Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House

The Facebook page for Areal explains that the Areal website has resumed fundraising for West Games' proposed S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-inspired first-person shooter after their Kickstarter was suspended. In discussing the suspension, they say they got no warning, and continue to make their case that much of the criticism of their project is disinformation from a "lot of companies that make their livelihood on STALKER." They also follow their odd claim of support from Russian President Vladimir Putin by saying some of the problems they've met with stem from hostility from Russian Kickstarter campaigns as part of the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Here's word:
Our Kickstarter was suspended without any warning. As per Kickstarter's policy, we cannot contact them to find out why. Areal is the spiritual successor to STALKER, in terms of our vision for it and in terms of the team that we have (which includes Alexey Sytyanov, the lead game designer and screenwriter for STALKER). You can find out more about us and our team on our website: http://areal.west-games.com/

From the very beginning, we showed what we have accomplished, and showed the atmosphere for what we want to accomplish (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTMtpViPhhc&list=UU7j5-kx3Mk4rtG6q_SfsOYQ).

The fact is that there are a lot of companies that make their livelihood on STALKER, so when we showed up on the scene, they saw us as a threat and did everything that they could to stop us.

People also need to take into account that Ukrainians and Russians are in an information war right now, and as a Ukrainian developer, we were subject to constant hostility from Russian Kickstarter accounts (we even got death threats). There are over 16,000 comments on our Kickstarter, which is unprecedented for the amount of supporters that we have, and a lot of our comments are hate filled. Some sites, in light of this, chose to report based on sources from direct competitors or from the myriad of comments based on lies. Others chose a neutral ground, because of the confusing situation around us, and still others wrote positively about us. All in all, more than a 1,000 news results come up when you type in "Areal Kickstarter" on Google.

After vice news wrote an article about us, people started contributing every minute, but Kickstarter was afraid of the controversy surrounding our project, so they suspended funding. We set our base goal at 50K; even with 2 days left, we raised more than 64 thousand dollars, and our competitors were doing everything that they could to stop that. Kickstarter is a business, and that was their decision. We were not warned, we do not have a say in the matter, we cannot notify our backers, we cannot message our backers, and we can't post updates anymore. That is how Kickstarter chose to act.

We are the creators of STALKER, and we know that we can make Areal even better than that series, because of advances in technology, gameplay mechanics, and story. We need your support to make that happen, so we have opened up a website wherein we will continue to raise funds. We ask all supporters of Areal who read this, to please head over to our site and contribute there. PayPal is used for safe checkout, but you do not need a PayPal account to donate. Thank you for your understanding.
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23 Replies. 2 pages. Viewing page 1.
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23.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 24, 2014, 08:53
23.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 24, 2014, 08:53
Jul 24, 2014, 08:53
 
ASeven wrote on Jul 24, 2014, 03:55:
http://imgur.com/a/KV5gW

http://imgur.com/a/wLRVG

hah...
Avatar 571
22.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 24, 2014, 03:55
22.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 24, 2014, 03:55
Jul 24, 2014, 03:55
21.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 24, 2014, 00:14
21.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 24, 2014, 00:14
Jul 24, 2014, 00:14
 
fiftykyu wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 18:59:
Icewind wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 17:25:
Creators of Stalker? Wasn't it revealed that very few of these guys were on GSC's team and those that were just happened to be there in the very early stages and left years before the release candidate was even ready to be burned to discs?

If anyone company is "the creator of stalker" out there, it's Vostok or 4A.

This whole mess caused me to reinstall Metro Last Light. God that game is good, even if it is linear.

Aha, thank you for mentioning Metro: Last Light! Reminded me that somehow I never finished the Metro 2033 novel. The Steam page says Metro: Last Light owners can download a free copy of Dmitry Glukhovsky's international best-selling novel "Metro 2033", the epic story that started it all. Don't know if the "?cc=us" trick lets you add the book to your account if you're not in the correct region, though.

Hmm, now that I think of it, never started Metro: Last Light either. Curse the endless steam sales, keep buying new games before I can finish the old ones...

I thought it was a good read. But I am a simple person with low expectations when it comes to books.
20.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 23:41
20.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 23:41
Jul 23, 2014, 23:41
 
Rolleyes
"The horse I bet on was so slow, the jockey kept a diary of the trip." - Henny Youngman
19.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 18:59
19.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 18:59
Jul 23, 2014, 18:59
 
Icewind wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 17:25:
Creators of Stalker? Wasn't it revealed that very few of these guys were on GSC's team and those that were just happened to be there in the very early stages and left years before the release candidate was even ready to be burned to discs?

If anyone company is "the creator of stalker" out there, it's Vostok or 4A.

This whole mess caused me to reinstall Metro Last Light. God that game is good, even if it is linear.

Aha, thank you for mentioning Metro: Last Light! Reminded me that somehow I never finished the Metro 2033 novel. The Steam page says Metro: Last Light owners can download a free copy of Dmitry Glukhovsky's international best-selling novel "Metro 2033", the epic story that started it all. Don't know if the "?cc=us" trick lets you add the book to your account if you're not in the correct region, though.

Hmm, now that I think of it, never started Metro: Last Light either. Curse the endless steam sales, keep buying new games before I can finish the old ones...
Avatar 57639
18.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 17:25
18.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 17:25
Jul 23, 2014, 17:25
 
Creators of Stalker? Wasn't it revealed that very few of these guys were on GSC's team and those that were just happened to be there in the very early stages and left years before the release candidate was even ready to be burned to discs?

