Update on Pantheon

Carnifex

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These past few weeks at camp VR have been nothing short of thrilling for us. We are finally at a stage now where we can start showing the game to a few people outside of internal testing and development (don't worry pre-alpha testers, we will have you in soon!) and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Just last week Wolfshead who has acknowledged that he has been critical of the game in the past published an article outlining his recent experiences in game and with Visionary Realms.

"We MMO enthusiasts have to keep believing that the industry can and will start making MMOs that we actually want to play again," he concluded. "This is one fan that believes that Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen can be that MMO."

Seeing something like that, after months or years of hard work is an amazing feeling. It lets us know that we're really on the right track. Working on a game you become very close to it. It becomes a personal passion. And like any passion you sometimes wonder if you love it so much because you're so close to it. So when someone who was very skeptical about the game becomes a fan after experiencing it you can't help but feel vindicated. It also let us know that the game, though still in fairly early development, is ready to be seen.

So this Friday, the 11th of March, tune in to twitch.tv/visionaryrealms at 4pm Pacific Standard Time to catch some of the crew at VR in game. You're going to see some never-before seen areas. You're going to see some combat. You're going to see some of the game's exciting exclusive features. And you're going to see it all live during one of our regular internal play sessions.

Then next week the team packs up and heads to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. There we'll be showing off in greater detail a lot of what you will see in the Twitch feed. We'll further explain some of these mechanics and how they all fit together. We'll be talking to select press to answer their questions and yours so be sure to swing by your favorite gaming sites and tell them what you want to know.

And lastly, you're probably wondering who that woman is at the top of this newsletter. Well, I'm not going to tell you just yet. You'll see the full new piece later this month.

In the meantime, thank you once again from the bottom of our hearts for all of your support. Without you we'd be nowhere. And with you we're going to make Pantheon the MMO you've been waiting for. See you Friday on Twitch!

Ben de la Durantaye
Director of Communications
Visionary Realms


For anyone that was thinking this project had all but vanished!
 
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You might put that in quotes or italic, it currently looks like something you are saying Carniflex.

and I'm really curious about their first "gameplay demo" even if I'm not really interested in the game. I expect a lot of "it sucks!" though.
 
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Compared to what I've seen of modern mmo's such as Warcraft, I suspect lots of younger folks may not care for it. Those that enjoy Everquest One and Two, and even older games might enjoy it a lot. I've seen some footage already and I'm sold on that part, but what I'm really waiting for is the ability to roll a character.
 
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I am still interested in this game simply due to how much I love Everquest 2. However I am not really impressed with the way in which they plan to make that experience better. I don't really seen any innovations coming from these guys yet but this is early days still.
 
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I don't think the game was designed with innovation in mind. McQuaid decided to create it in the wake of EQ1 veterans being pissed that Everquest Next wasn't going to be a reskin of Everquest.
 
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I pledged for it in Kickstarter, but when they moved it to Indiegogo and made it a flexible funding (i.e. they get the money even if the goal is not met) I stopped there, but I really do want to see this game come to light. I'm one that enjoyed the 'harshness' of EQ1, where you had to group up to play the game, where each class was very different and not 'DPS with different graphics', where it didn't take you 2 weeks to max level and where making it to max level wasn't 'when the fun begins'… I never even reached max level in EQ1 in over 2 years playing!

When I saw the EQ Next announcement, I cringed and facepalmed a lot. They started the presentation saying how awesome EQ1 was and how it affected so many people… and then they presented 'not Everquest'. So, here's to Pantheon making it!
 
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Yeah, for sure EQ next will not be worth playing, at least for me. Not only does it look horrible but the inherent mechanics make little or no sense for most of the classes that I've researched. I'll stick with Everquest one and two until the servers go dead, and Pantheon is the only new mmo I'm even slightly interested in. And of course, should all else fail, I still have my little stabber on Project ninety-nine =)
 
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I disagree that EQNext looks horrible. I like that type of art style personally.

Back to Pantheon. The game interest me solely because it's currently the only MMORPG in the work that doesn't focus on PvP outside of EQNext. The fact that it is not going to have a seamless world and some of the gameplay features make it sound it might have phasing or GW2 style dynamic events is a real turn off though.

