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Kickstarter Pledge Rewards

By Failbetter, August 9, 2013 · Sunless Sea

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There’s less than a month to go before the Sunless Sea Kickstarter, folks, and we’re hard at work making it as sexy as possible for you. Below you’ll find a first-pass list of  our backer rewards. We need your feedback! Specifically, we want to know: which of these is most and least appealing? Which would you be most likely to pledge to? What would you like to see that isn’t on here?

If you’re reading this, Sunless Sea is your game, and we can’t make it without you, So let us know what you want to see, and we’ll do our best to provide it…

Pledge £10 or more
The Zailor’s Pack: A DRM-free digital copy of the game for PC as soon as it is released, and a digital map of the known Unterzee to adorn your desktop while you play.

Pledge £15 or more
The Daguerrotypist’s Pack: DRM-free digital copy of the game, desktop wallpaper of the known Unterzee, your name in the credits, and a PDF booklet featuring concept art, game lore and tips for successful adventuring.

Pledge £20 or more
The Explorer’s Pack: All previous rewards, plus exclusive access to the closed beta of Sunless Sea. Your feedback will help to shape the final game!

Pledge £30 or more
The Pantherine Pack: All previous rewards, plus a unique in-game ship’s pet: the deadly Parabolan Panther, scourge of ratty stowaways! If you’re a Fallen London player, you get the Parabolan Panther in your game too!

Pledge £50 or more
The Corsair’s Pack: All previous rewards (yes, including the panther), plus a unique enemy in Sunless Sea: the Pirate Poet! Backers also get exclusive Fallen London content: The Museum of Mistakes – explore the Dadd Wing.

Pledge £100 or more
The Navigator’s Pack: All previous rewards, plus we’ll name an island after you! The Navigator Pack also includes a unique ship: The Cladery Heart, a vessel with a dark history. Plus, exclusive Fallen London content: Uncover the tale of the Cladery Heart and he Surgeon’s Child.

Pledge £500 or more
The Officer’s Pack: All previous rewards, plus your face in Sunless Sea! Our artist will create a crew member based on your likeness. The resulting character will appear in both Sunless Sea and Fallen London! We’ll also send you a full colour print of your crewmember.

Pledge £1,000 or more
The Monster Pack: All previous rewards, plus you get to create a Sea Monster! Monster backers will work with Failbetter’s artist to design and name a creature from the blackest depths of the Unterzee that will menace Sunless Sea players. We’ll send you a full colour print of your monster.

Pledge £2,000 or more
The Pioneer’s Pack: All previous rewards, including the Monster Pack. Plus: create an Island! Work with the Failbetter team to design a unique location in the game, with its own history and narrative. This can bear your name if you like (e.g., Arendt’s Landing).

 

 

50 Comments

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Victoria Aug 25, 12:50am

Oh, gosh, I would love to get additional Fallen London content, but like some of the earlier posters, I probably can't go above $20-$30. Maybe $50 if I get hyped about the campaign, as I have for a couple in the past. I don't have any desire to get in on naming or designing things -- or, rather, I would love to do such things in the context of working with friends on their projects, but I wouldn't be interested in pledging more for those opportunities. FL content, though. . . that is a definite pull.

Early Aug 20, 7:15pm

Strike that, more like 125$. Still a fair way out of my price range, but it's better than nothing, heh.

Early Aug 20, 7:13pm

It's a little disappointing that the FL content is so steeply priced. If I had that kind of easily-disposable cash I might spring for it, but I really can't scrape up more than the third tier or so. 150$ dollars American is quite a bit of money, and it seems unfortunate that an interesting-sounding story is going to be so heavily limited in terms of who can get into it.

Alexis Kennedy Aug 16, 9:05am

It's possible, though we're not committing quite yet. A little more here: /faq/ under What platforms...?

Charlotte Aug 15, 7:32pm

Any chance there will be a Mac compatible version? I'd like to back it... I'd like to play it... but I do not own a PC!

Kouryuu Aug 13, 10:17pm

I'd love to be able to get the highest tier that's listed here, but my funds will probably limit me to the Corsair or Navigator pack. I definitely want to have access to all the storylets in both this and Fallen London.

Alexis Kennedy Aug 13, 7:01am

Andy - if you didn't receive the FL content, could you mail us at kickstarter@failbettergames.com so we can sort you out?

Andy Aug 13, 1:06am

Well, I backed the Silver Tree and never received the FL content, so I won't be having my head turned by any of that this time. A copy of the game will do me fine - the rest is mere frippery. Just how many desktop wallpapers does a person need, anyway.