If anyone company is "the creator of stalker" out there, it's Vostok or 4A.

This whole mess caused me to reinstall Metro Last Light. God that game is good, even if it is linear.
Avatar 13929
17.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 16:15
17.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 16:15
Jul 23, 2014, 16:15
 
Alamar wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 12:01:
Jerykk wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 11:21:
The fact is that there are a lot of companies that make their livelihood on STALKER, so when we showed up on the scene, they saw us as a threat and did everything that they could to stop us.

Really? Like what? I can't think of a single company whose livelihood depends on STALKER. Unless you count modders as companies. Even then, their mods don't make them any money so... yeah.

Really?

I haven't paid much attention to this fiasco, but the first news item I remember about it, was a competitor (another STALKER 'spin off' developer) calling it out...

-Alamar

Vostok Games (comprised of former STALKER developers and currently developing the actually real Survarium) called out West Games for their false claims of being the primary developers of the STALKER series. The livelihood of Vostok is in no way impacted by STALKER (since they don't own the rights) or AREAL. They simply wanted to point out misinformation. Since then, they've distanced themselves from the controversy because it really doesn't have any impact on the game they're making.

West Games is trying to divert attention away from the many suspicious aspects of their project. That's why they keep focusing on these imaginary companies that apparently rely on the STALKER series for their livelihood.
Avatar 20715
16.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 15:29
16.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 15:29
Jul 23, 2014, 15:29
 
I don't think any developer group of scam artists has ever whined more than these guys. They're just throwing shit up on the excuses wall to see what will stick.
Avatar 15604
15.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 14:05
15.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 14:05
Jul 23, 2014, 14:05
 
The fact is that there are a lot of companies that make their livelihood on STALKER, so when we showed up on the scene, they saw us as a threat and did everything that they could to stop us.

Hahahaha. Totally called it. These guys are so predicable that I was able to predict that they'd try to blame Vostok games for their own troubles.
If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends. Slava Ukraini!
Avatar 22024
14.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 13:36
14.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 13:36
Jul 23, 2014, 13:36
 
nin wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 10:57:
"Yes man, it's so pity, but it's a true."

It's so shame for him.
All your base are belong to us.
13.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 12:52
13.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 12:52
Jul 23, 2014, 12:52
 
What a bunch of babbling morons. This is what happens when you get a bunch of immature kids who think that because they have some programming skills they are awesome.

At least KS finally caught on to their shenanigans and cut them off.
12.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 12:18
12.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 12:18
Jul 23, 2014, 12:18
 
Jesus, the admin replying on Areal's website must be 16 or so. How they think this could help them LOL, yes insult everyone with a question, you'll get funding that way. Maybe putin will toss in another $15k.

This comment was edited on Jul 23, 2014, 12:50.
Currently setting a record for most edited posts, 1 reply at a time.
11.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 12:01
11.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 12:01
Jul 23, 2014, 12:01
 
Jerykk wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 11:21:
The fact is that there are a lot of companies that make their livelihood on STALKER, so when we showed up on the scene, they saw us as a threat and did everything that they could to stop us.

Really? Like what? I can't think of a single company whose livelihood depends on STALKER. Unless you count modders as companies. Even then, their mods don't make them any money so... yeah.

Really?

I haven't paid much attention to this fiasco, but the first news item I remember about it, was a competitor (another STALKER 'spin off' developer) calling it out...

-Alamar
Avatar 22996
10.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 11:48
10.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 11:48
Jul 23, 2014, 11:48
 
Jerykk wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 11:21:
Really? Like what? I can't think of a single company whose livelihood depends on STALKER.

They may be referring to former GSC Game World employees, that founded Vostok (making Survarium(sp?)) who also have assistance with Russian devs/testers and 4A Games (makes Metro games).
Avatar 37119
9.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 11:46
9.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 11:46
Jul 23, 2014, 11:46
 
But will Putin give them money again???
8.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 11:39
8.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 11:39
Jul 23, 2014, 11:39
 
Jerykk wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 11:21:
The fact is that there are a lot of companies that make their livelihood on STALKER, so when we showed up on the scene, they saw us as a threat and did everything that they could to stop us.

Really? Like what? I can't think of a single company whose livelihood depends on STALKER. Unless you count modders as companies. Even then, their mods don't make them any money so... yeah.

Yeah, I'm not even sure what that guy means. Who are these people hiding in the shadows that make their living off STALKER, a game that is what..7+ years old and never really enjoyed mainstream success.
Avatar 51617
7.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 11:30
7.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 11:30
Jul 23, 2014, 11:30
 
oh good lord. Some people just can't look in the mirror and admit the problem. These guys are full of it.
6.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 11:21
6.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 11:21
Jul 23, 2014, 11:21
 
The fact is that there are a lot of companies that make their livelihood on STALKER, so when we showed up on the scene, they saw us as a threat and did everything that they could to stop us.

Really? Like what? I can't think of a single company whose livelihood depends on STALKER. Unless you count modders as companies. Even then, their mods don't make them any money so... yeah.
Avatar 20715
5.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 11:11
5.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 11:11
Jul 23, 2014, 11:11
 
Time to move on from this tabloid rigamarole. Maybe they were for real, maybe there weren't. Ukraine is quickly becoming an austerity riddled country especially with living expenses skyrocketing, maybe they needed some hyrvnia bucks.
Avatar 37119
4.
 
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House
Jul 23, 2014, 10:57
nin
4.
Re: Areal Fundraising Resumes In-House Jul 23, 2014, 10:57
Jul 23, 2014, 10:57
nin
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