Bastion Studios… Join the Revolution!
February 2, 2011 by lloyd
UPDATE 11:00am 2nd Feb: Word on the Ex-Illis forums is that an announcement on the future of Ex-Illis could be due around the 12th Feb. Now I agree there's not really much point in us posting and update announcing an announcement, but we also wanted to embed the above video made by Youtube User RabbitMiniatures and brought to our attention by community member @cwilliams who's been doing his bit to try and drum up a bit of support for the Bastion Team.
Word from our sources are that Bastion Studios makers of the hybrid wargame Ex-Illis have gone bust.
UPDATE 2:00pm 18th Jan: Here's the official statement
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Hello everyone,
Right after the holidays, a series of event led us to the conclusion that a shutdown of operations, at least a temporary one, was needed. While sales are on the rise, communities are growing and our distribution network is improving everyday, it became apparent that we couldn’t continue with our current financial structure. The staff working at Bastion, myself included, has been let go, but it remains our collective aim to work together again once more on Ex illis with a new financial partner. Efforts are being made on that front, but as you can imagine, we are not in a position where we can freely discuss these things yet.
Despite this news, the servers will continue to stay up for the time being. This, and the fate of the Demon Horde box set, is of course intimately related to the arrival of new financial partners. While the future as a company is still uncertain, we have pledged to the player community that the servers would stay up and running and we intend to keep this promise.
This has been an emotional time for all of us at Bastion. We have been working hard over the last three years to create a game we are truly proud of, working hard in the past few months to avoid this situation, and now that it became unavoidable, we are still working hard to set it straight. You are welcome to write us at[email protected], but I apologize in advance if we do not have the time to answer to them individually.
Friedrich
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Like them or not, this is a real pity for the industry, as we would like to see more risk-taking like this, not less. My gut tells me that it could be a while before we see a similar conjunction of talents and skills, have a crack at something like this again.
So what went wrong?
Well we can only speculate, until we hear official word. However my gut tells me that in trying to make a war-game that was more accessible, they made a war game that was in many ways just as inaccessible. Unfortunately they just haven't had the time or budget to bridge the gap, and with the talent on the team we have do doubt they would have.
The software system was a fantastic idea and we fully expect to see this rear it's head again in some guise. However this implementation was perhaps a little too cumbersome to really achieve that pickup and play feeling we were hoping for.
The game itself with it's alternate medieval (Eurocentric) setting appealed to the central Europeans in a big way. However its survival depended more on the lucrative UK and US markets and it may well have been just to High Brow, to make the jump into the more 'classical' fantasy minds of the Brits and Yanks.
Lets be honest with ourselves, we are more into the kind of 'Saturday morning cartoon' fantasy! 😉
It was a very bold move by the team at Bastion studios to have a crack at this. The product was slowly gaining some traction with vastly improved miniatures, appearing over the last few months.
It's too early to say whether they will be considered pioneers or not. However I can't help but feel that they were onto something when they decided that a rulebook could be a game, rather than just a set of rules.
Although for all it's promise the execution just hasn't hit the mark this time.
Coming hot on the heels of the news of the takeover of Wargames Factory (which doesn't sound too healthy either, with a public bitching session to rival that of Macca and the One Legged Bandit), this is another blow for an industry that was showing so much promise only 12 months ago, with lots of new starts and innovation everywhere.
It leaves me wondering what the financial state of the industry is as a whole. It's too easy to forget the high sums of money involved in starting up in this industry...
We can blame it on the old guard, who don't want to try anything new, or the vocal minority who pour scorn on everything not released by a few select Messiahs. The reality is if something is innovative and remarkable in it's execution and creativity, it can make waves, other than that we can just blame it on the boogie!
No word yet on what's going to happen to the assets at Bastion, but if your a fan and want to have your 2c, post a comment below and we'll try to get some official word and background in the mean time.
All-in-all it's a real shame and we hope the team at Bastion keep their chins up and take some pride in a bold attempt.
Much respect from the team here at BoW and we hope you guys have another crack at this sometime!
