A Camelot Unchained recap: what's been funded, at an average of $150 a head
And some things you might have missed along the way.
Camelot Unchained marched comfortably past its $2 million funding goal on Kickstarter in the end - yesterday - having enjoyed something of a barnstorming finish.
The final tally was $2,232,933, which makes it the sixth most successful video game campaign on Kickstarter. What's remarkable, though, is that it achieved that with under 15,000 people. The average spend per head on Camelot Unchained was a whopping $150. Four rich nutcases pledged $10,000 or more, and 24 people splashed $5000 or more.
The actual final final tally, minus the unknown PayPal amount that will presumably be collected for a little longer, is $5,232,933. That's because Mark Jacobs, co-founder and CEO of Camelot Unchained developer City State Entertainment - and the man who founded Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online maker Mythic Entertainment - is chucking in a further $2 million of his own, plus $1 million he raised in private investment.
In his celebratory Kickstarter post, Mark Jacobs offered the requisite thank yous - "our most humble thanks and deepest appreciation" - as well as rousing mission statement about the path ahead.
"Up to now I have shown you that we can 'talk the talk', while Andrew [Meggs - co-founder and CTO] has proven that he can 'walk the walk', but again, this is only the beginning. If the Kickstarter process is like a roller-coaster ride, then what's coming next is the greatest thrill ride of all time.
"We won't let you down."
So what's so special about Camelot Unchained? I've attempted a long answer already, but in short, it's an MMO willing and able to take risks because it's a small project aimed at a small amount of players who like their MMOs to be about a three-way realm war between players. Nothing else matters, and those players will be involved all the way through development, "beating on" - to use a Mark Jacobsism - ideas and ensuring what's made really does please them.
City State Entertainment wants the game in testing by January - that quick! - and is aiming for a full release on PC by December 2015. Mac and Linux versions aren't as simple because CSE is building its own bespoke engine for the game.
"What's coming next is the greatest thrill ride of all time."
Mark Jacobs
As the Kickstarter campaign unfolded, the team revealed more of their ideas about what will be in the game. You might have missed them, so I'll round them up.
We saw some alluring concept art for the Minstrel or bard class in the game, which featured flaming bagpipes, lutes with axe blades and a "death tambourine".
We heard about Mark Jacobs' "bat-s*** crazy" idea for stealthers in Camelot Unchained, which involves stepping into and manipulating the magical Veil - the cause of the apocalypse - as a VeilWalker, or hunting them as a VeilStalker.
We were introduced into the ambitious player-housing in the game, which enables you to literally build and design your abode block by block - or you can buy pre-made blueprints if you're a bit lazy like me. And we heard about building on the frontlines of battle and protecting mining supply lines and things like that.
City State also unveiled The Depths dungeon, a huge, living, dungeon for all three realms where dead players become the monsters within it. It all ties in to the magical Veil and lore of the game.
Stretch goals confirmed archers for the game and added one extra race per realm. There's also a Herald/Armory for Camelot Unchained confirmed - a stat-tracking website.
That's about it for now. There are tonnes of videos of Mark Jacobs talking that you can watch on Kickstarter or YouTube. If you start flagging, think of him as Peter Griffin from Family Guy, because boy does he sound like him.