asymmetric publications
asymmetric publications is developer of the satirical online role - playing game kingdom of loathing .
west of loathing is a black & amp; white, stick figure, slapstick western from asymmetric .
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asymmetric publications was founded in 1999 by long - time friends zack
jick
johnson and josh
mr. skullhead
nite. the urltoken website originally played host to an archive of bad jokes and a modest collection of java games such as
infinity plus one ,
dancing tonto !
and the realistically futile
quest for schlitz
.
since 2011, the asymmetric staff have branched out into podcasts not directly related to the company' s own games, including video games hot dog and advice hot dog .
lovely. but i' m actually here to inform you that its developer asymmetric publications has announced a new game: west of loathing. as you might have guessed from the title, it' s set in the west country, and sees you drinking cider instead of health potions, and... no, wait, it' s set in the wild west. the american one with all the cowboys and the farting and the beans. here' s a teaser trailer :
west of loathing is an upcoming adventure rpg from asymmetric (makers of the kingdom of loathing), due out in early 2017. we were greenlit in just 9 days - - thanks so much for your votes and kind ...
we just made this new asymmetric account to launch word realms, but the developers have individual accounts, and have backed a bunch of projects (looks like around 30 different ones so far). plus we pledge to
kick it forward
in the future .
on february 11, 2003 a new browser - based adventure game called kingdom of loathing was announced on the site. the game launched on february 23rd. the needs of hosting and maintaining the mmorpg grew to the point that several members of the game' s community were hired on as permanent staff. as of 2012, kingdom of loathing remains asymmetric' s primary source of revenue and continues to see periodic content updates .
when not developing games, zack and various members of the asymmetric team produce and host a variety of weekly podcasts. starting in 2004, they began hosting live talk shows on kingdom of loathing' s unofficial shoutcast radio channel. these twice - weekly programs include 120 minutes of jick & mr. skullhead, a podcast dedicated to addressing player questions and news of the kingdom, though usually the topic is derailed very early on .
word realms, a word game rpg, became asymmetric' s second major project. development began around 2008, and a preview of the game was first made public at dragoncon 2010. in 2012, the company successfully funded the completion of the single - player version of word realms on kickstarter, gathering over $ 121, 000. the company has suggested that an online multiplayer version of word realms may be the next stage of development, if there is sufficient interest .
the scarcity of good word puzzles on pc is a scandal i tell you. but coming along to rescue this situation are the two fine men behind kingdom of loathing. word realms looks like exactly the right game to exist, an rpg in which you use the magic of spelling to cast spells and magic. with a story! so, it’s a bit bookworm adventures, clearly, and that is only a good thing, because popcap keep making more bloody match - 3 games instead of only generating me more bookworm adventures, as should obviously be their singular task. word realms has been secretly in development for a few years, and is due to be released this october. and there’s inevitably a kickstarter .
i’m frankly astonished that a kickstarter from the kol people wouldn’t instantly get its target quadrupled in the first half hour, but instead it’s modestly crept to $ 40k of its $ 100, 000 goal. with 29 days to go, it seems reasonable to expect it will get there. but get where ?
originally intended as a single - player prototype for an mmo, the project has taken four years so far (developed alongside the upkeep of kol), including eight mini - games, puzzles, cutscenes and extras, as well as an endless mode for when the multiple - ending story is over. and that project is almost done. so why the kickstarter? because the mmo plan is still in place. soooo, this is slightly weirdly a fundraiser for the online version, in which the minimum pledge tier is $ 11, paying for the solo game. pay more and you can get in the beta. then they’ll take reaching their $ 100k as a sign that it’s worth pursuing the more elaborate version of the game, and use the funding to pay for that. and they’re making plans for what they’d do if they reached 400% funding, so clearly they’re optimistic .
