Manouk said:Chris sharelinked some theme music. Then forums got started and I lurked in forums and realized- there were alot of people in the forums posting fairly regularly, like a community. So I joined just for forums. Then, I realized what they were trying to do and rebuild and I decided to contribute what was considered the norm for monthly subs, and additionally what I would pay a month for what they envisioned, on top of the forums. My thinking was: as a start up, sure, chunks of money are valuable to calculate "burn rate" as they say in Silicon valley sit-com but also I thought a consistent regular flow of reliable income is also valuable. Maybe not as much but still valuable.
Thank you @Manouk for your ongoing financial support for Pantheon! You went above and beyond the call of duty. A brotha's gotta eat, and without food on the table, our developers would never be able to make the game.
eunichron said:Removing/changing those elements are what made me finally pledge. The game as it was pitched was just EverQuest 1.5. What they showed was even worse than that, it was EverQuest in a new skin. If the team launched the game they pitched today it would flop just as hard as the Kickstarter did. I pledged when I was certain the design of the game had evolved enough from EverQuest/Vanguard so as not to be another re-adaptation or remaster of a game I've already played.
@eunichron, you bring up a very good point. Just because the design of a game changes and evolves over time doesn't mean that the finished product will be worse. In fact, it could be even better! I'm hopeful that this will be the case with Pantheon.
Also, I respect VR for "swinging for the fences". So many games these days are timid, playing it safe -- BORING! I'm reminded of the Kevin Costner character from the movie Tin Cup, when he deliberately loses an important golf match, just so that he can achieve that one perfect shot. VR may not have the resources to achieve the entire scope of their original vision, but I'm delighted to see them even make the attempt. And just because we probably won't get everything at launch doesn't mean that the rest can't be patched in later.
The CohCarnage stream a week or two ago. I'd been follwoing it since the beginning and never really had the funds to pledge anything and really, supporting game development was not my cup of tea. But when I saw that footage of the cave I saw the game heading in the right direction. The thing I really liked was climbing! How many times did I feel like as a thief I should be able to climb up that wall to get into that window. Now I can!
Mauvais_Oeil said:With the growing years and passing of Brad they made numerous monthly videos that helped to know them and show that their passion was running and intact, shaping pantheon into what would be a modern quality MMO's with core values passing from the Everquest Legacy, which is exactly what it should be.
@Mauvais_Oeil, it's interesting how the personality and values of a company's founder can "infuse" that company and it's products even after his passing. Steve Job's passion (obsession?) for excellence infused Apple products, and made people not just like them, but LOVE them. Brad McQuaid's EverQuest is STILL being played more than 20 years after its launch and is adored. I'm thankful that Brad's vision and passion have been infused into VR, and will be manifested in Pantheon.
WarBow said:The CohCarnage stream a week or two ago. I'd been follwoing it since the beginning and never really had the funds to pledge anything and really, supporting game development was not my cup of tea. But when I saw that footage of the cave I saw the game heading in the right direction. The thing I really liked was climbing! How many times did I feel like as a thief I should be able to climb up that wall to get into that window. Now I can!
I know, right? Climbing is one of the cooler aspects of the game. It will add to the immersion, of making Terminus feel like a real place. It will also provide opportunities for player driven experiences. For example, in TBC WoW, my guildies would have competitions in the Karazhan raid to see who could climb the highest on a particular statue. Had nothing to do with gear progression or anything, but damn it was a lot of fun.
And chances are that in Pantheon, if you can climb that wall and enter that window, there will be something very interesting (and probably deadly!) inside of it.
Kilsin said:This topic has been promoted for my CM content, please continue the discussion and have fun! :)
"Hot Topic - What was it that convinced you to pull the trigger? How did you hear about Pantheon and why did you decide to follow or support us? https://seforums.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/13192/what-was-it-that-convinced-you-to-pull-the-trigger #MMORPG #CommunityMatters"
These are two separate events for me as I think is the case for many of us. I heard about Pantheon years ago and followed it loosely as it was being developed. Between the news of a major investor, streams showing progress, and not wanting to miss out on Alpha I decided to pledge at the beginning of this year. I think between the official Pantheon streams and the abundant coverage from fans is what really caused me to pledge as the amount of information pushed me into thinking this was going to make it to production.
Everquest was my first real gameing experience and have never really found anything that was even close to the emotional committment that game evoked. My introduction to pantheon was a Baz interview with brad , was no real information but the excitement and passion was evident. Delayed pledging mainly because of the us dollar to aussie dollar , but my missus finally told me to put up or shut up , so I did. Really thought it would fizzle when Brad passed but Joppa is the man , have never been so impressed with a point man , and the team around him is great. Could write a book on this but will end simply on , cannot wait to play.
I didn't pledge until 2016 but I had already been following for 3 or 4 years and had been waiting to see more before I donated.
During that time in 2016 VR made an announcement that the pledge costs were about to increase and this was the last chance to get in at the current cost tier.
I guess I'm a sucker becaus I took the bait The FAQ had recently changed from saying the following so maybe I should have seen it coming? :
"Our goal is to be in alpha by the end of 2015, in beta during 2016, and to release the game in 2017."
