Just been spending some time trying to be realistic about how many hours I'll be able to play, how often I'll level up, and how much of the world I realistically expect to experience.
I want to go in with realistic expecations so that I can enjoy it and not feel like I'm always playing catch up with those who have seemingly infiinte play time :)
To answer this question for myself I went back and looked at the EQ world maps and list of zones. I played that game for about 2000 hours before the first expansion and I counted the zones I had experienced.
Outdoor zones: 22 out of 35 or 63%
Dungeons: 7 out of 19 or 37%
Raids: 2 out of 5 or 40%
Cities: 4 out of 14 or 29%
If I remember also that those were the best 2000 hours of gaming I've spent so far in my life I can go into Pantheon knowing that I do not have to experience it all to have a blast and create amazing gaming memories.
So here's my question for you - What percentage of the game do you feel like you have to expereince to get what you're hoping for out of Pantheon?
(Note: We do not know how many zones are in Pantheon yet so it's not a super easy question to answer, just use your imagination)
Nephele said:On my first character from 1-50? Hopefully only about a third, or maybe a little more than a third of the world. Obviously post-50, there's more to do, but I'm looking for a big world and additional incentive to set up alts and take different paths through content :)
This.
This is how it was for me in EQ as well with one character leveling up in Qeynos, Blackburrow, the Karanas, and Highpass. Another character in Gfay, Crushbone, LFay, Unrest, Mistmoore. Yet another in Commonlands, Befallen, N.Ro, Oasis, OoT. Then Kunark (the best expansion any MMO has ever had) came out and it was a full 1-60 content release with yet more paths to take.
What both Iksar and Nephele said. I like "alts". Toonlings are so ...cute. More seriously I want to try different races, factions and starting areas. So I would have "alts" even if I only played one class.
I don't want to see too much on character 1 - it would defeat part of the purpose of having character 2, character 3 etc.
Interesting - based on the first few responses that would explain why I only experienced about 40% o f the game. I only played one character that whole time :)
But, that's probably what I'll do in Pantheon too. I tend to stick to one character, have never been into alts much...course it was so easy to level them up I did make an alt in WoW and I ended up splitting my time between two main's in that game. Now I am kinda attached to to both of them (even though I haven't played an MMO for about 15 years), so there is a small chance I play two characters in Pantheon haha.
I'm retired, with very few demands on my time. I'll spend massive amounts of time in Pantheon, and I expect to see most, if not all, the world has to offer... eventually.
Of shared open-world adventure zones? >=95%? If there are 10 shared open-world adventure zones per continent (2 per tier), I expect myself and those in my guild would see most of all 30 before the first expansion.
But maybe 1 will be not worth visiting, so 29/30 wouldn't be too bad. :)
For me this will depend entirely on the non-Combat systems, The crafting, Harvesting systems, entertainment options. Can I build a camp in the woods to hangout or hunt game for skins ect. to sale or use in crafting. will I be able play a lute in a tavern to earn coin in tips.
To me its all about the sandbox and not about the Theme park ride into other zones or dungeons. I’m perfectly content socializing with anyone who pases by or being completely solo for hours on end as I collect herbs for my trade or just to sale.
I think a song by Alabama describes the themepark experiance the best.
“I'm in a hurry to get things done oh I, rush and rush until lifes no fun. All I really gotta do is live and die But I'm in a hurry and don't know why.”
So what percentage do I expect to see? Enough to relax.
Ranarius said:Interesting - based on the first few responses that would explain why I only experienced about 40% o f the game. I only played one character that whole time :)
But, that's probably what I'll do in Pantheon too. I tend to stick to one character, have never been into alts much...course it was so easy to level them up I did make an alt in WoW and I ended up splitting my time between two main's in that game. Now I am kinda attached to to both of them (even though I haven't played an MMO for about 15 years), so there is a small chance I play two characters in Pantheon haha.
I had totally assumed that you must only have played one character, given your stats and it would be totally natural, in EQ anyway, to only see half the world if you didn't play multiple races from each 'side' (good/evil).
Me, I like to experience all the races and classes if I can, so I end up seeing a lot of the world, organically.
I recommend it strongly ;^)
100% of all content released up to the date I eventually stop playing. Given the number of years I usually play these types of games and the number of hours a week I put in, I fully expect to experience everything the game offers. I go back to EQ1 and realize that there was not a single zone, raid, quest, tradeskill that I hadn't experienced across a dozen characters.
