The Flock Population FAQ

[DimensiO]

Hey there everyone!

Recently we’ve made a radical announcement which you might have noticed. This raised a lot of questions and we’re here to answer those. First things first, the news got spread very wide and far over the internet. A lot further than we ever expected, which meant the message got quite diluted. So no matter what and where you read it, what you read here is what’s going to happen and why it’s happening.

The Flock is a multiplayer thriller in which you can scare your friends. Everybody starts as an agile monster from a species called the Flock, but the goal of the game is to grab and hold the Light Artifact which transforms you in the hunted Carrier. Only the Carrier can win the game, so you want to get a hold of that Light Artifact. The twist is, the Flock are not allowed to move in the light of the artifact or they will be burned to a crisp in mere seconds. If they choose not to move, they turn into a stone statue and are invulnerable to the light.

If you’ve payed attention, there’s two things that can happen to the Flock. They either die (e.g. by moving through the light) or they transform into a whole different creature called the Carrier. In both scenarios there is eventually no more Flock. If this were the real world it would mean the Flock is a tragic race doomed to extinction. We want to convey that story into our multiplayer.

Q: What is the population?
We’re going to launch the game with a population of Flock. Earth has become a dark and barren place where only the Flock still roam and create the planet’s present population. They have started a struggle that revolves around the Light Artifact which will lead to their demise. With each Flock that dies, earth’s population will drop until the Flock are no more.

Q: What happens when the population reaches 0?
The game won’t be up for sale anymore and it also marks the beginning of the end. Players that already have the game in their library can partake in the next phase which will have a climactic finale.

Q: Why do this??!
As we’ve mentioned before we want to convey the extinction story as something to be experienced by the players in our multiplayer game. But we also have an important second reason, so bear with us for a moment.

Most indie multiplayer games lose their player base within a year. Even heavy hitters such as Titanfall and Evolve have a fast dwindling player base. The most popular games such as League of Legends and Counter-Strike still have a somewhat anticlimactic ending of their players’ experience. Because in the end at some point – and this can be after five years or two months – you’ll stop playing because you either got bored of it, you’ve seen it all or you, or your friends have no longer time to play.

We want to tackle that problem, and make sure The Flock ends with a climax after which the game will be fondly remembered. Much like a lot of single player experiences where you have a huge battle or a boss fight.

We have three design goals for this game. We want to make a:
1. scary/tense game
2. immersive experience (that you really feel like a monster, or being hunted as the Carrier)
3. and do it in an unconventional way.

The population plan ties into these design goals and strengthens all of these. We wouldn’t be doing this if we were making a competitive shooter or the next moba. But for The Flock it makes a lot of sense. Also, these three design goals – the things that we think makes our game special – won’t last forever. At some point the game will stop being scary, immersive or unconventional, whereas competitiveness lasts forever. You can’t keep playing a horror game forever, but it doesn’t mean the game has no right to exist.

So here’s the question we asked ourselves: isn’t it worth sacrificing the ability to replay the game after say two years’ time? What kind of experience will these players be getting? They would come online and find no one to play against or just a few players who are either really good or very new to the game. That’s not a fun player-experience. So isn’t it worth sacrificing that ability in order to improve the experience for most players when most players are playing the game? We do think so.

Q: So, how big is the Flock population?
215.358.979 Flock lives . This takes into account the optimal experience we intend to deliver, the lore, the average play time, amount of deaths, refunders, regular griefers, the sales we wish to make and the time we want the game to be active so everyone can take the time to enjoy the game.

Q: What counts as a flock death?
A Flock is dead when:
-It dies by burning in the Carriers light.
-It becomes the Carrier.
-It falls into an abyss.

Q: What stops me and my friends from suiciding for 2 hours straight and then ask for a refund?
Nothing really, we believe suicide attempts won’t have that big of an impact. Remember, you have 215.358.979 lives to take. We rather hope you have fun scaring your friends and enjoy the extra content we’re planning to release. Also, there’s a respawn time.

Q: When is the game going to end?
We could say for example the game will last a year, but really we don’t know. We leave it up to the players, as it’s their battle and experience. Safe to say, the number is substantial and we don’t expect it to end in some mere months.

