Pantheon - Editorial @ MMO-Play

[Couchpotato]

MMO-Play has posted a new article for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen whether the failed kickstarter MMO is finished.I wrote about how the developer mentioned cash was running out two weeks ago, and development was slowing down.

How did we get to this point? In early September, 2013, Brad McQuaid talked about working on a new mmo that would be a true spiritual successor to EverQuest and Vanguard. Four months later, he announced that the new game was Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen and unveiled the Kickstarter campaign with a goal of $800,000. From that point on, McQuaid and his company, Visionary Realms, Inc., did everything right. They granted endless interviews, talked about the features that they wanted to implement in the game, and were responsive to the inquiries of players. One would think that such actions would lead to a successful funding, but such was not the case. The Kickstarter project ended with only $460,000 being collected from 3157 backers, so gears were switched to allow funding to be collected on the mmo's website. As I write this, they've raised $161,000 from a total of 1591 backers.

The most distressing news for fans of the Pantheon mmo is that the game has posted its current financial situation, where they honestly lay out the facts. Development on the game has slowed considerably as they are unable to pay the development team. Any funds given at the current time will be used for maintenance costs and keeping the website up. Now, McQuaid and his team are hoping to lure private investors to fund further development, but so far nothing tangible has been reported.

So what is the outlook for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen? To be brutally honest, I think it's highly likely that the game is done, and I come to this for a variety of reasons. First, the game was designed to appeal to old-school gamers who want challenging gameplay, having to group to succeed, and be forced to walk or ride to fully explore the game's world. The reality is that while many gamers talk about wanting to play such a game, their numbers are few as casual gaming has taken over. Players no longer want to spend eight hours running raids or having to spend forty minutes running across a zone to reach a quest point. The players that cut their teeth on EverQuest are older and have families and jobs now. They cannot afford to spend a great deal of time gaming, and newer players want to play at their own convenience.

More information.

 

[Drithius]

I think there's a market out there for a truly group-oriented, hardcore MMO of yesteryear... but the problem lies in the fact that such a target audience is already aware of Brad's mishandling of Vanguard and thusly leery of him at the reins of another similar project - one with seemingly fewer funds than even Vanguard had (which was not a lot by today's standards).

 

[Scrav]

I'm not surprised by any of this.

No one really knows what to make of Everquest Next, apart from it not being anything resembling the original Everquest. I doubt that is a contributing factor.

 

[wolfing]

There is a market for that type of game. If Vanguard hadn't happened, I'm sure this would have gathered as much money, if not more, than Richard Garriot's MMO. But Vanguard did happen, and people remember.

 

[Carnifex]

I see this all the time....people talk about wanting hard content, and so, every so often, they get it. Case in point: EQ2 just released new content that FORCED groups to pull smartly, to NOT rush and grab multiple groups that could be easily ae'd down, and not basically not AE at all, as doing so would bring more mobs that would stack debuffs on the group. The result? Another patch today, not even 48 hours later nerfing most of the hard content, while also fixing one serious bug.

Fortunately, if you look around you can find emulators of EQ1 running, and if you can lay your hands on the right software, you can participate. I think my era, my generation of mmo's, is completely over. Now it's all about appealing to the adhd crowd, the twitchers, the people that need instant gratification. Then, 20 minutes later, they want a new game. Good luck with that philosophy....I'll be mourning games like Vanguard and Pantheon.

 

[Carnifex]

Boy oh boy did this turn into some huge pissing match, with Brad publicly calling out some guy named KTam. Probably not the kind of publicity you want if you're trying to attract investors. =xxx

 

[Drithius]

What are you referring to, Carnifex?

 

[Carnifex]

A huge mess on the Pantheon forums that is being waged. Entertaining to some I suppose, but will probably spell the end of the endeavour.

 

[wolfing]

I see this all the time….people talk about wanting hard content, and so, every so often, they get it. Case in point: EQ2 just released new content that FORCED groups to pull smartly, to NOT rush and grab multiple groups that could be easily ae'd down, and not basically not AE at all, as doing so would bring more mobs that would stack debuffs on the group. The result? Another patch today, not even 48 hours later nerfing most of the hard content, while also fixing one serious bug.

There is a difference though, EQ1 was tough from the start. You could solo depending on class until like level 10 (out of 50), after that you had to group. If in EQ2 you didn't have to group and they changed it so you had to group, that's good reason for people to complain, they changed the premise of the game they were playing.

