Pantheon updates their Kickstarter page

Nanfoodle

Enjoy

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1588672538/pantheon-rise-of-the-fallen/posts/1827659


Brad said this about the update... 

Ok, not trying to dig up skeletons, but long ago we did a kickstarter. For a variety of reasons, mostly us not really understanding how far along we needed to be beforehand, it failed. But actually that's good news, because we learned a TON from the experience, and I'm happy to say that we some time ago surpassed those old goals via both crowdfunding and seed investment. Seriously, when looking at things big picture and considering how much we've learned over the years, I'm really glad we did what we did, unpolished and premature as it was, because we stood back up, brushed off our attire, and pushed forward.

So why do I bring it up? Even though it's closed, we can still use it to send update messages to everyone who pledged back then. So when we do a stream or other big update, I always try to update KS as well, and plan on doing it even more so going forward.

To that end I wrote up sort of a State of the Game address to bring people up to speed on the project who may or may not still be following it (mostly those who were not up-to-date). Quite a few people have commented to me since then that I should share these write-ups with the community as a whole. Hey, makes sense to me! We don't want only the old KS backers to get some of these bigger write-ups, yes?. So to that end, here's the link, check it out, and as always, post, message, ask questions, make comments, and do everything else our awesome community is wont to do!

LucienRene

Did they just say that "business is hard" as a reason for me (a consumer) to fund them?

Nanfoodle

It's not to get money, just an update. But of corse backing the game is always an option  

Kyleran

Nanfoodle said:

It's not to get money, just an update. But of corse backing the game is always an option  

Er, clearly theres mention of the next round of funding goals, and this "update" is trying to encourage you to donate at their site.

Nanfoodle

Only read the thread post not the update. If they are asking for funding I hope they get it. This is the first game I have backed like this. I think this game is worth funding. 

Kyleran

Nanfoodle said:

Only read the thread post not the update. If they are asking for funding I hope they get it. This is the first game I have backed like this. I think this game is worth funding. 

I have no objection to their trying to encourage more funding, they've accomplished much so far.

Maybe they could sell spaceships?

JemAs666

Kyleran said:

Nanfoodle said:

Only read the thread post not the update. If they are asking for funding I hope they get it. This is the first game I have backed like this. I think this game is worth funding. 

I have no objection to their trying to encourage more funding, they've accomplished much so far.

Maybe they could sell spaceships?

Spaceships are a proven funding model! 

Nanfoodle

I'm thinking of upping my pledge but I have to wait a little longer or I will tick off my wife lol

Thane

they got a new lead dev who needs some money?

Mendel

I had almost softened a bit on Pantheon, then they go about dragging up the Kickstarter again.  So, is this a case where they are actively soliciting 'donations', or is the a prelude for another round of Kickstarter and crowd-funding pledges?

"I / we / our company failed in the past.  But, I'm / we're / the company's here again to allow you to donate more money to me / us / our company.  If you donate enough, I / we / the company can't possibly fail again!"

I guess the money trail ends only when someone sits on @Nanfoodle.  That, or his wife gets involved.

Kilsin

Mendel said:

I had almost softened a bit on Pantheon, then they go about dragging up the Kickstarter again.  So, is this a case where they are actively soliciting 'donations', or is the a prelude for another round of Kickstarter and crowd-funding pledges?

"I / we / our company failed in the past.  But, I'm / we're / the company's here again to allow you to donate more money to me / us / our company.  If you donate enough, I / we / the company can't possibly fail again!"

I guess the money trail ends only when someone sits on @Nanfoodle.  That, or his wife gets involved.

It is just a great way to connect with people from the early days to show them how far we have come since the KS failed, many people give up and move on after KS projects fail thinking that the company and game have stopped working and disbanded, which is not the case for us, so we wanted to alert people to that and share our progress.

There is nothing money grabbing about it or any pressure to support us, we just want people to now we are still around and working hard and that if they were interested back then they may like what we have done since then.

Sovrath

I didn't give to the first kickstarter because they didn't show me what I needed to see.

At this point, given what they have done, I wonder if it is possible to do another one? I think it would succeed.

Forgrimm

Sovrath said:

I didn't give to the first kickstarter because they didn't show me what I needed to see.

At this point, given what they have done, I wonder if it is possible to do another one? I think it would succeed.

Doubtful. I'd imagine that most people who intending on pledging have already done so directly via the site.

Kyleran

Nanfoodle said:

I'm thinking of upping my pledge but I have to wait a little longer or I will tick off my wife lol

Nothing more fearsome than wife aggro

Nanfoodle

Forgrimm said:

Sovrath said:

I didn't give to the first kickstarter because they didn't show me what I needed to see.

At this point, given what they have done, I wonder if it is possible to do another one? I think it would succeed.

Doubtful. I'd imagine that most people who intending on pledging have already done so directly via the site.

 I was on the fence for years on this. I only pledged a month ago, also if you goto the official forums. Under introduction sub forums you will see a steady stream of people pledging on some level every week. I personally think a new Kickstarter would go over well. 

Mikeha

Still got my eye on this one. 

baphamet

this is the only mmo in development i am cautiously following and i really hope they succeed but ill admit i have my doubts. 

seeyouspacec0wboy

"Our next big goal is to bring in funding allowing us to build our environment artist and world building teams.  The game itself is coming along quite nicely but we need additional help building the landscapes, dungeons, and incredible variety that will become Pantheon's epic world."

