S.T.A.L.K.E.R assets used “illegaly” to promote Areal Kickstarter

[QUOTE]Vostok Games PR and Marketing Manager Oleg Yavorsky has sent a statement to VG247. The studio is comprised largely of former GSC World and ex-S.T.A.L.K.E.R developers, and finds West Games’ claim that Areal is being developed by the creators of the classic shooter fraudulent. Yavorsky told us over email, “So that you understand, over the years of development of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and then Metro series, there have been literally hundreds of people involved in working on various bits and pieces, starting from beta-testers up to modellers responsible for certain weapon models. “Many people came to the studio to work for a few months just for the sake of adding “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. development” to their portfolio. Frequently they claimed afterwards to be the ‘core’ developers behind the game (you wouldn’t know anyway, right?). [/QUOTE] [url]http://www.vg247.com/2014/06/25/s-t-a-l-k-e-r-2-areal-vostock-sparks-legal-and-fraud-threats/[/url]

Anyone who didn't guess this from the fact that they misspelled the name of one of the games their developers supposedly worked on ("Metro: Last Night"), and the general air of jankiness around the whole kickstarter? It's pretty obviously a fraudulent project, one way or another.

I'm a bit annoyed with them already receiving the majority of their required funding in only a day. Don't get me wrong, I like the sound of the game and would love to see it be made, but that does not mean they should be given the money. I'm not sure how true all of them are, but there are definitely some problems. What annoys me the most about this is the reason people are giving them money. All they have done is mention STALKER, and people have thrown money at them. They have done no work at all themselves, but it seems they don't have to; they've mentioned another game and shown off assets from it, and that's enough for them to almost reach their goal (although It is a low goal). No one has actually thought about any of these things, they've just gone “Oh, they've mentioned STALKER, I like STALKER, have some money”. There are so many problems with their Kickstarter, and if it isn't fake, it is very unprofessional and I wouldn't trust them to make a game. They are getting money just because they mentioned another game that was good, instead of making anything that suggests they are capable of doing what they claim and creating this game. Kickstarter games should be funded if the the game idea looks good and the developers look like they can do it properly, not just because a similar game was good.

It's a shame, I was so hyped for this, and then as everyone kept digging my heart kept sinking. Then Vostok put the final nail in the coffin. Thank god I didn't put a cent down.

They want to support PC/Mac/Linux/WiiU/PS4/Xbone with a $50,000 budget? Never mind the major credibility issues this introduces, fucking lol. Why don't they port it to the Phantom while they're at it? Oh wait... From the VG247 post, a smoking gun among many: [QUOTE]This all seems fine to a point, until you watch the Areal Kickstarter pitch video, [URL="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1577656602/areal"]which can be seen here[/URL]. It includes various S.T.A.L.K.E.R scenes, still concept art and if you look closely, you’ll catch a glimpse of this Unity3D tech demo: [video=youtube;USVMbvPDhgw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USVMbvPDhgw[/video] It’s odd that a Unity3D demo should feature, because West Games states that Areal is being created in a proprietary engine for multiple formats, all on a $50,000 budget. While outside capital may have been secured elsewhere, this low sum for such a grand concept does raise several questions.[/QUOTE] [editline]25th June 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=nightlord;45211341]I'm a bit annoyed with them already receiving the majority of their required funding in only a day.[/QUOTE] This is why Kickstarter is a wonderful idea ruined by the fact that real people will use it too.

And they thought they could get away with this? What morons And the people who already gave them money aren't any better

I only did one kickstarter. Paid $50 to Mighty No.9 So far that seemed like the only kickstarter worthy to me, as well as one that's not a scam. But stories like these are making me more and more less likely to use Kickstarter, even for games that seem promising.

I was really excited about this at first. All it took was a little reading to figure out that the team basically had nothing major to do with either game. What a shame, the art looked really nice.