 

[Reyla]

Like Drithius already stated, McQuaid is the boy who cried wolf. He is infamous.

Most gamers won't give him a penny until he has a finished product with a free demo to see first.

Gamers do not have short term memory. Quite the opposite. Case in point, what image does John Romero conjure?

 

[Roland]

"Brad McQuaid describes the game as "the modern, challenging, group-focused MMO Game."

1st it's a game by Brad McQuaid

2nd it's a "group-focused" game.

2 nails in the coffin right there.

Group content is fine, and needed in a MMO...but you don't want the entire or even a majority of design and content to be group "required" to progress.

The whole design philosophy is/was the problem imo

 

[Drithius]

"Brad McQuaid describes the game as "the modern, challenging, group-focused MMO Game."

1st it's a game by Brad McQuaid

2nd it's a "group-focused" game.

2 nails in the coffin right there.

Group content is fine, and needed in a MMO…but you don't want the entire or even a majority of design and content to be group "required" to progress.

The whole design philosophy is/was the problem imo

I wholeheartedly disagree. If you want easy single player content, there's a line of the drivel thataway. And, you know something? Those fail more often than not because of how utterly forgettable they are after a month or two.

 

[Carnifex]

I disagree. What is the point of playing an mmo if not to group with others? I don't care how people may THINK mmo's have changed, perhaps they have, but the people that play them, for the most part, have not. I'm speaking of people that played UO, Meridian, and EQ1. These people are still out there, they still play mmo's, and the ones I play with don't want a dumbed down, simplistic solo player game. Case in point....communities like Project 99 and other emulators are still going strong. I cannot speak to games like WoW, I've never had a cartoon fetish so I simply don't get games like that at all, but to think there isn't an audience for hardcore, group motivated mmo's is wrong.

Pantheon, however, I think is done. Whatever credibility was left with McQuaid and his team might have died this week with the big blowup on the forums. Too bad.

 

[Drithius]

Is this what you were referring to on the Pantheon forums, Carnifex? I don't have access since I decided against moving my pledge there:

Brad's 5 month, $45k advance.

 

[Carnifex]

Aye, that is one of the issues that was raised against Brad. Personally, imo, the worse thing Brad did in response to this was to publicly call someone out in the forums for their reporting. I would have handled it with a phone call, personal visit, or email myself rather than a semi-private forum that others might chime in on. When people start talking litigation, it's time to shut up, lol.

 

[DArtagnan]

If there's a market for this kind of game, it's very small.

Games have evolved beyond eternally punishing grinds. It worked when there was no real alternative - but there are too many games and too many distractions these days.

Some people might think this is what they want again, but most of them would be mistaken.

 

[Drithius]

That may be what *you* think, Dart, but that still does nothing to address the fact that the market, however small you may believe it to be, is not being offered a product to satisfy their interests. The majority of new MMOs, including your beloved TES Online are just glorified single player games with shallow cut & paste content w/other people (who may as well be npcs) running around.

 

[DArtagnan]

That may be what *you* think, Dart, but that still does nothing to address the fact that the market, however small you may believe it to be, is not being offered a product to satisfy their interests. The majority of new MMOs, including your beloved TES Online are just glorified single player games with shallow cut & paste content w/other people (who may as well be npcs) running around.

That may be what *you* think, Drithius, bla bla bla

Seriously, what else would it be, though?

We're here talking about our opinions.

As for TESO, it's not a game I love - it's a game I like. I don't really love MMOs, because they're not making them like I want.

As for cut & paste, that's pretty much the foundation of MMO design - and I'll spare you the lecture about content in the first MMOs like EQ. Talk about shallow

The fact that you've forgotten how little unique content was a part of MMOs before they had the ridiculous budgets of today, is a testament to the power of blind nostalgia.

 

[Drithius]

Some people might think this is what they want again, but most of them would be mistaken.

The wise seer Dartagnan has spoken. If it's your opinion, do us a favor and stop speaking for everyone else.

 

[DArtagnan]

The wise seer Dartagnan has spoken. If it's your opinion, do us a favor and stop speaking for everyone else.

I'm afraid I have to reserve the right to have an opinion about human nature.

Like I think most people are capable of killing another human being. I really don't care what people think or claim in that case.

One part of human nature that's undeniable is that we, like water, almost always opt for the path of least resistance.

If you want to believe otherwise, that's fine - but I can't agree.