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Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen: Volunteers & Remote Development Key to Continuing Progress
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Brad McQuaid has posted a lengthy letter on the Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen site. In it, he lays out the ways that development of the game can and will continue albeit at a slower pace. Key to the plan is the inclusion of a volunteer development staff and the necessity of remotely working together to move Pantheon forward as the team continues to look for funding sources.
First, team members will begin as volunteers. This is because 1. we don't have the funding right now to pay, 2. we're a little weary and concerned about setting a bunch of people up as remote, paid contractors like we did when this project started, and 3. because since these people are not necessary local to VRI’s home base in San Diego, we need to take the time to get to know each of these volunteers, spending time with them on teamspeak or skype, having them deliver some assets for evaluation, etc.
When we do bring in funding and restart that campaign to reach out to Angel Investors, Publishers, and the like, and when we can have an office and paid employees, we will then look at the volunteer force and, on a case by case basis, determine if that person wants to and should become a contractor or, if they can re-locate, possibly a full employee. But, in the meantime, I think this is a very exciting start. So many people have contacted me wanting to help with this project, and I remain very humbled by it. And some of those people have the talent we are looking for as we re-build the development team.
The second thing, because of the remote nature, the community involvement, how this site is structured, etc., is that there will be more official positions/jobs than the typical manager, programmer, designer, and artist set-up. We are adding moderators and lore writers to that list, and possibly more positions TBD. The Moderators position is the first part of the team I am focusing on. We need to do a lot better with this site and building community. There are quite a few of you who are part of this site and community, but we don't hear from you often. This is understandable, as posts by me and other people involved have been insufficient and simply not as exciting and fresh as they need to be. As mentioned earlier in this announcement, that is going to change. More posting and more blogging is coming. The Moderators group is going to be a huge part of this -- not only are they going to moderate, but they are also going to be posting about various game-related topics as well, and making the general forums an active and interesting place to browse and lurk and hopefully a bunch of you will start posting again as well. Lastly, they will also be reaching out, outside of this site, answering questions on other boards, and trying to drive traffic here, so we can grow this community, again not just larger, but healthier and more informative and open as well.
Find out how to get involved and/or read the rest of the letter on the Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen site.
Comments
There's a lot of hate out there for this title & I'd like to step forward & extend a heartfelt & sincere 'best of luck' to Brad & his merry band of outlaw game devs.
I for one hope this one makes it & sees its naysayers eat shizzem. Good luck.
That may be the single worst game video I have ever seen.
Well, maybe Big Rigs was worse.
Big Rigs had soul.
You make me like charity
^^This
Problem is Brad does not have a talented group of AOL NWN developers to steal the code, game concept, and design from like he did last time.
Sorry Brad this is not the 90' game developers have learned not to share their game code around chat rooms like they did everquest so crooked little wannabe's can steal it.
Move along neverwas, only coder with any talent in your house is your wife.
i've bashed this one in the past (mainly due to the (IMHO) absurd practise of charging for forum access) i will say this:
might be a great way for folks to be able to pad their resume or get their feet wet in the industry.
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
Dwight D Eisenhower
My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.
Henry Rollins
I don't know. Padding your resume with "worked on another failed MMO with Brad McQuad, where we languished in no-mans-land for several years before he finally landed another job and abandoned Pantheon" probably won't get you too far.
And you know that's how this is going to play out.
You make me like charity
true true
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
Dwight D Eisenhower
My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.
Henry Rollins
i mean brad aint really a programmer, he's always sorta been "project manager" but even everquest the only person who really managed it was smedley and he can actually manage projects, thus him being the CEO of sony online entertainment...
the sad fact is this game is probably doomed due to his lack of management on the project, and thats what it is he cant manage anything for sh*t.
He should put the game to rest.
The audience is clearly not interested. Hence the fail of kickstarter.
And team of volonteers can barely make small game mod or casual game - how can they be expected to do MMO of scope he is thinking of.
