Update on the first female character - Ash

[Yoshiro]

Here we are, 5 days after the initial unveiling of the Killing Floor Gold packaging and the introduction of Female Characters to the game. Much has been said in this short period of time, and we have been listening. But first, lets look at the history of these characters.

Downloadable character packs started as an experiment for Killing Floor. When we created them we had no idea they would become the runaway hit that they have. But to this day, we as a company have looked at them and treated them as extra completely unnecessary content, not gameplay content. These were items players could obtain at a minimal extra cost to help them stand out (or just support further KF development) for a minimal additional cost. Being as they are still something fairly new to us, we have experimented with them even further since their release. Our commitment to keep updating Killing Floor with additional content for free remains unchanged.

Over time we have seen the community pick and choose their favorite characters, and ask for even more. There have also been those who have gone out of their way to obtain every available character, such as the exclusive The Ball character who was available as a pre-order only bonus. This was a reward for those who took a leap of faith on The Ball sight unseen. We made a promise to those who did pre-order that it would be theirs and theirs alone. We have stood by that promise. For Red Orchestra 2, we again introduced exclusive characters for those that obtained the digital deluxe edition (not making it time limited based on feedback from the The Ball character), and even allowed the ability to upgrade your version to DD after purchase.

Which leads us to where we stand today. Thanks to Iceberg Interactive, our European distribution partner, we were able to go ahead and create both the tech and voices required. As such, they have an exclusive on the very first character, so that they can recoup the costs through their retail outlets. We can then use all of that tech moving forward to introduce additional female characters for the community as DLC and/or as unlockables during special events.

But both we and Iceberg have heard the community's request on Ash. We weren't expecting such a surge of interest from the existing player base, so, Iceberg have offered to let us release her as DLC, after their retailers have had a short period of exclusivity. This way, the Gold Edition is a good deal for those who don't yet have the game - and retailers get a limited-time exclusive. We'll release her as DLC in August at $4.99 (base US price) for the special character plus the voicepack. And, for good measure, we'll donate 20% of the proceeds to charity as a bit of a penance for not realizing quite how much extra characters matter to people!

[C_Gibby]

I'm in.

[braindead]

me too!

stand out move by TWI and a really big thankyou to Iceberg for making it possible.

[Lacedaemonius]

Originally Posted by Yoshiro

Yadda yadda yadda

Ok, so when does the game get fixed?

[C_Gibby]

Originally Posted by Lacedaemonius

Ok, so when does the game get fixed?

> Demand changes
> Get changes
> Don't care
> Demand more changes

I am disappoint.

Instead of rageposting, I'm gonna leave that there.

[Spicy]

Originally Posted by Lacedaemonius

Ok, so when does the game get fixed?

/facepalm?

[Thermal Ions]

Originally Posted by Yoshiro

But both we and Iceberg have heard the community's request on Ash.

All credit to both TWI and Iceberg for listening to the feedback and coming to an arrangement to cater to the existing players and those not in EU/US where the retail pack is to be released. Here's hoping the same player community steps up to support both with the DLC.

[Sir Razor]

Originally Posted by Yoshiro

But both we and Iceberg have heard the community's request on Ash. We weren't expecting such a surge of interest from the existing player base, so, Iceberg have offered to let us release her as DLC, after their retailers have had a short period of exclusivity. This way, the Gold Edition is a good deal for those who don't yet have the game - and retailers get a limited-time exclusive. We'll release her as DLC in August at $4.99 (base US price) for the special character plus the voicepack.

This. This is amazing.
This is exactly what a good company does (in my opinion) and honestly makes me want to buy more TWI content, even if just out of supporting a company doing good things.

If TWI was a cupcake, I would devour it whole >:3
Thumbs up for Iceberg too, you deserve to get something out of this deal. Thanks for the contribution =]

[MORDRED]

Originally Posted by Thermal Ions

Here's hoping the same player community steps up to support both with the DLC.

I'll surely buy it) As well as some additional copies for girls I know to play KF

[C_Gibby]

Originally Posted by Thermal Ions

All credit to both TWI and Iceberg for listening to the feedback and coming to an arrangement to cater to the existing players and those not in EU/US where the retail pack is to be released. Here's hoping the same player community steps up to support both with the DLC.

Indeed. I'm really happy that TWI have made the decision and I'll be buying the seperate DLC for sure. :>

Looking forward to what comes after, too!

[JEmmaB]

Thanks to TWI and Iceberg for their excellent decision.

With this I'm happy to support both companies by purchasing both the boxed "Gold" copy and the DLC.

[algnc]

faith in TWI restored

[FluX]

Originally Posted by algnc

faith in TWI restored

Like most others, ours didn't go.

[mokov]

yeah, this is AMAZING.

Im in love... as always.
Now... I wanna see that Ash in action like now.

[Swanky]

Pretty much bookmarked. Still hoping for a future patch, though.

[braindead]

Here is a suggestion:


Would it be possible to make this a limited time offer for only one week'?

