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It ain't dead yet - status of the game June 2016
Thod
Member UncommonPosts: 14
Morituri te salutant!
So what is the status of the game itself?
There have been two updates this year - 11.1 on Jamuary 26th and 11.2 on May 18th. The focus has been on bug fixing and on playability. There is a hard core group playing on daily - fighting monsters, collecting, building up their resources. As such it is currently more a SIMS as you have mainly the builders left in the game.
But don't get me wrong - PvP migt be very rare right now - but this is more a matter of not enough players / the few that are there gain more by working together as by fighting. The recent update places a stop to high level recipe farming and with a resource being sparse PvP suddenly happened between groups you wouldn't have expected.
Trade also slowly develops. I'm proud to say that the Emerald Lodge Auction House has become the premier trading hub (yes - I'm leader of Emerald Lodge). You could say that on some stage this shows the failure of the game - as someone like me with no background in MMO and playing the neutral alignment and staying out of the large group was able to pull this off. Or you could say - in a vacuum this is what happens - will it last - who knows - but I surely have a starter advantage having build this up slowly over time.
New players are rare - some older ones still drop. As such the game hasn't turned a corner yet. It is on life support - it is slowly moving forward. It improves with every patch. The small group left has done great with the two releases this year - but off course they are too small for a game this size.
What is missing are bigger groups. EoX pretty much abandoned the game after the Forever War - there are a few players still in and there was a short resurgence when a new bandit group took over a settlement close by and took some of their holdings (without them even noticing for 2 days). Old accounts with XP are still sold and seem to find buyers. One whale was thrown out of the game because of cheating.
My verdict: This isn't a game for everyone - but it has addictive properties for the right player. The main hurdles are
1) User friendliness - it improved a lot for beginners but it still is a big mountain to climb before you feel you know what you do.
2) Dependent on others - the whole game is build in a way that you depend on others to craft, build, etc. This falls flat if there are not enough other players and if the trade economy is in it's infancy
3) Pathfinder University not as active any more as it was - this was the best resource to keep new players engaged - show them the ropes.
The reasons I stay in the game
1) A great community - even if not everyone agrees all the time
2) You can live the American Dream - you are able to build something up from scratch (Emerald Lodge) just by playing and determination.
3) The basic build up of characters and settlements is well thought out - reminds me of Civilization. It has a very solid basis to build upon - provided actually more players would populate it
If you want a head start - join now. Get ahead of players starting once announcements are done. You will have a few rough weeks - but that is the price to pay if you want to be ahead. Now is the time to make connections, get into the right position. I always heard complaints about the alpha aristocracy - the early leaders of settlements (I'm one of the few surviving ones).
That ship has sailed - but if you want to be a member of the beta aristocracy then start now and don't wait and complain later. There are many who will help you now - expect them to defend what they have once really a lot more players join.
Lisa Stevens - 31 May on the Goblinworks Forum
The pace has really picked up on the deal for NewCorp to take over Pathfinder Online. The finish line is in sight. We are hoping to give NewCorp a voice through the Goblinworks forums in the near future prior to the deal closing so that they can interact with the community and start to convey their vision for the game to you. Look for news about this in the coming weeks. The team here at Goblinworks is very excited about the future and would like to thank all of you for your support through this long process.
The Goblinworks Team
So what is the status of the game itself?
There have been two updates this year - 11.1 on Jamuary 26th and 11.2 on May 18th. The focus has been on bug fixing and on playability. There is a hard core group playing on daily - fighting monsters, collecting, building up their resources. As such it is currently more a SIMS as you have mainly the builders left in the game.
But don't get me wrong - PvP migt be very rare right now - but this is more a matter of not enough players / the few that are there gain more by working together as by fighting. The recent update places a stop to high level recipe farming and with a resource being sparse PvP suddenly happened between groups you wouldn't have expected.
Trade also slowly develops. I'm proud to say that the Emerald Lodge Auction House has become the premier trading hub (yes - I'm leader of Emerald Lodge). You could say that on some stage this shows the failure of the game - as someone like me with no background in MMO and playing the neutral alignment and staying out of the large group was able to pull this off. Or you could say - in a vacuum this is what happens - will it last - who knows - but I surely have a starter advantage having build this up slowly over time.
New players are rare - some older ones still drop. As such the game hasn't turned a corner yet. It is on life support - it is slowly moving forward. It improves with every patch. The small group left has done great with the two releases this year - but off course they are too small for a game this size.
What is missing are bigger groups. EoX pretty much abandoned the game after the Forever War - there are a few players still in and there was a short resurgence when a new bandit group took over a settlement close by and took some of their holdings (without them even noticing for 2 days). Old accounts with XP are still sold and seem to find buyers. One whale was thrown out of the game because of cheating.
My verdict: This isn't a game for everyone - but it has addictive properties for the right player. The main hurdles are
1) User friendliness - it improved a lot for beginners but it still is a big mountain to climb before you feel you know what you do.
2) Dependent on others - the whole game is build in a way that you depend on others to craft, build, etc. This falls flat if there are not enough other players and if the trade economy is in it's infancy
3) Pathfinder University not as active any more as it was - this was the best resource to keep new players engaged - show them the ropes.
The reasons I stay in the game
1) A great community - even if not everyone agrees all the time
2) You can live the American Dream - you are able to build something up from scratch (Emerald Lodge) just by playing and determination.
3) The basic build up of characters and settlements is well thought out - reminds me of Civilization. It has a very solid basis to build upon - provided actually more players would populate it
If you want a head start - join now. Get ahead of players starting once announcements are done. You will have a few rough weeks - but that is the price to pay if you want to be ahead. Now is the time to make connections, get into the right position. I always heard complaints about the alpha aristocracy - the early leaders of settlements (I'm one of the few surviving ones).
That ship has sailed - but if you want to be a member of the beta aristocracy then start now and don't wait and complain later. There are many who will help you now - expect them to defend what they have once really a lot more players join.
Comments
Supposing the takeover really goes through all the way and the new team have the talent and resources to continue development -
Would it be a good idea to take the game offline for a while while they work on improvements and then relaunch, preferably with a new title? (River Kingdoms of Pathfinder, Golarion Online..) The game has recieved a lot of bad press, might a rebranding and a fresh start from scratch help attract new players and regain old ones?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAW6D21ICdg
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
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Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
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I self identify as a monkey.
There isn't a simple answer if a relaunch will be the better idea or not. There are advantages and disadvantages. The ones gaining most will be new players - whom you want to attract. So for them you want to start fresh.
The ones losing out are the hard-core who played all the time and kept the game alive. The more time/effort invested, the more they lose. So you have to balance this and off course you will know afterwards if it was worth it or not.
@filmoret
There are 15 days free and then it is $15 per month. You can always start a new 'trial' with a different e-mail address - or take out the first one with a throw-away one and move it to an e-mail you like to take if you carry on with it.
So where is it? It is still in development - so that makes it alpha/beta. It is running since 17 month - so that means the worst bugs are ironed out. Everyone can join - that makes it launched. You pay - that makes it launched. There are still features added - so call it MvP. Take your pick.
@Slapshot
I love the Black Knight - one of the greatest scenes in all of Monthy Python.