Pan'Theon: Rise' of th'e Fal'Len - #1 Thread in MMO
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Jimbolini
Semi-pro Monopoly player
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From Brad:
Hello all,
Just wanted to update you all on something so that you won't be unduly surprised if an article or two pops up written by people who have actually been helping us in-game for the last couple of months.
In December we finished our first major internal milestone, something I've talked about in the past. This milestone is essentially our building block upon which we will build Pantheon. It's a fully playable yet fairly basic MMO with 4 zones (a city, huge outdoor zone, and a couple of dungeons). You can play 5 of our classes from levels 1-10. There is, purposely, not anything super Pantheon-specific in it -- the plan was to create a basic MMO, to get it working, to get the tech in place, and then, most importantly, to make it fun. I am pleased to say that we achieved all of that and more. You can fight NPCs, use spells and abilities, level up, group up, gain experience and level, and, if you're lucky, find a rare drop. Trainers are in, merchants are in, bankers are in, etc.
We are now deep into working on our next major internal milestone which consists primarily of building the rest of this epic world and also developing more Pantheon-specific functionality and mechanics on top of the foundation we've already established. If you want to get a general idea as to what we're working on, check out The Pantheon Difference.
Back in late October we started inviting a few select people in to experience the game at its current stage and then to act as advisors as we completed that first internal milestone. It's always good to have a few outside eyes on the game, even this early in development. As developers we often become myopic and lose perspective, so having a few outside eyes keeps us more objective and accountable.
Who are these people? Well, first, there are less than 25 of them and they are all NDA'd. Their backgrounds vary. Some are other developers we've worked with in the past and deeply respect, some are media/bloggers who love MMOs, and the rest are trusted friends and family.
Is this pre-alpha testing? Absolutely not. They are more advisors than testers, although certainly playing the game is testing it too. But let me take a moment to talk about pre-alpha, alpha, and beta.
I get emails, PMs, and read posts all of the time and probably more than half are people asking me when pre-alpha will start. When I read these it's sort of bittersweet. The sweet part is that it's very encouraging that there are so many of you eager to experience Pantheon. That is truly exciting and humbling. The bitter part is that I have to reply 'not yet -- and here's why'. That's no fun, because as much as they want to start playing Pantheon we feel the same way. We can't wait to get you guys in the game and share this world with you, to see it come together and form based on your feedback.
But the reality is that the game has to be ready or it serves no purpose for you or for us. There has to be enough features and functionality and there has to be enough content. And while we've made tremendous progress, there's still a lot to do. MMOs aren't easy. Building epic fantasy worlds isn't easy. That said, you have my word that when we are ready to start pre-alpha, we will and your pledges will be honored. Same with alpha and beta. In the meantime, we ask for your patience.
Lastly, I am pleased to announce that we will be showing Pantheon at GDC next month. We're not quite ready to show the game on the floor, but we will be doing a LOT of demo'ing behind closed doors to the media, to investors, and other key people in the industry. And we'll not only have our first milestone to show, but also quite a few new features and mechanics. And we will be encouraging the media to write up articles based on what we're showing them, so hopefully all of you will get some insight into where the game is at and what peoples' impressions are. Again, to get a general idea of what we'll be showing, check out The Pantheon Difference.
Anyway, just wanted to give you guys a quick sit-rep -- questions and comments are welcome as always, thanks.
-Aradune
Hello all,
Just wanted to update you all on something so that you won't be unduly surprised if an article or two pops up written by people who have actually been helping us in-game for the last couple of months.
In December we finished our first major internal milestone, something I've talked about in the past. This milestone is essentially our building block upon which we will build Pantheon. It's a fully playable yet fairly basic MMO with 4 zones (a city, huge outdoor zone, and a couple of dungeons). You can play 5 of our classes from levels 1-10. There is, purposely, not anything super Pantheon-specific in it -- the plan was to create a basic MMO, to get it working, to get the tech in place, and then, most importantly, to make it fun. I am pleased to say that we achieved all of that and more. You can fight NPCs, use spells and abilities, level up, group up, gain experience and level, and, if you're lucky, find a rare drop. Trainers are in, merchants are in, bankers are in, etc.
