't find anyone who knows how to write. Getting in the door with skills but without experience is so damn difficult.

Ha! I missed that one. That's exactly what I'm talking about, but hopefully eventually, actually with Mega Man and Capcom behind it. Backed so hard.

Dude, I watched Pacific Rim and I said to my friends in the theater "This whole movie was one big love letter to people that love mecha anime and kaiju monsters."

Then I got out of the theaters and read an interview where you were all "Yeah, I just wanted to bring mecha and kaiju to a new generation."

Favorite Evangelion episode and why is it 24?