UPDATE 8:53pm: We're hearing down the grapevine that discussions on the future are afoot, so if you wanted to show your support for Bastion and what they have tried to create, now is probably the time.
UPDATE 10:00pm: A thread probably worth following has been started by community members here: http://forum.ex-illis.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3362
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How reliable is the source on this? It seemed to be gaining ground fast in the US (where most of the ‘active community’ is based)
The game was fairly accessible- all you needed was laptop and minis, you could of course get into more and more detail in terms of rules, maths, history etc as you wanted, but there was nothing more cerebral or highbrow to it than to other games and systems I’ve tried- everyone had to learn about the warhammer worlds sometime, or the warmachine or know history for FOW or what have ya, so I don’t see exillis as being anything special in that regard. Possible they just weren’t able to go ‘global’ enough with the product, and it has been a soft/rolling launch with regular updated & releases so this may have put people off
This’ll be a shame if it’s true, I’ve never like ‘by the numbers’ or pure fantasy, and what I read about Ex-Illis’s setting made me want to give it a go at some point (fluff plays a big part for me)
Thats a the giant quadrant spanning demon kit didn’t hurt matters 😛
It’s sad news indeed.
I have never played Ex-Illis, so I will not venture any criticism of the game itself…
Perhaps their game just hasn’t found its public. Or maybe it just didn’t have time to find it, due to the economy, and many other wargame and miniature companies starting up in Europe around the same time… The gamers purse isn’t big enough for everyone, and there’s now a plethora of smaller Internet-based businesses selling their miniature range and making their own skirmish game or wargame, that didn’t exist a mere five years ago.
Perhaps the GW drop in business is a mere symptom of the whole opening of our market. One thing is for certain, as we get more choices, the games that require more resources, money and logistics (such as Ex-Illis because it needs a computer, the Games Workshop games because of the prices, and, really, any game that makes you buy lots and lots of miniatures instead of just a few…) are going to sell less, and the easy-to-start skirmish games are going to flourish… At least in the immediate future.
Maybe Ex-Illis could not bear that, having not yet established a sufficient customer base.
As I discussed with many people about the new concept of Ex-Illis, comparing it to “Eye of Judgement”, and some more recent “augmented reality” concepts, I have found that many people distrusted the whole thing, simply didn’t understand why one wouldn’t just play a computer game instead of playing a wargame with the help of a computer. One person told me “The reason I play a wargame is because a computer can never simulate what happens when you paint miniatures and push them on a carefully designed terrain with your friends around you”. Indeed…
To those who still don’t get it : The whole point was to issue a wargame with great minis you can paint, with rules as complex as you like to simulate all sorts of things (the economic system they released, for example), but no huge rulebook to assimilate. And, nowadays, the technology allows for computers to be portable enough to be brought at the gaming table, and powerful enough that the program looks good while it’s running.
Maybe that idea wasn’t understood by most. Maybe they didn’t succeed in making something convenient enough, or more convenient than the simple wargames or skirmish games on the market today. Maybe both.
They had developped a universe that, maybe, as you said, wasn’t for everyone… Not attractive enough, perhaps a bit too realistic and hostorical for some. Maybe it needed more fantasy and exotism. But it was rich, it was/is growing, and it attracted many people nonetheless. However, you can’t survive in the wargaming world if you can’t establish yourself in the UK and in America… At least not on the scale Ex-Illis had to be produced to make a profit.
Let’s face it, if you need only to make three lead minis per buyer, a small cardboard mat with squares and a mini-booklet for the rules, and your game is played fast and can be tried easily, you’re off to a better start than if your game necessitates many units of plastic miniatures that are hard to put together, a large terrain, a computer with dedicated software, and so on and so forth, just to have one game that will last hours…
But whatever they did wrong (and maybe the didn’t do anything wrong), the Bastion people betted on their idea, daring to believe in it… Were they right ? Only time will tell. Even if they fall, maybe someone else will return with that same concept and sell it better. It coudl happen : Bastion betted that mixing two different mediums, two different styles of game and play, could be a huge success. They could have legitimately been right. That’s what happened to Richard Garfield’s idea to mix D&D and baseball cards… I assume everyone is familiar with the Magic CCG and all the games that followed. Like it or not, it’s huge.
