Fixing What Was Broken
Broken Age was going to be Double Fine bringing something that the fans wanted to them without any middle man directing the outcome. Tim Schafer got the funding for Broken Age through one of the largest Kickstarter campaigns at the time of its inception. 3 million dollars and a year and a half of waiting later and the fans are angry at what Double Fine delivered in the form of Broken Age: Act 2.
Fitting At First
The first act of Broken Age was met with largely positive reviews with a host of interesting characters and a beautifully crafted world. The fans waited anxiously for their Act 2 for an entire year as the first act was released in January of 2014. After almost a year and a half of waiting Broken Age: Act 2 was released with an almost no new characters, a disappointing ending, and almost no new scenery changes. What fans got was the same maps from the first act of Broken Age but with slight cosmetic changes to fit the new story.
That boy knows exactly what he's done.
Scumbag Schafer
After the fans directly gave Double Fine 3 million dollars to develop a great modern point-and-click adventure game they feel that what was delivered was a huge let down. Couple that rage with Tim Schafer's despicable public actions over the year of fans waiting and you have an entire recipe for disaster. The whole gamergate scandal is long over but in the midst of it Tim Schafer made some displeasing comments and this only served to rile up the fans even more. Double Fine has still not addressed the outrage that fans are displaying from the long wait to the lack of discernible ending to the story.
The only real praise the game has received is the direction of some of the puzzles which weren't enough for most fans. The fact is that if the wait for the game had not been so drawn out then maybe fans could accept the game for what it is. Double Fine and Tim Schafer are under fire from their supporters for not delivering 3 million dollars worth of game after a year and a half of development from the release of the first act to April 28th, 2015.
This is great looking but does it look like a year and a half of work?
Loyalty Test: Inconclusive
Double Fine has always had a loyal following that sticks with them through their decisions. Many people didn't agree with the move from point-and-click adventures to platformers, but the games were always decent. Even in the case of Brutal Legend where there was skepticism over a few of the game mechanics or the direction they chose for the story the core group of fans were still happy. Broken Age: Act 2 did not meet any of the expectations for casuals gamers or hardcore fans and this is causing a major backlash against Double Fine and Tim Schafer. I'm having a hard time seeing how they are going to recover, do you think the situation is salvageable?