I much prefer EQNext idea of a seamless non-static world...if they can pull it off.
 
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I sit on two of the community forums for Everquest (raid and community council) and I can tell you from what I've heard and seen, the next EQ isn't going to be anytime soon. If at all.
 
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What does EQNext releasing when ever it release has to do with me thinking Pantheon isn't going to be my cup of tea?
 
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I disagree that EQNext looks horrible. I like that type of art style personally.

Back to Pantheon. The game interest me solely because it's currently the only MMORPG in the work that doesn't focus on PvP outside of EQNext. The fact that it is not going to have a seamless world and some of the gameplay features make it sound it might have phasing or GW2 style dynamic events is a real turn off though.

I much prefer EQNext idea of a seamless non-static world…if they can pull it off.

Actually I prefer the zoned approach of Everquest, mostly because of 'zone chat'. When you entered a zone, you where in there with a bunch of people that already had something in common with you, they were in that zone, which meant were around your level and were interested in playing there. I also prefer instanced dungeons for storyline quests, like in SW:TOR. The whole 'seamless world' of later MMOs never clicked with me, it all felt too isolated.
 
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Actually I prefer the zoned approach of Everquest, mostly because of 'zone chat'. When you entered a zone, you where in there with a bunch of people that already had something in common with you, they were in that zone, which meant were around your level and were interested in playing there. I also prefer instanced dungeons for storyline quests, like in SW:TOR. The whole 'seamless world' of later MMOs never clicked with me, it all felt too isolated.

huh. I get the impression you don't know what seamless world means. Everquest was a seamless world at release. WoW and LoTRO as well. SW:TOR is half seamless, depends on what planet you are.

Not being a seamless world means being like GW2 where each map/zone needs to be loaded before you can move in it.
 
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I am rooting for Pantheon. Will just have to wait and see. Brad brought a lot of this on himself and he will have to earn my trust again.

EQ is one of my favorite games of all time. Vanguard if it was handled right and given more time could have been an amazing game. Really did enjoy the Vanguard world.
 
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Aye, I have high hopes for Pantheon. They have some talented folks working on their product, so I'm hoping that compensates for having McQuaid there as well.

Vanguard was awesome. I never had a problem with that game, loved it to death, but apparently lots of computers had issues with it. It was pretty scary to see five out of six members go link dead deep in a dungeon, and you being the only one left. That happened to me way too many times, lol. But when it worked, it was wonderful and I miss it.
 
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huh. I get the impression you don't know what seamless world means. Everquest was a seamless world at release. WoW and LoTRO as well. SW:TOR is half seamless, depends on what planet you are.

Not being a seamless world means being like GW2 where each map/zone needs to be loaded before you can move in it.

Everquest was a seamless world at release? don't you remember the shouts of 'Train to zone!' followed by some guy running and 300 gnolls behind him tearing everybody apart idling near the zone edge after he zoned out? (I must say I did this quite a few times, most of them legitimate ;) )
 
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Yup, EQ one had zones in 1998, and it still had zones the last time I was in there. I still enjoy crossing those thresholds, it was always a good time to glance away from the pc and see what was going on around me. EQ two is straight up instancing.
 
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Everquest was a seamless world at release? don't you remember the shouts of 'Train to zone!' followed by some guy running and 300 gnolls behind him tearing everybody apart idling near the zone edge after he zoned out? (I must say I did this quite a few times, most of them legitimate ;) )

Zones are still present in LoTRO with their own chat, their existence doesn't go against a seamless world. Seems like whoever said EQ was seamless online was wrong, reading more about it, looks like you had to load to move to the next zone. I personally never left the tutorial cave. I tried it last year to see how different it was from EQ2 which I dabbled in for a few years and decided it was too old to start now.

Saying that, mobs not crossing zones is a problem Daybreak was trying to solve in EQNext last summer going by Emily Taylor (Pentapod/Domino). It was a AI issue in that case.
 
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WoW isn't really seamless either. At release, you have to go to certain point(s) in the zone to go to the next zone. You can't simply travel in any direction. You didn't get loading screen but its was well hidden from you. I think after Cata expansion and flying everywhere, you can travel in any direction but mobs won't still leave zones lines.
 
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Well seems like I can stop waiting for EQNext. It was cancelled.
 
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