Misery Devs, I appreciate all you have done. You are endlessly determined at making STALKER a reality and creating a real community. I just hope you can see that I love STALKER too, and want to see it expand to other places as well. So please, read this.
Areal Seems Legit- We should probably support it if we love Stalker. Donate as much as you can to see another spiritual successor to stalker come to light.Kickstarter.com (keep in mind I am not affiliated with West Games and have nothing to gain out of this endevour, I'm just a student)
Here is why I think this may be legit, and many critics of West-Games may be wrong.
The creators of Areal claim to be former core members of STALKER development. If you go on their kick starter website you can see who they are and how they performed at GSC, and based on their roles it does seem they were core as they say. Also, they have the author of the Areal novels on their team, so this may turn out to be a situation similar to the metro series. They only ask 50k for their kick starter and over that would be used for further modes and developments, such as survival, better diversity of flora and fauna, etc. Basically, they only need so little, according to them, because they are accepting a smaller salary out of love to create this game, and they already have their own funding which has taken them through certain steps already. Marketing, according to them, is already an expense reduced as they are more relying on word of mouth, and the whole controversy surrounding them actually seems to be helping their publicity. They aren’t asking much, and if what they say is true, than they are very dedicated to producing the game, similarly to how 4A devs are dedicated to making metro games during riots in Ukraine, etc. They are all emulating the spirit of the true STALKER with their behavior. I want to see this game become a reality, and I’m sure you all do too. Look ahead of the skepticism of current critics and think for yourself regarding what they say about themselves and what they have done and plan to do. Do a bit of research regarding them and their actions- past, present, and future. It seems like it couldn’t be a fraud or a scam, as there is too much publicity now. So do research and donate if you can! In the first 10 days they have already made over 34,000 dollars, and if the last 21 days are anywhere near as successful, they will be over their asked amount by enough to make the game even greater. Remember, the money seems to be going purely into creating the game, not overhead or salaries or even marketing. They probably aren’t paying great money for high-profile voice actors, but they don’t need that. They may be very dumb in how they are handling this, or completely genius. Time will tell, but is it so bad to support them until they show themselves to be frauds? I want us to give them the money they ask for. The game sounds so great, and maybe they are only showing concept art for special reasons. Why are we so quick to jump the gun and assume they are going to steal our money simply because they won’t show gameplay yet? This may be worth it, and they seem to have done a ton of research to make their own befitting proprietary engine. Again, here’s the website where they post updates. Watch the most recent video update, and read their kickstarter campaign, and try to understand why I took this much time to write this much about a project which has yielded no clear results to me yet. Again, let’s donate!Kickstarter.com
Also, maybe we need more enthusiasm regarding Areal itself. Someone who speaks Russian, there are plenty of those people in the STALKER fanbase, should translate a bit of the novels of Areal already written which the new game will be based on. If we learn to love the novels’ stories, maybe we can love the world of Areal, and the team making a game encompassing this world.
*Keep in mind, I am just an 18 year old kid going to college soon. I’m not affiliated in any way with the development team or the project of Areal. I am also receiving no benefit from West Games. I’m just pretty stoked about the project. I love the way Ukrainians are so dedicated to their post-apocalyptic fiction. Look up 4A games Ukraine riots to understand what I’m talking about.
