I once asked a similar question, only it was something more along hte lines of this:
Let's say some major corp type marketing guru decided to throw $50k at the Pantheon team for development, but in exchange, they got to design a quest. At the end of the quest some kudos are thrown your way and they give you a coupon for a free {insert product here}. For instance, Coke pays the DevTeam $50k and gets to design a quest that sends you off to harvest the ingredients for a refreshing drink. You turn in the quest and Coke says "Thanks for enjoying this fresh quest! Heres a coupon for a free ice-cold Coca-cola!"
Some folks would be angry with this. I think that if it gives more DevCreds - go for it. Perhaps we could include some client tools that turns sponsored quests off if you chose to do so. But as for me - I would do the quest. Even if I don't drink coke and fiund the taste repulsive. Could you imagine furniture stores doing quests for in-game furniture, and then giving you rebates on the RL furniture? The possibilities are endless. But the greatest draw - IMHO - is the DevCreds.
If i'm not mistaken, Eve Online and Microsoft (excel) just partnered up which seems to be well received. I suppose it may not be a terrible thing provided that 'it makes sense'.
Though the examples of Idiocracy level corporatism provided in this thread were an entertaining read to say the least, "Welcome to Costco, I love you."
Im with Libwick and Stonefish.
Wine crasfted from Game stuff? or even a recipe? heck yes. Shoot I was drooling over "butterfly truth serum" until I researched it a bit more just because of the marketing (get the powder tea instead and mix 'n match a syrup or whatever from there).
a home accent? or even a high elven shawl? a mock-up of a dagger? (along with 3D printed pantheon sanctioned/sold character figurines for a couplea hundo) Heck yes!
Etsy the **** out of this.
THAT'S who you want to partner with, Etsy. click on the thing and a little feather does a loop-de-loop and vanishes signaling a email sent to your game registered email(out of game) with a link to etsy featuring the product. Crafters go to pantheon asking if they can make a such-and-so and pantheon, learning from george lucas, say sure BUT we ok the end design and we get X%age of gross sales (so you have to factor in manufacture and shipping) and you pay us a small one time licensing fee to use to make it so you can sell to non pantheon people, too, so long as we get that X%ge on every sale of said pantheon inspired item.
One of the distasteful elements of the wild unbridled success of partnering with a large Corp is the binding, through contracts, of profit over all else. Profit is good, competition is good, speed is good, sugar is good, fat is good, sunlight is good, until you desire it so much you become glutinous monsters seeking only that which will come to consume you. 'All things in moderation' is a phrase the corporate boards hate to hear, binding with them is dangerous because of it. Think you can write a contract they would agree to that their teams of lawyers can't get around? Think again.
If you created a tool not unlike the Content Creators sign up, but for smaller artisanal groups it may open a few options. Orders for items/products could be started in game with a request, and email for you to follow up awaiting your attention later. Click on a radio button on an item description and order a set of goblets you saw in a ruined castle, or a door hinges or coat hooks from a blacksmith. There are many tailors and dress makers near me, if my toon had a wonderful tunic I may just take screen shots and have one made, but I'd love for it to be something through VR.
@stonefish I really back you up on it being something through VR. (Also side note, I find your creativity and zest refreshing and fun!)
That "through vr" is where the whole thing is. There is risk in misrepresenting the totally wonderful Pantheon brand that we all have come to trust and love so much. If all were interested in something like this... VR and the community have to continue to represent the pantheon brand accurately. Sounds simple but it's not. The trust is sacred; extremely important. It needs to be protected, first and foremost. But it should also be celebrated, which helps it grow, and we all want it to grow (fast!) so bad!
I am so drawn to the tenets regarding anything Pantheon. Brad says tenets before anything, right? So let's see what Brad says and start there as always and use him to see how the tenets might be baked into any arrangement, even if for nothing else than revisiting them.
The tenet, "Content is King." (#1!) Could this one ring outside the game as it does everywhere inside pantheon also? Well I’d say, if so, things with the Pantheon brand on it then, inside or outside the game, need to be held to the incredible-quality standard of the pantheon brand in order to celebrate, share and grow it.
#2. Classes have distinct identities. Could such identities could be celebrated by outside-the-game things? Like on the streamer stream a couple days ago, a shirt that says "Rogues do it from behind." Lolll. Also side note I want to see the other classes shirts and buy ‘em.
