Recent Entries

• Much to do About Pantheon -- CCO update

  by Aradune October 4, 2019
  Introduction -- version 2.0 This document began as simple answer to a question on FB.  Then something hit me, an epiphany is too strong a word, but I was inspired, and I needed to write about what Pantheon truly brings to online gaming.  The target audience are people new to the community...
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• Very fast, even for me, commentary on Instancing

  by Aradune October 2, 2019
  Quick Instancing Reply I made on FB involving future systems that don't make sense to implement until alpha/beta; That means, you got it, none of this is set in stone.  Doug Spitler My only concern is the neckbeard guilds locking down content. Then you get into the instanced vs non insta...
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• Pantheon, PvP, launch vs. post.launch

  by Aradune October 2, 2019
  Pantheon, PvP, launch vs. post.launch Posted by Aradune Oct 2 - Filed in Player Journal - #PVP  #PvE  - 1,738 views PvP in Pantheon Especially in resposne to the polls and data that EQ’s choice of optional PvP was part of it winning big https...
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• Unity, MMOs, and Pantheon

  by Aradune June 18, 2019
  Unity, MMOs, and Pantheon (originally from a post I made on YouTube in reaction to Bazgrim’s video on the subject) Unity has been fantastic. It allowed us to start with virtually nothing -- we could download art assets, we could use built in code like UI, gameplay, network, shaders, etc. But...
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• Community, Content, and Alternate Rulesets

  by Aradune November 2, 2017
  A post I inserted into a great thread about Alternate Ruleset Realms ------------------- Great thread, great ideas!   I really think the idea of alternate rule-set servers/realms, while dabbled with, have never (yet) reached their true potential.  I think the idea that you make a co...
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• Matchmaking systems, what we're up to, and why. Part 1

  by Aradune October 30, 2017
  There will be multiple systems -- too early to break them down.  The matchmaking I thought was important enough to bring up now.  Rewarding people for mentoring also worth mentioning now.  Of course there will be an LFG tool, and much more than that -- a Looking for Friends tool, or, ...
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• Situational Gear / Inventory Management

  by Aradune September 16, 2017
  From a post from a great thread on siutational gear, inventory magagement, and other related issues.  I wasn't able to address every question and concern, but did reply to the OP.  I don't think there's anything super new here and I've certainly posted and talked about this stuff in the pa...
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• Sandbox vs. Themepark

  by Aradune September 16, 2017
  Although I've addressed whether Pantheon is more sandbox or themepark (or vice versa) before, I recently had the opportunity to make this post and it's actually not terribly verbose (which is progress for me) so why not put it up here as well: -------------- I totally agree there's a serious deart...
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• Want went wrong? WoW? 'WoW-Killers' or a general lack of guts?

  by Aradune July 17, 2017
  (In response to a post thanking us for taking on a much needed MMO Course Correction -- 7/17/2017) Thanks for the kind words and encouragement! Much appreciated. Although I don't think the entire future of the MMO genre is resting on our shoulders, I do believe we are at a significant crossroads: a...
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• We want details and specifics! Please explain in detail....

  by Aradune July 11, 2017
  (Note: this was posted in response to members of the community wanting more concrete and specific detail behind spells/abilities memorization, slots, re-memming, etc.  I'm posting it here as well because a lot of the philosophy and logic I try to convey in response to questions regarding this s...
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• How to get through to people who just don't get it

  by Aradune May 3, 2017
  This is sort of a part two to the 'How to Respond to Skeptics' post I made over a year ago.  I just posted it on mmorpg.com in response to, let's just say a couple of posters not playing well with each other.  One was attacking the Pantheon community, saying that they were defensive, intol...
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• Sunsetting an MMO

  by Aradune August 16, 2016
  Sunsetting an MMO (a member of the community asked me about my views on Sunetting an MMO.  Unfortunately, some really big games have been sunsetting in recent years, or at least their focus and revenue models, both of which drastically change the developer's priorities and where they focus the...
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• Pantheon: New Features and New Players

  by Aradune April 26, 2016
  * Regarding discussing new features, bringing in new players, helping new players while keeping the game challenging, etc. AKA Onboarding * So, I absolutely don't mind the questions, commentary, and concerns -- in fact, I welcome them.  I think there does come a time with certain proposed syst...
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• How to respond to skeptics....

  by Aradune February 29, 2016
  This has come up here and on other sites, and so I put this together and wanted to make sure I posted it here.  Many Pantheon supporters find themselves frustrated when trying to answer posts made by those who are skeptical of the game, its tenents, its core mechanics, and its target audience. ...
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• Old Ideas and features to address potential problems...

  by Aradune February 22, 2016
  In response to older ideas, ideas to address problems that we may or may not run into in beta, and rules vs. player freedom: ------------- We aren't really throwing out any of our ideas, even the older ones.  If it makes sense to work on them now, we do and test it and see how we like it.&nbs...
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• Grinding -- Good or Bad?

  by Aradune February 22, 2016
  Grinding is one of those tough topics to discuss because the term means different things to different people (like meaningful travel, camping, etc.) Until we would all agree as to what it means for the purpose of this discussion, we'll see some posts saying 'yeah, no grinding!' and then just as man...
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• My response to Smed's stepping down....

  by Aradune July 25, 2015
  Daybreak’s John Smedley steps down as chief executive officer   Obviously I'm not going to talk about recent events, etc.  I honestly haven't hung out with Smed for a while.  So I definitely don't have an 'inside scoop' or anything like that (and, even if I did, it still pro...
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• Does a core group of gamers really change or go away?