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i think now is a good time to strap on my asshat and return to the kingdom of loathing .
do they still delete inactive accounts? that’s the only thing that keeps me from getting back to it .
they don’t delete any accounts that have mr. accessory (or related) items .
i love these people. i think this will be the first thing i help kickstart .
dear god… $ 100, 000 for a half - assed flash game? just look at that art… horrible .
yeah, that’s basically terrible. hopefully they spend the kickstarter money on art .
i’d suggest not bagging on the art style until you’ve seen the video. if you have watched it and still don’t like it, then fine! :) but give it that chance at least. (also, just watch the damn video anyway, even if you couldn’t care one way or the other about the aesthetic. )
wow i didn’t think the animation could be worse then the art but it actually is. no real animation at all with just animation tweens on their horribly drawn assets. $ 100, 000 really ?
check out: link to urltoken modest budget, cool game, and they’re stats have them generally more popular than most the kickstarters around their tier .
how can you avoid cybernetic rocket powered laser sharks? it’s like they’re the “ron paul” of kickstarter right now .
you guys do know that you sound like a slightly misguided attempt to emulate proper enthusiasm in the name of pr, don’t you? either it might be because it is, or you have been watching even more commercials on nickelelodeon than i have .
( don’t want to be rude. it’s just that i think you’d better told john about it, so he can include it in his round - up… looks like a bit of an attempt to hijack the post otherwise. )
or maybe it is my way to say: could we get back to talking about words? i love words, and so should you. you can even make laser - sharks out of them !
was not trying to be all pry, to be fair i just wanted to point out a project that i feel is being over looked oozo .
i think it’s a great change of pace for some of the games on kickstarters. it’s been awhile since there has had something like “the typing of the dead”, and i would love to see something like this get more adopted in educational settings. i think they are doing great, and hope they do well .
“bookworm adventures” anyone? that was a perfect game. this one, however … hmmmm. i must admit that i don’t like the graphics either .
stickman mmo kingdom of loathing has been going since 2003, and i' m just going to stop and think about how wonderful that is for a moment .
west of loathing is being described as an
adventure rpg
, and you can see what that means in the above video. basically, it means dialogue, sidescrolling, turn - based battles, comedy, and other exciting things .
west of loathing will be out
early 2017
, so says the greenlight page, and that' s entirely too far away .
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update: we made a video to give you a basic idea of the gameplay. here it is, showing some fights, a mini - game, and various other elements of the rpg play :
also: here' s a link to the kickstarter - exclusive t - shirt design, and links to info on game features like milestones & zombies, items, player and monster skills, gentleman clack, gramlins, and subjunctors. and now, back to our regularly scheduled project description ...
well, you may be a bit mentally disturbed, but you' d also probably love our new game, word realms. we' ve been developing it slowly over the past few years, and it' s close to completion. and now we' d like you to get involved !
if you' ve heard of us before, it' s probably because of our awesome (yet humble) web - based roleplaying game called kingdom of loathing. we' ve been adding content to kol nigh - constantly for nine years, and while we don' t have any intention of stopping, we also want to make something new. since we seem to be decent at writing things that are funny, we figured that a word game would be a great project .
we decided to make a massively multiplayer online rpg where you' d fight by making words out of letter tiles (like a fisticuffs scrabble, without a board). first, though, we thought we should make a single - player version of word realms to ensure that it was fun and worth doing. what was imagined as a six - month task has turned into a four - year project — partly because we could only work on it half - or quarter - time (kol soaks up a lot of our creative juices), and partly because the scope just kept creeping up and up .
we added one word - based mini - game, and then another, and then another, and now we have... eight? we crafted puzzles, included cutscenes, hid some easter eggs, and commissioned an ever - increasing amount of awesome music (by gaby alter, who is also known as gminor7 from mc frontalot' s band). we expanded the storyline, added multiple endings, and made an
endless
mode where you fight ever - tougher opponents and get cool randomly - generated loot .
the time has come to wrap it up, and get started on the real goal — making an mmo. and this is where you come in! if we' re going to commit to making a word realms mmo, we need to know that people are as psyched about the idea as we are. show your support by pledging at least $ 11, and you' ll be able to download the single - player word realms game before it goes on sale to the riff - raff known as the
general public
. or, if you want to leave a personal mark on word realms, you can back us at a higher level, and get some cool shwag in the process !
if we reach our funding goal, we' ll know that a bunch of real people with real wallets believe in us enough to move forward. if we surpass our funding goal, we can hire more artists and programmers, and make the mmo a reality even faster. every $ 50, 000 could be one new person' s salary for a year !