To saying:
"Our goal is to be in alpha and beta testing at some point during 2017. The launch date is to be determined."
I thought it had already had its setback and it was a good time to get an alpha pledge at the cheaper cost before the price hike happened and alpha would be out within the next year.
Looking at it now feels bad.
I'm trying to remember...I think it awas 2015 or 2016 when I heard about this game. At the time I was (loosely) playing Eve and (very casually) playing FFXIV, and had quit WoW entirely, while I was going to nuke school in the Navy. I was pretty busy at the time, but had somehow heard about this, probably from some forum somewhere or other. In any case, reading about it, it seemed like a game I wanted to see come out someday. A game with community, but thhat wasn't hard against players doing their own thing. Something more sandboxy, but not completely devoid of structure. And most importantly, something that prized a community and social aspects.
I was cautious about it, since I'd been burned by EQN, but there seemed to be more substance here, so I got the lowest level pledge at the time. Once they put out a gameplay stream showing there was actually a game here - albeit in an early state - I upgraded to (I think it was...) Knight. And I kept watching. Finally, we got to see some serious gameplay, the game seemed to show contiunous progress, and I became more and more convinced this was something that COULD, indeed, launch someday - there's basically already a game there to play, it's just incomplete; this is far more than EQN ever had going for it with the tech demo they kept showing over and over of that same video with the lion warrior and the female human mage... - and, the really big thing, the Devs stopped playing things QUITE as close to the chest and started being much more open with the supporters/community, and that got me to go Champion. It's one of the things I love about FFXIV is the Devs are open and honest with the community. This is HUGE. The amount of goodwill that brings cannot be overstated in importance, and should be the model of game Devs everwhere and how they should conduct themselves and interact with the community. Their lead Dev even wrote a release a few weeks ago amid the game's massive player surge and server clogging appologizing to the players for the game being too successful, basically, outlining what they're trying to do to get more servers up and increase capacity.
I'm still convinced that, baring something insane, the game is going to come out, as there is a genuine game there and it's farther along than all the scam games ever were. And if not...wel, sunk cost fallacy is a thing, so I'm at least content to have thown my few copper at it. No great game will come out if no one's willing to fund them, after all.
My big concern is that if it takes TOO long, it will just lose interest, and as much as we say "If games are really good, people will join them eventually", that tends NOT to happen in reality. Marketing and hype are pretty big deals, and if you watch the Death of a Game series, you can see how many times they've doomed games. My other concern is if the Devs go back to playing things close to the chest. Some secrets are fine, not getting locked in by your own words is fine, but there's a point where openness is hugely important as it engenders trust like nothing else can.
But those concerns aside, I think Pantheon is a game I will want to play, and I've already seen enough to know I'd play it today if it released, even in its incomplete form. That's enough for me.
I played a number of MMO's after Pantheon, but nothing really felt like EQ. The community, the challenge, the important and interconnected role you play in your group, were all missing from those other games. P1999 was great for a while, but playing the same game over again does eventually get old. I pledged the kickstarter because I thought that I would never get the chance to play a game like EQ again. When it failed, I wasn't surprised, but I was sad. I thought it was time to move on. When I heard that Brad and his team were trying again, I was happy to help keep the dream alive. I didn't expect much, but had always kept the faith that things could work out. Today, I feel much more optimistic that something like EQ will be created. The team continues to impress me with their progress and hard work.
papewaio said:Really thought it would fizzle when Brad passed but Joppa is the man , have never been so impressed with a point man , and the team around him is great. Could write a book on this but will end simply on , cannot wait to play.
I've written about this elsewhere, but I truly believe that before Brad passed, he infused his spirit/values into Visionary Realms, just as Steve Jobs did with Apple. Joppa and the rest of the VR team are proudly carrying the torch. From what I've seen of the devstreams, they are committed to making Brad's vision for the game a reality.
philo said:
I thought it had already had its setback and it was a good time to get an alpha pledge at the cheaper cost before the price hike happened and alpha would be out within the next year.
Looking at it now feels bad.
Hang in there, @philo! It's soooooo hard to wait for years at a time. But I have faith in VR, that they will eventually release the game we have been hoping for. Remember that they are a tiny team, working their butts off. How sweet it will be when the day comes that we can log into Pantheon for the first time!
Renathras said:My big concern is that if it takes TOO long, it will just lose interest, and as much as we say "If games are really good, people will join them eventually", that tends NOT to happen in reality. Marketing and hype are pretty big deals, and if you watch the Death of a Game series, you can see how many times they've doomed games. My other concern is if the Devs go back to playing things close to the chest. Some secrets are fine, not getting locked in by your own words is fine, but there's a point where openness is hugely important as it engenders trust like nothing else can.
But those concerns aside, I think Pantheon is a game I will want to play, and I've already seen enough to know I'd play it today if it released, even in its incomplete form. That's enough for me.
@Renathras, I'm less worried about this because there are hundreds of thousands of people who played EverQuest, and not just liked that game, but LOVED it. No other MMO has replicated that style of game. So even if Pantheon doesn't release for another 5 years, I think that people will still be hungering for the community-driven gameplay of a game like Pantheon.
