Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen

[Regolyth]

I was just thinking, as I was clicking on this topic, that Pantheon seems like it has been in development for a long time. Your first post on it was 2014. Now back in the day that sounds about right for an MMO (maybe a little long), but in today's world I'm surprised that it hasn't been shut down yet.

[Morreion]

Oct 26, 2020 9:19:17 GMT -5 Regolyth said:

I was just thinking, as I was clicking on this topic, that Pantheon seems like it has been in development for a long time. Your first post on it was 2014. Now back in the day that sounds about right for an MMO (maybe a little long), but in today's world I'm surprised that it hasn't been shut down yet.

We were spoiled back in the Golden Age of MMOs. If I remember correctly, DAoC was made in 1.5 years for what, 4.5 million?

Edit: Wikipedia article had the info-

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Age_of_Camelot

It was made in 18 months for 2.5 million. With 25 full-time developers. Amazing!

[ariesel]

Latest newsletter. If this ever makes it to release, I will play it, but not holding my breath.

August 2021 Producer's Newsletter

Ari

[Morreion]

Aug 19, 2021 10:43:10 GMT -5 ariesel said:

Latest newsletter. If this ever makes it to release, I will play it, but not holding my breath.

Thanks for the update Arie!

Pre-alpha for what, 6 years now? I pledged some crowdfunding money back in 2016 (had to look it up it's been so long).

DAoC was made in less than 2 years...

I think I know how this ends. Unfortunately.

[Rakul]

Wow, Morr... you started this Pantheon thread 7.5 years ago!

[Morreion]

Sept 1, 2021 15:02:54 GMT -5 Rakul said:

Wow, Morr... you started this Pantheon thread 7.5 years ago!

It's getting a bit far-fetched, isn't it?

[Morreion]

Here's a non-Massively article on the topic:


The Story of the Highly Anticipated MMORPG - Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (International Business Times)

"Pantheon is a community," is the mantra of CEO Chris Rowan. "This community isn't just us at Visionary Realms. It's all of our families, our friends, Pantheon fans and their friends and families too. We have always felt that camaraderie, that shared goal to get this game made. It's bigger than any of us now and we have a duty and the honor of realizing its potential." From this feeling of community Rowan considers it to be of utmost importance that the studio be transparent in its development of Pantheon. Followers are provided with regular newsletters and live streams that report the game's progress in detail. In an unprecedented move, the studio also opened up pre-alpha sessions for its VIP members to allow for future players to provide feedback. Rowan attests that no other studio in history has allowed as many unaffiliated players to play the game in as early a stage as they have. It is a game that is truly incorporating their community into its development.

This transparency and Pantheon's promise has been noticed. Many private investors have seen value in what Visionary Realms is doing. After securing significant private investment, last reported totalling $5.34M USD, combined with crowdfunding from the community, the company is in a position to push forward and accelerate development. The team has recently expanded with more artists and engineers and has even gained the attention of Steve Clover, one of the industry's most seasoned MMORPG engineers. Clover worked alongside McQuaid as the co-creator of EverQuest and has come out of retirement to help see Pantheon across the finish line.

With the help of everyone involved, from the developers to the investors and community, Pantheon continues to progress steadily toward its goal of being the MMORPG of choice for gamers who seek a challenging, immersive, social world.

[Morreion]

It's not looking good for Pantheon. This was the last MMO I had eyes on. This might be the fat lady singing as far as new MMOs go for me.



Pantheon confirms ‘247’ extraction play mode rumors: ‘This is not a cancellation of Pantheon’ (Massively)

Yesterday, we covered turmoil in the Pantheon Rise of the Fallen community stemming from multiple leaks from the game’s VIP backer Discord. The leaker had posted purported messages from Visionary Realms’ Ben Dean suggesting that the studio is pivoting to a “survival, arena match-up” side-game for testing purposes dubbed 247. The rumored mode would be monetized to fund the Pantheon MMO, development and testing for which would apparently be slowed until next year.

Visionary Realms didn’t initially confirm the leaks; its community manager told fans that “leaks are expected” and that “leaks don’t change [their] plans.” But the fan feedback over the rumors hasn’t been kind, and as of this morning, the studio addressed the uproar, appearing to confirm the leaked information.


“In regards to some posts you may have seen this week, we would like to offer some clarity,” Dean wrote in the public Discord. “The 247 play mode began life as a testing tool. We soon saw its potential to stand on its own feet. We believe the marriage between MMO and Extraction is something that will speak to a much larger audience than we have reached to date and we are exploring that opportunity. This is not a cancellation of Pantheon, as Pantheon and 247 are symbiotic and developed in tandem. If we choose to monetize 247 and it is successful, it could potentially allow Pantheon to launch much sooner than currently projected. We will outline 247 and what it means to our players in our Producer’s Letter Thursday, Oct. 26.”