Q: What about hackers or bots?
Hacking or using bots is not an accepted way of playing the game. If we notice somebody hacking or using bots to rapidly decrease the population, we will revert all the lives (even the legitimate ones) that the hacker has decreased from the population followed by a warning. Repeatedly hacking or using bots will result in a ban.

Q: Will it be possible to add lives?
No, lives cannot be added unless we release the game on another platform such as PS4 or Xbox one.

Q: If The Flock is released on another platform, will we share the population pool?
Yes, players from all platforms will tap into the same population pool as the finale is something to be experienced only once by the players of The Flock.

Q: How much will The Flock cost?
The Flock will be priced at $16,99 – €16,99. Valve helped us settle on the price for different regions. These will be revealed soon. If you pre-order or buy the game during launch week you will receive a buddy key for free!

Q: Why are you creating such a risky campaign?
The Flock isn’t meant to be and won’t be for everybody. We at Vogelsap like to focus our experience into something unconventional and adventurous, which means we cater to a certain audience that is interested in such experiences.

Q: How long will you support The Flock?
We will support the game during its entire lifetime as long as we have enough funds to provide ourselves a living. Every bit of money will first be put in supporting The Flock.

Q: What kind of support are you talking about?
As long as we can support the game we will release all gameplay related content and support for FREE. This includes the ending.

Q: What about late buyers? How will they experience the climactic finale?
We have a plan that we think is fair for people joining late. Also, late buyers will have the opportunity to still enjoy the game during the climactic finale.

Q: I’ve purchased the game but the finale is over! I haven’t had the chance to play the game at all because…
Valve standard refund system applies. When the population reaches 0 the game won’t be available for purchase, so you can’t make the mistake of buying after the finale has begun. We believe that there will still be enough time to play the game during the finale.
If you find yourself with having spent money to buy The Flock but without being able to play the game at all, send us a message and we’re sure we can figure something out.

Q: Will you really end the game after which the game will never be playable again?
Yes, we will stick with what we’ve said. If we would make this a re-occurring event, it would be far less special for the player experience.

Q: You haven’t answered my question!
If you feel that we didn’t answer one of your questions regarding population or purchase of The Flock, then feel free to send it to us a message at: [e-mail] or visit our forums at www.forums.vogelsap.com

We want to take this risk and explore this path in a way we can. In the end we hope players to offer a one of a kind experience. This means the game won’t be for everybody and we are fine with that. We’re open, transparent and explicit about our population plan and would hate to see someone buying The Flock without knowing what he/she is getting into. So if you don’t like this idea, than we recommend not buying the game. Of course we like your money, but this is not about getting the best business deal. It’s about creating authenticity and exploring new ways for a game to deliver entertainment. You can be a part of that.

[Ingenieur18]

Brilliant idea to hype sales on the start. But game looks like a so indie and primitive. Praise Gaben for saint refund!

[Deadjack]

Multiplayer games are a fashion these last years. But back in the days it wasn't a problem if the game was created to be played solo. Releasing sequels or addons to add new game mechanics or continue their stories...

And here is the biggest issue we encounter in modern games: THERE IS NO STORY !

2 perfect exemples: Warframe and Team Fortress 2.

Warframes is an horrible cash factory based on continuous grinding. The game is fun a while but has no plot and even strategies to keep you entertain. The best clue of the lack of story in Warframe: whe just never meet the character who gives us orders !

Team Fortress 2 is a classic, wich can be modded and deep enough to keep players busy.
The only really problematic aspect of the game is, again, its story.
The last event created to last this summer is a clone of Counter-Strike's weapon system.
No specials stats, no new gameplays, only "gaudy" skins for weapons to play the vulgar Pimp.
Why Valve didn't try to dig deeper into TF2 story and show new characters or objectiv based events ? In 5 or 6 years only 4 new characters appeared and nearly all of them have no influence on the game (Only Halloween event of 2013 added Redmond and Bluetarch, you had to fight for one of them and they were arguing during fights... extraordinary !).

[Deadjack]

For FLOCK you give us nothing about your lore !

