Caffeineinjected said:So I was watching the panthen plus Community Matters live stream yesterday and something they discussed is something I've always thought about as well with regards to Video Game development.
Did Visionary Realms open up about Pantheon it's races, it's characters, it's lore ... too soon?
The game was announced on January 13, 2014. It's been in pre-alpha since December 12th, 2017.
Now this post is in no way meant to bash Visionary Realms. I like the company very much (so far). However, there are things to consider when you are trying to make an MMORPG of some merit.
The hype train can derail and derail fast - When you cover a massive game such as an MMO that has a complex array of in game systems you have to to a juggling act. Everyone knows that MMO fans are very fickle. What may please one doesn't seem to please another. So when developing an MMO it's prudent to set your expections internally. You will tell your core team "This is what we are making. This is our sweet spot. This is the market segment we are trying to address." It's easy to lose sight of your initial goals when the train drags on and on.Commiting too soon - Stating mechanics of classes or core game systems or even phase/release deadline dates. Pantheon had said it would be in an Alpha state before the end of 2018. They obviously missed this date and for a good reason. They are trying to get the game to a state it should be in for an Alpha release. However, that can me one small blemish on their record.
Involving the community too much - This was a huge problem for WildStar. They were really the first developer of a large scale MMO to open the gates way early and allow the community to have an impact on the development of the game. In my mind this was a massive mistake as the combat system suffered from their desire to satisfy a community that of course would want all kinds of features. Tab targeting, lock on, mouselook, telegraphs. In the end the combat system was an amalgum of systems that felt klunky and not polished. You have to be very careful of losing focus of your initial internal expectations for your project.
Having large droughts in communication - In an effort to get funding many games will release a lot of information all up front. However, now they have nothing left to really say. They are in full development and can only give tidbits out to the community. This eventually leads to dissillusionment and a feeling of a loss of trust. Remember what I said, MMO players are some of the most fickle and impatient of all players. Keep in mind the average development time of an mmo is usually around 5 years. Pantheon was announced in 2014 so patience can be waning.
These are just a few things I could go on and on but I thought it would be interesting to hear other's feedback. I'm sure we'll have the devout the Pantheon fan boys/girls immediately bash any negativity towards their jewel of the nile but again I'm not trying to bash Visionary Realms but point out that care needs to be taken when dealing with a beast that is the MMORPG.
~ CaffeineInjected ~
i felt vr was struggling to get the publicity initially. at the time, i was looking at ashes of creation and pantheon as a choice of mmo to go to. (coming from daoc, beta wow -stopped at cata-, swtor-1 year or so-, ff14-the first release not the rerelease-, eso -beta and a year plus after- currently playing bdo, but not really >.>)
lore, class/race design, and a working concept is very important. of the three things, vr showcases that they are serious about pushing a high quality product in a timely manner. just look at intrepid's lore, class/race design description and they don't even have a working concept.
i would not put money into a company solely based on hype. an atrocity would be cloud imperium.
from vr's perspective, brad mcquaid probably wanted to lowkey it for a bit, but internally i would speculate they needed to generate more income because the market is primed for pantheon. i'm assuming it was chris rowans decision spotlight the game so they could garner personal crowd funding, which is an intelligent move.
timing windows are much narrower for mmo games to successfully breakthrough.
wow is on the decline.
new mmos on release are filled with garbage lootboxes and cash shops.
triple a publishers are bleeding money and players.
it's a perfect storm.
I do not think VR did anything wrong and they were pretty transparent about the schedules and communication and avoiding mistakes of the past in MMO development.
The potential player perspective of trying to keep the excitement going for such a long period of time is a legitimate concern that sadly no efforts by VR can resolve. If they actually tried to combat this issue then they run the risk of overpromising, offering vaporware, or any other accusations that could be leveled. The streams and info they have been releasing have been enough to tantalize and show that the core functionality of a playable game (streams) as well as the advancement in systems and graphics that the final product will not be stuck behind the times when it finally comes out. It can also be easy to compare the initial release to MMOs that have been out for multiple years with the subsequent development hours that have been spent.
Would I love this game to be out now? Absolutely, but not if it is rushed.