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Get yer May 2020 Newsletter here.

    • VR Staff
    • 167 posts
    May 20, 2020 8:45 AM PDT

    In May’s Producer’s letter, Ben Dean shares the team’s progress, gives some key insights into PA5 and spills the beans with some of our latest patch notes.

     

    https://www.pantheonmmo.com/newsletter/2020_may_intro/


    This post was edited by Roenick at May 20, 2020 8:57 AM PDT
    • 1273 posts
    May 20, 2020 9:37 AM PDT

    So exciting!  "watching the game take its first breath!"

    • 200 posts
    May 20, 2020 10:08 AM PDT

    very nice!

    • 6 posts
    May 20, 2020 10:11 AM PDT

     

    sigh.....so tired reading about this game...

    • 122 posts
    May 20, 2020 10:17 AM PDT

    Yes! Great job guys.... cant wait for all of this.... 

     

    Love the Orc.... I feel like he is looking at me.... make it stop...

    • 11 posts
    May 20, 2020 10:57 AM PDT
    Oooh this is what we want to hear, gj guys
    • 768 posts
    May 20, 2020 12:34 PM PDT

    Thanks for the nice update. 

    Especially liked the hint of Monk unique combat idle being in the game. Thinks opens up lovely ideas.

    • 5 posts
    May 20, 2020 12:59 PM PDT
    This is awesome!
    • 388 posts
    May 20, 2020 4:22 PM PDT

    Let me save you time and do a TL;DR

    PA5 soon ® ™

    6 years later and we are still working on the perpetually gray boxed UI.  

    Done. 

     

    2026 can't get here fast enough! (IF the UI doesn't hold us back til 2029)

     

     

    • 1992 posts
    May 20, 2020 4:52 PM PDT

    Flapp said:Let me save you time and do a TL;DR PA5 soon ® ™6 years later and we are still working on the perpetually gray boxed UI.  Done. 2026 can't get here fast enough! (IF the UI doesn't hold us back til 2029)

    Let me save you time and do a TL;DR

    "I'm bored and impatient and just want to complain"

    • 1992 posts
    May 20, 2020 5:00 PM PDT

    "The core system is now complete and the first class, the Dire Lord, is being implemented into the new system."

    Ok, now you've got my 'essence' all excited!

    :)

    • 1992 posts
    May 20, 2020 5:04 PM PDT

    "Many new stories and quests have recently been placed in game and are currently going through the rigors of internal testing. "

    Don't forget the Drop Bears!

     

    Keep reminding them, Kils :)

    • 21 posts
    May 20, 2020 9:11 PM PDT

    good news , thanks :)

    • 287 posts
    May 20, 2020 9:28 PM PDT
    Yes, PA5 is music to my ears
    • 287 posts
    May 21, 2020 8:03 AM PDT

    Breki said:

     

    sigh.....so tired reading about this game...

    but energized to write about it, so much so that you even used a bigger font!

    • 109 posts
    May 21, 2020 11:12 AM PDT

    This newsletter was more or less a rehash of the last video VR put out.  VR have become professionals at putting out non-news news.  It's not their fault though if they don't have anything new to share though.  I just find it comical at best and sad at worst.

    • 3016 posts
    May 21, 2020 12:42 PM PDT

    I am excited all over again for Pantheon..progress progress progress.   Keep on truckin' VR this latest newsletter reveals how hard you have been working behind the scenes.   Ignore the impatience and the mini tantrums on this thread..lol.   And PA 5 is looming according to your letter YAY!   I'll be there with bells on...*hugs* to the team...been here since Feb 2014...they say patience is a virtue..well...not sure I am all that virtuous..but I sure am patient.     Love the emails on naming npcs and points of interest..thank you very much. :)

     

    Cana


    This post was edited by CanadinaXegony at May 21, 2020 12:43 PM PDT
    • 3016 posts
    May 21, 2020 12:44 PM PDT

    Breki said:

     

    sigh.....so tired reading about this game...

    So tired?  You have five posts..when did you join up?  My goodness.  :P

     

    Cana

    • 26 posts
    May 21, 2020 5:22 PM PDT

    So, how many "pre-alpha" phases are there?  10?

    You know Ive tested almost every mmorg out there since DAOC and this is getting a tad bit looney.    Oh PA5 WOOT  /rollseyes

     

    • 159 posts
    May 21, 2020 7:08 PM PDT

    LeeLoo said:

    So, how many "pre-alpha" phases are there?  10?