[QUOTE=DEMONSKUL;45211478]And they thought they could get away with this?[/QUOTE] They [I]already are[/I]. Look at how much funding they've been pledged already. This is why I really hate Kickstarter. If you're dealing with investors you need to demonstrate that you have a solid concept and can execute a realistic plan. With crowdfunding, people get excited over unrealistic promises. Don't get me wrong, there have been some great projects to come out of Kickstarter already, but crowdfunding is so easy to exploit and people, gamers in particular, seem all too happy to be exploited.

[QUOTE=catbarf;45211800]They [I]already are[/I]. Look at how much funding they've been pledged already. This is why I really hate Kickstarter. If you're dealing with investors you need to demonstrate that you have a solid concept and can execute a realistic plan. With crowdfunding, people get excited over unrealistic promises. Don't get me wrong, there have been some great projects to come out of Kickstarter already, but crowdfunding is so easy to exploit and people, gamers in particular, seem all too happy to be exploited.[/QUOTE]They can easily get taken down for fraud though.

Well, time to die I guess.

3 things everyone ought to know regarding this: 1. Game media eats up this kind of shit. 2. Crowdfunding should always warrant scrutiny. 3. Areal is a fucking stupid name for a Stalker spiritual successor.

This still doesn't hurt video game funding and kickstarter. Look at Planetary annihilation compared to this "AREAL" bullshit. Their concepts were well polished and had a marketable theatrical trailer that, in my opinion, over shadowed many E3 conference displays. I wouldn't donate to anything without total transparency or at least honesty that they are using money to develop the game to quit their day jobs.

They released an announcement on their kickstarter wherein they explain the situation and the claims made. I'm on mobile, but it looks like they're relatively telling the truth.

[QUOTE=TheDestroyerOfall;45212261]They released an announcement on their kickstarter wherein they explain the situation and the claims made. I'm on mobile, but it looks like they're relatively telling the truth.[/QUOTE] They didn't explain anything. They've just said "They're wrong". They've tried to shift the blame to another game, they've said the negative things about the game are just to try to get people to back another project instead. They've just made things worse, really.

Though I'm wondering, aren't Stalker models free for everyone?

Welp time to take back my 100$ pledge.

I wish all these great, old, gaming franchises with stop being tarnished by all this modern-gaming bullshit.

[QUOTE=The golden;45212735]Why would you pledge so much money to such a flimsy project? That's the kind of money you give to the really solid stuff like the Planetary Annihilation Kickstarter. The Areal Kickstarter doesn't even have any original work besides a few concept pictures. Everything else is from other games.[/QUOTE] i was really tired when i saw it and i saw "spritual successor to stalker" and i got excited so i threw money to it

[QUOTE=The golden;45212735]Why would you pledge so much money to such a flimsy project? That's the kind of money you give to the really solid stuff like the Planetary Annihilation Kickstarter. The Areal Kickstarter doesn't even have any original work besides a few concept pictures. Everything else is from other games.[/QUOTE] People are backing it based on just the mention of STALKER.

I find a bit of humor from this kickstarter being call "Areal", it's like they're straight up telling you it's a scam.

fuck it, ill bring the pledge to 1$ just for the sake of hope

I find it hilarious that they thought they could get away with this in the first place. They have exactly zero credibility.

good thing I was bit iffy with this to begin with oh well at least ID said they might want to make a Wolfenstein Sequel at least that cheered me up a bit.

Someone is getting a little bit S.T.A.L.K.E.D. (My first attempt at a pun). On a more serious note, not fun stealing.

[QUOTE=Masterofstars;45212348]Though I'm wondering, aren't Stalker models free for everyone?[/QUOTE] For non-commercial projects

I swear one of the screenshots looks like its from wasteland 2 or something

After seeing how bad the Ouya system went down I do not wish to crowdfund anything. This has been the only thing I've wanted to fund, but it keeps getting worse and worse.

Had such hopes, and now they're kinda dashed.

To be honest when I saw pretty much nothing but STALKER footage in that kickstarter video I was kind of wondering how they were getting away with that when they don't technically own STALKER.