I still hope Bastion will pull through; or live to do another game, hopefully more popular, with the same idea, only better refined…
One thing is for sure, the miniature and wargaming market is changing very much, and although, alas, many a good company will pay the price, I think on the whole it’s for the better : More choice, different games for different people, games that are quicker and easier to play… And maybe, just maybe, games that can bring more people to our hobby in a way that Games Workshop never could : By appealing to people who, for one, don’t have an affinity with orcs and space marines.
Very well said indeed El !!
I’d say a lot of it comes down to not havin the global acces needed, though as anyone playin the game will agree, the studio team are fantastic in terms of their feedback & communication with players
Ah crap, just imported a load of models! I hope if it’s gone down the shitter the software and upload system still works or I’ve just blown a load of money for some nice, but useless models. On another note it’s a damn shame as I’ve really gotten into this lately as it’s a fantastic game.
The ex-illis stuff make excellent proxies for Warhammer Fantasy, for Bretonnians and Empire that look more historical and realistic… I think a fallen angel might even make for a good demon ! Of course it’s another take on the demon genre than the psychedelic things that GW puts out.
Perhaps you could use some for conversions.
Also, you could use those minis to make terrain (they make great statues, or even corpses), or for any paper and pen RPG that requires miniatures… D&D isn’t the only one.
But don’t give up hope, Ex-Illis might live on ! As a proof, I would point out that Hell Dorado survived the bankupt of its mother company, and is now sold by Cipher Studios. They work with many of the same developers and sculptors.
Know how ya feel, spent the week making terrain to fir 9X9 squares, and now painting me Baneret !!
Bad news all round. They were onto something with ex-illis.
They really were, the game plays well and when I introduced it to my friends we picked it up within two practices and could have a battle in less than half an hour. Taking all the rule nit picking and single dice rolling out makes the game both quicker and more fun. Maybe bastion might be saved, but if not I do hope another company may take the reins as it would be a huge shame to loose this system
Strangely, the forums over at ex-illis.com and general web buzz doesnt tie with whats here and and at TGN. For all the right reasons, I really hope BoW is wrong on this one, but time will tell, BoW is usually spot on, and in the wake of WGFgate we need more good news.
Yeah, I’ve seen some of the Bastion team been online over at their fourm and not a word on it- even though I posted a shock/dismay/anger thread 😛
I have a feeling that Ex-Illis was a little too forward thinking in their idea. And it’s not the fault of Bastion, I think that wargamers aren’t thrilled with the idea of change. they like the idea of models, dice and counters. Throw a laptop in there and it complicates matters. It’s too bad, I think Ex-Illis had a great concept and I have a feeling that there will be another company down the road that will come up with a similar system. I have a feeling that computers will find their way into the wargaming world, it’s just a matter of when
Yeah it’s a shame the preception that removing the need for dice and encyclopedic knowledge ‘complicates’ things 😛
Until their is evidence i ent believing it ;P every one on the exillis forums thought bastion was out of business over Christmas but they just forgot to say they were on holiday? if your business is going bust ? why take a holiday? and further more? why the hell bring out a new model?
It sounds like Bow might have seen some our the forums worry’s and with no reply jumped the gun like we did, the gaming is booming in the US so it seems, it’s just the UK market, which to be honest only a hand full of people were interested in the game anyway here.
And would we the fans and owners of the game here about it first? rather then some random rumour:P
It’s like saying GW HAS A SALE! oh? really?
not had one since they got rid of all the led models?
I will wait for the Devs to come to us and say ” we are bust sorry guys!”
just my two cents.
Oh I gotta disagree with ya there man, not enough hysteria and desire for vengance in your attitude at alls 😛
‘s also irresponsible journalism on behalf of BoW to post something like this then just P off and not have any more to do with the discussion or even elabourate on what they said.
The article is being updated as we hear anything.