if we reach 200% funding, we will add some awesome easter eggs to the game. i don' t want to spoil too much, but maybe these mock - ups will give you an idea of what we' re thinking :
if we get all the way up to 400% funding, we' ll commit to hiring someone to port the game to ipad, and maybe other tablets as well. if we get that far, and you have an ipad, we' ll try to figure out how to get you a copy if you support the kickstarter .
since no one has asked anything yet, we don' t have a faq. thus, these are nominal utility tidbits staged as questions .
word realms will be delivered digitally, drm - free. it' d be swell if you didn' t pirate it, because that' d be a kick right in the nutsaq. it should be playable on pc, mac, and probably linux unless you' ve got some crazy distro whose interface is a pocketwatch or something .
oh, i almost forgot to mention one of the coolest things about the game! in addition to all the story and standard descriptive stuff, we' ve written tons of humorous
taunts
that players and npcs say during fights based on the words that are used to attack. one of our goals is to write something amusing for most common english words! we already have several thousand done, and more will be written by october .
unlike our video, the game will not be voiced. which is good, because we are terrible voice actors. also, those animated mouths are kinda creepy .
sure! a little bit is playing in the background of our video, and here' s a sample of the main theme .
you will gain access to the word realms beta test (and listed in the credits as a tester), and a copy of the game when it' s done. as a special memento of the summer we spent beta - testing together, we' ll also give you a cool item in the finished game .
you will get an in - game item in the kingdom of loathing exclusive to backers of this kickstarter, access to the word realms beta test and the special beta - tester item, be listed in the credits as a supporter of the game, and receive a copy of word realms when it' s finished .
you will be listed as a sexy supporter of the game (you know what they say about people with a bigger font size), plus the exclusive kol in - game item, plus beta access and special beta - tester item, plus a copy of word realms (that' s triple - plus good)! also, we will personally thank you in a future episode of the video games hot dog podcast. hear your name in lights !
you will get an exclusive word realms t - shirt made just for backers of this kickstarter. and everything that $ 69 will get you, too (if you know what i mean) .
you will get a lovingly hand - crafted cd (or two) with music from the game, plus some other awesome songs by the composer, gaby alter. plus everything from the $ 110 backer level .
we will work with you to create a name for an npc in word realms' gauntlet challenge. you will also receive a signed and numbered limited - edition poster of the game' s final boss, lord nightmare! and everything from the $ 230 support level too .
using our character - creation tool, you' ll get to decide what an npc from the gauntlet looks like, and we' ll also print you up a custom t - shirt with a likeness of that character on it! plus everything from the previous tier .
you can work directly with our artist, roy wasson valle, to make a humanoid npc in the gauntlet challenge with a totally unique look. and we' ll print you up a custom t - shirt with a likeness of that character on it! plus everything from the $ 370 backer level too .
you can work with roy and wes (the artist and animator) to make a humanoid (or not, up to you !) npc with a unique look and animations for the gauntlet. evil unicorn, anyone? plus the custom t - shirt, and everything from the $ 370 supporter tier .
we will fly you out to arizona for some mutually - scheduled weekend, and will hang out with you, perhaps in a bar, for an evening or two. maybe play some castle crashers? and of course you get everything from the $ 2323 level. [ only folks from the 48 contiguous states, please! if you' re from abroad, see the next reward tier. ]
for those intrepid international high - rollers: we will fly you out to arizona at some mutually - agreed - upon time, and will hang out with you for a couple evenings. we could play a board game or something. ever heard of risk: legacy? and of course you' ll get everything from the $ 2323 tier as well, you rock star, you .
sony santa monica makes us care about kratos in this stunning revival of the series .
far cry 5' s story is a real let - down, but the action still makes for a solid co - op experience .
there are some elements around the edges that haven' t aged all that well, but burnout paradise is still a fantastic racing game .