#3. No player should be able to do everything on their own. (This one just made me cry, so beautiful.) Like I get byyyy with a little help from my friends! Well that goes both ways! VR doesn't do all this alone either. Let's all keep making Pantheon happpen! <3 (call me cheesy and idc like jimmy crack corn!)
#4. Game economies should delay and minimize item value deflation. An interesting thought comes for this one... wouldn't real life products that celebrate the in-game items (strictly not the other way around) add value to in game items, preserving their value in a way? What if the in-game item was the license to access a special (and authenticated) outside-the-game (otg) product? Expand in-game prestige to the real world anyone? Pantheon goes IRL??
I think a primary question regarding anything like this is how might 'mersion fit? We are all plentyy aware of the importance of immersion while playing Pantheon. Which brings us to #5 combat is immersive with engaging group mechanics, and #14 an immersive world requires intelligent inhabitants. What it doesn't say is that everything about the game must be completely and totally unwaveringly immersive. So there is room for real life with Pantheon after all, no? Seems silly to think otherwise.
#6 a truly challenging game is truly rewarding. What another great one. Well again, what if the challenging in game content, rewarded access to real life authenticated items? Interesting to consider at least! That makes it even more rewarding (and celebrated). And maybe there is risk in obtaining it in-game per usual, which carries into #7 greater risk earns greater rewards. Maybe the rewards can be irl too?
#8-12 are closely related. #8 player involvement is required for progression, #9 all actions (or lack thereof) have consequences, #10 positive actions should be rewarded and #12, meaningful character progression increases player power and prestige. Real life items could increase the prestige, and even last beyond the level range… a nod to #18 player levels should be both meaningful and memorable. Couldn’t authenticated pantheon irl items deepen immersion in a way? How about commemorate in game experiences?
#13 Ensure players have time to form important social bonds. Couldn’t authenticated RL products also celebrate and encourage this? Wouldn’t it simply be another avenue for social bonds? Whoa… is this kind of a rad alternative to a cash shop? Maybe this whole thing is bigger than I had thought… like… what if some awesome person from the community had a super dope 3d printer and could actually create the in-game armor irl for people who earned it in game… and sell it to them, where the revenue then fuels both the game’s development but also fuels the community? … a nod back to #8 and #10… and what if someone was an irl blacksmith, crafting weapons or shields lol how awesome. Again the quality standard, and true-to-tenets (and lore), being imperative.
#15 faction and alignment is an integral part of interacting with the world and its citizens. These things present that fun dynamic of player choice. Wouldn’t it be cool to celebrate those choices irl?
#16 focus on cooperative play will attract those seeking a challenge. We all know how wildly difficult the building of this game is, and this game has been built cooperatively with the community. So here we all are! Fascinating certainly.
#17 the greatest sense of accomplishment comes when it is shared – and earned. … “Earned”… it would seem to me that in-game experience and accomplishment should be the thing that grants access to the irl celebrating/prestige too. Which champions #1 again, content is king.
#19 Player vs environment should involve more than npcs. Soo the environment should be alive… soo what if an environment had a real life representation? Whoa… potential with that question. Gets me thinking like meow wolf stuff but pantheon flavored… like what if pantheon had a pax + meow wolf sort of event featuring the game but also authenticated irl components of true in game stuff? @manouk – seems like there might be some room for pantheon etsy items in something like this eh? So long as they’re well authenticated and up to the quality standard, I’d say! Maybe someone is literally a leatherworker lol, how awesome would a personally tailored set of in-game authenticated leather armor be?! And Chefs... The potential for this sort of concept is as large as the potential for the seemingly infinite awesomeness of Pantheon.
Final considerations. Should pantheon celebrate in game involvement/accomplishment/risk taking/skill/cooperation with not just awesome in-game items but corresponding real-life, authenticated versions of them? That are gated by in-game-acquired license to obtain them (content is king!)? and irl experiences that celebrate in-game experiences, like a meow wolf pax renaissance fair pantheon thing to bring more people to pantheon? And finally a real crazy question kinda like whoa… is this a solution the stupid dumb lame cash shop bs? Is that too crazy? Is, at the time of celebrating a huge quest turn in, and getting in-game rewards, the perfect time to commemorate that experience and in-game reward with license to access a real life pantheon authentic purchase? Say thanks for making this awesome content, but not diluting the in game experience at all? which not only commemorates/celebrates your accomplishment with prestige irl but also expands VR’s ability (and speed!) to develop pantheon, also supporting community members providing services that add value in an authentic way to the community and beyond? All for one, one for all kinda thing!