Thanks!! I retract my criticism! 😀
No Problem. We simply don’t want to add anything to this unless it’s reliable. We heard the story and added our own speculative analysis, but like i said in the article only Bastion know the full story. Its terrible news and not the kind of news we want to report, but this is an important event as Bastion were not just a mom and pop outfit. They have incredibly clever minds in there, so the ripples of this will be felt I’m sure.
Really bad news… Let’s hope the best, but to be honest, it would not surprise me if the news were true… The tabletop market is a bitch sometimes…
could we know the source? Cos i find it weird that some players that have been with exillis since before the beta didn’t hear anything about that
It’s more than likely internal- that fairly common in industrial relation situations like this.
Remember that the people in contact with the players aren’t nesseccarily the people holding the purse strings and so may have no idea what was happening- and if their boss says “off the forum chaps, keep this in house” then you listen to them in this situation!!! 😀
I’m not sure if this game lacked appeal to people outside of the continent. The game looks amazing, but I think the “online” component really drags the game down quite a bit.
Good idea, wrong time…needing a computer really limts where and how people can play ex-Illis. Yes, you can use a laptop…but honestly, it just seems like too much bother.
At the end of the day, Wargaming has a certain “analog” charm to it. I like having a rulebook, where I can tinker with stuff…know the game inside out and taylor my army accordingly. Ex-Illis, although arguably a much deeper game, requires that too much be left to the computer.
P.S. to Lloyd. “Eurocentric” is very different from Europe-centered. If you are suggesting that Ex-Illis and Bastilon endorce a kind of racist, exclusionary politics than maybe the game has bigger problems….
The game is actually bigger in the states than anywhere! when you say it seems too much bother, would you rather take your laptop or ipad to a game than dozens of dice,counters,rulebooks,charts,templates and all the other things other systems use? (not that i don’t love dice,counters etc etc :D)
I#m not looking to convert ya but you make a point that the non-players come up with often so I’m curious 🙂
It’s always good to open up constructive debate. I’m just kinda “on the fence” when it comes to this game. Maybe i’m just old-school, but the tech aspect of this game just seems like a double-edged sword. I applaud the risk. I mean, I could totaly see this game being a lot of fun to play around the house as an alternative to board games, but it just seems like Ex-Illis is trying to do something that both TT games and computer games are able to do better.
If the game had some innovation that really gave the game an edge in wargaming then I might be more interested, but as it stands the game just comes off as a mediocre wargame with some mediocre video game trappings.
Again, I’m not entierly familiar with the rules, but those are my imperssions. I know that the number crunching is deep and complex….but the whole package just comes off as a bit of a gimmic
Okay, so according to the forums they got a distributor in the UK, and have something planned for Germany and other countries. Something seems to be going on, but if things fail servers and stuff will stay up and Ex Illis won’t break. There was a brief moment when this could be read (it came as a PM from a guy called Wallace) – it’s deleted now.
He also said they can’t talk about it on the forums, because of NDAs they all signed when they applied for the job.
Got some words from Bastion on their fourm
http://forum.ex-illis.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3362&p=21366#p21366
IF it is true, it is horrid news. I honestly hope your sources are incorrect.
From what we gather, it’s some forum of lie.
I’d say misunderstanding, could be very easy done if it was talk of market expansion, merger, re-structure, sale, etc etc, BoW source could easily have been a disgruntles employee or someone who got the wrong end of the stick!
If the company is still going to be around they’re being awfully quiet about it. That’s not a secret worth keeping. I had a suspicion this was going to happen, but of course, they’ll still want to sell off their remaining stock (if any) so they won’t want to confirm.
I don’t know what’s going on. Giancarlo hasn’t responded to any of my emails in quite a while, one of their game designers left the team to go to South America… Who knows what’s going on but them? I for one don’t see the point in hanging on to the plastic.
they have several distrivutors and i find it extremely weird to get a new distribution line so near closing the shop. I too think it is just a restructuration, but an official post would be nice
Well as was mentioned on the fourm- talks are taking place, and no company on the planet makes any kind of statement when negociating with creditors, distributors etc- plus as i said and ‘sources’ confirmed the employees cannot confirm or deny anything owing to non-disclosure clauses !