Why earth became such a dead planet ? Why in the year 3000 ?
I just want to know what happened ! Frankly you give us 3 maps, no infos and a deadline because you think game industry is perverted by bored customers ?!

This is a joke and a nearly insult to the generous players who gives money to indie developpers.

Here your game is a full release, ok i respect that and i admit its a really good work. But you play on the level of early access because we have no idea of your "amazing" climatic event.

Leaving us with many expectations and not much to deal with...

[Ingenieur18]

As expected, I did refund. The Flock - usual indie trash and the counter of deaths will not help it.

[Deadjack]

Especially if you consider how you promote your gameplay.

Again no infos, so vague that at first sight i think it is empty. And to finish you say that the game is limited in time.

In my country we are used to say that this attitude is like shooting a bullet in your own foot.

Frankly i wish you find the money and the audience to go back on your saddle and do something great like: "You killed all the population, here is the big event and you know what... here is a sequel because we worked like devils on a good story and the next show is gonna be really cool !"

Sounds better than what's written on FLOCK's cover...

N.B: Or at least make despair the main aspect of your game giving us clues to follow and stuff that gives material to interpretation.

[Lord Quinton]

an interesting idea, one which i will keep an eye on to see how it does, but i cant help but feel that making a game based around an extinction event could be done better. Why make it pvp? that always brings out the worst in people. IMHO (yes this means i'm probably a pretentious jerk) a game centered around the extinction of the player's race should be a cooperative one. One last bright shining moment where the world (multiplayer population) comes together to stand as one against the coming darkness. Don't go out with a whimper, go out with a bang. But thats just my 2 cents you can take it or leave it.

[HEX: Entity Displeased]

Iam not convinced. I still think that late buyers are at an extreme disadvantage here.

[Elmer_Fudd]

If 4 chan wants to ruin this we'll only have like 7-8 days before purchase is unavailable then they get a refund, not really worth the time

[Thresio]

A good hunter is silent when he stalks his prey. How do the sounds affect gameplay? Can you hear a Flock coming up from behind?

[☜✪Critney✪☞]

lol - one can only hope that you guys won't get $$$ you are looking for.

[KEV1N]

This is a joke, right?

[Xane Tempest]

A nice concept... but is tragically #1 in my 'don't buy this' list.
spend money on something that is pre-set on an end? not only that, you versus the whole team? Sounds like Evolution without the stealth, teamwork and comradery of a regular deathmatch game.
Why not simply wait it out? skulk around until it's you and just a few others? Why rush in to make it hard on yourself?

I feel the 'limited lifespan' of this game is a serious negative. Artistic, sure... but the same kind of artistic that has people examining the single black dot in the middle of the canvas saying "uuh... I don't get it"
All games have a limited lifespan. It's called 'how long people play it for'. PREY reached this by the time I bought it! single-player was great, but there was 1 person online... me!

the other dynamics (light as your only weapon, stand still to be invulnerable) all are golden! but 'the more people playing this, the shorter it gets' rather smakcs of poor planning.
If there were level-limits, sure. A daily population, of which you only get so many? great! but a total lifetime limit? Sorry folks.

I wish you the best but I don't think it's the best idea

[Heto]

Ridiculous. As a honest game dev, I despise your cheap marketing strategy and your lack of effort. I wish upon the stars that you will never ever make a game again.

Good thing there is the 'refund' option, so shameless scammers like you guys have no chance of getting rich off the stupid, poor kids who bought into your false statements.

[potatos]

no, this is stupid, why post a game that looks fun, but won't be able to keep, this is why refunding is an option, because people like you (whoever created this game) leave a black mark on the industry. do not but, spend 20$ on any other game it's worth way more than this pile of stupidity

[TheGreatPlasticLion]

I'm planning my wedding, so before I buy this game I need to know when the climactic finale will be. My fiance was thinking May, then a honeymoon in the Caribbean. I think I can get her to wait until June if you think the finale will be over by then. No wait I'm taking my nephew and niece to Disney World in June.They're kinda jealous of my fiance, so we want to spend time with them.

So July? I'd hate to buy a game with no guarantee that I'll be able to see the end.