They don't have that yet? Isn't that kind of a big deal?

Hrimnir

I'm so utterly sick and tired of people who respond to posts and get outraged without even reading the original post. Seriously making me lose any faith I have left in humanity.

Nanfoodle

Torval said:

I think using the crowdfunding platforms for your project as an interactive tool for your community is a great idea. Several projects I've supported do this.

It's cheap targeted advertising. That's smart for projects making the most of their marketing resources. It's smart to target people who were interested enough at one point to fund it. Those are the people most likely to be interested in updates about your project, especially if it didn't make funding. There is the added bonus that project supporters can leave comments and feedback to messages. That's great interaction for the business and the customer.

In sales they would call this a "soft sale" not pushy just letting you know and leaving it in your hands to decide. Being offended by this would mean you have some very thin skin lol

Sovrath

Forgrimm said:

Sovrath said:

I didn't give to the first kickstarter because they didn't show me what I needed to see.

At this point, given what they have done, I wonder if it is possible to do another one? I think it would succeed.

Doubtful. I'd imagine that most people who intending on pledging have already done so directly via the site.

Perhaps but I think the people who have supported him on the site are the really hardcore followers; the "Beliebers" if you catch my drift.

I don't think it's beyond possibility that people who might have been interested in the project held off because they didn't see anything on that Kickstarter that warranted them giving their money. If they held off then then they most likely didn't visit the site to give money.

Nanfoodle

Brad said this in the official forums about someone saying it will take 5 years + to make Pantheon, so we should be another 2.5 years away from the game launch. He has been responding to allot of people if you want to read the thread CLICK HERE

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"I'm certainly not going to say, guess, or imply anything regarding when I think Pantheon will launch and/or how long the overall development cycle is going to be.  Far too early for that, and truly no need.  I will say, however, that while many MMOs have taken 5-6 years, EverQuest 1 took 3 years.   Probably because we were too ignorant to know what a crazy, large, and complex game we were wanting to make, lol.  Sometimes ignorance is truly bliss.  I will say this for certain, and that is by having a solid mixture of MMO veterans and hungry, talented, full of energy 'noobs', you can get a LOT done.  If you don't have people telling you you're being too agressive or that something simply can't be done more quickly than X months or years, it can really help.  That said, while new mistakes are ok as we are all human, being able to learn from past mistakes and doing your damndest not to repeat them also really helps the development cycle.    Even technology like the Cloud is a huge time saver -- we can build and deploy a server pretty much anywhere in a matter of hours (if not less), don't need huge operations centers, etc.  A lot of time and money can be saved now that even 10 years ago would not have been possible.

Anyway, as I've said before many times, what's important to us is that it's a great game, a FUN game, a STICKY game, a SOCIAL game, that it's not rushed out, that there is enough content, and that we've had enough time to test during alpha and beta such that we're able to address any major balance or tecnical issues earlier as opposed to later.  I think the team has a great sense of urgency and they are truly pouring their hearts and souls into this.  That said, they don't feel rushed either, or pressured to cut corners or to not do the right thing."

SpottyGekko

Nanfoodle said:

Brad said this in the official forums about someone saying it will take 5 years + to make Pantheon:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

...  I will say, however, that while many MMOs have taken 5-6 years, EverQuest 1 took 3 years.   Probably because we were too ignorant to know what a crazy, large, and complex game we were wanting to make, lol.  ...

There you have it !

If you don't know what you're doing, you get it done in half the time !

Tiamat64

SpottyGekko said:

Nanfoodle said:

Brad said this in the official forums about someone saying it will take 5 years + to make Pantheon:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

...  I will say, however, that while many MMOs have taken 5-6 years, EverQuest 1 took 3 years.   Probably because we were too ignorant to know what a crazy, large, and complex game we were wanting to make, lol.  ...

There you have it !

If you don't know what you're doing, you get it done in half the time !

Alternatively, that statement could also technically mean that if you don't know what you're doing, you release a game too early thinking it's crazy, large, and complex but are too ignorant to know it isn't.

Amathe

SpottyGekko said:

There you have it !

If you don't know what you're doing, you get it done in half the time !

While it may seem like a Yogi Berra moment, in my opinion Brad isn't wrong on this. A lot of times having greater knowledge can be stymying, because that knowledge causes you to dwell on all the reasons why something can't be done. Whereas, without that greater knowledge, someone just does it. That's one reason why kids can operate computers as well as they can. They are fearless and don't focus on what might go wrong or whether they might press the wrong button. They just forge ahead.  

baphamet

Nanfoodle said:

 "what's important to us is that it's a great game, a FUN game, a STICKY game, a SOCIAL game, that it's not rushed out, that there is enough content, and that we've had enough time to test during alpha and beta such that we're able to address any major balance or tecnical issues earlier as opposed to later.  I think the team has a great sense of urgency and they are truly pouring their hearts and souls into this.  That said, they don't feel rushed either, or pressured to cut corners or to not do the right thing."

that right there is pretty big if he stands behind that. IIRC vanguard had Microsoft funding at first and were likely pressured into launching, even though Microsoft eventually backed out anyways.

so while the cheaper indie MMO may not have all the bells and whistles of a AAA mmo, at least now they can do it right, if they stick to their guns and do what McQuaid said in your quote.

personally, i'm cool with waiting until 2020 if we have to. although, it would be kind of cool if they launched on the 20th anniversary of Everquest.