Vandraad said:100% of all content released up to the date I eventually stop playing. Given the number of years I usually play these types of games and the number of hours a week I put in, I fully expect to experience everything the game offers. I go back to EQ1 and realize that there was not a single zone, raid, quest, tradeskill that I hadn't experienced across a dozen characters.
Totally agree. 100%.... If Pantheon does what EQ did with PoP when it first came out I'll walk away from this game.
It varied tremendously by class and .. where you ended up at max level in the stream of time.
Caster were just.. so immensely convenient (with just bind and gate, never mind ports) versus melee, that it taints those values tremendously.
IMO, EQ1, being essentially a dikumud GUI, had MUD levels of grind. Those.. are.. hm, how to put this.. punitive? In todays MMO market?
For example, most popular MUDs, you can, if desired, expand the breadth and depth of a single character to encompass almost all game loops/spheres. No matter how ridiculous they might be.
Crafting and non-combat in general permits that. Having thins like mining, lapidary, gemcutting, knapping, stoneworking, masonry, etc, etc for a SINGLE type of crafting focus, with dozens or hundreds of hours required to 'master it' ? All good in a MUD, no-one cares, gameplay > all.
Once the zones were known and the mechanics for attribution of XP were figured out, people could and did power level in a matter of hours/days from 1-50. But that didn't let you see all the zones. It let you see exactly these specific zones with the best ZEM, the fastest respawn, and the highest mob density.
Having many dozens of DAYS played was normal in EQ1, prior to Kunark. If you actually work out the math, it's hundreds and hundreds of hours.
To date, no-one (that I've seen) on these forums has the line-in-the-sand/"this far, no further!" hard requirement that if you don't need to spend 1000 hours on a char, they're not playing Pantheon.
On the contrary, even the most 'hardcore' to date rarely exceed the 300 hour mark. Well.. crap.. that's like.. a month @ 10 hours a day. From an EQ1 perspective? It's nothing. It's trivial. Which many people are more than willing to put into Pantheon to get to max level (lawyer-speak/weasel-words aside) as quickly as possible.
My recollection is: for melee it was dozens or hundreds of days played to reach max level in EQ1. Casters were less. But as a Caster, I saw all the zones, without fear, and with complete convenience. Invis, SoW, Bind, Recall, Gate. They just made everything so much easier. As a melee, I was a second class citizen, and my travel time was surgical, unless I wanted to be port-poor.
I don't think we'll be going back to the >=500-1000 hr 1-50 play times.
I seriously want to play at least one of every race and 8 of the classes. A few other classes aren't super interesting though I'll probably get around to them. But I may never play a Summoner or Necro simply because I don't like pets hehe.
So I'd say that I expect to see 60% in the first 2-3 years and 80% or more if the game lasts 5 years, but I might not hit 100% even after 10 years.
I think it's awesome that when people really think about this they are being honest about their answers. The reason it's interesting to me is because there are so many threads/posts about people worried they might miss something in this game. Most people are going into it not even expecting to experience it all, yet most people are also afraid they'll miss something. For me, knowing that I won't experience it all makes it so much easier to accept the fact that I'll probably miss some things...and not only accept the fact, but start to understand that it is a GOOD thing that we'll all miss things.
When I started EQ1 it was when Kunark had already come out and since I created an Iksar and only played Iksar afterward it was hard to go places in the original three continents. That being said, what places I did experience I enjoyed greatly ( favorite old world zone was Oasis of Marr). To me, it's not exactly about seeing everything single place (although I would like to) but to just enjoy where I'm at. Since I'll be playing at launch though I ideally hope to see at least 50%. I might even create an alt to see more although I dont normally do that.
A good portion.
If I travel somewhere, I hope I am lead there for a reason (quest) and while there, discover other things. If it keeps me there or spurns me on that is fine. If I end up elsewhere and meet others, I would like to be shown areas by others who are in the middle of their quests. Likewise if I am in my home, range of area, and I needed others I would show them what I was needing help with and show them places and their nuances. It would be my turn to tell the story of the area as I leared it from quests/ lore etc.
As Pantheon isn't out there's no way for me to meaningfully speculate. I do, however, think its a very nice thing that there area areas and/or dungeons in the world I've never been to and can't easily do so. Combined with real vanilla, private servers and classic wow I've easily played 15,000+ hours of vanilla wow and I still have never been to Naxx. Its something I technically could do but I don't have the time/motivation to make it happen. For me its nice that there's still something unexplored in the game after that insane amount of time /played. I wouldn't mind if certain things are heavily gated behind gear/skill/attunements/in-game money etc.