asterlea said: I don't care about the money, I read the fine print and knew the risks when I pledged. I don't care about the art style, and think there are good reasons to change it, although it is kind of frustrating that they waited so long before realizing they would need to. I can also imagine the benefits of having a simplified, focused mode of gameplay for testing purposes for a limited time, and was waiting until the letter came out today to explain what's going on with the whole 247 thing. But the explanations we have gotten so far have been horrid. The idea that this mode is somehow going to be monetized to bring in funding doesn't make any sense. How do you even just monetize one "mode" of a game that isn't even a part of the rest of the game without making it a completely different game? You can't. That's just being disingenuous.
And you definitely can't sell it as a "stand-alone title" without it being a completely separate game. If you don't have enough devs to complete the game you're already making, how are you expecting to have enough for two? People aren't going to be paying for 247 in it's current state, that's for sure. I mean, really, the demonstration of the new mode was a joke. It would be fine if it was just a simple thing thrown together for testing purposes, but the idea that this is supposed to be an experience that will bring in hordes of people who don't care about the MMO, but are willing to throw money at this "mode" is ridiculous. From this starting point they would have to put in tons of time and effort to design and create a completely different genre of game that they have no experience with, and no reason to believe that it would somehow be appealing enough to draw in enough money to fund two completely different games. And no, I don't buy that them sharing art assets means that it won't take away from Pantheon's development in a meaningful way. I mean, I guess if all of the code and design for the MMO is complete and your designers and programmers are literally just sitting around waiting for art assets, then fine, let them make an entirely new game with those assets, but something tells me that's not the case here. I realize that they need money to keep going, but this just sounds like a spectacularly bad idea, and it's been presented in a spectacularly bad way. If they honestly think this is a legitimate path to bringing Pantheon to completion, they will need to sell that idea HARD, and not just give us a 7 minute video of an empty world with someone solo-fighting snakes and then ask if there are any. freaking. questions.
I have been following this game hopefully for so long, and this is the first time I've really seen the writing on the wall. I know there are people here who will think that it's my fault for being gullible, but so far the team's always been great about talking about what they're doing and making it seem like they were making progress and hopeful about the future. But these last couple of updates have been completely different and I'm getting the feeling that their heart isn't even in it anymore. Seriously, 15 minutes total of video on these two massive new features, and then being surprised when we're confused or making assumptions? Well yeah, of course we are! You aren't talking to us anymore. I hope the Q&A tonight will change that, but I was hoping the newsletter would too, and that just made me feel worse.
Wow. When I first say a facebook post talking about these changes, I thought it was a troll. The developers need to release something. I wonder if they have content up to level 35? Release that and give us the game already. Ugh, now I’m just speaking out of desperation but this news is greatly disheartening. I wish them luck but I have no fully accepted that the game and gameplay we were sold will not see the light of day.
Man. I have tried to be very hands off with this game since the KickStarter, as I didn't want to hype myself up too much until I got my own hands on it. I didn't want any Vangaurd 2.0 type of situations.
Well... That failed in a different way. This is sounding just like Vangaurd. A sudden "WTF is this ****?" realization, just then it was because VG seemed like a bad WoW Clone. Now, Pantheon is a bad Fortnite clone? I didn't have that on my bingo card!
I can be fine with the graphics style change. As long as the art is good in a appealing way like some of the previous screenshots showed. "Realistic Style" and "Good" are completely independent terms. I love WoW art style (outside of character armor).
If this 247 thing is TRULY a build thats just meant to test the game play loop of combat, and did not take up much resources... I could be fine with that too. But no. I did not pledge to fund that as a game. Nor... do I want the type of people who would like that game to be targeted and tried to be drawn into the spiritual successor of the 20+ year old game I want. That is a COMPLETELY different audience. Its basically trying to mix a bunch of 40 years olds in with a bunch of 8 year olds. WTF? Im fine with people of lower ages enjoying the game I hope to play a ton, but that is just a ridiculous mixing of demographics! And it gives me vibes and fear that it will end up just like when feminists shoved their way into gaming and started trying to redefine it to suit them, and not pre-existing gamers. I would have zero confidence that Patheon would not just end up getting its direction dictated by a bunch of 8 year old Fortnite players instead of classic EQ players!
Anyway. My biggest gripe of this past 10 years has been that... I specifically pledged for Alpha access. I knew MMORPGS had about a 5 year development time. So I expected to be using my Alpha access 5+ years ago. Yet here I am... getting a news letter every month that keeps referencing this made up BS "Pre-Alpha" phase over and over again, as its making me feel like VR is avoiding at all costs giving me and others what we pledged for. I wanted to be a part of shaping this game. That is why I pledged the little money I had then for Alpha access. A phase where the a lot of the redesign gets done. Instead... it seems like VR is treating the Alpha phase as a "Beta" or "Pre-Release Beta". Pre-Alpha is not a real phase used by any developer. The closest thing is Proof of Concept or Prototyping. And 10 years in? Pantheon should be FAR beyond those phases!