Dr. Cat Has a Kickstarter!
In some respects, there’s a vast gulf of difference between Furcadia and Ultima. In fact, such a difference exists in most respects. One thing they do have in common is that both were worked on by the developer who styles himself Dr. Cat. His development company, Dragon’s Eye Production, has just launched a Kickstarter campaign to fundraise for the development of Furcadia: The Second Dreaming.
Which is described as follows:
Furcadia is the premier Social MMO. Created from players’ dreams, millions have already enjoyed it. Now we’re making a web version!
FURCADIA: The Second Dreaming is a world of magic and creation, alive with adorable animals and mythical creatures. Whether you enjoy chatting with friends, role playing, creating, or exploring, we invite you to an interactive experience unlike any other.
More than just a game, Furcadia lets you create your own world. With one of the most imaginative communities on the Internet, our longevity has even gotten us into the Guinness Book of World Records!
The Second Dreaming will create a web-based client, updated web pages, and an enhanced look.
Dr. Cat is joined for this project by artist Talzhemir, who also worked at Origin Systems many years ago. They have set themselves a fundraising goal of $55,000 dollars (which, amusingly, is just $5,000 more than what it cost to develop Furcadia back in 1996), and with 28 days left in the campaign they have raised a bit less than half of that total. Never one to let Ultima get too terribly far from his heart, Dr. Cat even posted about the project in the UDIC Facebook group.
As has become common with Kickstarter campaigns, they have also defined various stretch goals, which will see additional content added to the game as certain fundraising levels are achieved. Various reward tiers have been defined, which include all manner of extras and goodies…including (to pick just two) early beta access or a one hour Skype call with Dr. Cat himself.
Furcadia is, admittedly, quite far along the social gaming spectrum, and will probably not appeal to many here. Still, if you (or your significant other/children) have a thing for cute Facebook games, this project may be of interest to you.
Believe it or not I actually played Furcadia for a moment. I’m for any online multiplayer game with interesting mechanics and isn’t run like an unregulated casino.
What’s interesting to me is that old-timers like Dr. Cat and Peter Molyneux are jumping into the crowdfunding pot. It’s like every iconic dev from our childhood and adolescence is on a conveyor belt to Kickstarter reincarnation, for better or worse. The fact that Garriott hasn’t done it yet must reveal something profoundly personal about him. Fear of failure is always a possibility. My failed Kickstarter campaign still haunts me.
Good luck to everyone crowdfunding who will inexorably finish their project despite any unsuccessful funding events. Crowdfunding scoundrels should be hanged at electronics expos and gaming conventions, however. They’re like bums you gave money to immediately laughing and cursing at you: crazy and bad.