Wanderin' wrote: Hmm...yes, these goals do seem to be quite vague and their attempts at trying to hype/publicize the Kickstarter fairly amateur.
Then again, whoever it is that is actually updating this Kickstarter in English does seem to be fairly forthcoming in terms of trying to clarify FAQ questions (ie. there will be no physical PS4 copy for now, YsNet doesn't own usage of Shenmue 1 and 2 for HD releases, etc.).
As a result, please feel free and DO ask/submit questions to the Kickstarter contact and comment sections. In particular, it 's perfectly justified to ask them to clarify what the stretch goals actually mean so that we actually know what we are backing/paying for. Moreover, yes, it would also help to know what is actually going to be included in the game at the most basic level (what towns/cities? will there even be a fighting mechanic/'battle event' outside of stretch goals?).
I've stayed pretty neutral about the whole thing so far, but now it kinda of irks me that it isn't at all clear what the extent of Sony's assistance will be for Shenmue 3. I mean, c'mon. An extra 1 to 3 million dollars for infiltration missions, additional quests, and character perspective systems? These stretch goals sound like core features that should be included to make the game as much a true Shenmue experience as possible.
Especially the 'character perspective system'. If it means what I think it means - being able to view and manipulate the game environment from the first person perspective of Ryo (a key feature that was fundamental to player immersion in both Shenmue 1 and 2) - then either Yu better start being more clear about what this project will actually include and/or we better start doing whatever we can through social media and continued campaigning to ensure the Kickstarter accrues like 10 million dollars plus by the end of the remaining 30 days.
That's a very good point and something that I was actually going to mention too!
As you said, the Shenmue III KickStarter page allows you to submit questions for their FAQ.
I think it would be really useful for us fans to make use of that ability to ask questions and to query things. You never know, some of this info might get fed back to Yu Suzuki himself!
I've already asked a couple of questions.
I also agree with you, what does worry me is that a fair amount of these 'Stretch Goals' do appear to be fairly fundamental core-aspects to the game that should be in their as a bare-minimum!
As you quite rightly said, that's why we all have a role to play on here to promote this KickStarter and get it the publicity it needs.