The future of the Freedom Force series

[Epimethee]

As I understand it, IG wanted to have periodic expansion missions (not monthly, though) but was unable to get it off the gorund.

How long ago was that, though? And was it a traditional expansion pack that would be sold through traditional retail channels?

Because the 'episodic content' boom is kind of a new thing that's really starting to take off. And it's perfect for games with little-to-no need for marketing or packaging (which, as I understand it, was one of IG's BIGGEST expenses for the first two games).

That was after FFvsTTR was released; IIRC, plans were supposedly to make these downloadable. That might have been the secret behind big FF-related announcement which IG hinted for a few months before the Take-Two takeover (sorry for the pun) and the forum shutdown; I don't think that's what they had in mind. :/

While I agree that episodic downloadable content is a very interesting avenue for a lot of franchises, I have reservations for a game like FF. It works very well for Bethesda (Oblivion) and Valve (Half-Life 2) because they have the necessary cash to invest in the download infrastructure and, crucially, the games already have an immense number of users. On the other hand, FFvsTTR was the work of a cash-stripped startup and almost unpublicized (the marketing was almost inexistant, in part because IG hadn't the resources, in part, IMO, because they grossly underestimated its necessity).

Does that mean smaller franchises can't succeed with episodic content? No, but they need to either increase their basic userbase (those who get the basic game/firt episode; done through good traditional advertising and/or great viral marketing plus luck), increase their faithful userbase (those who buy the subsequent downloadable episodes; done by creating consistently great content, a great community and by making the buying process extremely easy*), increase price (without losing too many customers, of course) or reduce cost (popular games nowaday cost millions to make, even without taking production and advertising into account; done by rigorous management, cheap labour, in-game advertising, etc.)

For example, imagine there's a game which was originally sold in store and broke even or made a profit after initial development, production and marketing costs. Let's say their download system costs is a small $100,000 and that episodic content costs only $20,000 to produce (which could mean something like 200-250 hours of total time for concept, writing, art, music, voice, mapmaking, programming, quality insurance, project management, advertising, transactional website management, support, etc.). Suppose that 1% percent of the user base is going to buy online the episode for a price of 1$.

Half-Life 2 sold more than 4 million copies. With the above fictional figures, they'd get $40,000. So, they'd need five games to pay the web transaction system and after that, they get $20,000 per game, unless one of these episodes ends up costing way more than it was supposed (and this is going to happen).

How many copies did FFvsTTR sell? I'd guess that 50,000 would be an extremely generous estimate. Then, assuming the same above figures, they'd lose $19,500 on every episode, download system cost not included.

Hopefully the actual figures are better than that. And breaking even isn't completely out of reach: with a 50,000 user base, and 5% of buyers at $5.33, you'd get $20,000 per release.

Anyway, on the short term, the development of the game is squarely within our own hands, which makes the arrival of fresh blood like yours and Peerless all the better. :)


*Think Amazon. Or, more concretely, for a game like FF, if a good chunk of your core audience is under 18, payment by credit card only is bad. However, if anyone can take a $10 cell phone card certificate bought at the local drugstore to pay, you're starting to look good.

[Lunarman]

I was thinking though. If we found a new game with a sutible engine the whole community could work together producing all new art and scripting and music. It would be feasible to make a Freedom Force 3 that could be sold in shops. The quality we have here is most certainly good enough.

Not sure how that would work leagally though, and where the money would go.

But, just think. Games like KoToR II or MUA could be used very well as an engine for FF3

[The Nemesis]

I've been a long time fan of Freedom Force, since the beginning in fact. I came to terms with the fact that there may well never be a 3rd FF game, a long time ago.
But I don't mind. Freedom Force (out the box) has been dead since the take over.
The community has done an amazing job at keeping it going. The way I see it, with FFX and other such endevours, even without a community I still have many years worth of enjoyment from the games.

Irrational made a great game, highly expandable- and community members have taken that to crazy heights!
Now what we have left are true fans in this forum, and whats more, I think we all truly understand what we have in our hands now, and feed off each others appreciation of that!
So how ever long this lasts, I'm really glad I can share these great times and experiences with every1 here.
FF is thriving IMO  :thumbup:.

[Boalt92]

Not sure how that would work leagally though, and where the money would go.

that's what it's all about....the legal headaches.  it would be easier to just mod a game that already has a large mod community.  you could do it and distribute it legally provided you used original or existing (for that game) characters.  it looks like the publishers have dropped the modding challenge, and decided to release games of their own to capitalize on the demand.  if the ff3 mod stayed low key (like the community is now), you'd probably be able to continue to use mainstream characters as now.

jedi knight academy (JK3) would be a good candidate in that there are a lot of resources available, it runs the quake 3 engine which is action heavy and online/multiplayer friendly, and it's about 4 years old, so you can get it online for about $10....assuming everybody is willing to drop all the content they've aquired and are currently developing for the first 2 freedom force games...

B92

[CarlosMucha]

well, I just get in to this game for first time.  :D I see the game long time ago I was curius but I never try it. now I'm playing and collecting my favorite comic book characters. the game is awsome. thanks to this comunity for sure.

[Peerless1]

Just to misquote Thor #1:

"It is not up to the industry to decide if a game is dead.  It is up to the players."

And this community proves that even if as a cash avenue  :ff: and  :ffvstr: are dead;  they are alive and well with us.  Let's keep it that way.  :jeyrox

BTW, I really need to play again soon... :P