@Flapp and others:
It's interesting to observe how well pessimistic convictions go hand-in-hand with "they don't tell us anything about what is going on". You don't know anything solid about the situation, but that doesn't stop you from forming strong opinions on how terribly things are progressing and uttering them repeatedly -- to potential harm for the Pantheon project.
The biggest mistake you make is to confuse absence of proof with proof of absence (paraphrasing Bazgrim). None of us knows how much have been done but not revealed, and speculations lead nowhere. The only thing you can say with any weight is that apparently things are taking longer than you expected and therefore you're loosing patience. So maybe the problem is your expectations rather than VR's progress?
I remain optimistic because I sense -- based on the evidence we do have -- that VR are in no hurry at all. They take their time and focus on quality before quantity, which is something only a sufficiently funded project group would allow themselves. It's when they begin to rush things and cut corners that you should begin to worry about the money situation.
Like you, I may be wrong, but stating my loosely founded assessment cannot hurt the Pantheon project.
disposalist said:The difference between the pessimists and the optimists are the pessimists are assuming the worst with no real basis and the optimists are *not* assuming the best, but are just trusting the devs aren't liars and cheats.
Flapp said:...New potential pledgers look at the forums ... are like, ya... never mind...
It's good that you recognise that pessimistic posts are likely to damage potential investment. I wish people would take that into account more when posting. It can only hurt the game and the community.
If all you have is pessimism, then maybe take a break from the forums. Really, is there any worthwhile purpose in the negativity?
Expressing ones self can have a liberating effect. Can help let loose some steam and make one feel better for getting it out. I am a firm believer in free speech whether or not I agree with said speech. But I do agree, it serves no greater purpose to the game at large.
With that said, we have to remember this is a small team. They have a large scope and much of that scope is systems work. Sure there is a lot of art and design that needs done as well, but that is not really something that you give away during development (if you know everyone every corner of the game, whats the point of buying it to log in later?). With systems intact, it is really just art at that point.
So we get bits and pieces of that art shown to us. The fact remains that we do not know the full progress of what is done, whats nearly done, whats far from done, whats not even started yet. We can infer from the videos that they have a, b, c done (or at least portions done). But, just because we do not see d through z does not mean there is not progress done on it or even completed behind the scenes.
@Kil I know you guys are pretty private when it comes to showing stuff about where you guys are at in progress, but this is one of those times I would humbly suggest throwing us a bone to shut the door on vaporware claims.
disposalist said:The difference between the pessimists and the optimists are the pessimists are assuming the worst with no real basis and the optimists are *not* assuming the best, but are just trusting the devs aren't liars and cheats.
Flapp said:...New potential pledgers look at the forums ... are like, ya... never mind...
It's good that you recognise that pessimistic posts are likely to damage potential investment. I wish people would take that into account more when posting. It can only hurt the game and the community.
If all you have is pessimism, then maybe take a break from the forums. Really, is there any worthwhile purpose in the negativity?
Really?
I guess I'm a pessinist? I prefer pragmatist
Well my qualifications are years working in the game industry at a high level. With hundreds of others people from many studios and other games that also worked for years in the game industry.
What are your qualifications?
I am also a fairly new pledge and I get that people who have been waiting 4+ years have different attitudes than those of us who maybe just learned about the game in the last 3 to 6 months. But that's really the only difference, attitude, not facts. I've been exposed to all the same info as anyone else who has been around for 4+ years so it's easier for me to be optimistic, I get that. I also feel slightly guilty about that but there's nothing I can do about that part.
On a side note, ever since I pledged I've been watching the stream of pledgers. I've noticed that on any given day there are anywhere from 3 to 7 new pledges (and maybe more because it doesn't show me the totals). That means since I pledged there have been at least 200 new pledgers. It seems to me that the excitement about this game is growing overall, not waning.
Ranarius said:...
On a side note, ever since I pledged I've been watching the stream of pledgers. I've noticed that on any given day there are anywhere from 3 to 7 new pledges (and maybe more because it doesn't show me the totals). That means since I pledged there have been at least 200 new pledgers. It seems to me that the excitement about this game is growing overall, not waning.
Just curious where you see 3 to 7 new pledges a day?
https://www.pantheonmmo.com/content/members/home off to the right side is "Newest Members" ... I realize they aren't all pledging a ton of money, but it's still an indication of a growing fan base.
disposalist said:It's good that you recognise that pessimistic posts are likely to damage potential investment. I wish people would take that into account more when posting. It can only hurt the game and the community.
If all you have is pessimism, then maybe take a break from the forums. Really, is there any worthwhile purpose in the negativity?
Is there any worthwhile purpose to simply white knighting posts though? Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and sometimes those opinions may differ from what you have but it does not mean they are pointless.
Ok, so I let the speculation and assumption run for long enough so you guys could discuss it but it is just getting silly now, so I am going to lock it down.
Until you work in the industry (and more specifically, for our company) and understand how it all works, it can be hard to look at it from the outside and know that everything is fine when there are big gaps in comms, lulls in updates and periods of news that seem minor or inferior to you but are actually quite major to the company and the games' development.
Clarification on some wild rumours, assumptions, opinions and accusations:
We are not in trouble.
Brad's passing did not stop funding.
We rely on crowdfunding and investment funding. (the more we get the more hires, the faster the work in some areas, not all)
We do not need to hear people telling us the game will fail.
Vaporware doesn't mean what you think it does and we have proven countless times that PRF isn't vaporware.
We don't comment on financials or development completion and never have.
A zone is so much more than just art and world-building.
Launching Alpha and Beta will not increase money, it will set development back much further.
PA5 is the next goal and we will announce it when it is ready.
We appreciate the concern but this is another topic being over thought and misunderstood. We love you guys and will release more as it is ready but please stop these threads, they do nothing but create unnecessary fear and concern.
We are in a good place, on track and will release updates as they are ready to go live and in the meantime, we appreciate the patience and support, it means a lot to us :)