Would this interest you?

[jeffpobst]

Hi,

We get approached all the time by folks who propose to do X or Y or Z with Defense Grid, and the one time we decided to let some other folks do something with the game (the Mac version), I can't say it went poorly, but it also didn't go as well as we had hoped (for example, there isn't a Steam version of the Mac game, even though we'd like one, and it took them a lot longer than expected and predicted).

So, we tend to focus only on what we have time or resources to do ourselves with Defense Grid.

With that as background, we've been approached by some folks who have a bit more experience than others about writing fiction around the the world of Defense Grid, explaining more about the world and the characters that you've heard about so far, as well as new ones that may be coming in the future. They would want to publish this as an ebook for purchase online or to your e-reader.

Those of you who have poked around the console we added from the Portal 2 ARG know that we filled in a bit more about Fletcher & Zeke in their past via text files and old emails, and there is still a lot of mystery about where we are, what the aliens are really after, where you the player fits in all of this, how other things fit together, etc.

Some of this will be shown in future versions or content of the game, but a lot of it could be detailed further if there was interest in us expanding these stories.

The big question I have is if there is interest in this? If there was a Defense Grid fiction ebook out there for $9.99 would you be interested in that? If it was $4.99 would that be more interesting? Would it need to cost less for you to be interested (assume for the moment that the value and effort put in to the book match the price)?

We have a pretty decent feel about building a game, putting in a lot of value, and selling it to people who like playing games, but we don't have as good a feel for how many people would want to know more about what is going on behind the scenes in the world, and how interesting that would be to them to want to buy a book to read about it.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments that follow.

Thanks!


Jeff

[renedrivers]

Haven't played the game the amount that I have, yes I probably would buy the book.

[flimflan]

Interesting idea, but no, I probably wouldn't buy it. I *love* the game and will continue to buy all DLC (or sequels). I like that there is a backstory, but am not interested enough to read about it outside the context of a game.

[Threadshadow]

Truthfully, I wouldn't; I like the fiction fed to me 'in-game'. If it's not related to me via a game or menu within the game, then I'm usually not interested. It's all about the game! Yet if folks want to produce it, and there are folks who want to buy it, and Hidden Path is fine with it, why not. The quality should be very high, and a throw-away story shouldn't be considered, imo.

[Birdorf]

Not for me, I only read non-fiction these days. Completely agree with two comments above.

[Axegrinder]

No interest at all, no matter the price. Most tie-in fiction is pretty dire. I do love zooming in when playing and studying the 'runes' and the cityscape, and I'd love to see a Defense Grid 2, but a novel of the typical standard for these things is only going to pollute the franchise.

On the other hand, I might be interested in DG mugs, shirts, or mousepads.

[Farrah]

Not for me, I only read non-fiction these days. Completely agree with two comments above.

neither do I,Social Wars
World of Planes
Reign of Thunder
Spirit Tales

[datacz]

I would say yes if my language = english. So no...