Make My MMO: Indiegogo campaigns for Mark Kern and John Smedley (September 17, 2016)

September 17, 2016 8:00 PM

This week in MMO crowdfunding news was one of the biggest we’ve had all year for crowdfunded games. Former Firefall boss Mark Kern made good on his plans for “serial Kickstarting” with a small Indiegogo campaign for his new MMO, Ember; we sat down with Hero’s Song’s John Smedley for a streamed interview; and indie sci-fi sandbox Dual Universe is hurtling along toward its Kickstarter funding goal of just over half a million bucks.

Meanwhile, Shroud of the Avatar’s Richard Garriott and Starr Long announced they’ll both be attending SOTACon, City of Titans posted the lore behind its Bureau of Paranormal Investigations and Tracking, and Ascent got a new trailer, Ever, Jane patched its beta, Elite Dangerous is rolling out the Guardians beta next week, AdventureQuest 3D announced an October open beta, and Crowfall confirmed beta 1 players will begin testing this year.

And for those wondering about the state of The Repopulation, a month ago the devs told forumgoers that their “goal is to have a playable client for it late in the year, but it will probably be a limited initial version.” Said A&B, “[W]e need to build the world and content still, which has a good ways to go.”

Read on for more on what’s up with MMO crowdfunding this week and the roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’ve got our eye on!

MOP’s Smed interview

Recent MMO crowdfunding news

Crowfall team answers dozens of community questions, confirms beta 1 players will test this year - Crowfall fans are in for a long, tall drink of information this weekend, poured straight from the minds of creators J. Todd Coleman and Gordon Walton. The pair sat down for…

Project Gorgon revamps armor bonuses and food perks - "I'm hip-deep in changes to all kinds of systems," says Project Gorgon's Eric Heimburg in a blog post this week, "and still trying different things out." And he means it!…

Elite Dangerous’ 2.2 The Guardians hits PC beta next week - Frontier announced in this morning's newsletter that the beta for Elite: Dangerous' 2.2 patch, dubbed The Guardians, will kick off next week. "We’re thrilled to let you know that you’ll be…

DragonCon 2016: Garriott expounds on Shroud of the Avatar’s farming, food, and fancy footwork - Many people look at a game for its combat, however, there are many who also want a game with a variety of non-combat features. When it comes to a sandbox,…

Ascent: The Space Game’s got a new trailer, ‘and it’s not hideous!’ - "Throw away your old screenshots! We've got a new video!" Ascent: The Space Game's James Hicks declared in note to press this week. "And it's not hideous!" Jokes aside, the…

Star Citizen: Around the Verse teases Citizen Con, Roberts endorses Dual Universe - On this week's Around the Verse, Star Citizen's Chris Roberts and Sandi Gardiner are back and teasing Citizen Con, which kicks off October 9th. The episode includes a report from the…

Eternal Crusade plans pre-launch patch with guild-vs.-guild, new world map, and the return of PvE - Behaviour Interactive is counting down the days until the launch of Eternal Crusade. Yes, the game is officially launching on September 23rd for the North American PC market, with a…

Ever, Jane opens the doors of its new circulating library - A refined and sophisticated setting such as the one in Ever, Jane deserves all of the luxuries that it can garner, don't you agree? The game's first open beta patch…

Why Hero’s Song is leaning on Twitch to generate enthusiasm - Twitch is a vital part of marketing an up and coming video game, according to Pixelmage Games CEO John Smedley. In an interview with Games Industry, Smedley said that the…

Dual Universe’s Kickstarter is now more than half funded - Dual Universe's Kickstarter has passed the halfway mark, with over $284,000 pledged of the $557,818 goal with a whopping 26 days to go. In its latest newsletter, Novaquark released a brand-new video of…

Mark Kern’s Ember pays for a mining mech with its latest crowdfunding campaign - Ex-Red 5 Studios CEO Mark Kern has taken to Indiegogo once more to finance his promised "massive planetary wargame," Ember. This second trip to gamers' wallets is part of Kern's…

This is how the world of Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is built - Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen's September newsletter features an interview with Lead World Builder and Lead Environment Artist, John "Montreseur" Diasparra, who explains the process of putting Pantheon's world together…

The Black Death is working on new professions, skill trees, and the illness system - Indie survival sandbox The Black Death has a dev blog out today apologizing for the delay in its latest test patch, which is expected to roll out "in the next…

Albion Online reveals powerful druid artifacts - One reason that you might want to bend all of your strength and will to demolishing certain factions in Albion Online is that certain enemy groups are the owners of…

Crowfall shows off the lore of the Bog Bear - It's important to remember that Crowfall takes place in a fantasy world with fantastical creatures. Sure, there are sieges and politics to consider, but there are also critters roaming around…

DragonCon 2016: Richard Garriott on why Shroud of the Avatar will steal your life - Do you know that feeling when you come across a game that has most, if not all, of your dream features -- even the farfetched ones that you'd abandoned hope…

The Stream team: Live interview with Hero’s Song’s Smedley - Interviews with developers often happen, and then players get to read the results afterward. But what if you could sit in on one live? MassivelyOP's MJ will be talking with…

Shroud of the Avatar Q&A homes in on crafting and economy - Portalarium's Starr Long has hopped on Shroud of the Avatar's official forums for an extra round of player-submitted questions. Of note, Long says to expect more craftable clothing, more crafted…

Star Citizen dataminer uncovers a huge city in the game’s files - It would be pretty disappointing if you could land on all sorts of planets in Star Citizen without ever uncovering more than abandoned sheds and arid landscapes, but that doesn't…

Fragmented upgrades to newer Unreal Engine build - Fragmented is running with more horses under its hood today, thanks to an upgrade to the latest version of the Unreal Engine. The team said that ironing out all of…

Wild Terra is open to testing for everyone until September 14th - You can download and play Wild Terra right now without having to pay a dime. The game has opened testing briefly for everyone, allowing you to play for free until…

AdventureQuest 3D is launching into open beta in October - AdventureQuest 3D hasn't been in closed beta testing for all that long, but the developers have decided that closed beta is boring and they'd rather be in open beta. Or…

Shroud of the Avatar plans improvements to tropical island towns and the economy - Player-run towns in Shroud of the Avatar have had the option of being on a tropical island since May. Of course, that option was mostly just a swapped set of trees…

Worlds Adrift’s alpha playtest: Stealing boats and killing mynocks - Worlds Adrift's recent 48-hour alpha playtest has come and gone, and Bossa Studios would like to thank everyone who showed up and tried to wreck the servers. The team streamed and…

No need to upgrade your rig to play Smed’s Hero’s Song - Pixelmage Games boss John Smedley has issued another update for Hero's Song Indiegogo watchers, who've pushed the game to $55,000 in crowdfunding thus far. Of note, he invites gamers to…

Chronicles of Elyria is launching its web store in early October - If you missed out on Chronicles of Elyria's Kickstarter but wanted to take part, you'll have a second chance. The game is launching its online store on October 3rd, and…

The Stream Team: Wandering the wilds of Shroud of the Avatar - After wandering around a crypt and finding a cool secret passage, MassivelyOP's MJ needs some fresh air. So this time she's going to explore the wilds of Shroud of the…