    You know Ive tested almost every mmorg out there since DAOC and this is getting a tad bit looney.    Oh PA5 WOOT  /rollseyes

     

     

    Shh..  The radicals that plague these forums will attack you if you give honest feedback like that. I agree that we have too many PA's and from my understanding from what I read PA5 is going to have more than one session. So in other words we are going to have PA5, PA6, PA7 and maybe more.

     

    • 523 posts
    May 21, 2020 11:47 PM PDT

    Pre-Alpha is for testing basic game systems and underlying infrastructure.  You can criticize them for many things, and you probably mean their lengthy development history, but this game absolutely should be in Pre-Alpha right now and probably for the remainder of this year at least.  They are just now getting ability nodes into the game.  Only the Dire Lord has even been implemented to this point.  They completely rebuilt the Perception system as well.  None of that has ever even been tested yet.  All rushing Alpha will do is spread bad word of mouth and the game will probably stay down most of the test due to the fact the basic underlying systems hadn't been tested yet.  For all intents and purposes, it's almost like they rebooted the game again just a couple years ago, they certainly massively redesigned it.

     

    We all hate the truth.  There ain't nothing else out there, nor is there anything coming any time soon.  These guys can tortoise this as long as that remains the case.  What they can never ever do is rush a not ready product, either to Alpha or launch.  When you're the only show in town, the only thing that will keep people from showing up is bad word of mouth.  Reality is we will play this whenever it comes out and if its any good, we'll keep on playing it.  They need to do however many pre-alpha sessions they need to make sure it's good.  Especially if they plan on letting in public streamers for Alpha.  All that does is put a lot of extra pressure that the Alpha is polished and engaging.  In the old days, nobody expected anything to work in an Alpha test.  Pre-Alpha is the new Alpha, and Alpha is the new Beta, while Beta is the new launch week stress test, and Launch is expected to be perfect with no crashes or downtime.  If that's true, and it is, than this game's development is farther along than the term "Pre-Alpha" suggests.

    • 696 posts
    May 22, 2020 4:28 AM PDT

    Don't know how I feel about the quests having a UI...sigh.

    • 3852 posts
    May 22, 2020 7:38 AM PDT

    In not less than a few weeks they will say when PA5 will start. Not less than means what it says - so maybe in a month or two they will give a date. And that date may be well in the future of when they announce it. And this is the first part of PA 5 which may be a limited number of hours on one or two days testing one thing - not actually playing the game even in its PA state.

    I say this not in frustration over the timing but to urge the PA testers not to get too excited too quickly. That road leads to disappointment and despair. Keep your hopes realistic.

    My own reaction to the newsletter is that while I have no hope for hitting alpha this year (cries quietly when no one is looking) it did a good job of making Pantheon actually feel like a real game not a well marketed piece of vaporware. 


    This post was edited by dorotea at May 22, 2020 7:38 AM PDT
    • 724 posts
    May 22, 2020 9:38 AM PDT
    We got the go ahead.
    We got a deposit and money line
    We got staff
    We got meetings
    We got blue prints
    We got meetings
    We modify blue prints
    We clear footprint
    We have meetings
    We start foundation
    Meetings
    Start utilities tie ins
    Structural build planning
    Expand staff
    Gather tools
    Train tool and equipment usage
    Start skeleton framework
    Start floors
    Start walls
    Utilities expansion
    Details start

    Basic big project time frames start slow but pick up speed late. We like to see things move fast but fast isn't always good.
    It 'feels' like they VR team is getting things tied together and are excited to start on the details. The structure and some key elements are still being finished but they are maintaining forward momentum. That's a good thing.
    If this summer or fall they do some testing, great, then on to the next step.
    Forward.
    I want that world to be fun. I don't want it rushed and boring or broken.

    • 42 posts
    May 22, 2020 9:45 AM PDT

    Positive : I got now the Newsletter in my e-mail box again. So no more rummaging in boards and no more being supposed to watch some boring streams that I don't want to spend hours on. And there is text, not some mumbling in english that I wouldn't hear and understand well anyway.

    Negative : There will be a PA5 in a few months. And then probably the necessary PA6 followed by the paramount PA7 etc. So that makes beta in 2021 . Or 2022 . Or ... Not even mentionning release .