Featured Madmunki neotopia Kickstarter campaign goes live !

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The neotopia Kickstarter campaign has started! To help get this project going, you can donate at different levels and become a backer :

• • OBSERVER
  • £1.00
  • We’ll sign you up to the neotopia newsletter, so you won’t miss a trick. ($1.64, approx)

• • VISITOR
  • £10
  • Gain an exclusive badge to denote your backer status both in neotopia and on our forums, as well as a credit on the website. ($16.39, approx)

• • CITIZEN
  • £30
  • At this tier, you’ll not only get backer status and a credit, but also citizenship rights in neotopia, allowing you to vote on official neotopia matters and motions. You’ll also get the exclusive Citizen outfit and aura. Swish. ($49.16, approx)

• • SOCIALITE
  • £60
  • As a Socialite, you’ll get everything in previous tiers PLUS access to any neotopia betas AND an exclusive founders companion. ($98.32, approx)

• • RESIDENT
  • £120
  • In addition to everything above, you’ll secure an exclusive private apartment in neotopia and a door number. Best get planning your house warming. ($196.64, approx)

• • FOUNDER
  • £500
  • Limited (64 left of 64)
  • In addition to everything above, you’ll be immortalised in neotopia for all time, with your username added to the Memorial Wall; a permanent monument in the neotopia hub. ($819.32, approx)

From neotopia :

OUR PLEDGE TO THE COMMUNITY

Hello, greetings and salutations! This is the very first update to the neotopia Kickstarter page, and has one very specific purpose: To outline our pledge – our promise – to the already thriving neotopia community.

We’re under no illusions about the size and scope of the project we are undertaking. Virtual Worlds are huge, sprawling, complex things – and we do not possess the resources of a large corporation...

We know Virtual Worlds, though. We’ve got years of experience developing for them, and being a part of them. We know what makes them a fun place to be. We know what people like about them, and we know what people don’t. We know because we’ve been in the very same boat as you.

Above all this, we know what virtual worlds could be, with the right nurture.

So here is our pledge to you, about the world we hope to bring to life with your aid.


- We promise to listen – we might be developing this world, but youare creating and shaping it. We intend to listen to your suggestions and comments and make neotopia a world shaped by the voice of its community

- We promise to react – if something is broken or not working, we’ll strive to rectify this issue for the better of the world in which we inhabit. This links closely to the first point, but emphasises the fact that neotopia will be constantly in development; constantly evolving.

- We promise transparency – in accordance withthe very modern philosophy of open development, weintend to be very open and transparent about our development. This means we’ll be sharing our development plans and sprint goals with you along the way. Here’s the first, in fact!

- We’re in this together – part of the reason we’re developing neotopia is because we love virtual worlds (we’ve been working with them for a very long time) and we want this to be a reality just as much as you. Talk to us like we’re one of you – because we are.

- We promise to remain fair – there has to be a line at some point, of course. If somebody acts out of turn, or somebody makes neotopia an unpleasant place to be for another user - we’ll do whatever necessary to make neotopia a pleasant, fun and rewarding place to be. Help us make that happen.

That’s about it for now – hopefully that gives you an idea of our philosophy and mentality going into the campaign. Let us know if you have any questions, and with any luck we’ll be seeing you in neotopia very soon….


neotopia website : neotopia - Embrace Tomorrow

neotopia Kickstarter campaign :

 

I have been hearing loads of chatter from Home users about Home ending and about neotopia. There is a lot of mis-information out there. I'd like to take a moment and debunk some of these myths....

- neotopia (or any other virtual world project that has been announced by Home devs) is NOT Sony. The only thing they have in common with Sony is a contract to put their product on the PS4 (if that's what they intend to do). I have said many times that I feel Sony has badly mis-mananaged Home so embracing a new effort that will not be managed by Sony is a plus. It also will use the power of the PS4, and give us abilities we have always wanted in Home. The way Home's ending was handled by SCEA/SCEE was pretty irresponsible. It angered us all. However, don't let your anger be mis-directed. Channel it into helping a private company make something better.

- Making a new virtual world takes MONEY and time. LOTS of it. If you want a new virtual world that is better than what we had, you simply have to support it with money not just words. Contrary to what a lot of people think, Home developers are not super rich. Some have more cash on hand than others, but generally speaking, they need money to get such a massive and expensive project off the ground. Sony had the cash to do Home due to its massive size. Home devs are tiny companies in comparison. Many have said they feel "burned" because of losing Home and buying all those items over the years. I have spent more money than most on Home so I feel the pain as well as anyone does. That being said, I knew when I spent my money on Home that someday it would all disappear. If you read the Terms of Service when you signed on to Home the first time, you know this. You had to agree to those terms in order to use Home in the first place. The Kickstarter campaigns only provide seed money to get the project going. Once running, the sale of virtual items helps to pay the ongoing price of running such a platform. It's not cheap. There are only two business models that work when it comes to creating a virtual world that continues to evolve. Subscriptions or micro-transactions (the selling of virtual items). There is no other way unless a multi-millionaire decides to underwrite a new virtual world so its completely free to the end user. Don't see that happening anytime soon I think there are about 300 people registered on neotopia forums, but only 63 Kickstarter pledges. A lot of people have an interest in making a new virtual world happen but they don't seem to be willing to pledge financial support. Without it, it won't happen.

- You do NOT lose your Kickstarter pledge immediately. You only get charged for your pledge IF the goal is reached. Some are quick to point out that is still no guarantee that the project will see the light of day. There will always be naysayers, but the statement in of itself is true. However, at some point, you need to take a leap of faith or you will not only lose Home, but you'll lose a chance to get something better. As far as neotopia goes, I know the people behind it are passionate about it and want to do it right. So I took that leap of faith and supported them. If they can get the seed money they need, I feel confident the project will move forward. If it doesn't, at least I tried.

- Another complaint I hear is that neotopia has nothing tangible to show off so they call it a "pie-in-the-sky". While it is true they haven't shown us much yet, I know they are working hard to correct that. They don't have an army of people who can work for free to start creating pieces of this massive project to show us. That takes money (see above). They, like you and I, need to make money to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. The fact that they have started this project and got it this far is a sign of commitment. I think soon, you will see more.

Again, you have to decide for yourself if you want a new and better virtual world. It won't be on the PS3 and some are angry about that too. You can't have a virtual world that exploits the power of the PS4 and put it on the PS3 too. And why would anyone do that anyway when the PS3 is at the end of its life cycle?

 

Check it out.... Ex-PlayStation Home devs want to build a new virtual world for PS4 • Eurogamer.net