At least $2,427 of the $3,789 (nearly two thirds) came from only three people. ToA has two backers at the “ancient dragon” level, minimum payment of $928, and one backer at “legendary hero” level of $571. This third attempt is looking at less than four thousand dollars of a roughly ten grand goal.īut the figures get worse when you consider pledges. It’s worth noting that the prior failed ToA Kickstarters raised $86 grand in 2013 which plummeted to $25 grand at the second attempt in 2015.
Turns out the third time is not the charm because Trials of Ascension is gearing up to not just fail, but fail spectacularly. The game finally launched into Early Access in 2018 only to turn out to be the big failure most expected it would be.Įarlier this month I reported that the Trials of Ascension IP has new ownership and that the game was undergoing a new Kickstarter attempt. Short story the game has undergone numerous failed attempts at crowdfunding and has been widely regarded as a big fat scam by alleged con artist Don Danielson who had neither the technical ability or the resources to pull off the game as promised. Granted it may be possible, even hopeful, that less money was spent on this IP than a down payment on a McDonald’s Double Big Mac, but given the propensity for people to spend a lot of money on worthless properties I can’t say I hold much faith.įor the uninitiated, Trials of Ascension has a long history dating back to 2001. The response from the consumer base would be much better and there would actually be some possibility of revenue flow. Lalonde would have had much better prospects opening a Baskin Robbins with that money instead of buying an IP that is as reviled as Trials of Ascension. Baskin Robbins call ahead to see if your nearest location is doing curbside pickup! Say goodbye to those winter blues with a scoop of triple mango. This article was not sponsored by Baskin Robbins.
Why $93 grand? That’s the low end cost of starting a Baskin Robbins franchise, according to 2019 estimates by.
Maybe you’d pull it off sending a box full of t-shirts emblazoned with “I defrauded Hasbro and all I got was a lawsuit and this stupid t-shirt” to Atari’s headquarters, or cosplaying as Gazillion CEO Dave Dohrmann to your job’s annual harassment seminar.īut Trials of Ascension makes me look at other failed MMO properties throughout history and wonder 1.) how much could Dragonfire Entertainment have possibly paid for the rights, and 2.) how much did other failed MMOs ask for to not find a buyer? I’m hoping in the deepest crevices of my soul that programmer Brandon Lalonde didn’t pay more than $93 grand for this game property. It’s hard to imagine how many activities one could participate in that have a lesser public image than reviving Trials of Ascension, and I say that having spent several hours thinking about it. I have just one question for Trials of Ascension and its new dev team: Why?