I never played Everquest or Vanguard so when I saw Cohh playing Pantheon a couple years ago I was immediately intrigued. I feel like I missed out on some awesome experiences by never playing those games. That's going to change once Pantheon launches. After the Cohh stream I consumed as much Pantheon content as I could and loved what I was seeing from the team and it's progress. So I took the plunge and decided to pledge.
If I had been following the game from the very start of the project my opinion and view of the progress would probably be very different and I can understand why there are many jaded early backers of Pantheon. I would hope this recent year's speed of progress would encourage early backer's to re-evaluate their opinions of the game. Keep in mind I'm writing "speed of progress" with the complete understanding that VR is a small, indie studio who relies a lot on crowdfunding. Obviously bigger studios with publishers and full funding are going to develop an MMO at a much faster pace.
I played Everquest from launch until real life finally pulled me away. That game provided me some of my best gaming memories. When I saw the news of Brad’s passing come across my new reader, I was taken aback. It’s funny how the passing of someone you never met, who lived thousands of miles away could cause a deep emotional response. I guess that goes to show that shared experiences (be it real or virtual) connect us in strange and fantastic ways.
In the article it mentioned his work on Pantheon, which lead me to do some more research on the game. I initially pledged as a way to help complete Brad’s project, but also a way to say thank you for all of the good times. Since then, I’ve been lurking on the forums, devouring all the updates and news. The community here is the closest thing I’ve found to the experience of early EQ. So since then, I’ve been slowly making what pledges I can afford, hoping to do my part to get this great vision across the finish line!
The main reason was listening to Brad & Joppa during streams. Reading their responses on the forums. Soooo much passion and dedication. I hope the game stays true to the roots. Then throw in a little from Monty (at the time) and then Justin with the lore, yep!
Also, my faith is still strong even with the game restarting a couple times. They have added the right people from the community. Added Saicred, added the crafting guru - Nephele, and the most recent addition, Minus.
Looking forward to Alpha and beyond!
I think I was looking for EQ3 rumors in 2018 and the Youtube algorithm promoted a Cohh stream of Pantheon. I had never watched a video game stream before but watched the entire thing, 3 hours and 15 minutes. It was the rogue video he did in Dec 2016. I obsessively watched every stream I could find, even the extremely old streams with the default Unity characters. After watching and rewatching streams I convinced my wife to let me spring for the $100 pledge. Later I upgraded to Champion.
The things Brad and Cohh were saying as we played helped me to remember what it was like playing EQ2 vanilla. I understood it was more modelled after EQ which was a little more hardcore, but things had changed so much in EQ2 by then I was reminiscing pretty hard and feeling pretty hungry to go back there.
I'm happy still that I donated. And considering how many hours and hours of entertainment I have gotten out of this game already even though it isn't out yet, I would say I pretty much got my money's worth... Even if I could have gotten all that content for free.
Brad & Chris. Brad spoke about the game and it came across as a polished more updated EQ to me. None of the rushing to max level and no hand holding. Bring the game back to a social game where you have to work together and make friends. Sadly I feel like a lot of the pledgers are the sour apples that plaqued everquest. Best time to play EQ was when WoW went live. A ton of the rotten apples left EQ for WoW and I had a good time playing EQ for about a year after that.
Chris because he comes across as having a talent with picking the right music. That to me helps with the whole immersion. I never go by what a streamer has to say. I'm the odd ball in the room. Most people in the world believe any thing they hear if it is on any form of social media. The only steamer I like is Cohh Carnage. I also like Bazgrim when it comes to Pantheon. Other steamers are just hype and bullsh**.
Trust was another reason I pulled the triggered. At the time I felt like Visionary Realm was trustworthy. Sadly most of the trust I had once upon a time is gone after what they did with Project Faerthale ( PF ). After the last DRT they finally took responsiblitity for the mistakes they made. So that help in rebuilding trust. Got away to go, but that was a good start. I'll support them more on low cost items when the new store goes live. If it goes live and stays live.
Grit and passion! I feel like the team has a lot of grit and passion to see this game become a reality and goes live. It has been a bumpy road with a few potholes. They so far IMHO always pick themselves up, dust off the dirt and push forward. I like that.
I have been waiting for the next MMO that I will play to endgame. I have only successfully done this with Vanguard Saga of Heroes so I jumped on the Panthon MMO bandwagon as soon as I knew that Brad McQuaid was behind the game.
Vanguard was the best, it was my first game where I was in a guild and played every day. I soloed until about level 30, but it became too difficult and I searched for a guild. I found one and we grouped every day.
Vanguard is the best game ever.
For me it was the allure of a group centric style MMO with a persistent world that players live in. After doing more research on Pantheon and the dev team I decided I liked their enthusiasm and direction. I've wanted an EQ/Wow vanilla style mmo for a long time. Partly because of nostalgia, but mostly because its one of my favortie style of games. Making friends while exploring a new world while overcoming obstacles is my jam. Most MMOs don't offer this experience and are theme park rides with little deviation. This game is my only hope at the moment.