#20 engage the world. Which one guys? Both I figure. LFG!!!!!!
As for how to present/offer things like this, I have to imagine Joppa knows the way. I have always found his ability to implement things so brilliant (and I have to imagine most feel the same way).
As someone who has followed this game since it was announced (years before pledges became available), I would quit playing if I started to see advertisement or other BS intended to shove businesses in my face. Particularly in a FANTASY GAME!!! There's ZERO correlation between reality and Pantheon and that's the whole point of it.
erissel said:As someone who has followed this game since it was announced (years before pledges became available), I would quit playing if I started to see advertisement or other BS intended to shove businesses in my face. Particularly in a FANTASY GAME!!! There's ZERO correlation between reality and Pantheon and that's the whole point of it.
I agree with this. Which is why there needs to be a tool so that you will not even see a quest marker or anything like it if it is associated with a non-game entity. I also think there should be a cash-shop so that folks can buy their fancy armor. Again, we should have a tool that allows us to NOT see that fancy armor. This would allow for a greater range of client desires - thus - more subs. If you don't want to see it - you shouldn't have too. And just because someone sees something on their screen, it doesn't mean you should have to see it on yours. I will probably turn the cash shop toggle to "off". But if there are some coporate sponsored quests that help generate some DevCreds? I'll do it. I don't even drink sodas - I am diabetic - but I would do the quests if I know it will pay for more development of the game. Still, you ARE right - you shouldn't even see a quest marker for it if you don't want it. I am a BIG fan of providing client-side tools so that players get the game THEY want to play.
erissel said:As someone who has followed this game since it was announced (years before pledges became available), I would quit playing if I started to see advertisement or other BS intended to shove businesses in my face. Particularly in a FANTASY GAME!!! There's ZERO correlation between reality and Pantheon and that's the whole point of it.
I am with you 100 there, paramount to protect that. That thing that needs to remain protected, I figure should be celebrated/shared outside the game, and bring more people into the game. (and strictly not take people in the game, out of it.) In a way, something like this would combat the sell out approach, by saying hey, look what happens when you stay true to values. Community happens! And we all know that matters!
Also, reflecting last night, i should add some clarity and note on some things. My general disposition is throwing spaghetti at the wall that is true to tenets to see if anything sticks to see if there's a way to consider solutions to the problems presenting development and the community, which essentially is, how do we bring more people into this incredible thing. The other clarity is toward my cash shop comments. I was being creative towards the "cash shop problem".. and the creative process is about considering new things and not being afraid. I am significantly against cash shop just like most other people, as well as offers in-game for outside the game products. But is there a way to finesse a new way to generate additional income to maintain/increase the games development, that celebrates and upholds the values that made it the wonderful thing that it is so we can all get in there sooner but also celebrate it outside? Something beyond the scope of a monthly sub (or pledging/upgrades at this point) or investing. Just those options limit the amount of income the VR can generate from one person who may be willing to spend a lot more supporting the game while getting something in return... maybe an elegant solution to that problem is by opening new revenue channels *outside the game* that celebrate it and bring people into the game, like ripples outward from the in-game experience. **Not selling out the in-game experience (ever)**. Celebrating it by valuing it is the opposite. No one is here for a sell out, we're all here for strictly the opposite. Another example, like who can create a crown of illumination irl and then wear it to a super public area and froth about pantheon lol.
I think maybe the question is, what would be the best way to hear about that I could actually purchase a crown of illumination irl thats made/stamped authentic by vr? knowing that it supports game development too. I think obviously it can't be offered, or mentioned, in game. And a cash shop of any kind shouldn't come close to touching the interface of the game, and big-time-never, ever have affect on in-game content. What about getting an email once you acquire the item in game? Maybe it's linked to a webstore for real products? I feel like I'd buy awesome stuff like that if i really liked it and it was really quality. Like what if you could buy your epic weapon irl once you earned it in the game? Probably not a bring out in public item lol but really damn cool still I figure. Epic weapons are so cool it might be hard to make irl, but maybe what about artfully done gnomish gadgets! Ah, just fun potential if you ask me. :)