Hey everyone,
I recently just saw an update map of Kings Reach and I noticed it looks quite different from the previous map we got a few years back or so and I think it looks fantastic! Now on the site it says its the first of 3 planned continents so I'm assuming at launch there will be 3 continents? And if so then maybe there will be 3 races per continent? It looks like the Elves, Halflings, and Humans are in Kings Reach but have any other race starting zones been confirmed in Kings Reach? I'm curious to know what you all think of this as well! Thanks
So they are doing it like this now. In EQ 2 they did it according to good vs evil.
Qeynos = Good.
Freeport = Evil.
I just hope there is enough playability (plausible cause) for certain races to go to other domains. For instance why on earth would an ogre go to whitethaw or wild's end. Besides a quest, that is.
OmegaBeam said:So they are doing it like this now. In EQ 2 they did it according to good vs evil.
Qeynos = Good.
Freeport = Evil.
I just hope there is enough playability (plausible cause) for certain races to go to other domains. For instance why on earth would an ogre go to whitethaw or wild's end. Besides a quest, that is.
I will be playing most of the good and neutral races. I will be travelling to other continents for harvesting, adventuring and exploration. In addition to whatever VR has in game to encourage us. Pantheon will be a world I want to see all or most of.
drewber2814 said:Hey everyone,
I recently just saw an update map of Kings Reach and I noticed it looks quite different from the previous map we got a few years back or so and I think it looks fantastic! Now on the site it says its the first of 3 planned continents so I'm assuming at launch there will be 3 continents? And if so then maybe there will be 3 races per continent? It looks like the Elves, Halflings, and Humans are in Kings Reach but have any other race starting zones been confirmed in Kings Reach? I'm curious to know what you all think of this as well! Thanks
Others have already answered your first question. In WoW each of the continents felt different. The races that dominated them felt different. From what VR has shown, I've gottent that same feeling about Pantheon's continents....taken up a notch. Each will be a very long unique adventure filled with it's own challenges and mysteries. It's one of the biggest draws for me, exploring a new world.
philo said:Kingreach=Humans,elves, lings (like you mentioned)
Reignfall=Skar, Myr, Ogre
Whitethaw=Archai,Dwarves, Gnomes
Lings may start on Kingsreach, but they will very quickly be swarming the other starting areas. Many players will still be in their starting cities getting equipment when a group of six Lings show up at the city gates.
OmegaBeam said:So they are doing it like this now. In EQ 2 they did it according to good vs evil.
Way back in the early days, VR defined the Kingsreach races as Good, the Reignfall races as Bad, and the Whitethaw races as Neutral. Since then, they've stuck to the Faction aspects of that grouping, but seem to have drifted away a bit from overtly calling them Good/Bad.
For instance why on earth would an ogre go to whitethaw or wild's end. Besides a quest, that is.
I believe the primary reason is largely the real life one, of friends wanting to group up while playing their favorite Races.
However, Crafted gear is expected to vary between the continents. Both in style and potentially in which affects that can be crafted into it. We've been told more than once that to become a Master Craftsman, you'll need to travel all over the world. Also, while the more common materials will be found on all the Continents, some high end ones will only be available in certain places.
You raise an interesting question though. I pretty much expect that the majority of Quests on each continent will be available to the Majority of Races, otherwise it would be a serious issue to travel to another continect, join your friend and then not be able to group together for the Quests.
Jothany said:However, Crafted gear is expected to vary between the continents. Both in style and potentially in which affects that can be crafted into it. We've been told more than once that to become a Master Craftsman, you'll need to travel all over the world. Also, while the more common materials will be found on all the Continents, some high end ones will only be available in certain places.
Keep forgetting about crafting. Come to think of it, EQ2 was the *only* game I've ever played that I enjoyed the crafting. I hope it is the same for Pantheon (most likely it will be). I wonder if you could be an ogre warrior and be a master blacksmith...
Saamir said:philo said:Kingreach=Humans,elves, lings (like you mentioned)
Reignfall=Skar, Myr, Ogre
Whitethaw=Archai,Dwarves, Gnomes
If you played VG:SoH, you'd be worried like me with how big this world is.
My concern is more about the later continents have a much lower quality and polish to them compared to Kingreach which has had 8 years of effort put into it. I've been in enough games where you could tell what content was developed in first and what came much later. Look at DAoC where Midguard was clearly the last realm built because, at release, it was missing half its itemization. I truly worry that Reignfall and Whitethaw will be slapdashed together at the last minute. The zones will be less complex, the dungeons simpler, the towns smaller, the quests fewer and shorter, etc, etc etc.
Vandraad said:Saamir said:philo said:Kingreach=Humans,elves, lings (like you mentioned)
Reignfall=Skar, Myr, Ogre
Whitethaw=Archai,Dwarves, Gnomes
If you played VG:SoH, you'd be worried like me with how big this world is.
My concern is more about the later continents have a much lower quality and polish to them compared to Kingreach which has had 8 years of effort put into it. I've been in enough games where you could tell what content was developed in first and what came much later. Look at DAoC where Midguard was clearly the last realm built because, at release, it was missing half its itemization. I truly worry that Reignfall and Whitethaw will be slapdashed together at the last minute. The zones will be less complex, the dungeons simpler, the towns smaller, the quests fewer and shorter, etc, etc etc.