I couldn’t see it ever working. In theory the game could tap into two markets, the Wargame and the computer game but wargamers need to roll dice or similar to make them feel they are in command, this is taken away by the PC. Computer gamers like to spend hours upon hours sat at their PC, they can’t be bothered to stop and shove a few models across the board as it adds nothing to their gaming experience. It is a shame though.
that’s nonsense.
The game had its problems, but it had its perks too. Hopefully this turns out to be wrong, but either way a statement should be released.
If this is true I am not surprised.
To be honest I personally could not find a reason on why to set up the board and the miniatures since virtually everything happens in the PC, beyond that why purchase miniatures beyond the code to have them on the pc screen.
The dependence of the game in expensive equipment and that is a laptop and a wireless connection is also a flawed concept, I would not go buy any of these just to play a miniatures wargame and I have yet to encounter a shop in my country that provides free wireless or even a PC for the customers, that may happen in some parts of the world but not here or the majority of the world.
I am sure there are ways to augment your gaming experience with modern technology, having the army lists in smartphones is a great start indeed, but exillis, for me at least failed in that sector, it was just a computer game that you could optionally have models to move around.
Indeed, if they had done a smartphone app, they would have been trendier and maybe sold more. Also, they would have attracted new gamers to the hobby, IMHO. I also agree wit the fact that some wargamers are very much entrenched in their ways with dice, markers, and so on, to consider relinquishing the “feel” of the game to a computer… But smartphones, or even pads (and I’m not quoting any brand name here, I think everyone will get on the smartphone/pad bandwagon soon enough… it’s already started) may be better, as they’re more intuitive and user friendly.
Anyway, I hope they get through whatever difficulties they have, as their concept seems valid to me… It just needs some refining, perhaps.
They did a smartphone app, actually. Though it was exclusive to the iPhone.
Oh, I hadn’t heard. As I own an iPhone and would have wanted to try Ex-Illis at some point, I am now doubly interested… Thanks !
still can dude its a free down load and you can get some trial units
http://www.ex-illis.com/
Even as the Ex illis forum’s native naysayer, I can say with some certainty that I disagree with your conclusion.
Any game could just as easily be coded and run on a computer. We buy miniatures, rules and pretty much everything for any miniatures game by choice. Once you get past that, it’s not so bad.
At any rate, I have to agree that the software implementation and the marketing were poorly planned at best, but the sheer potential the game has helped me to overlook that.
This game could have been revolutionary, and perhaps its echoes will ring on through other games.
Even as the Ex illis forum’s native naysayer, I can say with some certainty that I disagree with your conclusion.
Any game could just as easily be coded and run on a computer. We buy miniatures, rules and pretty much everything for any miniatures game by choice. Once you get past that, it’s not so bad.
At any rate, I have to agree that the software implementation and the marketing were poorly planned at best, but the sheer potential the game has helped me to overlook that.
This game could have been revolutionary, and perhaps its echoes will ring on through other games.
I don’t think this is the end, maybe a change but not the end of it all. Its a great idea and I for one will keep playing as long as I can. I have no interest in any GW stuff or any other games out there. I want something new not the same old crap.
Hear, hear !
Maybe it was a case of too-forward thinking. Remember that Wargaming is a VERY traditional styled hobby. It’s roots go back a LONG time before the founders of GW were even a glint in the milkmans eye.
I think the idea of incorporating a PC into the game system is great, but not in the way Bastion did things. For a start, they imposed a DRM system on models…..that in itself will scare people off. In a hobby were the 2nd hand trading community is probably more active than retail sales, you are making trading that little harder from the outset.
From what I can tell, you never really had a rule set to learn. The PC did just about everything, but it also seemed to make the player more of a tool than a participant. Rather than simply have all of the details rules hidden by the PC, it should have been used as a ‘ultimate reference’ that could be consulted to confirm the exact outcome of any game interaction. It could potentially wipe out cheating and rules debates for good…computer says NO, then you have to suck it up and move on. Although I can see the shit head cheese mongers that like to ‘bend’ the rules out of all shape (and fair play mind you) hating this as their main game tactic would have been removed.
