It was announced today that the three-faction sci-fi sandbox MMO, Dominus, is ceasing development due to what appear to be funding issues. Dominus was of particular interest to our MMORPG.com community due to the aforementioned three-faction sandbox nature of the title. It's truly unfortunate for both PitchBlack Studios (the folks behind the game) as well as our community, who have been understandably itching for an awesome new sandbox game, that development has ceased.
There is a silver lining, however. Dominus' Facebook page is listing an e-mail address for would-be investors to get in touch with the team about the project, but there's another potential investment source that a number of our readers have mentioned: Kickstarter!
Why not? Crowdfunding seems to be all the rage these days. With all the recent seemingly unfundable projects becoming not only fully funded, but quickly overfunded due to Kickstarter, why not throw an MMO project into the mix?
I'm not privy to the sort of funding PitchBlack may need for their MMO, and I understand MMO projects are typically more expensive than their non-MMO counterparts, but who knows? I feel it would be a great way to really test interest in the project and give MMO players a chance to put their money where their mouth is.
Would you throw your money behind Dominus if PitchBlack were to Kickstart it? How do you feel about crowdfunding in general? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
I personally wouldn't pay them through kickstarter, but then again I'm not a sandbox fan (only enjoyed Fallout 3 as far as sandbox gaming goes).
However, there might be plenty people who would pay and if that could get them the type of game they long for, then all's good.
Tue May 01 2012 4:34AM ReportNo. I would not.
Why?
While I respect Dominus devs , what sandboxes need are well financed , polished and well-through out big sandbox production with quite big budget.
Not another indie project.
Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed some indie games.
But seriously mmorpg genre does NOT need another indie sandbox that have low playerbase cause of beign unfinished , underfinanced , understaffed & having close to zero marketting.
Atm with EvE beign only one example (not counting very old mmorpg's like UO and SWG) , all sandboxes are small productions either Indie or relatively small budget projects made by bigger studios.
Sorry that won't get mmorpg sandboxes anywhere. Not anywhere more than it is now.
Tue May 01 2012 5:16AM ReportYou could make an indie game successful if it wasn't just another clusterfudge free for all tank caster fight in a field somewhere with every character model wearing the same black studded leather or silverware plate armor look. Add some real politics and grown up thinking into the mix and you could have something special. A three realm sandbox could work just on the fact that it's far more likely that loyalty to a faction would be important (as opposed to the randomness of small gang banger styled guilds) if that faction were a choice on login. Unless you are fleeing a dictatorship, you would want to stay with your flag for the sake of growth, family, and honor. Something the teenies of today's sandboxes are missing, along with their developer counterparts who are probably equally as "mature." I vote yes on kickstarter.
Wed May 02 2012 6:58AM ReportMMORPG.com writes:
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