I was thinking of this more from a marketing/business strategy, as it would work for both you and Iceberg.
If you make this also a trade-able item, it would also add more value to the DLC as current owners, will have the chance to obtain the character and if they miss it, could still potentially get it via trade plus after the limited period is expired, new users will still only be able to buy it via the Gold pack.

Iceberg will then retain exclusivity and current users will have had the chance to own it and give money to charity at the same time. No one misses out and Iceberg still have future sales to look forward to.
TWI could then have their normal price cut deals and Gold pack buyers wouldn't feel cheated or have a cheaper alternative to purchase the same content.

Also, if you made the other 'specials' trade-able, then any user that missed the chance and say, has the Ball character could swap for someone with the female character, adding far more value to the 'specials' as trade-able items.

[Islidox]

Originally Posted by braindead

Here is a suggestion:

Would it be possible to make this a limited time offer for only one week'?

If you were to make it a limited time offer, make it a month to be fair. 1 week's too short.

[Lacedaemonius]

Originally Posted by C_Gibby

> Demand changes
> Get changes
> Don't care
> Demand more changes

I am disappoint.

Instead of rageposting, I'm gonna leave that there.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that was supposed to be some kind of joke, in which case, I must say that it's awfully malicious for a joke.

On the off-chance that you're serious

Spoiler!

I honestly don't know where to start. I guess I can start by saying that is the most horrible way I can think of (and I did think about it) to make an argument, managing to be infantile, overly simplistic, not green, and flat out wrong all at the same time. There's a reason greentext stays on 4chan. On the bright side though, it makes it easier to refute point by point (if you can even call them that)

> Demand changes
> Get changes
These are changes I neither wanted nor asked for as you assume (and you know what they say about assumptions), and to believe that all changes are created equal is thinking at such a level I can't even begin to fathom. Simply put, requesting patches to glitches and other issues that have been there since release is NOT the same thing as requesting a purely aesthetic model/model pack. Oh sure, they're both changes, just as adding a cover system, auto-aim, and turning melee into a one weapon instakill button push would be as well. They are changes, and by your logic they'd be just as great as any other, correct?

> Don't care
You're certainly right about that at least, but not in the way you imagine. Why everyone is getting so worked up over a purely aesthetic model when several underlying game issues have yet to be fixed (.44 weight, duals weight glitch, server browser, the husk gun, etc.) is beyond me, especially considering just how many models there already are.

> Demand more changes
That was pretty much covered already, but seeing as how I never asked for this (not once), I don't see how it's "demand more changes"

No John, you are the disappoint.

Spoiler!

Gibby, you used to be so nice. What happened?

[C_Gibby]

Originally Posted by Lacedaemonius

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that was supposed to be some kind of joke, in which case, I must say that it's awfully malicious for a joke.

It wasn't really meant to be malicious, but not a joke either.

On the off-chance that you're serious [spoiler]I honestly don't know where to start. I guess I can start by saying that is the most horrible way I can think of (and I did think about it) to make an argument, managing to be infantile, overly simplistic, not green, and flat out wrong all at the same time. There's a reason greentext stays on 4chan. On the bright side though, it makes it easier to refute point by point (if you can even call them that)

> Demand changes
> Get changes
These are changes I neither wanted nor asked for as you assume (and you know what they say about assumptions), and to believe that all changes are created equal is thinking at such a level I can't even begin to fathom. Simply put, requesting patches to glitches and other issues that have been there since release is NOT the same thing as requesting a purely aesthetic model/model pack. Oh sure, they're both changes, just as adding a cover system, auto-aim, and turning melee into a one weapon instakill button push would be as well. They are changes, and by your logic they'd be just as great as any other, correct?

I'm pointing out what you're doing. Earlier, in the previous thread, I've been on about the community being very demanding, and when their demands are fulfilled, a complain comes immediately, and here I was highlighting that.

It just looked so, so rude to have a nice long effortpost from a TWI member and pretty much ignore it and demand something else. It would have been polite to at least thank them. With the attitude this community displays right in TWI's face, it's a damned wonder that they ever listen to us, ever!

I honestly thought that that'd go without saying.

> Don't care
You're certainly right about that at least, but not in the way you imagine. Why everyone is getting so worked up over a purely aesthetic model when several underlying game issues have yet to be fixed (.44 weight, duals weight glitch, server browser, the husk gun, etc.) is beyond me, especially considering just how many models there already are.

> Demand more changes
That was pretty much covered already, but seeing as how I never asked for this (not once), I don't see how it's "demand more changes"

No John, you are the disappoint.

And you know what, I agree with you. There ARE changes that need making and they HAVE been seemingly neglected for a long time. But that doesn't excuse the behaviour. In fact, we've got threads about those changes on the top pages of general discussion and ideas and suggestions and they've been there for ages. TWI have most definitely seen them and thought about them.

Gibby, you used to be so nice. What happened?

[BenioX]

Originally Posted by poosh

M79/M32 projectiles and LAW rockets fly though player bodies. It was introduced in the last patch as "hand grenade bug fix". Make ONLY hand grenades able to fly though players.

All cept from that. Demo is already a pain on ff servers, and even on without ff, still can suicide easilly without the will to die. Please, just no.