Midnight Voyager Aug 12, 10:51pm

I definitely agree with the people who would like the FL content and such without the island naming etc. I agree with Herm on what I'm interested in. I'd like all the ingame stuff, but I'm not really interested in designing or naming things. I'm bad enough naming my own things! I could do without the PDFs and name in credits and such, too.

Janice Aug 12, 6:10pm

Another vote in favor of an intermediate reward that would include all the FL content but not the name-an-island-type privileges. (Sorry, I was unable to use the Reply to comment feature.) If I were to hold my breath (and wallet) and pledge at, say, the £100 level to get the Cladery Heart, would I get the Museum of Mistakes FL content as well, or not? All this is dependent on there being a Mac version, FWIW.

Herm Aug 12, 4:25pm

I'm really only interested in in-game content and, to a lesser extent, possibly the lore PDF and beta access. Digital rewards like wallpapers don't interest me, my name is cool but I don't need it in the credits, and I'm not (quite) egotistical enough to be motivated by naming an island. And I think your monster ideas will be better than anything I'd come up with. The net result is that I find myself wanting to pick and choose between things from different levels. Here's what appeals to me: the Cladery Heart, Dadd Wing, Surgeon's Child, piratical Poet and most definitely the Panther. Those taken together with the PDF would seem to lend themselves to a "Fallen London lore fans" type tier, but given the prices above it looks likely that that would be out of my price range. (I'm likely to back at £20... just possibly £30, if the Rubbery Man with the collection tin gives me an exceptionally forlorn look.)

Thomas Aug 12, 2:02pm

For what it's worth, I too would like to add my voice to those requesting a tier with the Cladery Heart content and no renaming or other work-intensive, expensive things. I want badly to see the game produced, and I want to contribute, but I just don't have 100 pounds to spend (Unless you can charge my waistline directly).

failbetter-admin Aug 12, 6:58am

TBC! More here ('For what platforms?'): /faq/

Carbon Aug 11, 11:41pm

These rewards look really cool and I'm very excited for the game, but I just can't justify giving money for a game I won't yet be able to play on my Mac. Any chance of a Mac version?

B.McKenna Aug 11, 10:01pm

The £30 level is the first that triggers my "must-have" response, partly 'cos "pet," and partly 'cos "get it in FL, too.". Now I must justify the expense as unemployed games writer.

Yoda Aug 11, 9:15pm

Damn you Alexis! You're taking all my money again!

failbetter-admin Aug 11, 7:42pm

We talked about a short story collection on the original audience research on FL: and very few people were interested. And it'd take a long time to write - the FL universe is very content-hungry, and it'd have to be an expensive tier for me to justify spending my writing time on a short story instead.

failbetter-admin Aug 11, 7:39pm

We might well do that - other people have suggested it. We're just really wary about having too many pledge levels, after some confusion with Silver Tree.

C. Valente Aug 10, 10:53pm

I was wondering if it would be possible to introduce a level between The Corsair's Pack and The Navigator's Pack that includes the Cladery Heart and the Fallen London content of the tale of the Cladery Heart and the Surgeon's Child but without the pleasure of naming an island after the backer? I'm very interested in the in-game items and content, but not so much naming an island, and the £100 pledge necessary to obtain all the in-game items and content is just out of my reach at the moment. Barring that, everything looks good from here!

Eric Vimes Aug 10, 7:36pm

I'd really like to get the Panther and the Fallen London content, but I think 100 (or even 50) pounds might be a bit too steep.

NiteBrite Aug 10, 4:42pm

I am most excited about the officer pack with the custom art that appears in both fallen london and sunless sea. That's so amazing I want to buy it for me -and- my friends, but I don't think kickstarter allows for the purchase of multiple rewards. Is it possible to buy extra rewards for friends? I would be very interested in making multiple purchases, or gift purchases if it is in someway possible. The reward that, well, I wouldn't say least interests me, but the reward that makes me somewhat worrisome is the Caldery Heart ship. You can only have one ship at a time in fallen london, and it makes me feel ambivalent to think of giving up my current ship. I would do it, so I could see the new content (which I am very excited about), but I would also really miss my old ship and the lost work that went into acquiring it in the first place.

