Pathfinder Online

Arden

Blackwing Lair Raider
2,648
1,941
True. I probably should not be doing this, since Ryan Dancey has killed so many puppies of gamers here, but this quote of him should put things in perspective somewhat. Unless he is LYING off course!
smile.png


paizo.com - Pathfinder Online: First Impressions
Seems like the dude is being pretty honest to me. Instead of promising us a diamond and giving us a turd, he is admitting the game will be a turd (at least in appearance) but promising it will eventually be polished into a diamond.

Frankly, this approach would only surprise people in the gaming industry. In any other industry it is perfectly normal to start small and basic and work up to bigger and better as your customer base expands. Unfortunately, business sense is something that MMO companies tend to lack. It doesn't matter how awesome your art, graphics, lore, level design, classes, etc. are if your game is just going to collapse under your own weight a few months after launch. Every MMO we have seen recently has been a Spruce Goose. I find it refreshing to have someone trying a more viable method and being very open about it.

That said, the skeptic in me anticipates that we will be given a turd that never gets polished into a diamond and, alas, remains a turd. Once the revenue starts coming in GW will have to put their money where their mouth is and start reinvesting in their product instead of just putting the cash in their pockets...
 

Casien_sl

shitlord
9
0
Just thought I would put this here in case there were any interested folks looking to play this game, but the initial Early Enrollment cost was too high.https://goblinworks.com/blog/countdown-to-early-enrollment/

There is a code on that page that takes a few dollars off the $100 dollar first month Enrollment or a few dollars off the $50 dollar second month Enrollment.

Also, if anyone is planning on playing and would be looking for a settlement to join, check outhttp://kabal.enjin.com/
 
253
3
earlier they added 2 ingame items for sale in their store. i just find it distasteful. the pricing, the timing, that they are in alpha etc. CU might be the only thing on the horizon that isnt wholly microtransacted.
 

Mr Creed

Too old for this shit
2,380
276
The early access being subcription-based is rubbing me the wrong way for some reason, especially with the final product not being sub-only. Or did I read that wrong somehow? Seems you only get free alpha time with the 1k purchase, or at least not for the $50-100 price range.
 

gogojira_sl

shitlord
2,202
3
It looks like garbage and people are bashing it pretty hard so I'm guessing it's not worth it. I'll let other people roll them dice for now.
 

Kuriin

Just a Nurse
4,046
1,020
The fact that it looks like even worse than Everquest alpha graphics does not bode well. They even say that the world is "persistent" which I am assuming dynamic or changing due to player's decisions on their environments. Again, this is not new because WoW started doing this in WotLK in "phases" where an area will look different depending on if you've completed a quest or not.
 

Aleatha

Silver Knight of the Realm
96
0
Downloading it now to give it a try. Managed to resist the urge to spend $100+ on it around a year ago thankfully.
 

Srathor

Blackwing Lair Raider
1,846
2,965
Damn this game is in rough shape.

1. Crappy looking. No really really crappy looking. Combat animations are the worst I have ever seen. 1990 level bad.
2. About as intuitive as open heart surgery. Equipping items like a sword is a chore. Might get easier if I kept playing.
3. No shiny things. Killed about 50 different mobs. (Goblins, wolves and Bandits) They were all ugly, had no loot had no levels had no redeeming features. No growls, no barks, no begging for mercy, no pithy saying right before death.
4. Got killed by a pack of mobs, no animation, no shiny light, no ghost or any other neat thing. Just poof back to a camp. a Husk left on the death area, not even a neat looking husk.
5. Neat idea on paper, might even be a decent game one day. Today is not that day.
 

Mughal

Bronze Knight of the Realm
279
39
it's too bad. they had a decent amount of money thrown at them too.
They raised about $1.3m via crowdfunding. That pays a team of 8 for one year. Maybe if you hire people who have never worked on an MMO you can save a bit. But you are looking at a budget of $20m to make a decent 3d MMORPG. And that's just the initial investment.

Star Citizen has raised $77m. That can ship (haha).

The only way to ship something is to cut down the scope of the game as much as possible. So every time you see someone crowdfunding promising PvP, PvE, 20 races, 10 classes etc I can guarantee you that it won't ship. Crowfall seems the only one bucking this trend. Pathfinder, Pantheon and Shroud of the Avatar simply do not have the manpower to produce high quality content at scale and this is why they look the way they look.