While I would probably never by Ex Illis, it would be a shame to see the system go. What the wargaming community needs to grow is VARIETY.
had you played it you would have experienced how awesome a rule system that is making thousands of calculations for you, that would take about ten hours to play the rules without the computer help .
cheesing was imposable the better a general you were the more you understood how battles really played out in reality the more you won.
fatigue and moral, is seldom is done well in a d6 system the Bastion team understood the physics of war and the code made it possible to have a playable game with these nuances.
if they failed it was in making the fancy graphics so a outsider would think it was a computer game and not a computer assisted rule set .
some thing this good can not die it may be reborn in anther form or resurrect and delight us all
I am deeply disappointed, and it is likely that this is a feeling shared by many fringe/first-time/non gamers. I know this game had appeal to people outside of the core of the hobby, and I hope that it hasn’t put too many of them off the hobby for good.
One wonders if this has anything to do with the goings on at Wargames Factory.
They both appear to be involved with Ghost Studio, a Chinese toy manufacturer… http://www.freeformthreads.com/showthread.php?p=540
Interesting… I doubt that it’s related, but it’s interesting anyway. Worth wondering about I suppose.
That is to say that there’s no reason so far to assume a connection to the goings on at WF.
Downrated for logic…typical. Correlation does not imply causation as groundedcontrol correctly pointed out.
If there is a link it a very interesting move though.
That seems to be the status quo, for other Ex-illis fans. Of course, when you wear the “villain hat and mustache” on their forums, it’s easy for them to downrate you for saying anything at all.
it wasnt a real computer game
it wasnt a real tabletop game
it tried to combine the 2 and it just didnt work..computer players didnt want to mess with the minis and I dont know a single minis player who wants to mess with a computer at the game table
ambitious yes-but they realy overestimated the hybrid working out..mae the game one or the other
It was only a miniatures game, and it did it just fine. The problem was, IMHO, the marketing and the way the fans oversold it. It was another way to play, and it was actually quite a lot of fun.
so.. whats the MAIN speculation of the ‘supposed’ fall.. Is it lack of Sales? I would think that if a company is having trouble staying a float it would slowly sink.. and slowly stop servies and stop realsing modles etc.. until it was obvious it had gone bust.. But in this case it seems like it had just exploded and sunk. I find it hard to believe somthing like this could die THIS quickly.
Hopefully this fine game and the vision behind it will continue in some form
as a war-gamer of 35 years I have never enjoyed a table top min game more than Exillis , I have played just about every game out there and this is the first game that truly gave me control as the better my military stradigy the more I won , all dice games sacrifice realism for playability this is the first game that had both, a gamers dream .
sadly the critics were people who never really learned the game and truly played it as a gamer
Agreed, we are very keen to see it continue in some form, and are keeping our ears open to see if there is any help (Technical or Otherwise) we can provide for a continuation.
another good post Yosef
Here’s the official announcement. Can anyone tell me what I should be expecting as this progressses?
http://forum.ex-illis.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3368
I don’t think there is anything to expect, Bastion will continue to see what options are open, I believe they have the best interests of players at heart, so i would just sit tight and try to show them some support.
Sad indeed.
Best wishes to all the staff and everyone at Bastion,
It will be a time of personal uncertainty which is not nice.
Could be wrong but it sounds like Bastion is going into administration if sales and interest is on the up there may still be some hope for the game.
This is a sad day. Hopefully someone will take this project again. I really wanted to give this a try and get some of the minis.
Not sure if you all have seen this, but I found it over on the wargames factory forums.
From “http://www.freeformthreads.com/showthread.php?t=152”
“My name is George Sivy, I am the North American representative of Ghost Studio. We are a China-based toy manuacturer and for the past two years we have been refining our plastic injection molding skills within the game market.
Our current clients include Bastion Studios and The Wargames Factory. Additionally we are working closely with several other game companies to develop products.