There is amberfaet at least that has been worked on for awhile and it's not on kingsreach. But I get it, we have to expect kingsreach to be more fleshed out than the other continents... though, come to think of it, have we seen amberfaet post refactor? I could look it up...Hopefully it's still usable.
Similarly I expect there to be a noticable difference between in house and unity assets in some cases as well. That's just going to be part of it given how development has progressed.
Caine said:Will there be clear lines of good and evil? Or more faction based KoS?
philo said:There is amberfaet at least that has been worked on for awhile and it's not on kingsreach. But I get it, we have to expect kingsreach to be more fleshed out than the other continents... though, come to think of it, have we seen amberfaet post refactor? I could look it up...Hopefully it's still usable.
Similarly I expect there to be a noticable difference between in house and unity assets in some cases as well. That's just going to be part of it given how development has progressed.
If Kingsreach is more fleshed out than the other continents, that is a big middle finger to all the races that don't happen to start on the continent VR decided to make first. VR could have gone with Reignfall first.
Reignfall and Whitethaw need to be equally fleshed out otherwise that is total bull#%@.
CM Edit: Have some respect.
Vandraad said:philo said:There is amberfaet at least that has been worked on for awhile and it's not on kingsreach. But I get it, we have to expect kingsreach to be more fleshed out than the other continents... though, come to think of it, have we seen amberfaet post refactor? I could look it up...Hopefully it's still usable.
Similarly I expect there to be a noticable difference between in house and unity assets in some cases as well. That's just going to be part of it given how development has progressed.
If Kingsreach is more fleshed out than the other continents, that is a big middle finger to all the races that don't happen to start on the continent VR decided to make first. VR could have gone with Reignfall first.
Reignfall and Whitethaw need to be equally fleshed out otherwise that is total bull#%@.
"Reignfall and Whitethaw need to be equally fleshed out otherwise that is total bull#%@."
If the suggestion is not to release the game until all three continents are fully completed I am not sure I agree. I would rather see a release with two of the three continents mostly ready even if the third is not. Which is, of course, how Vanguard released.
That said I emphatically do not want the game released in as buggy and unfinished a state as Vanguard was when it was forced out the door. But if two continents and the game play are smooth and polished and the third continent is a work in progress - I can live with that.
dorotea said:"Reignfall and Whitethaw need to be equally fleshed out otherwise that is total bull#%@."
If the suggestion is not to release the game until all three continents are fully completed I am not sure I agree. I would rather see a release with two of the three continents mostly ready even if the third is not. Which is, of course, how Vanguard released.
That said I emphatically do not want the game released in as buggy and unfinished a state as Vanguard was when it was forced out the door. But if two continents and the game play are smooth and polished and the third continent is a work in progress - I can live with that.
Whatever continents have PCs starting there need to be as complete in all aspects (and with the same level of polish) as every other continent that PC starting locations. Pantheon would fail quickly if races that started on a continent other than Kingsreach discovered their dungeons weren't itemized or that quests didn't exist, etc. DAoC went out the door with Miguard barely half finished with no itemization past level 30 while Albion had everything.
So if no races start on Whitethaw? Fine, it doesn't need to be complete at release, but we know that Reignfall has 3 starting races and because of that the entirety of that continent needs to be complete at release just as Kingsreach will be.
I certainly agree that no race should start out in a highly unfinished location. Ideally all the starting areas will be very well polished - first impressions are important.
Less important are the higher level areas. With slow leveling few of us will get there the first week or two. Or even first month or two. So if continent X is undeveloped from level 30 on this can wait - especially if transportation is provided to level 30 areas on continent Y and Z.
Not everything needs to be complete at release. All three continents do not need to be absolutely equal in development status. But the starting areas - for the sake of argument let us say levels 1-30 - all need to be excellent before release.
Ok, we are not even into alpha testing yet and there is an expectation that zones will not be finished?
Alpha: I wouldn't expect every zone to be finished at all. Maybe one so that the big major bugs can be found and some degree of balancing can be made. Testing of the all systems doesn't need to have every zone finished. Why have a complete world for this? You wouldn't spend the time completing the world only to find there is a bug and you need to change every zone. Better to find it in one zone and change that.
Beta: I would expect all starting zones to be fleshed out, but again not everything complete. VR will want to withhold some content because of spoilers and the like. Developers will still be target testing functions, just with greater numbers of players. Again, this can (and should) be conducted in an area rather than a complete world. Maybe at the end of the beta, we should expect to see a fully rendered world, but not before the final testing pass or two.
Release: Definately, all planned world zones mentioned must be complete and fully fleshed and populated and all levels planned should be in place.
But before release, it is not a requirement for the development of the game even if it might be for the individual. If the three zones are not fully fleshed and populated upon release, then VR will only be shooting themselves in the foot. I think VR wouldn't have a problem with delaying the game until each zone is complete. VR's history shows this. VR want to release a quality MMO RPG gaming experience. That (imo) includes a fully fleshed out world; otherwise, they won't have achieved their goals. VR know this.
I haven't seen anything from VR that would (at this point) suggest that the world would not be complete upon release? I think we should expect a fully populated world unless they say otherwise. At this point, to expect anything else is guess work.