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a word battle fantasy rpg in which players form words from letter tiles to damage opponents in animated battles. the game is created by the developers of kingdom of loathing and was partially funded on kickstarter .
west of loathing is a single - player slapstick comedy adventure role - playing game set in the wild west of the kingdom of loathing universe. gameplay is a hybrid of point - and - click adventure and open ...
west of loathing is a single - player slapstick comedy stick - figure wild west adventure role - playing game coming august 2017. from the folks who brought you kingdom of loathing .
there is no trivia on file. if you have any interesting trivia about this company, please add it .
as the number of kol players increases, so does the cost of hosting. i very much want to keep the game free, so please consider supporting the development and maintenance of the kingdom by donating .
with a donation of 10 dollars or more, you' ll receive a snazzy gift! check the donate page (accessible from your top menu after you' ve logged in) for details .
the kol staff does a q & a; podcast every week. check out the
hotstuff apparently doesn' t know when weeks end, and is very sorry about the continued delay of the iotm. it' ll be another couple days. thanks for your patience !
july' s item - of - the - month needs more explosive force, so we' re waiting until all the fireworks are marked down after the 4th. look for it at the end of this week !
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this page was last modified on 8 july 2015, at 06: 36.
asymmetric publications is a video game developer and publisher . it is responsible for the web-based role-playing game kingdom of loathing . currently , asymmetric is run by zack johnson ( who is known as jick in the game ) . employees of the company are known as the asymmetric team . as a result of the popularity of the game , asymmetric currently supports johnson and a few other individuals as full-time employees . in the past , asymmetric publications hosted various games and other attractions , including infinity plus one , an online fortune teller , bee on drugs , a bee who talks about the most random things imaginable , and krakrox the barbarian , a game widely noted as the precursor to the popular kingdom of loathing . a running gag was that the asymmetric publications ' website was not updated for almost six years after the announcement of a " fun new game , " kingdom of loathing . in late 2008 , it began to be updated again . the employees of asymmetric publications produce several weekly podcasts . one of them is related to kingdom of loathing , while the others are general shows about video games , pop culture , advice , and parenting . these latter podcasts are collected under an umbrella called the hot dog network . a second game , word realms was developed between 2008 and 2012 , and was released on may 21 , 2013 . in 2016 , a third game , west of loathing , was announced on steam greenlight . it is set for release in august 2017 . 
asymmetric publications is a video game developer and publisher. it is responsible for the web-based role-playing game kingdom of loathing. currently, asymmetric is run by zack johnson (who is known as jick in the game). employees of the company are known as the asymmetric team. as a result of the popularity of the game, asymmetric currently supports johnson and a few other individuals as full-time employees. in the past, asymmetric publications hosted various games and other attractions, including infinity plus one, an online fortune teller, bee on drugs, a bee who talks about the most random things imaginable, and krakrox the barbarian, a game widely noted as the precursor to the popular kingdom of loathing. a running gag was that the asymmetric publications' website was not updated for almost six years after the announcement of a " fun new game, " kingdom of loathing. in late 2008, it began to be updated again. the employees of asymmetric publications produce several weekly podcasts. one of them is related to kingdom of loathing, while the others are general shows about video games, pop culture, advice, and parenting. these latter podcasts are collected under an umbrella called the hot dog network. a second game, word realms was developed between 2008 and 2012, and was released on may 21, 2013. in 2016, a third game, west of loathing, was announced on steam greenlight. it is set for release in august 2017.
asymmetric publications is a video game developer and publisher. it is responsible for the web-based role-playing game kingdom of loathing. currently, asymmetric is run by zack johnson (who is known as jick in the game). employees of the company are known as the asymmetric team. as a result of the popularity of the game, asymmetric currently supports johnson and a few other individuals as full-time employees. in the past, asymmetric publications hosted various games and other attractions, including infinity plus one, an online fortune teller, bee on drugs, a bee who talks about the most random things imaginable, and krakrox the barbarian, a game widely noted as the precursor to the popular kingdom of loathing. a running gag was that the asymmetric publications' website was not updated for almost six years after the announcement of a " fun new game, " kingdom of loathing. in late 2008, it began to be updated again. the employees of asymmetric publications produce several weekly podcasts. one of them is related to kingdom of loathing, while the others are general shows about video games, pop culture, advice, and parenting. these latter podcasts are collected under an umbrella called the hot dog network. a second game, word realms was developed between 2008 and 2012, and was released on may 21, 2013. in 2016, a third game, west of loathing, was announced on steam greenlight. it is set for release in august 2017.