Forums » General Pantheon Discussion

Community Debate - Pledges

    • 33 posts
    April 16, 2020 9:21 AM PDT

    One thing they could do to help with the pledge amounts, and the cost to complete the game is to move from Carlsbad, CA to a state like KY or Iowa... The Average median income there is 150k, thereby making everything in that area more expensive.  To pay their developers a wage that's a good living in that area you are taking a significant amount of money.  https://www.incomebyzipcode.com/california/92009

    They could hire a New starting salary Software Engineer in Louisville, KY for 73k, and one in Carlsbad starts at 90k... That's a 20.8% difference in cost to make the game. Once you are talking experienced personnel that 20% raises drastically. 


    This post was edited by Brooks at April 16, 2020 9:21 AM PDT
    • 200 posts
    April 16, 2020 9:48 AM PDT

    Brooks said:

    One thing they could do to help with the pledge amounts, and the cost to complete the game is to move from Carlsbad, CA to a state like KY or Iowa... The Average median income there is 150k, thereby making everything in that area more expensive.  To pay their developers a wage that's a good living in that area you are taking a significant amount of money.  https://www.incomebyzipcode.com/california/92009

    They could hire a New starting salary Software Engineer in Louisville, KY for 73k, and one in Carlsbad starts at 90k... That's a 20.8% difference in cost to make the game. Once you are talking experienced personnel that 20% raises drastically. 

     

    I don't think this is a full time job for some of the dev team (I think one is dentist). I have a feeling many of the devs will reap the rewards post launch. I doubt it's very lucrative right now... but I dunno. Also from what I understand they all mostly work remote. For all we know, a few could live in the states you mentioned.


    This post was edited by WarKnight at April 16, 2020 10:21 AM PDT
    • 1281 posts
    April 16, 2020 10:28 AM PDT

    Brooks said:

    One thing they could do to help with the pledge amounts, and the cost to complete the game is to move from Carlsbad, CA to a state like KY or Iowa... The Average median income there is 150k, thereby making everything in that area more expensive.  To pay their developers a wage that's a good living in that area you are taking a significant amount of money.  https://www.incomebyzipcode.com/california/92009

    They could hire a New starting salary Software Engineer in Louisville, KY for 73k, and one in Carlsbad starts at 90k... That's a 20.8% difference in cost to make the game. Once you are talking experienced personnel that 20% raises drastically. 

    Most of the devs don't live in California.  They're scattered all over the world.

    • 33 posts
    April 17, 2020 11:08 AM PDT

    They are all over and doing other jobs like a dentist?  That's a bit scary...  

    • 200 posts
    April 17, 2020 11:31 AM PDT

    Brooks said:

    They are all over and doing other jobs like a dentist?  That's a bit scary...  

     

    Initially it was concerning, but he addressed it. I'm personally not worried about it.

     

    • 888 posts
    April 17, 2020 1:16 PM PDT
    @dorotea-
    I'm suggesting beta access buddy codes. Alpha and pre-alpha aren't a good idea because the idea is to get more people interested and those stages of development are too buggy and incomplete, which could leave a negative impression. Plus, by the time beta rolls around, we are close to launch and most potential investors have already ponied up. The beta buddy accounts could be further limited to require the benefactor account be logged in. The beta buddy accounts wouldn't require setting up an account with a credit card, so the people who are off-put by that would still be available to try the game. Plus, this adds beta numbers which helps stress testing. And giving these beta buddies the chance to convert their account to a paid supporter would be a good way for VR to gauge how on-the-fence gamers are reacting to Pantheon.
    • 114 posts
    April 25, 2020 2:40 PM PDT

    I have the original Pathfinder's from the KS/1st website: really love everything about it.

     

    + I've wondered what the Taurokian horse looks like. Hopefully I can ride it at level 1.  Distance myself from the 'masses'.  ;-)

    + The illusion clickie (not potions) will be of.  a frog? a dark elf?  maybe a tree - the ultimate stealth option.

    + plan to save the Unique Tunic and hopefully there's a way to display it in any housing feature. 

    + love the lifetime subscription of course.

    + plan to frame up the postcard you (VR) send.

    + also plan to frame up the cloth map you (VR) send.

    + and been wondering too what a Astral Guide Pet looks like?  a wisp ball?  a banshee like floating spectre?

    + Get to start the game off right with a back pack.  Oh yeah time to loot up and cash out.

     

    - don't care about that SOTA cross game promition.

    - additional character slot.  I only play one character ever.  nice though but /shrug.

    - 2 digital copies of the game.  Do I have friends I'm not aware of?  

    • 3852 posts
    April 28, 2020 7:49 AM PDT

    ((Initially it was concerning, but he addressed it. I'm personally not worried about it.))

     

    It certainly is nothing to worry about but it also means that many of the things they say can give an extremely misleading impression (while being totally accurate and honest) if read without this knowledge in mind.

    You average person will look at "We have a staff of X" as a strong sign that a significant amount of money is being spent, and the investors must have a really good reason to think the game will launch and throw out some profits or they wouldn't be making this investment.

    If the staff is all part time and some very periodic (e.g. consulted once every week or two for 5 minutes) it turns out that "a staff of X" may be the equivilent of "We have x/20 full time employee equivilants".