Its either delusional or a smoke for people that donated money.
Working with Brad on another failed project isn't good for your resume.
That's like saying "I was the guy that came up with the SWG NGE idea"
Well, clearly there are not enough customers clamoring for this game. Because there are not enough deep pocketed gamer's that are:
Help support an artist and gamer who has lost his tools to create and play: http://www.gofundme.com/u63nzcgk
i feel sorry for those who donated, i feel like those donators got ripped off big time.
1. I will take rose colored glasses over diapers and a bib.
2. People not trusting Brad does not equal other people.
3. If you think EQ now = EQ 15 years ago, I cannot debate it with you.
4. Rambling.
Projects matter, but if someone worked on say art aspects or quests or something for the game, and you had to chose between them and someone with zero experience, I fail to see how it still isn't a plus.
George Lucas didn't have to worry about telling people he came up with the NGE idea, he's rich.
Nothing against Brad. I loved EQ and VG back in the day.
But really, this game does not need to be made. Brad and co can argue whatever they like about the Kickstarter campaign but fact is people voted with their wallets and Pantheon didn't make it. Considering the stuff that -does- get funded on KS, common sense would suggest there is not sufficient desire for the game in the market. Best to stop flogging a dead horse and move on to other things.
I'm not going to pass judgement, if he really wants to get the game done, then good on him. People like to hate so much on him, but at least he is trying and you don't have hits all the time. He co made EverQuest and Vanguard wasn't that bad, he at least showed that he could ship a game, despite it being a failure.
You fail, you learn and move on.
i was about to say the same. Sounds like a great time for someone who need to get a foot trough the door. Especially if you can do it wihtout relying on it as your main source of income(seeing as you will not get paid). I´d love to try and get in on this but i lack any applicable skills outside of concept development and project lead.... And while needed i am sure they have those spots filled already. Maybe after the summer as i will be working on a few things for my master degree... Very cool but hush hush stuff =P.
Any way... Will be interesting to see where this goes.
This have been a good conversation
I think it is important to remember that all the original devs of the team have left the project upon learning just how badly brad had managed both the money and other improprieties. A rep on the official face book page for pantheon spelled out some of the details of such improprieties which was subsequently followed by condemnation by various people including one of the wives of a former dev from the team. Unfortunately brad hours later deleted all of it.... but not before screen shots were taken by various people.
http://imgur.com/ci9eXtq
this is taken from another site and explains why this project went to s**t....
There's an interesting rumour going around the Brad pocketed more than his fair share of the original pledge money, causing several members of the dev team to leave. This is backed up by Brad refusing to use any names anywhere to confirm who is and isn't working on the title.
Whether or not it's true there is one thing that isn't in doubt, Brad McQuaid has absolutely no business or leadership acumen at all.
when asked if there was any proof to this .... a few FB posts that were dropped were removed but someone got a screenshot before they were taken off the Fb page.
http://i.imgur.com/ci9eXtq.jpg
This doesn't surprise me one bit. I was on the fence about funding Pantheon as I liked VG and always thought Brad had some good ideas for MMO design (e.g. different mobs/quests for day/night like in EQ). But I read somewhere, possibly even on the KS page, that the initial funding was going to be used to pay salaries. That turned me off straight away. Sure, devs need to get paid so the game can be developed, but the original KS was for a small amount, so as a potential backer you see your cash paying people's bills and then what?
When I see now the references on the Pantheon FB page to building a prototype for publishers and "angel investors" and think back to the low target on KS I believe the intention all along was to make some quick cash for salaries and then try to get corporate investment for the game. Much as I don't wish any particular ill on Brad and the team, I'm glad the KS failed as this is a pretty distasteful strategy for KS backers when it wasn't stated front and centre.
Omfg let them make their fucking game and pull the spiked dildos out of your assholes.
You don't need to read articles about it. You don't need to give them money. You don't need to play the final result if there is one. Why do you insist on shitting on their dream?