Would you have bought kerbal space program if it didn't have any kerbals in it?

[Parallax]

to be honest i would have preffered the entire game to be human astronauts with the real solar system instead of what we have now. hopefully someone comes up with a mod that fixes this. (i know there's RSS, but then having kerbals in the the real solar system would feel REALLY out of place)

[CalculusWarrior]

I didn't even know what the 'Kerbal' part of KSP stood for until I downloaded the demo. Then I saw three little green men in the bottom corner and said 'that's weird'. Buying KSP was entirely based off other things, not those kerbals.

Of course, now I've grown very attached to our little green friends, but they were in no way a motivation to buy. I wonder what a poll showing the community's opinion on this would reveal? The majority response seems to be very much similar to my own.

[SorryDave]

I would have bought this game without kerbals, I just would not have enjoyed it as much.

[Dispatcher]

The only reason I didn't buy KSP before v. 0.18 is because I thought that a game with little green alien men couldn't be very good. I bought it on sale on recommendation of an acquaintance who runs a spaceflight related site.

[Aragosnat]

As somebody else mentioned, I tried the game because of the xkcd cartoon 'Orbital Mechanics'. One of the things that I liked right away was that the game had a humourous feel. The image of a smiling Kerbal set next to the image of the crashed Mun lander really helped set that tone for me. It definitely made it fun to fail (well, that and the explosions.), and I bought the game after only a short time trying the demo.

Who knows? If it hadn't been for that Kerbal, I may have been put off by the learning curve and decided not to purchase the game (although I kind of doubt it).

Anyway, Kerbals definitely help set that humourous tone which adds a lot of enjoyment to the game for me.

I agree with the humorus part. They certainly did add to the value. But, I primarilly bought it because t was a game where I could build a rocket and try and get it to space then the Mün.Watching someone stream it helped. Playing teh demo helped convince me to buy it too.

Four letters.

N-E-I-N.

That is more then 4 if you count the dashes.

[Brotoro]

Yes, I would have bought the game if it had no kerbals. But the kerbals are a hoot.

[Bill Phil]

I wouldn't buy it. It wouldn't exist without Kerbals. However, if there was a similar product that didn't have Kerbals in it but was equal in gameplay, I'd buy that.

[IllicitMedic]

Yes, I bought it (4 times) for the space program simulation, always wanted a game where I could manage my own program, being able to build and fly them and do everything else on top of the management part is just icing on the cake.

[NathanKell]

I'm with Dispatcher--when I first heard about it, I was non-plussed: little green cartoon characters, and a game written in C#?

Eventually, a year later, bought it on a whim. It was a good choice. That said, been trying to remedy those two issues ever since.

[SpaceHips]

Absolutely.

In fact, i'd almost prefer it without them.

It seems to me that over time, the game has become more and more about funny kerbals doing funny things and blowing up rockets.

I bought the game because i wanted a lego rocket simulator, and at the time, that's what i got.

[AmpsterMan]

Good question. I think the Kerbals are the emotional anchor to many of us on here. Still, I probably would have gotten the game regardless, though obviously not as attached.

[Axelord FTW]

That is more then 4 if you count the dashes.

Dashes are not letters. They are characters.

[Torham234]

The Kerbals themselves are the least interesting part of the game. I bought KSP specifically to build spaceplanes and learn how to fly them into orbit.

The Kerbals can be fun, yeah. But in my mind this game has always been about vehicles first, with places to go in second place, and crew a very distant third.

I was going to post something, but White Owl posted the same thing so.... +1?

[sledge57]

Funny you ask this. I'm a complete noob, had the game a week maybe (well maybe not a complete noob, I have manage to orbit and return)

That said I've seen the game on Steam for a long time and the cartoonish Kerbal look put me off for a long time, figured it was a simple "kids" game.

Then playing around with Besiege I read a lot from people talking about KSP and decided to look at it again.

I was soooo wrong! I love the game and now I don't want to kill any Kerbals (accidentally of course)

So yes I might have bought the game sooner without Kerbals, but I'm glad they're there.

To me I think Squad needs to do a better job marketing the game.