As we noted yesterday, this is quite similar to two-game approaches deployed – unsuccessfully – by multiple other crowdfunded MMOs, including Camelot Unchained, Ashes of Creation, and Chronicles of Elyria, which is surely why backers have responded with skepticism and outrage just as with those earlier titles (none of which has actually launched).

A comment:

Jiminy Smegit
21 days ago
247 launches and fails. VR says…well we did launch a product to the suckers backers who funded us all these years but umm sadly Pantheon will no longer be launching, k bye thx. Developers scatter like cockroaches. MOP writes a scathing piece on this tortuous development cycle. Schadenfreude and sadness ensues.

This is my prediction anyway.

3

Pantheon argues 247 extraction mode is meant to satisfy replayability and runs parallel to MMORPG loops (Massively)

Our readers already know that things are not going well among backers of Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, as developer Visionary Realms confirmed the rumors of a 247 side mode that would spin-off from the originally proposed – and crowdfunded – MMORPG project, while potentially charging as much as $750 to play it. The rancor caused by the reveal has prompted a quickly put-together Q&A session with creative director Chris “Joppa” Perkins to talk more about the decision and the game mode itself...

Perkins also addressed “the elephant in the room” in this answer of the game’s long development cycle, attributing it to decisions made along the way as well as factors out of the studio’s control while still claiming that steps backward were taken “in order to move forward again.”...

Other portions of the Q&A session talk about when NDA will drop (there’s no timeline), whether Perkins is willing to reel back the MMORPG’s scope in order to get it out of the door (general response can be very roughly summarized as “not really”), whether VR would open itself up to volunteer development (a very careful “no” here), and whether the studio would consider going back to a more realistic art style instead (no major reworks are planned but added “grittiness” to the current style is being considered). The full video awaits below.

[ariesel]

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen Is Dropping Its 247 Extraction Mode Following Backer Pushback

But, I don't have much hope for it anymore. C'est la vie!

Ari

[Morreion]

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen launches into early access on December 13 – plus it’s coming to Steam (Massively)

On December 13th, it will be go time for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen players who have eagerly awaited the official early access launch of this crowdfunded MMO.

This afternoon, Visionary Realms released a trailer that narrowed down the more open “December 2024” release window to — we kid you not — Friday the 13th of next month.

The studio stressed that this is a pre-1.0 build and “not the full release of the game,” offering 40 levels, six zones, six races, and 12 classes. One thing that is coming with this release is Pantheon’s much-vaunted “acclimation system” in which characters will adapt to certain biomes.


If you want to get into the game next month, it will require an up-front cost of $39.99 if you haven’t paid for it yet. You can also follow the game through its new Steam storefront.

MMO Hype Train: Concern for the fragile labor and delivery of Pantheon (Massively)

When Pantheon was unveiled to the world a decade (!) ago, it sparked some fierce hype in certain MMO quarters. Brad McQuaid was a then-legendary designer in the genre, and his work on EverQuest and Vanguard created a cult following (especially in the case of the latter). For many fans, Pantheon was to be Vanguard 2.0, a do-over to bring justice to a neglected design...

Now here we are, staring down a December early access release to an MMO that, frankly, most of MMO gamers haven’t seen, tested, or know too much about beyond gut feelings. Visionary Realms is now in the unenviable position of getting a game ready for launch while simultaneously trying to make a solid case for why we MMO fans should care about this title. I don’t get the sense that a lot of people really know what this game is supposed to be other than in vague, sweeping terms, and sometimes I feel the same in spite of covering it for years.

Yet I do want Pantheon to succeed, very badly, despite seeing it as an incredible underdog at this point. I don’t think I’m going out on any limb here — in fact, I’m hugging the tree trunk — when I say that this looks like Visionary Realms is in a launch-or-die situation. Crowdfunding, investor support, and loyal following only goes so far, and then you’ve got to bring a product to market, find another approach, or call it a day.

Pantheon isn’t ready for prime time, in case the term “early access” doesn’t make that clear, and the devs are already specifying what content (including races and classes) will and will not be available on launch day. The studio can say that “this is not a soft launch” all it likes, but c’mon, it’s totally a soft launch. It’s the framework of an MMO, not a fleshed-out one, and players are going to see that from the start.

The only question is whether enough will stick around to give Pantheon the runway to get to a full MMO state.