I realize I just said this, but it was proven as recently as 2006 or whenever VG released. So I'll call myself out on this post.
Pan'Theon: Rise' of th'e Fal'Len - #1 Thread in MMO
- Thread starter gogojira_sl
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Vanguard sold many boxes even though it was completely unfinished. The demand for this type of game, done right, is there.
Also comparing a game release to a kickstarter is not fair. The backers of Vanguard only had to pay for a box and they had a great deal to see. If you weren't in beta you didn't get to see how bad the game ran. With Pantheon you are asked to take a blind leap of faith. Even if people want the game as described, not as many are willing to take blind leaps with their money.
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Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Pantheon Rising From The Ashes | Cliqist
Sounds like a Boogie interview coming within the next week too. Topic would be on the current state of the project.
Sounds like a Boogie interview coming within the next week too. Topic would be on the current state of the project.
Mr Creed
Too old for this shit
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I'd guess the turn-based tactical games genre has the suits making reasonable assumptions about potential revenue from a project. WoW is still a hindrance to any project in the MMO space - it probably will be for years to come, unfortunately. As long as the first question from a suit is "will this get WoW numbers" we're stuck with remakes. (and this isnt in reference to Pantheon really but any MMO that wants to break the mold)
The time for interviews is long over. He should be focused on the game now. What is he doing?
They don't have the support or exposure to make anything yet. He has to keep selling this, and will probably be selling it for years if he has any hope of releasing something.
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Yes, but going around the web with his napkin scribbles wont get him the support he needs like a proper tech demo would. Hell Id even give him my $45 back If I saw something.
Kirun
Buzzfeed Editor
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What he does best? Hype, spin, and speculation. It's all that he's ever really done.
Mr Creed
Too old for this shit
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Regardless of any EQ nostalgia there's also a ton of nostalgia for vanilla WoW. Even at release the game wasnt as mean as EQ but the things people wax nostalgic about when talking about 2004-2006 WoW have something in common with old EQ: Sons of Arugal and outdoor elite areas, dungeons actually being difficult and real dungeons, leveling having the feel of exploring the world instead of going through chapters of a play, etc. A good team (not Pantheon) can collect many of those people alongside the EQ veterans. I guess that plus some new blood ought to be enough if they run a tight ship.
Truth is I have no idea how many subs of $15 would be needed to run a small-scale MMO with a clear focus, maybe someone from the industry can share some napkin math on that? I assume 50k would be viable? If that's way off, are we talking much less or more (well cant be much more given that EVE has been doing pretty well on their way from 100k to 500k, buying IPs and pissing away money in all directions).
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Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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There is a team to make the game. Brad will be PRing this till the very end. You don't think he's working inside the game do you? I thought we all understood that one.
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It all comes back to this..."Build a good game and people will come"
There is a huge pool of gamers to pull from. Forget EQ and WoW. If you build a good game and the word of mouth will spread like wildfire. It will advertise itself.
People are itching for a new good mmo. They are throwing money at EQL alphas that's how bad they want that next thing. They are even throwing money at mediocrity with Wildstar and TESO. That should prove to you how ripe the market is for the next big game. Or something just different than we have been served up for the last 8 yrs.
And if they could make this one (like it will ever happen, lol) a bit addictive as the fist EQ was, with open world, great loots, etc... Its just that much different from the average wow on rails clone that it might succeed beyond their wildest dreams. But it has to be finished and decent for this to happen.
The problem with mmos is that players are a finicky bunch(and they should be as consumers). If a game is broken technically, it does not matter how good the game is, even if they finish it and fix it in a few months. People play those games for a few weeks, leave and never come back.
Vandyn
Blackwing Lair Raider
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If he's not designing the game, tell me what's the point of all the fanboys going crazy because 'Brad McQuaid, the father of EQ' is making an EQ successor?
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Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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I thought we already established that brad is a blowhard that gets more credit than he deserves and that people thinking otherwise are mis-informed or crazy.
Quaid
Trump's Staff
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EQL probably sold 500K if not more alpha spots. Again unfinished. Goes to show people will throw money at anything different.
Dr Neir
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zzeris
King Turd of Shit Hill
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Really good post and the crux of this argument. No one truly knows what an old EQ style game could garner in interest. There is plenty of circumstantial evidence that could go either way. The only true evidence right now is that no one is trying to make an old style EQ game. I include this group of thieves who have done absolutely nothing so far. Quaid has out worked them in a weekend. No one has outtalked Brad but he's only gotten about 1000 to believe his bullshit. The bullshit that anything of significant effort has been done since, Sept. right?
I don't believe MMO players are finicky though. I think we haven't had a truly well made game that was based off the premise of a MMO for a long time. The premise being, that unique content is king. X-com was a fantastic game. It was well made in every aspect and therefore new fans as well as old could find it enjoyable. To compare it to this paper mache joke is laughable. To even compare this to the work of Quaid is insulting.
I don't give Brad much credit for EQ. Sure, the game was done in 3D. I give his TEAM almost all of the credit. As does SOE who still employs some of them. Guess where Brad doesn't have a job anymore? At a top notch studio. That would say it all except the KS and efforts lately show his incompetence even more effectively. Brad, the idea guy, is afraud.