    To me this is the relevance - VR's resources are quite likely a small percentage of those that could be imlied by "we have a staff of X".

    • 71 posts
    April 29, 2020 3:50 AM PDT

    Ezrael said:

    I have a Champion's pledge right now as I am excited about the project, I want to take part in the Alpha and I'd like to see it succeed.

    Nothing above this pledge level interests me though, but I would like to contribute more to the project to help it get the cash injection that would be more valuable now.

     

    What would interest me would be the ability to pre-purchase gametime now, if I could buy an extra year of subscription time now it benefits me in the future and benefits VR now by providing an injection of extra cash when it's more valuable during development to help the project succeed and launch sooner, rather than subscription cash only coming in later after launch.

     

    Agreed. Seems like a big jump. I'm also torn between helping the game along by pledging more and the fact that without knowing even a genral road map of release times, that I should actually invest more.

    I'm not holding them to numbers, but I may pledge more if I knew Alpha would even happen in next 6 months. I know they don't want to get caught or be held to saying something, but honestly, the less they say we won't give a time, the more I tend to ignore the game and less likley to invest.

    • 1273 posts
    April 29, 2020 6:20 AM PDT

    Purchasing game time early would be my preference as well.  It's just like buying gift cards, not sure why they're opposed to it but there must be a reason.

    • 4 posts
    April 29, 2020 8:19 AM PDT

    Lakland said:

    Agreed. Seems like a big jump. I'm also torn between helping the game along by pledging more and the fact that without knowing even a genral road map of release times, that I should actually invest more.

    I'm not holding them to numbers, but I may pledge more if I knew Alpha would even happen in next 6 months. I know they don't want to get caught or be held to saying something, but honestly, the less they say we won't give a time, the more I tend to ignore the game and less likley to invest.

    Like you, I've invested in Visionary Realms and in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. Although many will disagree, I don't see any value in VR providing a development roadmap to anyone outside of the organization. This is based on experiences with other investments and details of failed developments. When roadmap goals are not met, it fuels arguments and accusations about everything from mismanagement to not meeting pledge promises. For example, if there was an announcement made that Alpha testing would start no later than December of this year, and the goal was not met, some that have pledged for a package that contains alpha testing would become irritated, impatient and somewhat bad-tempered. We would likely hear threats of litigation and many rants demanding a refund. This discontent in the community wouldn't be in the best interest of anyone. Remember that the game has, and will continue to be, in development for some time, so some people may lose interest and that's okay.

    It is evident that the community is anxious for the opportunity to test and it's logical that not knowing when they will get the opportunity can be annoying. VR has divulged only that Pre-Alpha 5 will begin sometime in 2020 and have not announced if this is to be the last Pre-Alpha round. As for your investment decision; it may be best to invest more only if you believe that this will be a game that you will enjoy and that the return for your investment will be obtained. No guarantees, no assurance. Hang in there and don't let the development wait time discourage you. Alpha may not be here as soon as we'd like, but it will happen!


    This post was edited by Veynos at April 29, 2020 8:21 AM PDT
    • 724 posts
    May 4, 2020 5:57 AM PDT

    I saw this mention in a thread in the guild discussion forum, and think it would be a great perk for a pledge: The ability to reserve a guild name.

    Probably should be tied to certain conditions (like, must form the guild within x months of the game launching) to prevent abuse or hoarding of guild names tho.

    • 810 posts
    May 13, 2020 3:17 AM PDT

    Better late than never, Pantheon must be rubbing off on me :D

    I don't care about hitting a new pledge rank and honestly dislike ingame fluff.  I will buy something I see the value for even if I know I am risking the money overall and paying a premium price for it well in advance of the game. 

     

    My ideal purchase would be to simply be to buy monthly subscription in advance to my account.  I would be capping out at a single year for myself.  As in I give you $20 for 1 more month of subscription. 

    Sell giftable watchers pledges.  While you would need site alterations to allow it to work smoothly, I could see giving them to a number of people I play dnd with.  If they signed up and got interested, they may upgrade from watchers to alpha or beta access.  Just give me a game key like number I can share easily or region locked if necessary.  By this I mean let them sign up whenever they want. (Happy birthday buddy... yeah, still a year out at least... well thats when I gift you beta access, this way its two gifts!)

    If you had a market with them available I would buy a cloth map similar to the one I had from EQ.  Nostalgia trip that would get framed.

     

     


    This post was edited by Jobeson at May 13, 2020 3:22 AM PDT
    • 2 posts
    May 15, 2020 7:01 PM PDT

    I pledged because I wanted to play a game like what was advertised in Brad's & VR's vision, like Vanguard & EQ.  Because, I supported the idea and effort, the only other bonus I valued was a chance to play or test before release.

    I'd pledge more if I had consistent, solid evidence that a timeline of development, features & aligned funding was made available and being adhered to.  It was one thing to support the vision, but for me to invest more I want to see a timelined plan, and some history of stickign to it.

    • 346 posts
    May 15, 2020 11:26 PM PDT

    Brooks said:

    They are all over and doing other jobs like a dentist?  That's a bit scary...  

    As WarKnight said, he addressed it and it's no longer a concern, at least on my end.

    https://pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/11184/introducing-our-all-new-bi-weekly-video-newsletters/view/post_id/217304