It's 7am in the morning as I write this. I came in early to prepare for a meeting this morning that kinda got sprung on me late yesterday afternoon. Things are getting odd since we opened pre orders for PWX: Uprising a few days ago and this meeting this morning is a result of it.
First, how can I thank all of you? Even though word was sent out only to newsletter subscribers and even though we will offer a totally free demo the paid pre orders and donations are going very well. Like...beyond well. Guys, some of you donated over $200. Many of you gave over $100 and still more gave $50 or more. I expected a few donations over $20 just because some of you already said you wanted to give a bit more but this is crazy. At last count, donations over $20 accounted for more than 70% of the amount raised. I tried to hunt down the phone numbers of the insane people who gave overly generous donations so I could thank them but I couldn't keep up. I never cease to be amazed. You made me humble...but in the good way ;-)
I mean, I really went out of my way to avoid over hyping PWX: Uprising. I said it would be a small little game with not much more going on than the free version we were going to offer. So my expectations for pre orders were on the lower side. After the first day of pre orders we were averaging hundreds of dollars per hour. Insane. Of course, Paypal crapped out yesterday and their donation system was down for over 24 hours and the orders slowed down but...damn! It's pretty clear that while people want a new wrestling game to be made they are equally as motivated, if not more so, by the desire to help an independent game studio succeed and stay independent. I'm really proud of what you guys have done here and next week I'm going to brag about all of you guys in a press release. What you guys have done here is a game industry first. Be proud.
I was excited and I called a few game industry people to tell them how the pre order thing was going. And they called other people. The next morning I'm alone at the studio changing the garbage when my phone rings. It's the former CEO of a massive Canadian game company.
"Dave, where are you right now?" "Um, at the studio. Why?" "I'm standing outside. Do you have ten minutes to talk?"
So we talked for a few hours. No promises, but a good opportunity was proposed.
Last night I'm shopping at a 99 cent grocery sale with my family and my phone rings again. It's the former CEO of another big Canadian game company. He tells me he's coming to meet with me Friday morning if that's ok. I tell him about the meeting I already have booked. "I know," he says. "I spoke with him about you earlier and we both want to talk to you."
Okaaaaaaaay why are we so popular all of a sudden? Might it also have something to do with a lucky meeting I got yesterday with an icon I told a few people about? I guess we'll see. To top it all off we heard from yet a third party that proposed some pretty big things. They even sent us a box of free clothes earlier in the week. I also closed the deal on some new private financing last night that I've been working on for a long time. Finally!
(13 hours later...sorry for the late newsletter!)
What the hell just happened.
My first meeting got here way early and I've been in meetings ever since. Twelve straight hours. No breaks. And it's been intense. The opportunities and offers got bigger. Way the fuck bigger. I also got screwed today. Hard. It continues again tomorrow morning and probably Sunday, too, as I experience what will be either the worst weekend this year or the best. Today though? I'd say it ended with hope. Although I will say that today some of what I heard was the most unnecessary, opportunistic, and greedy filth I've ever heard. I found my cat playing with a dead mouse he caught this morning. I can relate to that mouse.
But it's ok. I've noticed a pattern in the last few years that shows me every great and wonderful moment in PWX history was immediately preceded by a period of hardship and uncertainty. A test. Nobody can pass a test if they're afraid to take it.
So I'm being pulled in different directions. Forced to make some tough decisions. But you know what? I'll do what I have to do and have faith that the path ahead is being cleared for me. My job is to show up and walk it. At least that's what I think someone is trying to tell me. Two different people today said the same exact phrase to me,
[quote][cite] PWXDave:[/cite] I also got screwed today. Hard. It continues again tomorrow morning and probably Sunday, too, as I experience what will be either the worst weekend this year or the best.
Today though? I'd say it ended with hope. Although I will say that today some of what I heard was the most unnecessary, opportunistic, and greedy filth I've ever heard. I found my cat playing with a dead mouse he caught this morning. I can relate to that mouse.[/quote]
That has me a little apprehensive....my over-active imagination has come up with some pretty terrible scenarios.
Good luck Dave. You've got a lot of people behind you!
Dave is a smart guy - I think we can all rest assured that he won't make the mistake of signing any papers with Yukes...or THQ,or anyone of the EVIL FORCE...
Like some others around here, the "screwed" part had me a little worried. Hope you will pull through.
"3) Question of the Week ************************
Can anything truly amazing ever be accomplished without trusting someone to do the right thing?"
The question here is trust who I think. If you mean people involved, people who are close to you - in your case not only your family but also your crew - then no, you have to trust them and their support to accomplish something great.
Its awesome people are giving so much money. i guess im one of the other guys who wants to try stuff before i lay my money down on it. to many times have i been screwed by running out and buying a game because the screen shots and videos looked awesome.
I don't blame you, owenneil. I did give extra money, on the hope that the game lives up to expectations. I've given money in the past, and I will in the future, until I don't believe in the project anymore. That day COULD come, but I doubt it will, if ya know what I mean.
My suggestion is to wait for the free demo, if you like it, maybe then you can throw in a few bucks for the full version of Uprising. That's the way I think Dave and company expected things to go, and the amount of people going whole hog and over and above surprises them.
Whats funny is that when i said let's give dave some cash some, there was alot of bitching and moaning going around and now once it went off people stepped up to the plate! Great job fellow fanatics!!!
Thanks for the support, guys. I didn't mean to be so cryptic in the last newsletter but I just wanted to vent even though I couldn't go into details. I'll post a more detailed update in the next newsletter that should alleviate some apprehension as well as show you what a committed crew we have.
And yes, we were DEFINITELY surprised about how people donated so much above and beyond what we were asking. Incredible.