I'll preface this with I'm not posting this to be negative, just curious. For an MMO that has been in development coming up on 4 years maybe more or less considering changes in the project along the way. When are we going to start seeing more hype out on the internet? I do understand this project had a rocky start and didn't have the same success with crowd funsding as Ashes of Creaton and Crowfall did with Kickstarter, but it seems Pantheon is getting new people everyday so why not have more marketing on the website itself? New screenshots, short new videos of different areas, video of work in progress animations, models, etc. If its lack of capital or people I completely get that, but if its not then why not put more effort into self promotion outside the monthly teasers? It would definitely bring more people in, which in return could bring in more potential pledges.
Full disclaimer, I'm not excited at all for any of the other MMO's coming down outside this one and tell people as much as I can, but there isn't much for them to see outside the live streams and people buy with their eyes.
The more fruits of your labor people see, the less people think the fruit is dying on the vine. :D
I think it's mostly the staff of VR are keeping their noses to the grindstone working on the game itself, they are lean and focused. Otherwise it is a little too early to put much time and especially money into marketing; the hype train has to be managed very carefully and release is too far off to start the engine. I think each phase of the PA and subsequent streams are quite enough for now to show that the fruit is far from dying on the vine.
They are a small indie team. They currenlty don't have a large funding to o much of anything, let alone advertise. Plus being a small team without a lot of cash they have done a lot, but have a long way to go, so even though this game has been "in development" for a long time it still have a long time to go. Putting out too much hype too early will make a lot of people turn into trolls and haters for that fact alone.
I understand that it's a small team, some people are part time, and they're working their bums off to get things ready for PA4, but really, OP is right.
Things like the website, which only features newsletters in the 2-item (really?) news section, rather than news about the many streams there are to watch, or upcoming VoT shows... maybe with a disclaimer, since it's not officially produced content, but there's a wealth of free advertising out there, is my point, and I feel like VR could be doing more to capitalize on what the community has produced, ESPECIALLY since this game is about community. Time for a new news subheading - community news - or a merging of what would bhe community news with a new, improved, expanded news section. That's what I'd do, anyway.
I have been looking for more too! I feel like I read over this before but just stumbled upon it again and was somewhat refreshing:
"Brad announced planned timeframes for Alpha & Beta, should they be ready!
Alpha - End 2018
Beta - 2019"
Helps manage my expectations/hype somewhat!
They're pushing Pre-Alpha phase 4. It's a huge update and will likely be an integral part of the upcoming streams and releases. I've seen this all too often with various projects and games, most notably by smaller more agile teams.
I'm giving them their space as this is fairly common and expect to see some info as to this very subject by October 10th.
Bronsun said:I absolutely believe they are working hard. Just seems they don't have someone full time on marketing. Sad considering I'm sure there is plenty to advertise.
One thing we should bear in mind is that they're still a small team, and because of that each person tends to wear multiple hats. No one can multitask perfectly so they're probably just trying to prioritize what they're focused on each week or month :)
For example, Roenick tends to put the newsletters together for us and work on marketing-related stuff, but that's not all he does on the team.
Anyway I wouldn't worry too much. I think they're jsut trying to live up to the expectations they set for PA4, and I think they really want to try to land that before the winter holidays happen, which is why they're so quiet right now.
I was hoping it would release next year, but at this point I would think that the latest should be mid 2020 (Alpha start 2019 to late-mid 2019, Beta late 2019-mid 2020, release mid 2020), and frankly any more than that would be ridiculous. There is a shelf life for how long people will actually give a **** about any given game, and this game has been in development for like 5+ years already so I think we are getting there for Pantheon. Most of us overlook it because we are fanatical die hards who are dying for the promise of what this game could and hopefully will be, but the majority of the gaming populace does not fall in that category. If we are "years away" as in like late 2021, 2022 or beyond (ANOTHER 3 or 4+ years from this point), then this would basically be vaporware at this point. I mean, the original KS already projected Jan 2017 as release so, we are already looking at 3-3.5 years beyond what was originally envisioned.