If you are looking for extremely precise plastic injection tooling and manufacturing, please let me know and I can send you some samples of our work.
Please feel free to call me with further questions,
George Sivy”
George is the new “head” at wargames factory. Seems ODD that two companies he was selling to both went belly up at the same time.
Yeah I was just reading into this. I think any Miniature company should think twice before dealing with Mr Sivy and his Chinese paymasters…
Here is another thread detailling some of the Ghost Studio connection:
http://www.classicbattletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=77088.0
I’ll happily throw some positivity Bastion’s way.
I was initially leery of the game; the initial miniature releases were cool, but nothing that really grabbed me. Then the Emisarius came out, and I liked the sculpt so much I took a second look. The more I looked, the more I liked, so I decided to give the game a try.
My conclusion: this game is actually far, far more enjoyable than the initial impression would suggest. The models are different and fun to put together, and the quality is high. The molded game board is a great touch, creating a unified game environment between the miniatures and the terrain.
Most importantly, the software is a HUGE bonus. While not for everyone, for folks like me who don’t have a lot of time to learn new rules, the software is an incredible blessing. In addition, the features on the Web site really sell it. You can split your forces with a friend, add news skills, add equipment to your miniatures, rename heroes and units, assign factions… its pretty cool. Again, not for everyone, especially if you’re a traditionalist who likes to roll physical dice.
If Ex Illis needed anything, it was just a bit of polish, which would have inevitably happened I’m sure if the studio had survived. The text on the Web site was obviously not written by a primary English-speaker; the software has no sound; instructions for doing certain things (even instructions advertised on the box) are nowhere to be found on the Website; and the software could use certain common sense tweaks, like a directional indicator North so you can more easily align the physical game board with the computer version. All of these things could easily be accomplished by whoever takes over the IP, if anyone does.
The other thing that occurs to me is that the software approach would be a natural for other games. For example, how about AT-43 and Confrontation? Both used pre-paints. Imagine opening your box of Therians, loading the software, and running a full game in the space of moments, without even having to read the rulebook. There’s a lot of opportunity here.
Another thought: Ex Illis very well may have been the start of a new market for these types of games. Specifically I’m thinking about how perfectly the IPad works here. What about tying to package something that could be marketed in Apple stores or the Apple Website? Just a thought, but again it seems like Bastion just started to scratch the surface before they went under.
Anyway: the game rocks. The modeling and painting opportunities are all there, and the software means you can play with your wife or non-gamer friends in a hour or two, really eliminating barriers to entry. I hope someone picks this up who can take the core and run with it, improving the online experience and moving the concept to the next level. Someone like Fantasy Flight would be perfect.
nice comment
Well said. I agree with you on the wiki and I was actually voluntarily editing the wiki myself after I printed it off and was going to email the corrections to Bastion directly so they could fix the grammar and spelling errors.
One thing I do think could be done differently is better advertising that it works on Iphone, Ipad, ipod touch. A lot of people don’t seem to know about that. And getting a version out to the Android folks. Heck make a version that can be run using an Xbox or Ps3.
Personally I love the game and will continue to play for a long time to come simply because of the ease of play, no memorizing rules, no measuring etc. Just setup and play.
And all hope is not loss, the guys are working on something as per post on the forums but can’t tell us what is going on at the moment.
Sorry to tell you this, but the makers of AT-43 and Confrontation closed there doors a few months back. Another great company down the drain as I loved the metal mini’s from confrontation. They set the bar high for quality minatures.
We got some news today. Apparently an update is coming for the 11th or 12th, what the update is we don’t know. Hopefully good news especially since its my birthday =)
fingers crossed they get somthing worked out to keep it going
crossing my fingers too.
heck, i got the announcement of the closing for my birthday -_-
A great shame to see a good idea fall by the way side so easily.
It does seem that it felt too much like a board game and not enough like a wargame due to dice & measurement being taken away, but there was plenty there that seemed like a good idea, being able to ‘save game’ for instance.. how many times would I like to have been able to do that?