I'm sure many more people would love it, who have the wrong idea of what exactly KSP is all about.

Edited February 19, 2015 by sledge57

[Rolanvorxariat]

The short answer? No, i probably woundn't have bought KSP without kerbals.

The long answer? if there were no little cute green men, i would hav never bothered to check out this game in the first place.

[Tank Buddy]

I probably would have bought it, but the Kerbals do add a nice touch that rounds off an amazing game/

[Precambrianmollusc]

Ditto to TankBuddy

I bought it to scratch a physics itch, the wobbly rockets and terrified Kerbals added an element of humor to what could have been a pretty dry simulator.

What's life without whimsy

[TinfoilChef]

absolutely! For me, KSP is primarily about building & flying space vehicles of whatever description. The kerbals get included into the story but even if they weren't there, or if instead of kerbals it was hillbillies or politicians (providing they don't talK!!) then they'd still get worked into the story in some way.

Bottom line: its about the space program, the crew could be anybody or any thing.. even self aware sentient machines

[eddiew]

Probably not. The promise of being able to get out of my first Munlander and explore on foot was a powerful incentive. Somehow it wouldn't have been the same if it was all about robots.

Although ~90% of my launches are now unmanned drones for budgetary reasons

[White Owl]

I think an interesting followup question might be, "Would you have the same interest in KSP if the characters were silly humans instead?" Think cartoon-style, like TF2 characters.

Or how about non-silly, realistic humans?

I think the game would be equally funny and accessible with silly cartoon humans. Realistic humans, however, make it more difficult to laugh when they explode. And being able to laugh when stuff goes wrong is a huge part of the appeal of this game.

[Axelord FTW]

I think an interesting followup question might be, "Would you have the same interest in KSP if the characters were silly humans instead?" Think cartoon-style, like TF2 characters.

Or how about non-silly, realistic humans?

I think the game would be equally funny and accessible with silly cartoon humans. Realistic humans, however, make it more difficult to laugh when they explode. And being able to laugh when stuff goes wrong is a huge part of the appeal of this game.

I would have taken Kerbals but with more workable proportions. Having your head be as tall as everything under is a bit of a pain. Everybody here has hit something with the huge kerbal helmet at some point.

I would double the proportion of the body compared to the head to at least 2:1 for body to head height instead of the current 1:1-ish.

Their eyes are as big as their hands!

[forenci]

When I first saw the game, my initial reaction was, "Aw man, why didn't they use humans/Earth? It would have been so much more realistic/rewarding." However, having played for a very long time, I can truly say I feel the exact opposite now. I love these little Kerbals. They have taken on a personality of their own, which is quite awesome. Plus, Jeb would have never existed without the glory of them being Kerbals.

[Boris_T_Roach]

Just curious, for me I think the most fun feature is the kerbals themselves, wondering how others feel. Maybe if thats the case, after the current patch we could have more stuff to do with interacting with the kerbals, like on evas and little machines or tools for them to use and stuff.

I'm a KSP'er from way back when they were just little pictures in the bottom corner of the screen,

I never felt bad about seeing their happy screaming faces replaced by KIA whenever something went badly wrong, but then we had EVA (in whatever version it came in on)

Suddenly the kerbals had existance beyond mere pictures and they became far more valuable to me*.............. but I'd already given squad my money at that point

Boris

*But it never stopped me killing them when my latest creation failed in an unforeseen way

[AlternNocturn]

Well I bought it for the space physics and ship building, so yes.

[RainDreamer]

Of course. I like the game for the customization fun and its educational value.

However, I don't think I would be involved with the game as much as I am now without the kerbal. It would be like another Universe Sandbox for me. A game which I enjoy immensely for its educational value at first, but will be left aside once I kind of bored with its lessons and never touched again until I need to try something out with a simulator.

The kerbals, however, gives the game its personality. And I love their antics and their personalities and all their wackiness within their society. They are just so funny that it is cute. And it makes me form an emotional connection with them, making me enjoy the game much more.

So yeah, I would buy the game. But I wouldn't enjoy it as much as I do now.