Flidget Aug 10, 11:58am

To be honest, the prices for the pledge tiers seemed a little steep at first - and then I realised this was in pounds and not dollars and it seemed a whole lot steeper. The huge jump between the higher pledge tier prices, from £30 to £50 to £100 to £500, is also pretty daunting. I think you'd also benefit a £3/$5 tier just for people who want to support the game because it's a Failbetter project, not because they want to play it.

failbetter-admin Aug 9, 9:29pm

I think Kickstarter will tell you the total in $ at the moment before you pledge - but I've never tried backing a UK project from the US, so I can't be certain right now. We were looking at add-ons... we like the idea; we're a little concerned that non-KS veterans may find it confusing. But we will consider it. To be clear, Below is no longer Failbetter's IP, and we don't have any input into the project - we let Chris take it home and it's out of our hands. So there's no chance of a cross-over, I'm afraid.

Andy Raff Aug 9, 8:36pm

Beta access and a copy of the game. Hey, I'm a simple kinda guy. I might end up with the panther just coz.

Martin Geiger Aug 9, 8:14pm

Well, time to start hoping that the exchange rate improves in my favor! I've found the Museum of Mistakes fascinating for years, so I'm thrilled to see it show up. A question, though: is the Pirate Poet a skilled poet, or an unskilled one?

Woogawoman Aug 9, 8:09pm

In general, I am most interested in extra game content and any related guides/stories. I am less interested in having something named after me or designing anything myself. Having a cool ship would be awesome, but at that price, not probably justifiable to me. You guys are writers - have you considered a short story collection of some kind, set in FL or SS or both? Those have been very popular on other game KS projects I've seen.

Skooms Aug 9, 7:57pm

I think I'd like to see the Surgeon's child at a lower level since it's been teased endlessly. However, that's your prerogative I suppose. Personally I'd like to see something physical also available, maybe a few postcards with some of the art on? I'll be backing at the £30-50 level methinks.sad to think I'd miss out on that tantalising content, but I'm from the North (the real one, not the Mr Eaten one), it's way out of my price-range :P

Armadi Aug 9, 7:54pm

The rewards are interesting. Due to financial circumstances, will probably pledge no more than $50. Have to admit, the price in pounds concerns me, not sure how kickstarter works re: exchange rates. I've seen other kickstarters with "a la carte" menus, where you fill out a survey at the end of the campaign to choose which rewards you desire. It would be nice to have an option to pledge an extra amount and either add nex, or choose FL content rewards instead of being tied to certain pledge levels, or KS rewards that people missed from earlier campaigns like entry to the temple club or falcons. Also would also love to see this KS combined with a bit of fundraising for Below, but can understand why that wouldn't happen. If using the a la carte menu option mentioned above, maybe allow people to increase their pledge by a certain amount for add an undersea dungeon in Below for example.

ENISTOJA Aug 9, 7:08pm

I am a lover for music, so I'd personally ask for a tier that provided the soundtrack. The current rewards look delicious as they are though!

failbetter-admin Aug 9, 6:39pm

We'll consider it - thanks for the suggestion! - but FL-only rewards are difficult to sell to non-FL-playing backers, so they complicate the pledge system: and Kickstarter may have issues with it/ We'll see.

failbetter-admin Aug 9, 6:37pm

The Cladery Heart will open new content, and it'll be a unique ship. Take a look at what @echobazaar has been tweeting recently for more information.

failbetter-admin Aug 9, 6:36pm

Hi Lady Red - this is definitely *not* a spinoff. It's a major project that's going to take (including the prototypeing we've done) about eight months of work. If I were going to compare it to the Silver Tree, that's probably more than five times the size.

failbetter-admin Aug 9, 6:34pm

Hi Kallisti! ‘we don’t know for sure but we’ll give it a good try’ is about the size of it. If we do a Mac or Linux release, they'll certainly be part of the beta. A Mac release is looking increasingly likely: a Linux release is still up in the air. But we'll confirm all this on Sep 3rd.

Heironymus Aug 9, 6:07pm

Wish I had enough money for the top pledges. Very tempted by the extra Fallen London content.

Jamie Aug 9, 4:42pm

I'm loving the array. Financial circumstances are my crutch, but I'm very interested in the £30 or £50. Verrry intriguing. I would pay the £100+ if i could. It generally sounds awesome.

Kallisti Aug 9, 4:38pm

£20-30 is about the top of my range, and really I'm after the closed beta (though that booklet sounds good too), so I am very glad to see it at an affordable level! The question, then; as someone who could play the game on Mac and Linux but not Windows(barring an unprecedented expansion of job description), and knowing that you've only promised to release for Windows, what are my prospects for the beta on other platforms? I know you've already said you'll have clearer information on this when the kickstarter goes live – at least for me, getting to try it later-than-Windows-beta but still sooner-than-Mac/Linux-public-release is definitely still sufficient motivation to pledge at that level, as is 'we don't know for sure but we'll give it a good try', but if for example you know already that you're planning a Windows-only beta despite multiplatform release, well, that (understandably, I hope) changes things.