Hope they find a new financier and can start up again.
shame 🙁 this looked like it would be a good game to play i like the concept and idear behind the game and i hope they don’t collaps 🙁
can still play even if Bastion does not continue, software is free, servers are staying up, minis are out there. We play all the time and will continue no matter.
The “bastion team” (seems funny to call them that, since they no longer work for bastion, according to their own announcement) has simply said that they will announce something on the 12th, because that is their deadline to “save the farm”.
This may just mean that the final nail is in the coffin on that day. If I had to place a bet, I’d bet against this announcement being a positive one for the company, though open source software would be nice.
As for the servers staying up: I don’t even know that any of the former B-team actually have the rights to maintain them, since the company no longer exists as a legal entity.
I hope the game somehow has a phoenix like “rise from the ashes”, but I wouldn’t be holding my breath.
Seriously do you get off on being such a downer. Enough already. If you support the game then act like you do. Hope is never wasted.
I swear, if it were raining, and I said “It’s raining” the fanboys would call me a downer.
Yes, I hope for the best, but with hope in one hand…
I swear, if it were raining, and I said “It’s raining” the fanboys would call me a downer.
Yes, I hope for the best, but with hope in one hand…
Also, in all fairness, I have acted like I support the game. I have even talked as though I support the game. That doesn’t mean that I have to pretend it is something it isn’t.
Okay, here’s the most recent news:
Former Bastion Employees are requesting $15,000 from their customers to purchase the rights to the servers.
http://forum.ex-illis.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3511
Heres the post copied from Bastion forums, post is by William Wallace:
A week from now, Bastion faith will be sealed no matter what, for the best we hope. At this point, I have no information on what the interested parties are up to, and as such I’ve been preparing another server.
The thing is, should the deal fail, Bastion can be sold to the highest bidder. Should that deal be refused, then bastion parts will be put for sale. As such, I want to make sure that if the parts are sold, that we, the community, get to keep the server & intellectual property associated.
The server & all around parts are valued at about 15k$. It is a hidden bid, that needs to be done before any of the discussion starts on the 11th. In there, there is a lot of material that is not usefull to keep the server running, and could be sold back. So, here’s my proposition.
I’m asking any of you to put the amount of money that you want in my paypal account.
On the 11th, in the morning, I’ll have a certified check written for that amount + the money we have between us at Bastion, and I’ll enter it as the hidden bid.
Should the parties enter into an agreement before the deadline, I will be reimbursed for the bid, and will reverse the payments on paypal.
Should the parties fail to enter into an agreement but still reinvest to keep bastion (which, I believe would be the most probable thing to come out as it would negate all of bastion depts) then I will also be reimbursed, and reverse the payments.
Should they not buyout bastion, then all of the bids received for the different sections will be opened. They are not obligated to accept any, nor the highest of the bids, but they usually should provided the amount of the bid is close or higher than the estimated price it could fetch on the market. If our bid is not accepted, again, I will reimburse everyone on paypal.
Should we be the winner and community holder of bastion servers, hardware and intellectual property of the web side of the game, then I will sell all I can so that I can reimburse as much as possible to each of you. The reimbursements will come out based on the percentage of the amount you provided to do the bid.
Please discuss, and feel free to send me a private message if you want to participate so I can give you my paypal account id.
Apparently an offer that was made was accepted. We are waiting on a judge to sign off on that. 1-2 weeks for that paperwork to be dealt with.
Offer was accepted and signed off on. New investor is on board. Bastion 2.0 is making their plans and an announcement is expected on Thursday.
cool! thx
” I would think that if a company is having trouble staying a float it would slowly sink.. and slowly stop servies and stop realsing modles etc.. until it was obvious it had gone bust.”
Still no new units, though the two named heroes are (nominally at least, as some people report an inability to purchase them) for sale online. There was this whole fiasco (still not quite resolved) in which the servers were either stolen or accidentally misappropriated. The Official website still shows no update since the announcement of the economy system.
Every so often the devs post messages to the forum to assure us that the beastmen are going to be released soon, but they have been saying that for months now. I sure hope that we can get some news on the subject. Perhaps they are just “on vacation” again.