We are now deep into working on our next major internal milestone which consists primarily of building the rest of this epic world and also developing more Pantheon-specific functionality and mechanics on top of the foundation we've already established. If you want to get a general idea as to what we're working on, check out The Pantheon Difference.
Back in late October we started inviting a few select people in to experience the game at its current stage and then to act as advisors as we completed that first internal milestone. It's always good to have a few outside eyes on the game, even this early in development. As developers we often become myopic and lose perspective, so having a few outside eyes keeps us more objective and accountable.
Who are these people? Well, first, there are less than 25 of them and they are all NDA'd. Their backgrounds vary. Some are other developers we've worked with in the past and deeply respect, some are media/bloggers who love MMOs, and the rest are trusted friends and family.
Is this pre-alpha testing? Absolutely not. They are more advisors than testers, although certainly playing the game is testing it too. But let me take a moment to talk about pre-alpha, alpha, and beta.
I get emails, PMs, and read posts all of the time and probably more than half are people asking me when pre-alpha will start. When I read these it's sort of bittersweet. The sweet part is that it's very encouraging that there are so many of you eager to experience Pantheon. That is truly exciting and humbling. The bitter part is that I have to reply 'not yet -- and here's why'. That's no fun, because as much as they want to start playing Pantheon we feel the same way. We can't wait to get you guys in the game and share this world with you, to see it come together and form based on your feedback.
But the reality is that the game has to be ready or it serves no purpose for you or for us. There has to be enough features and functionality and there has to be enough content. And while we've made tremendous progress, there's still a lot to do. MMOs aren't easy. Building epic fantasy worlds isn't easy. That said, you have my word that when we are ready to start pre-alpha, we will and your pledges will be honored. Same with alpha and beta. In the meantime, we ask for your patience.
Lastly, I am pleased to announce that we will be showing Pantheon at GDC next month. We're not quite ready to show the game on the floor, but we will be doing a LOT of demo'ing behind closed doors to the media, to investors, and other key people in the industry. And we'll not only have our first milestone to show, but also quite a few new features and mechanics. And we will be encouraging the media to write up articles based on what we're showing them, so hopefully all of you will get some insight into where the game is at and what peoples' impressions are. Again, to get a general idea of what we'll be showing, check out The Pantheon Difference.
Anyway, just wanted to give you guys a quick sit-rep -- questions and comments are welcome as always, thanks.
-Aradune
Convo
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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DickTrickle
Definitely NOT Furor Planedefiler
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I mean, building the basics of the game and then adding to it after it's done is how I'd do it. So I'll give them props on that.
That was a weird letter. It reads like, "We're totally in our version of pre-alpha, its awesome. But it's not really pre-alpha, it's just a super secret test that 25 men of unknown origin are testing. They are in the witness program and no man has seen their face. We commune only by dead-drops; but they are testing, I assure you. Really though, they're just advisers not alpha testers. Also we'll be showing at GDC! But we're not going to show it to just anyone, not even if they're at the show. You can't see it, but we'll totally be showing people, for realzies. The 25 guys will be there, they could vouch for me if they werent under NDA "
Utnayan
I Love Utnayan he’s awesome
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Haha!
I love the secrecy. Here let me help the masses.
You can play a warrior, wizard, enchanter, rogue, and cleric. The city is like North Freeport, the outdoor zone is like east commonlands, and the two dungeons are like Najena and Befallen. You would most definitely have to get lucky to get a rare drop, since the NPC's aren't itemized. That's all. Advisors lol. "Looks like a horribly animated EQ and the only thing missing are cloth caps and Esther the Tester telling the 25 advisors it's all working as intended."
SECRETS!
I think something that took 2 programmers a few months to whip up wouldn't have a great amount of value...
Skanda
I'm Amod too!
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