  by Aradune July 25, 2015
  The debate over casual gamers vs. hard core gamers, or free to play vs. subscription, or what's really an MMORPG, etc... it rages on.  Why?  Because these are real issues relating to where MMOs came from and where they are going.  People, regardless of what side they are on, are passi...
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• From a comment on Facebook....

  by Aradune August 24, 2014
  From Facebook: Mathew Chilton : Brad McQuaid , not often I get to do stuff like this. Had a discussion at school today and had the teacher ask how I became such an open minded and well adjusted individual. I got to tell them about Everquest  Tell them how the huge diverse p...
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• State of the Game 7/9/14

  by Aradune July 9, 2014
  (this came from a post on another site where I was addressing an assertion being made, but ended up making a segue into the state of the game and the plan over the next 8+ months.  My plan was to post that part here as a blog, so here it is).   My goal has been to keep Pantheon alive no ...
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• WarWizards & Gameplay

  by Aradune May 21, 2014
  -- work in progress -- 1. The player will encounter WarWizards, usually on an epic-level quest.  They will assist the WarWizard, and the WarWizard may assist them in certain battles.   2. In some epic-level quests, the player's character will temporarily (so as not to cause a balance pr...
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• Quests -- more quality than quantity

  by Aradune May 21, 2014
  stub -- to be worked on soon.   general premise:  fewer quests, but bigger more higher quality quests (think epic quests, etc) no quest hubs.  quests are not primarily how you gain exp and level (see the Achievement system). but that is not to say that quests won't be important to...
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• Achievement System

  by Aradune May 21, 2014
  NOTE:  System still in development and subject to change/tweaks.   General concept:  This doesn't work like your typical achievement system in that it's integral to the game and character advancement.   In a nutshell, whatever level and tier you are, you will be able to bring...
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• Levels & Tiers - More horizontal content

  by Aradune May 21, 2014
  stub -- work in progress -- 
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• Zone Layout / Zone Types

  by Aradune May 21, 2014
  --- work in progress ---  EQ: City 14 Dungeon 13 Outdoor 28 More likely for Pantheon, far fewer cities and more dungeons: City 4 Dungeon 23 Outdoor 28 Allow people to teleport from city to city to keep friends together.  No more "your friend chooses one race, you choose the o...
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• Travel System

  by Aradune May 20, 2014
  stub -- to be worked on soon --   will include all forms of travel and how they work together, even if we don't ship with all of them at launch.   Types being considered:   1. Walking 2. Horseback 3. Ship 4. Limited Teleportation   This also will tie into the types of ...
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• Multi-colored Mana

  by Aradune May 20, 2014
  some notes/brainstorming:   1. Each archetype would primarily use a particular mana color; clerics and crusaders would be white; arcane magic red; etc.   2. There would be special prayers and spells one could find that might use a different color or combination of colors.  For exa...
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• Screenshots & Movie!!!

  by Aradune April 30, 2014
  Hundreds of screenshots from varoius Pantheon builds since we started working until the present: https://www.facebook.com/pantheonrotf Please let us know what you think.  They are pre-pre-alpha, but the community, especially those who donated money to the project, deserve to see what all was ...
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• What should we care about most?

  by Aradune April 30, 2014
  This is from a thread -- I thought it was worth putting here too: One member said, in regards to the screenshots: Looking at some of the uber cartoony look it made me wonder. Why not beat Blizzard at their own game? Make a great MMO but graphically go with that cartoony look. Everyone is going for...
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• Sample High Level Design (Climates)

  by Aradune April 3, 2014
  Climate High Level Design Document (HLDD)   Climates, Climate Types, Affect Types   A Climate is a type of 3DS (a defined three dimensional area of space in a zone, much like it was in Vanguard).  A Climate has a name/description.  It has data that describes a particular Clim...
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• Twinking... good or evil, or in-between?

  by Aradune March 25, 2014
  (Ok, this is from a post.  I'm going to work on it as a blog further, but am putting up what I have now.  This came from the forum where we talk about what might happen in the game, not what is set in stone.  How we will handle twinking is still up in the air at this point, which is w...
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• My sit-rep

  by Aradune March 24, 2014
  (I put this on my FB page, but I figured I should put any sit-reps here too)   Ah, good stuff -- here's a quick sit-rep for me:1. I just finished up a pretty cool interview -- it should be out over the next week or so. There was a bit of a lull there with interviews, but now Ben's on it and t...
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• Consumables & Combat -- tedious or tactical?

  by Aradune March 16, 2014
  (posted elsewhere -- re-posted here because I think it's an important glimpse into Pantheon and our combat system)   IMHO some of you may be confusing implementation with idea.  i agree there have been bad (and good) consumable implementations in MMOs and MUDs.  Just because you hav...
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• State of the Game

  by Aradune March 13, 2014
  Hi all, I know Salim has been doing his best to keep you all apprised as to what's going on, but I thought that I should chime in as well. First, please understand that the majority of the team are working on the game itself, and it's paramount that they do so.  Here is a list of what's being...
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• Why Charge for Forum Access?

  by Aradune March 1, 2014
  Why Charge for Forum Access?   The following is what I posted on a message board in response to the assertion that we shouldn’t charge for access to our forums on www.pantheonrotf.com.   I took some time in responding so I was thinking – why just post it there? Why not make...
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