I want to hear from the forum moderators or people that have some sort of connection or insight with the gaming industry. If you're just a player, don't comment in this thread. I want to hear from insiders.

So I stumbled across Ground Branch (http://www.blackfootstudios.com/forums/index.php?showforum=13) and read up on it. It seems to be everything the old school R6 fans want. Gamers that hate how R6V plays and want to go back to Ravenshield...well...Ground Branch looks like their cup of tea.

However Ground Branch looks like it could be vaporware. It was announced over a year ago and I am starting to suspect that there was a will but no way. The developer, Black Foot Studios whom I've never heard of, is taking PayPal donations to help fund the game; not a good sign. That tells me the Ground Branch team is equivalent to a small group of modders (i.e. a team largely donating their own time and could split up and go their separate ways at any moment).

The consoles, not the PC, now dominate the market and games cost a lot more to make. So, studios have to target the consoles because that's the only way to survive and profit (World of Warcraft being the big exception on the PC side of things). I think Ubisoft studied the market and concluded that there was no (or too little) money to be made in a game as hard core as Ground Branch claims it will be. Thus the reason why R6V and its simpler, arcade style of play.

I feel like I've already answered my question but, again, I want to hear from people connected to the game industry. The state of R6, the change in direction it took with R6V, do you think that was driven by the necessity to target the mass market? Because I don't think a hard core, squad based tactical shooter is gonna rack up blockbuster sales in the console market and you need blockbuster sales to survive and have money to fund your next project.

From what I hear, they are pretty legit. I am not 100% sure about this, but a lot of former Red Storm Entertainment employees are now working for them. They might be taking donations simply because this is their first project, they are trying to get off the ground and they have not yet found a publisher. I think that Ground Branch will be a hit and Blackfoot Studios will earn it's name as a legit development studio.

I can give you some first hand info on BlackFoot Studios.

Take a look at the site more in depth, it is not a group of modders, and it is far from Vaporware.

BlackFoot Studios is headed up by John Sonedecker, one of the lead designers for both the original Ghost Recon, and the Rainbow Six series.

Blackfoot Studios aims to return to all the things that made those games so great for years.

BlackFoot Studios lives by the motto "Do not build your community around a game, build your game around the community"; and it has a large and loyal, and ever growing community of gamers who are actively having their say in one on one discussions with John and the developers about what they want to see in the game.

Come and sign up at www.BlackFootStudios.com and see what you're missing; which is gaming history in the making.

Ground Branch, will be the next huge title to hit the gaming industry.

Yes, Rage your type of game I believe.
I seem to remember you like the tactical type games.

Heya Mono. I had already PMed everything you said word for word practically, shortly after this thread was put up.

Oh no, mono has invaded this forum too. No doubt to share his extensive psychobabble knowledge probably because he took one psychology class in College.

I did too because a lot of hot girls take psychology, but that's besides the point!

He will tell you what you're thinking, and if you have a question about your dreams, now you know who to go to.

I get a good laugh out of it every time. Give it a try.

Is there somthing I should know?

Rage...

DM and Mono have "history", he's taking a shot at MONO here, because he can't do it elsewhere.

He really should take it elsewhere or get over it..

While I'm at it.. would someone please let the Vegas II developer know that the AKS74U is 5.45x39, and not a 7.62x39

quote:

Originally posted by whisper_44:
Rage...

DM and Mono have "history", he's taking a shot at MONO here, because he can't do it elsewhere.

He really should take it elsewhere or get over it..

While I'm at it.. would someone please let the Vegas II developer know that the AKS74U is 5.45x39, and not a 7.62x39

Save it buddy, Ubi just doesn't give a damn anymore.

quote:

Originally posted by whisper_44:
Rage...

DM and Mono have "history", he's taking a shot at MONO here, because he can't do it elsewhere.

He really should take it elsewhere or get over it..

While I'm at it.. would someone please let the Vegas II developer know that the AKS74U is 5.45x39, and not a 7.62x39

LMAO, wow, someone has a crush.

I'm hoping he would joke back, I am doing it here because in the other forum you would quickly jump in and make it more serious than it really is. I guess you'll do that anywhere...

Geez, I mean, seriously, do you worship him or something? You even have something he said as your quote, why not pick a quote from someone special to you like your father, or a world leader or something. I swear, without you jumping in to his defense, I can one day break him and find that sense of humor in him lol, geezus...

I joke around with all of these people here, the only one that I think is like you guys and can't take it is scrub sometimes, I think it depends on his mood, most of the time he's pretty light and would joke back with a vengeance, but sometimes he just takes it WAY too seriously...

Speaking of joksters, where the heck is Oleg? Is he still going on about that losing his girlfriend thing? He should just realize that it's her loss and move on... oh wait, like I should talk about that... nm...

Edit: You know, the more I think about it, the more it seems like Whisper and Mono are actually the same person on two different accounts... So he can "defend" himself without seeming like he's just arguing back and forth, plus, it makes it one more person on his side... Wow, seriously, that would be really creepy...

Yah man, I completely agree, that would be very creepy. You gotta stop with this whole man crush thing, it's just really weird.

I agree with everything DM said, and you better leave him alone. He is the ultimate forum poster, everything he says is right and if you challenge it, that means you're wrong.

You don't want to be wrong now do you? So you better not say anything to the contrary, even on opinionated things. There is a such thing as a right or wrong opinion. His is right, yours is wrong. That's it. So be quiet or else.

As others have mentioned John Sonedecker is one of those responisble for the great Redstorm games of years past, this isn't some group of glorified modders. Regarding the donations, players were begging for a way to donate to what they considered a worthy cause and it was actually quite a while before John allowed them to do so.

That said, Blackfoot is still an independent game studio and that is a considerable obstacle for them to put a game out on the market (John has mentioned they can perhaps self publish a PC game, but if they do it will be unlikely to ever make it on to one of the consoles). That the site has been up for a year isn't a sign that it will be vaporware though. John has managed to keep a team of programmers employed for a year and while money is probably tight so far they've managed to keep the bills paid, which is a good sign that this is the real deal.

another DNF

quote:

other DNF

I'm sorry, but this isn't anything like Duke Nukem Forever. Ground Branch hasn't even officially been announced yet and was only unofficially announced a year ago. A lot of games take longer than a year to develop without becoming vaporware. DNF, was announced more than 10 years ago, they spent a fortune (heck, several fortunes even) and they can't even comprhend that nobody even wants to play it anymore. John has stated that he doesn't buy into the "when it's done," philosophy. If they can't make things happen (and they do have backup plans in the event they can't find a publisher) I don't think they will keep stringing us along for years on end, as it is we haven't been waiting an unreasonable amount of time, particularly for an independent developer.

Publishing it themselves would not be a bad idea. If it is successful enough or makes a big enough impact, they could then port it to consoles.

I think this guy is no more than a troll. He has been signed up on the forums for about 2 and a half years yet only has 2 posts. Both comparing GB to DNF. He isn't worth the time to answer (like I did earlier this morning and you did).

quote:

Originally posted by WhiteKnight77:
I think this guy is no more than a troll. He has been signed up on the forums for about 2 and a half years yet only has 2 posts. Both comparing GB to DNF. He isn't worth the time to answer (like I did earlier this morning and you did).

I'm not defending this [EDIT] at all, but the DNF I would imagine means "Did Not Finish." He's just a naysayer thinking this game will never see completion.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GSG_9_Rage,

Well, "another did not finish" just wouldn't really make much sense grammatically. I agree that he probably meant "another Duke Nukem Forever."