Fuzzy Aug 9, 4:34pm

Im looking at the 100 and it looks great, perhaps a print map somewhere in the 30-100 range as a logical upgrade to the digital wallpaper versions? other than that this looks like great stuff and seeing how silver tree went we may need some stretch goals!

Tom Davidson Aug 9, 4:23pm

Well, here's the thing. I'm not giving you guys over a hundred bucks to make the game, but I would be willing to pay Nex for the things you're identifying as "exclusives" for backers. So I think you're leaving money on the table here.

Audra Aug 9, 4:11pm

Love the rewards -- there's more than one level I can afford (hooray) that has cool perks (double hooray). Can't wait!

Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook Aug 9, 4:02pm

The Dadd Wing? I'm imagining a series of mistakes leading to an incident while sailing in the land of the Second City and ending in patricide, a stay at the Royal Bethlehem, and a series of minutely detailed paintings. And possibly an acquaintance with the Ginger-Haired Painter by way of mutual acquaintance with an august if not imponderable egg.

Lady Red Aug 9, 3:39pm

I absolutely don't want this to come across the wrong way, but it does feel a little bit to me as if the reward levels are based more on players' love for Fallen London rather than excitement for the new game - and the prices seem a whole lot steeper than the Silver Tree kickstarter. I was happy to pay £40/$60 for Silver Tree and for the exclusive FL bits, but the equivalent backer level for this new game and exclusive FL bits is £100, which is over twice as expensive. How big a game is Sunless Sea going to be? I got the impression it was going to be a small spinoff, along the lines of Silver Tree but downloadable. With anything over £50, I would expect something physical as well as digital to make it worth the money. Anyway, I'm excited for Sunless Sea and will definitely be backing it at some level.

Seberin Aug 9, 3:36pm

Those rewards all look appealing. Personally, I'd most likely back at the £30 level to get a Fallen London-related reward, though I'm sorely tempted by the £100 and (less realistically) £500 as well. After having played the recently-shipped Shadowrun game, I'm kicking myself for not backing that at a higher level. Another reward that I often see for Kickstarter games is a downloadable digital soundtrack (assuming there is one). That might tie in well with a stretch goal for adding (more?) music to the game.

Aster Aug 9, 3:20pm

I'm likely to go with the 30 level, since pets = <3 and without knowing more about what the unique enemy entails, I can't tell whether it's worth it. The same could be said for the Cladery Heart...is it a purely aesthetic thing, or will it open new quests/events/content? I would LOVE to design a crewmember or a sea monster, but that's way above my paygrade. The art is also awesome, so posters/prints of the map suitable for framing would be a nice incentive.

Spades Aug 9, 2:52pm

...hooo boy. The £500 is tempting, but expensive. Would you contemplate making a tier just for having a character appear in Fallen London, not Sunless Sea as well?

Sergi Aug 9, 2:26pm

Mmmm, the higher tier rewards are probably too expensive for me. Will there be any way of getting the Fallen London content outside the kickstarter?

Andrea Aug 9, 2:04pm

wow that 100 dollar reward looks awesome, you've managed to get my attention with those twitter posts! Dunno if I can justify that much...... anyway all those rewards look cool and I am looking forward to the kickstarter.

Ewan Aug 9, 1:59pm

The rewards that (would) interest me are the in-game stuff; so your list above starts to appeal at 30 quid. Might be nice to have a very minor, but limited, in-game item for those who pledge at lower levels - maybe one card that only appears for KS folks? Or even just special text at a certain location? ["Welcome sir, er ma'am, er ahem! - tales of your generosity as a patron of the arts precede you!"] - could include an auto-succeed at some luck or stat check.

Constantine Caolho Aug 9, 1:43pm

Splendid! But... Why can't you gentlemen also throw us a little Fate? Seriously, I thought this would be a given... Fallen London currency for our currency!

zoddthehuman Aug 9, 1:43pm

Well, 20-30 is my usual (unfortunate income limitation) and I very much like the low level rewards. I like the higher level ones as well, but I can't possibly reach that level so my feedback on that matter is of no consequence. As for (more)objective thoughts, all the rewards look pretty much on par with the average rewards for games, amount-wise. Coooome oooon September 3rd. :)

Mark D Aug 9, 1:42pm

The illustrated cards from The Silver Tree were fantastic! Still one of my favorite Kickstarter rewards I've ever received, and I was excited to expand my collection with Below, had that succeeded. Perhaps as a reward at some of the higher levels?

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