WarKnight said:I have been looking for more too! I feel like I read over this before but just stumbled upon it again and was somewhat refreshing:
"Brad announced planned timeframes for Alpha & Beta, should they be ready!
Alpha - End 2018
Beta - 2019"
Helps manage my expectations/hype somewhat!
It is sometimes nice to have some rough estimates to help you plan for the future. But as such, estimates are sometimes not entirely accurate:
"Earlier this year we aimed to have Alpha available by year’s end but we’ve restructured our approach since then, so don’t expect Alpha this year."
Source: http://www.pantheonmmo.com/newsletter/2018_august_under_wraps/
I feel somewhat responsible because I was the one that broke that news on Twitter as soon as Brad mentioned it on a panel at PAX East 2018. I confirmed it with Ben D and considering their plans at the time, it was a safe bet. I knew that a lot of people would appreciate having some sort of time frame. However, since then, they have decided that it is in the best interest of the game to change their plans slightly. That is the nature of game design. When this is made public, it is easy for a lot of people to jump to conclusions about deadlines being missed or development slowing down. They get in their mind that these estimates are a sure thing and are disappointed when reality doesn't match up, rather than if there hadn't been any expectations at all. However, not knowing at all what the trajectory is can making waiting at all that much harder. All that to say, I think it's important to note that this is not simply a delay - this is a change of plans that is ultimately healthy for the game, because it means that Alpha will be an even better experience than originally planned. And I personally still think that Alpha is slated for early-mid 2019. It'll be here before ya know it :)
As others have mentioned, marketing a crowdfunded MMO is an extremely fine balancing act. Hype is a double-edged sword. It may feel like we've been waiting forever, but it's still too early to really go for an all-out marketing campaign. The general public is very fickle and would not be able to sustain the appropiate amount of hype until launch. I think that VR has the right idea now. And they definitely have plans to ramp up exposure when the time comes.
I think it's a good thing, that they focus on the game right now.
As far as I've gathered there are some key announcements due. And those are things you'll want in order and ready to explain what you're presenting and how far you've gotten thusfar.
Time schedules are always a tricky and slippery slope to try. They did a good job by not letting community/hype pressure get the better of them.
With the hyper speed pace of the internet and social media nowadays, it shouldn't be much of a problem to spread good things when they want to at the time they prefer.
It will still have a good impact and for those with less patience...either they didn't get the intention of this game's playstyle or they should come to terms on what it's like nowadays to create and be a game in development.
I'ld rather a have a well flavoured omelet then a slimy goowy golden plate of eggyolk.
@antonius
"There is a shelf life for how long people will actually give a **** about any given game"
Games tend to follow a 5-9 year development time. MMORPG's usually in the 6-7 year mark for the better titles unless they have a massive IP (Blizzard).
"this game has been in development for like 5+ years already"
Mid to late 2014 and even then, it was a delay due to the complications with the kickstarter. I realistically count the beginning of 2015 so it's about 3 months from the 4 year mark at a maximum. I expect 6 years before it goes live which is within normalcy.
"Most of us overlook it because we are fanatical die hards who are dying for the promise of what this game could and hopefully will be, but the majority of the gaming populace does not fall in that category."
Which I'm happy about that they're following a more niche audience standard which itself remains stable and due to that will garner a large playerbase who are in need of this type of MMORPG again. Especially with how burned out we are fom the post 2011 MMO's which are so far astray from a truely unique and interesting title.
"If we are "years away" as in like late 2021, 2022 or beyond (ANOTHER 3 or 4+ years from this point), then this would basically be vaporware at this point. I mean, the original KS already projected Jan 2017 as release so, we are already looking at 3-3.5 years beyond what was originally envisioned."
It left Vaporware status December 17th, 2017. As for the Kickstarter, the Kickstarter failed. This created a steady pause for a year. It allowed them to pull early onset funding and push through while garnering a following and pledge program. To do this takes time and effort outside of strict development. I also think their goal has grown since the Kickstarter since it has a great deal more money than what was initially intended. The game has twice as many classes, more races and far more content at this point, so by that measure, I'll reiterate my first remark and that they are on schedule for a standard approach as per development time.
I have worries about the game, but whether it will release and the above remarks are not that.
